traveling with a 17" MacBook Pro

Wondering why you need a 17" MBP since you'll be traveling with it? What will a 15" not do for your needs?
Do you travel 1st class or coach?

Trisha K wrote:
After a week of flipping between the models, im about to pull the trigger on a 17" macbook pro.

but first, i would love to hear from anyone that travels with it. is it too big for the tray on a plane? does anyone use theirs on a plane?

has anyone regretted the purchase and would prefer a 15".

any comments would be very helpful. i really appreciate the help.

😉

After getting my 15" display stuck under the back of the seat in front of me on several occasions, I opted for the 13" and an external monitor for use at home. I travel a lot and the space between seats has shrunk significantly. I just could no longer work with my 15" on the plane, space wise and fear of breaking the display when the passenger in front reclined their seat back.

So I would not even opt for the 15" if work during plane travel is required and you are traveling a lot.

Well, if you need the express card, the 17" is the only way left to go. The only other question is if you don't mind carrying the extra size around. The weight to me wouldn't be enough to complain, its just the extra size dimensions.

I am waiting on the next gen 15" MBP and at home have an Apple 20" display and will connect it too. 15" for me is the biggest I would lug around. Since it sounds like you travel a lot I'd measure out the 17" and make a template of it and when your in your airline seat pull it out and see how it fits on the tray table. Coach seating seems extra cramped these days. Just to be sure I'd try that if you can.
The 17" sure is a beauty with all that real estate!

{quote:title=BobTheFisherman wrote:}
After getting my 15" display stuck under the back of the seat in front of me on several occasions, I opted for the 13" and an external monitor for use at home. I travel a lot and the space between seats has shrunk significantly. I just could no longer work with my 15" on the plane, space wise and fear of breaking the display when the passenger in front reclined their seat back.

I've even found on Continental, Delta & United that things get dicey even with the 13" MBP. I'll usually ask the person sitting in front of me if they intend to recline their seat all the way during the flight, especially if I intend to be productive on the flight to avoid any potential unwanted damage.

On a 'red eye' I'll usually just assume that the seat is coming back and try to preemptive.

And then we have new MacAir Stuff ... HUMM ...

larry

Hello Trisha,

I have a MacBook Pro 17", and ended up buying an iPad to bring along on my numerous trips.

When I'm on a plane or train, I bring my iPad instead. At first I thought this was a way better deal, and that I would only bring my MBP to meetings within the same city or while driving to another nearby city (I live in Montreal but work in Ottawa).

Having said that, I now tend to bring the iPad even on short road trips too, instead of the MBP. With all my important files on MobileMe iDisk, I can just access them from the iPad anywhere anyways.

So now I only travel with the iPad, but of course I still use my MBP 90% of the time at home or in coffee houses (I like to work from the local Starbucks on a daily basis).

Nothing replaces a real computer with OS X ( yet), but the iPad is soooo convenient...

My two cents.

Dr Sly

Let us know how you like your new 15" when you get it!
How did you get it configured?
have fun with your new computer Trish!
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