Irish45221

I just bought the new 15" Macbook Pro and am loving it. I get over eight hours of battery life on a single charge.

I saw some new stats that said that the 2.53 GHZ 13" Macbook Pro outperformed the 15" in battery performance by a few minutes. If you are on a long flight watching a movie this sort of thing may make a difference but for everyday use it is negligible.

I personally need the 15" for academic reasons. I look at a lot of atlases and require a bigger screen. I have used the 13" and am actually using an older 13" to type this out right now. It is fine but if you would like to be able to have multiple programs visible on the same screen then the 15" is the way to go. Things tend to get a bit crowded on 13" computers but they run the same (if not better than) as the 15" models. They are also easier to carry around.

The real question is whether or not you want to pay the extra $200 for a simple display size increase. I personally think it was worth it. But at the end of the day it is up to your finances to decide. Remember you will be stuck with whatever laptop you buy for four years so it is important that your are comfortable with whatever one you get. Whatever one you get you will probably be happy. Just take advantage of your student discount (show them proof of enrollment) and you will be fine.