MacBook 13.3" vs. MacBook 15.4"

Question

MacBook 13.3" vs. MacBook 15.4"

Hi everyone,

This will be my first post over here at Mac.

I got my MacBook 13.3" 2.4Ghz, 250GB 5400rpm, 2GB, 9400M, on saturday. I bought it with an agreement that if it wasn't to my liking I could take it back on a trial basis.

I'm wondering whether I've picked the right model.

The point of me going mac was to have the best possible performance I could in a laptop that was portable. I do my school work (word processing mostly and a lot of internet use) and photography (PS CS4, PTGui and the like) on my laptop.
I am at current using an XPS1330 1.5Ghz, 120GB 5400rpm, 2.5GB, integrated graphics.

#1 - Discounting the screen size and the price for the moment, would there be a difference for the purposes mentioned above between a MacBook with the above specs, and a MacBook Pro with the same specs but the 9600M graphics as well?

#2 - Secondly, which would be better 13.3" or 15.4"? I like the portability of a 13.3" and the weight and size benefits, but am wondering whether the size of the extra screen would be benetifial enough to warrant the £150 extra cost.

#3 - Having bought my Mac for better performance than the XPS, how can I get the best out of it to maximise the performance and see a big difference that would make me feel good that I had bought a substantially better machine? You might be able to tell, but I'm feeling as though the performance benefits aren't that great.

#4 - What can I do to make programs open faster?

#5 - What difference would the jump from 2GB to 4GB make for my purposes?

#6 - Is snow leopard going to make my work in PS faster?

#7 - Can the graphics card on the MacBook with 9400M be upgraded later?

Thanks,

Fred

MacBook 13.3", Mac OS X (10.5.7), 2.4Ghz, 250GB 5400rpm, 2GB, Nvidia 9400M

Posted on Jun 8, 2009 7:18 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Jun 8, 2009 7:38 AM in response to EOS iPhone 3G 705 WiFi

1.) there's probably not enough of a difference performance-wise to matter to much. The graphics performance really comes into play with things that have substantial 3D requirements (e.g., games)

2.) personally, for me, it's all about screen size. The more I can see, the more productive I am.

3.) the thing that's limiting performance most on your Mac is the 5400rpm disk. Going for a 7200rpm will make a big difference (at the cost of batter life and expense)

4.) if you have a lot of things that load on startup, don't load them. Otherwise, disk speed is likely the limiting factor. Also, don't use older PowerPC applications if you can help it.

5.) RAM always helps, particularly if you are using it all up.

6.) Based on Apple's own description... Maybe. Mostly, Snow Leopard speeds up the OS and provides methods for speeding up apps. Apps existing before Snow Leopard will see some benefit from the former, but none from the latter. Most of PS's performance issues would be addressable by the latter, but you'd need to wait for Adobe to provide an update to PS.

7.) No.

Reply

Answer 2

ast03

Level 1

0 points

Jun 8, 2009 1:06 PM in response to EOS iPhone 3G 705 WiFi

since they just updated u should exchange for the newer one, say that the usb isnt fast enough but the fire wire on the new 13" might be. that is if u want to stay with a mac

Message was edited by: ast03

Reply