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supersalo

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 14, 2010
385
137
I'm having a REALLY hard time between just keeping my 2010 15" MBP, or replacing it with the i7 11".

I've had the 11" i7 for a week and it is VERY nice. I've got an external monitor for the roughly 50% of the time I'm working. The shorter vertical size doesn't bother me.

I just hate giving up that discrete Nvidia 320M and raw processing power (even though the 11" bested the 15" in exporting a 720p h.264 clip (2:39 vs 3:06).

It's not rational I tell you!
 

jclardy

macrumors 601
Oct 6, 2008
4,138
4,319
I am in the same conundrum.

I have a 2010 MBP 15" with 2.66Ghz i7 and 8GB of RAM. I love the machine but the i5 in my MBA is nearly as fast, the Sandy Bridge integrated graphics are faster than the 2010 MBP integrated graphics. The battery life is similar if I am using the 330M on the MBP.

The biggest difference (other than graphics) is the SSD - my MBP has a 5400 RPM HDD.

I have been taking my 11" MBA with me everywhere because it is so small and discrete, I would only bring my MBP if I knew I would be using it.

The screen on my MBP is great, but when I am at my desk I typically use an external monitor.

I guess I will have to see how the MBA handles some simple video editing, if it can do that then the only reason I have to keep my MBP is for running games in windows...(and a few hundred $ desktop would be better at that...)
 

teerexx52

macrumors 68020
May 1, 2005
2,065
162
Florida West Coast
I am in the same conundrum.

I have a 2010 MBP 15" with 2.66Ghz i7 and 8GB of RAM. I love the machine but the i5 in my MBA is nearly as fast, the Sandy Bridge integrated graphics are faster than the 2010 MBP integrated graphics. The battery life is similar if I am using the 330M on the MBP.

The biggest difference (other than graphics) is the SSD - my MBP has a 5400 RPM HDD.

I have been taking my 11" MBA with me everywhere because it is so small and discrete, I would only bring my MBP if I knew I would be using it.

The screen on my MBP is great, but when I am at my desk I typically use an external monitor.

I guess I will have to see how the MBA handles some simple video editing, if it can do that then the only reason I have to keep my MBP is for running games in windows...(and a few hundred $ desktop would be better at that...)
I went through this and tried everything. If you can afford it keep both. The Pro is great for the heavy lifting and the Air is great for Starbucks where I am now:)
 

supersalo

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 14, 2010
385
137
I'm mainly using it for Xcode.

About 15% of my usage is Final Cut Express (I'll probably move to Final Cut 10 at some point).

I could keep both, but I don't really want to have two machines. I'd rather just have one machine that does everything/goes everywhere.
 

Ijustfarted

macrumors regular
Jun 8, 2011
209
0
I'll take it off your hands. I won't charge you any money for taking it off your hands either. :D
 

stevey69

macrumors regular
Mar 6, 2009
128
25
i have the dilemma of picking between 15" MBP ultimate 2011 and 13" MB AIR i5 128gb. i just recently sold my 2008 MBP unibody for 950 and I'm kinda stuck between if i should keep the air or go buy a new MBP.

mb air : 1) the sound quality is horrible and so low
2) the display is NOTHING compared to the 15" MBP
3) the hd on the air is 128gb which really blows. 750gb on the MBP.
4) no cd rom built in so you gotta lug another hardware around
5) possibly another wd passport external HD 1TB to meet the needs of a download junkie.

i feel like I'm giving up so much just to have the portability..... i don't know if its worth it.

i don't know if its relevant to this thread. oh well

steve
 

supersalo

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 14, 2010
385
137
Steve-

You do give up storage, but it also kind of forces you to look at all the software that you have on your machine and say "Do I really need this? Do I use it?"

I found that when loading up the Air, there was a BUNCH of software that I had that I never used.

The only storage issue for me is iTunes movies & TV shows (along with the Apple Developer Videos). I can load those onto an external HD. All my music, apps & books fit on the 256GB SSD.
 

jclardy

macrumors 601
Oct 6, 2008
4,138
4,319
i have the dilemma of picking between 15" MBP ultimate 2011 and 13" MB AIR i5 128gb. i just recently sold my 2008 MBP unibody for 950 and I'm kinda stuck between if i should keep the air or go buy a new MBP.

mb air : 1) the sound quality is horrible and so low
2) the display is NOTHING compared to the 15" MBP
3) the hd on the air is 128gb which really blows. 750gb on the MBP.
4) no cd rom built in so you gotta lug another hardware around
5) possibly another wd passport external HD 1TB to meet the needs of a download junkie.

i feel like I'm giving up so much just to have the portability..... i don't know if its worth it.

i don't know if its relevant to this thread. oh well

steve


1) Yes, the speakers are terrible when compared to the Macbook Pro 15", but that is one of the things you give up as speakers need to move air, and there isn't much room for air in the MBA.

2) I wouldn't say nothing...looking purely at specs from anandtech the 2010 MBP screen isn't that much better. Both are still TN panels, so it is not like comparing them to an iMac screen. I have them both sitting next to each other right now and honestly, unless you are doing color correction on photo and video you won't really notice the difference in normal use.

3) Yes, you sacrifice storage, but you gain enormous speed. The 750GB HDD on the pro's default config is 5400RPM, which I have on my Pro. After using the air it seems like the pro takes an eternity to open finder and search for a file. Of course, the pro does have the advantage of being upgradable later, so with an SSD in the MBP it will be screaming along, but right now it will cost you quite a bit.

4) CD/DVD isn't that important to me, and I find that if I need to read a CD or DVD I am usually at home, where I can share it from another machine. (Or just keep a drive on my desk, but I don't need it so I don't waste the space).


Of course, some people value some things over others so I can understand if you think the air isn't for you. I would be keeping my MBP if it was a 2011 model as the Sandy Bridge quad cores are quite powerful, but it is not and so in terms of CPU performance the tiny air is comparable.
 

supersalo

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 14, 2010
385
137
Of course, some people value some things over others so I can understand if you think the air isn't for you. I would be keeping my MBP if it was a 2011 model as the Sandy Bridge quad cores are quite powerful, but it is not and so in terms of CPU performance the tiny air is comparable.

What MBP did you move from?
 
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