Hi everyone,
Apologies, I posted this in the Macbook Pro forum before realizing the existence of this forum here (I'm new around these parts!). Mods, please feel free to delete the other one!
So, I'm going back to university in September, and need to purchase a new laptop. After years of saying that my next laptop would be a Mac, I'm finally making the switch.
Overall I'm looking to get something portable enough to be able to bring to school everyday, yet powerful enough to be useful as my only computer. Besides lots of essay writing, I would like to be able to do some light photo editing with Lightroom, and download a fair amount of media. I also stream a fair amount of live TV feeds during the NHL and NFL seasons. Storage capacity is less of a concern than are memory and processing speed for me. Having a laptop that's as future-proofed as possible would also be nice. Price plays a role (the cheaper the better!) but, I'd like to stay below $1500 CAD.
I'm looking at the following configurations:
MBA 13": i7 processor (1.7ghz, 3.3 boost), 8gb RAM, 256Gb SDD. With education discount, comes in at $1479 CAD. (plus a $110 Apple store GC).
rMBP 13" (refurbished Oct. 2013 model): i5 processor (2.4ghz, 2.9 boost), 8gb RAM, 256Gb SSD. Selling at $1279 CAD (refurb price, no Apple Store GC).
MBP 13": i7 processor (2.9 Ghz, 3.6 boost), 8gb RAM, 500 HDD. Selling at $1224 CAD with education discount. Also comes with the $110 Apple store GC (I like the idea of being able to upgrade this model in the future easily with RAM and a SSD).
I'm pretty much looking at the first two, and wonder if the slight decrease in weight (.22 kg) and increase in processing speed with the i7 is worth the extra money when compared to the refurbished rMBP.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts (and for any other configuration ideas you may have up your sleeves), they're very much appreciated by this mac rookie!
Apologies, I posted this in the Macbook Pro forum before realizing the existence of this forum here (I'm new around these parts!). Mods, please feel free to delete the other one!
So, I'm going back to university in September, and need to purchase a new laptop. After years of saying that my next laptop would be a Mac, I'm finally making the switch.
Overall I'm looking to get something portable enough to be able to bring to school everyday, yet powerful enough to be useful as my only computer. Besides lots of essay writing, I would like to be able to do some light photo editing with Lightroom, and download a fair amount of media. I also stream a fair amount of live TV feeds during the NHL and NFL seasons. Storage capacity is less of a concern than are memory and processing speed for me. Having a laptop that's as future-proofed as possible would also be nice. Price plays a role (the cheaper the better!) but, I'd like to stay below $1500 CAD.
I'm looking at the following configurations:
MBA 13": i7 processor (1.7ghz, 3.3 boost), 8gb RAM, 256Gb SDD. With education discount, comes in at $1479 CAD. (plus a $110 Apple store GC).
rMBP 13" (refurbished Oct. 2013 model): i5 processor (2.4ghz, 2.9 boost), 8gb RAM, 256Gb SSD. Selling at $1279 CAD (refurb price, no Apple Store GC).
MBP 13": i7 processor (2.9 Ghz, 3.6 boost), 8gb RAM, 500 HDD. Selling at $1224 CAD with education discount. Also comes with the $110 Apple store GC (I like the idea of being able to upgrade this model in the future easily with RAM and a SSD).
I'm pretty much looking at the first two, and wonder if the slight decrease in weight (.22 kg) and increase in processing speed with the i7 is worth the extra money when compared to the refurbished rMBP.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts (and for any other configuration ideas you may have up your sleeves), they're very much appreciated by this mac rookie!
