Which Mac Book Pro?

Okay, I'm in the market for a Mac Book Pro before the wife changes her mind, so I need answers quick! I'm selling off my current laptop (Dell XPS M1330) on eBay and want to get back to a Mac.

I'm looking at the 13" and 15" models. Obviously the 13" one is cheaper and more in my budget, however the 15" one has the larger screen and I could probably live with it for much longer than the 13".

So, what are your thoughts?

Tell your wife you're looking at the 17" model and allow yourself to be persuaded down to the 15"

I showed her the price of the 17" one, after that £1299 seems reasonable!

If weight is not an issue and the laptop is used more like a desktop then I'd go for 15"

I'm sat here tyyping on my brand new 2G Unibody 2.8GHz - and honestly it's the nicest laptop I've ever owned. I thought my last-gen non-Unibody MBP was a superb machine, but this one is just *so* solid in comparison.

I've also got a 13" Unibody MacBook (bought it for the wife - she didn't like it so she bought her a cheap Vaio and I kept the MB!), which I use if I'm traveling. It's not that the 15 isn't portable, the 13 is just more portable. Performace wise there was little in it between the 2.5GHz MBP and the 2.4GHz MB. I've not run anything intensive yet on the 2.8GHz MBP to make a comparison.

I have the old 13" model and I love it. I'd not want a 15" model because I just find them oversized for my needs. Now, if they did a 13" model with the same resolution as the 15" I'd be delighted. However, if needed I use a little app that scales application windows. At first I just used it on my Dell Mini 9 (AKA my MacBook Mini), but it works just as well on the MacBook. Why Apple don't allow this sort of window scaling on the fly I really don't know. It works superbly and the OS is clearly capable of scaling windows whichever way you like (Expose is testament to the fact).

I'd call the unibody machines the Rolls Royce's of laptops if it wasn't for the fact the Rollers are vulgar and ugly, which the unibodies are not. A better comparison is my Tag Heuer watch to a vile plastic thing made by Casio. Few bits of modern technology have the same feel of quality or the same fit and finish. They are truly in a class of their own.

Since the wife has given the go ahead for the 15" model, I'm off to an official reseller, Solutions Inc. in Chichester on Friday to take a proper look at it. Credit card at the ready!

Just make sure that the reseller has the latest models in stock - resellers quite often don't clear their channels down as quickly as the Apple Store do.

People moan about the price, but forget you can use it for 2 or 3 years and get a reasonable price when you sell one. The PC laptop you could buy will be worth nothing.