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Berardi3

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 13, 2011
26
0
Hey guys went to apple store today I looked at air 11.6 air 13 and new MBP 13 I'm so undecided on what to get tried them all I'm on a tight budget. Can anyone sway me in a direction?
 
Basic photo Internet some you tube nothing too fancy and also e mail I'm into real-estate so I might something pretty easy to carry around
 
I would avoid the 11.6" MBA as a primary computer for anyone. Its a little too slow. 1.4ghz C2D is roughly the equivalent of the power you could have expected out of a typical laptop five years ago. At least if you get the 13" MBA its CPU is roughly as fast as what a typical computer had 4 years ago. Now I'm talking about normal bulky computers and these are ultraportables so you have to take that into account, but the bottom line is that they are not very fast and the 11" especially slow.

I would get the 13" MBA or 13" MBP. The 13" MBA has a very nice 1440x900 resolution screen so it has that going for it. $1250 if you can finagle the student discount.

The 13" MBP is much faster, has better battery life, more ports, etc, and can be had for $1100 with the student discount.
 
I am very limited as to what I can spend so I have an old Dell computer on it's last legs and need to replace asap. So I think the 11.6 might fit my needs
 
I am very limited as to what I can spend so I have an old Dell computer on it's last legs and need to replace asap. So I think the 11.6 might fit my needs

The $999 Air? It's pretty limited. 2GB ram can't be upgraded, 1.4GHz CPU.

There should be A LOT of MBPs for sale right now as people look to trade up. I'd see what $1000 gets you in the used market.
 
I'm not very fond of used I always like to purchase new . They are all so nice I have also heard that ssd is much better than hdd
 
dont know where your from but microcenter sells the 13 MBP for 999, or checkout the refurb site on apple
 
13" MBP.

It's really a no-brainer unless you want ultra-sexy over ultra-practical. MBA has a C2D chip. Do you really think Apple and other major s/w makers are going to be designing software w/ a crusty C2D in mind now that the low end 13" MBP is faster than last years high end 15"? Nope. Sure it will work...just not real well. The MBA is more flash than dash.

Get a MBP. Replace the HDD with an SDD -- very easy DIY job. Your MBP will be about a 1.5lbs heavier. Not really a big deal. It just won't be a head turner.
 
13" MBP.

It's really a no-brainer unless you want ultra-sexy over ultra-practical. MBA has a C2D chip. Do you really think Apple and other major s/w makers are going to be designing software w/ a crusty C2D in mind now that the low end 13" MBP is faster than last years high end 15"? Nope. Sure it will work...just not real well. The MBA is more flash than dash.

Get a MBP. Replace the HDD with an SDD -- very easy DIY job. Your MBP will be about a 1.5lbs heavier. Not really a big deal. It just won't be a head turner.

Absurd recommendation, especially since others in the thread were so insistent the OP provide a list of what he needs from his computer.

OP, the MacBook Air, any model, will be more than capable, and I think if you're looking for something easy to carry around for the uses you mentioned, then the 11.6" MBA is a perfect fit for you, and the only thing you need to consider now is if you have a need for more space than the standard 64GB drive.

jW
 
I suggest you go for the 13" MBA. That way you'll have the screen size of a MBP with the weight of an Air.
 
Absurd recommendation, especially since others in the thread were so insistent the OP provide a list of what he needs from his computer.

OP, the MacBook Air, any model, will be more than capable, and I think if you're looking for something easy to carry around for the uses you mentioned, then the 11.6" MBA is a perfect fit for you, and the only thing you need to consider now is if you have a need for more space than the standard 64GB drive.

jW

have to agree. OP states that he wants something cheap and use it for email, youtube and internet and people start recommending MBP's with SSD. I don't know how gear-greedy everyone is these days but even an old powerbook would do the job.

11" MBA sounds like like the perfect machine for you!
 
i have a 11" mba with 4gb ram. I ran the whole creative suite 5 on it without ANY problems what so ever. So for your use, yes, a 11" MBA would be more than enough. If you are on the go all the time, the 11" mba is 100x more portable than a 15" mbp or even a 13" for that matter.
 
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