New laptop, Mbp or mba

Hi,

First post for me

I've been reading other people's posts and been googling for many hours but still cannot decide so I'm creating my own thread. Please let me know if I should post this somewhere else.

I can't decide if I should get a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro. I do not own a laptop at the moment as I threw my old windows laptop to the floor when it didn't do what I wanted it to. Instead I use my iphone and ipad but as I love gadgets I need a laptop as well. I have decided to go for a refurbished 13 inch 2012 model. I will use it for movies, web browsing and the office package. But who knows what interest I pick up once getting it.

I will not bring it on travels as I've got the ipad for that so size and weight is not something I care about. Same thing with battery life, it would be on my desk plugged in. I like the idea of the new type of ssd storage, is the difference big compared to an old school hard drive? Storage amount is not something I care about either, 128 gb would be fine.

I was planning to keep it for as long as possible (if i can avoid incidents similar to what happened to my windows laptop.) and therefore want something that will not be outdated in two weeks.

Is 8gb ram the way to go here, for the future?

I like the idea of being able to update the hardware down the road as well.

I was looking at spending up to €1300 but prefer cheaper than that.

I feel that the pro model would last me more years. Am I correct?

Can you please give me some advice on this? Anything would be helpful. Let me know if you have any questions!

Thanks!

Edit: just saw I posted this to the wrong forum. Sorry about that, I'm new! Could an admin please move it to the correct forum?

r3ac7 said:

If you're choosing between the 2012 air and the 2012 13" pro, I suggest you go with the air. Yes, the difference between a SSD and a HDD is huge. The SSD is possibly the best update to boost the speed of a computer.
If you do get the air, make sure you get it with 8gb ram, it will last you longer than 4gb, even though OS X Mavericks doesn't consume as much ram.
The Air is lighter, thinner, and faster(because of the SSD).

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Thanks for your reply.

Yes i would prefer the 2012 models as that would save me abit of money but i dont mind spending more if i can better value and a longer lifespan for only a small difference in money. One option I looked at would be retina 13" MacBook Pro from last year in the refurb store. It's about €1300 (roughly the same price as a 2013 air 13" 8gb ram brand new or a few hundred € more than a 2012 air 13" refurbished) and I wouldn't mind spending the extra money if its good value for me but do you think it's overkill for what I'm planning to use it for? How does it stand vs a 2012 and 2013 air?

Thanks for your advice! Would you say the 2012 13" base model retina pro will last longer than 2013 MacBook Air with 8gb ram?

Edit: I do not mean battery life. I mean lifespan, how long it will stay relevant.

Thought I'd post an update. Went to a store today and had a look at both the 2012 pro with retina and 2013 air. The screen was noticeable better on the pro and I'm ordering it.

I came close to ordering but read up abit more and started to hesitate again. How long would you say a 13 inch 2012 or 2013 Air with 8gb ram would stay relevant compared to the 2012 13 inch pro with retina display?