11" or 13" Air coming from MBP 13"

[jbachandouris]

I have a mid 2010 MBP 13", 4GB RAM, 250GB HD.

Wife's PC laptop fan is LOUD (I can change it, but its almost 4 years old and I'm not sure its worth the trouble) so she needs a replacement.

My thought is to return my iPad 64GB (which I honestly don't need) and buy an Air for myself and hand the MBO down to her.

$999 (-$50 student discount) for 13" (128GB SSD)
$1099 (-$50 student discount) for 11" (256GB SSD)

Basically even buying the 11", it will only cost me $350 more (plus taxes).
If I take that same $350 and buy her a cheap PC, that wouldn't be a good PC for her.

What do you advise?

 

[esskay]

I'd say it'd be a really good idea to first go to the Apple Store (or some other local retailer) and spend some quality time playing with both machines. Perhaps then you'll get a better sense which will work better for you.

 

[ohbrilliance]

Give the 13" rMBP some serious consideration too. It has a smaller footprint than the MBA, and to me feels like a smaller laptop, but of course with the vastly superior retina display.

 

[Robyr]

Give the 13" rMBP some serious consideration too. It has a smaller footprint than the MBA, and to me feels like a smaller laptop, but of course with the vastly superior retina display.

It will also cost OP $200 more, for a total of a $550 outlay, get less battery life, be heavier, etc. Not all that is retina is gold, either, since a large majority of the complaints about QA have been against the screen itself.

 

[IJBrekke]

Three of Apple's four small laptops are excellent for slightly different reasons:

11" Air - most portable, cheapest

13" Air - amazing battery life, great all-arounder

13" Retina Pro - vastly superior screen, most powerful of the three

I would not recommend the non-retina Pro. It is very outdated hardware and not worth the $999 asking price.

All of these are within $300 of each other so you just have to decide what features you want the most. As another poster said, if you go in and play with them you'll probably decide pretty easily. Good luck!

 

[DisplacedMic]

It will also cost OP $200 more, for a total of a $550 outlay, get less battery life, be heavier, etc. Not all that is retina is gold, either, since a large majority of the complaints about QA have been against the screen itself.

meh - i found the 13 rMBP to be VERY tempting myself. i went in wanting the 13 air but couldn't tell a huge difference in weight. (retina is about .5lb heavier) but noticed a HUGE improvement in screen quality.

In the end that just led me down the retina rabbit hole and i found myself considering the 15 rMBP... so i had to decide what i wanted - ultralight or ultrapowerful. so i do what i always do when faced with a situation like that where all things are equal: i went with the cheaper option and got the 11" air. couldn't be happier.

 

[ohbrilliance]

It will also cost OP $200 more, for a total of a $550 outlay, get less battery life, be heavier, etc. Not all that is retina is gold, either, since a large majority of the complaints about QA have been against the screen itself.

Yes, the rMBP isn't superior in all aspects. The weight difference is barely noticeable, the rMBP can get up to 12 hours of battery life, so may well be sufficient depending on your needs, and as for screen issues, you'll only hear from those with problems. I doubt the vast majority of 13" rMBP users have encountered any issues at all.