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- Thread starter jarruemota
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Everything you mentioned you'll be using the computer for is seriously light duty. And that's fine. There's nothing wrong with that. It's actually a good thing, because either computer is fully capable of smoothly doing all that stuff. Honestly, with the SSD in the Air, it would probably feel faster for your tasks than the macbook pro would.
If it was me, and I was going back to college and carrying a laptop around all day in a backpack jammed full of textbooks, I'd go with the Macbook Air.
If it was me, and I was going back to college and carrying a laptop around all day in a backpack jammed full of textbooks, I'd go with the Macbook Air.
I spent a year with both a late 2008 1.86/2GB/128SSD MBA and a 2009 MBP 2.26/4/500. I mostly do light things as well and took it everywhere. I recently sold the MBA and bought a new MBP. Why? A couple of reasons. One being the battery life. With the 2008 MBA I was only getting about 3 hours of real world time which just wasn't enough for me. Another was 1080p playback. I ran the MBA hooked up to a 22" external and couldn't play 1080p at all and even 720p was stuttery from time to time. I did, of course love the portability of the air, but honestly the MBP isn't that much more of a burden plus you get the benefit of upgradability which, for me, sealed the deal.
Go pro you are going to be using it for more than classes. Just think of it as one extra important book.
Considering the MacBook Air was updated last October, I wouldn't expect a refresh until around August. If you can wait that long then compare it to the 13" MacBook Pro. If not than get the MacBook Pro.
You can put the laptop up on Craigslist, give it to a friend, sell it to a friend, give it to a family member, keep it, plenty of options!
I have just the same Macbook you have, except I got mine in late 2006, and I updated it to 2 gigs of RAM. A week ago, I bought an Air (128 SSD, 1.86, 4 gigs of RAM, refurbished it was $1260 with tax.)
I have to tell you, I find it just delightful. I had a real mental block about buying a C2D computer that on paper, looked less powerful than the one I already had (1.86 vs. 2.0 in my old Macbook.) I decided to take the plunge based on the positive things I've been reading here. I have not been disappointed. I am so pleased at how quiet and cool and light it is. (My usage is mainly word processing/surfing/movies/Flash-based games.) I love the battery life. The screen is so bright I have to turn it down halfway just for comfort.
And you already know, I'm sure, how speedy the SSD is. I've also installed Parallels and it works with no problems. I haven't had problems with stuttering -- the prior poster who mentioned that problem has the older version of the Air.
There is something to be said for "future-proofing." But the people here who are most concerned with that are probably doing far more with their computer than I will ever do. I'm not a power user and I love this form factor.
My one slight regret is that maybe I should have gotten the 256 gig configuration, but you know what? Right now I have 45 gigs to spare, and I've got external drives. I'll make it work.
I have to tell you, I find it just delightful. I had a real mental block about buying a C2D computer that on paper, looked less powerful than the one I already had (1.86 vs. 2.0 in my old Macbook.) I decided to take the plunge based on the positive things I've been reading here. I have not been disappointed. I am so pleased at how quiet and cool and light it is. (My usage is mainly word processing/surfing/movies/Flash-based games.) I love the battery life. The screen is so bright I have to turn it down halfway just for comfort.
And you already know, I'm sure, how speedy the SSD is. I've also installed Parallels and it works with no problems. I haven't had problems with stuttering -- the prior poster who mentioned that problem has the older version of the Air.
There is something to be said for "future-proofing." But the people here who are most concerned with that are probably doing far more with their computer than I will ever do. I'm not a power user and I love this form factor.
My one slight regret is that maybe I should have gotten the 256 gig configuration, but you know what? Right now I have 45 gigs to spare, and I've got external drives. I'll make it work.
Do you mean the student discount? Go to the Apple store website in your country. Click on "Store" at the top and in the left hand column of options if you see "Education Store" then you can get the student discount. If you have a brick and mortar Apple store in your country you can go there and present your student ID and most likely they'll give it to you.
However, if when you wrote "student promo" you meant the "buy a mac get a free iPod" deal that Apple runs every year in the fall in the U.S.--I'm less sure about that.
