Should i buy a 17inch Macbook Pro 2011 model or the new Macbook pro 15 inch with retina display?

If you can live with the smaller screen and the lack of optical drive (the latter no big deal as you can get a sleek USB SuperDrive from Apple for $79) I would go with the Retina. A lot of folks are put off that Apple discontinued the 17" model but it apparently only accounted for 2% of notebook sales.

I have a 15" MBP (non-Retina) and love the portability. The 17" is a monster to carry around so if portability is an issue, then the Retina 15" solves that problem as well.

You're asking for opinions? That's mine.

Clinton

It depends what you primarily going to use it for, doesn't it?

Personally, price being equal and choosing between the two, I would go for the rMBP. If you need DVD, you can easily buy an external DVD read/writer pretty cheap. The 17' MBP won't be supported for more than a couple of years, so getting parts for it in another 3 years or so will be problematic. The rMBP 15'' screen will be easier on the eye than the 17" non-retina screen, and of course you get all the Flash/SSD memory and drive for speed.

Retina, definitely. I just moved from a 2006 17" MBP to the Retina. It's very fast, thin, and weighs less (over 2 pounds lighter) than the 17, so it's easier to manage. The Retina display is wow.

It looks as if the consensus is the Retina MacBook Pro 15".

I do wish that I could afford one now - I just bought a 15" MacBook Pro in April so my budget is shot for the next couple of years...

Clinton

I will say depends what you do with your Mac for.

Just like in Apple store, the Apple Specialist will ask you what are you going to do if you have a computer.

If it just email, web browsing, a imac is good.

If you need higher performace, movies then you should go for Macbook Pro.

Therefore, sorry got off the topic.

Since you are doing DVD, larger screen will be better.

Highly suggest 17 inch. 2inch does make a lot of difference, you won't even go back to 15 inch no more.

Eventhough Retina display is awesome quality with close no reflection, but what you going to do about it if it is not large enough: )

I do a lot video and graphics, therefore, 17inch is a minimum size I needed to move and twist around. Can't rely doing that all day in 15inch.

Tom

Portability is NEVER an issue with macbook pros (sheeeeeeeeesh), especially the 17" (common are you kidding me?!), what, are you all really thin boned teen girls on here? i carry my 2007 17 inch macbook pro EVERYWHERE inside the amazing 'incase' back pack thank you very much, with all my books and external hard drives, extra pair of runners, bathing towel and lunch! It isn't like you are carrying other brands of 17" note books out there that look like the bulkiest - ugliest things to carry ever!

Besides the 'retina' macbook is not pro it is just an over priced gimmick just Apple patting themselves on their rears that they 'pulled it off' "...nah nah nah boo boo, we did it before you, we'll sue you if you try to!"

The 17" is a fantastic machine, even only for the 2% of us out there(wish i was a !%enter). I've just upgraded my mid-2009 17" to Mountain Lion, and have swapped out the original 350Gb drive for a spectacular Seagate Momentum XT 750Gb, it took bootup time from 7ish min to 36 secs - yes!!!. I regretted upgrading (sic) from Snow to Lion, but the upgrade from Lion to Mountain has been great - almost like Apple from the Past, if you know what I mean. If you're having hassles with the L to ML upgrade, this is what worked for me finally - if you're running Lion, download a new Lion and Mountain Lion, they will be saved in your app folder ( about 4.2 Gb for each of them ), when they say to install, quit and save the file to somewhere else(I saved to a little hard drive), BTW after each install, the install file deletes itself then you have to download 4 Gb again - duh.After all that fun, and after backing up with Time Machine, go ahead and buy ML for $20, it really is worth it. And that's from someone who wanted to tank lion completely. ML is a different beast.Grrrrrr

https://www.facebook.com/WeWantAMacBookPRoRetina17

Well, I am a smallish, sixty-something woman, and I've never found my 17" MBP (2008) too heavy to haul around. I got rid of my desk-top when I got this 17 incher, thinking I would eventually get a monitor for the large screen. Well, it has been 4 and a half years and I haven't found a need for the monitor yet.

I do a lot of photography, the kind with serious editing, so my hi-res non--glare screen is a must, as is the larger screen.

If I hauled this thing with me everywhere I went, it would be cumbersome, but that's what my ipad is for. The 17" MBP has been my dream machine, I just hope they source 17" retina panels and put it back in the line-up before I have to replace my trusty old machine.

For the way I use the MBP, a 15" would leave me needing a desk top version to supplement it. I like having the one machine to do it all, and love that I now have the ipad to do the light hauling. No need to take up space on my desk (or sit at a desk) with a desk top, when I have the 17" MPB.

https://www.facebook.com/WeWantAMacBookPRoRetina17

Excellent posts everyone thank you for your passion and enjoyment!