13" MBA or 15" Pro...

[Chuchichan]

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I need to buy a laptop to replace my 7 year old PowerBook G4. I wouldn't be yeaveling much with it and am deciding between the 13" MBA and the 15" Pro. It seems that after configuring the Pro with an SSD and screen it comes out to more than a maxed out Air.

So, not sure if the SSD will make a huge difference or whether the 13" vs 15" would either. I'm leaning towards getting the Air, but would appreciate any feedback.

I would primarily be using it for video chatting, iTunes steaming and connecting it to my TV.

Thanks...

 

[ZBoater]

For your use, the cheapest one.

And SSD makes a HUGE difference...

 

[RossMacca]

I was also swaying between these 2 (the 13 inch pro seems a bit useless at the moment in my opinion).

For your use, I'd get the Air. it's what I chose and I love it. The SSD will make a hugely noticeable difference over a faster, quad core processor for doing simple tasks, and the screen resolution the Air is great, having used a white Macbook for 3 years, this screen feels much larger, even though it is the same physical size, just because of the improved resolution.

 

[Chuchichan]

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I suppose I'm most concerned about the 2 inch difference in real estate. I tried them both out about 6 months ago, when my PowerBook was acting up, but now it seems that it's freezing and on it's last legs.

Does Apple offer any sort of small discount for a trade-in?

 

[Chuchichan]

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I was also swaying between these 2 (the 13 inch pro seems a bit useless at the moment in my opinion).

For your use, I'd get the Air. it's what I chose and I love it. The SSD will make a hugely noticeable difference over a faster, quad core processor for doing simple tasks, and the screen resolution the Air is great, having used a white Macbook for 3 years, this screen feels much larger, even though it is the same physical size, just because of the improved resolution.

Great. Thanks for your feedback.

 

[57004]

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I suppose I'm most concerned about the 2 inch difference in real estate. I tried them both out about 6 months ago, when my PowerBook was acting up, but now it seems that it's freezing and on it's last legs.

Does Apple offer any sort of small discount for a trade-in?

One thing that would sway me: The 15" is configurable with a matte screen. The Air is always glossy. It's not as glossy as a MBP with the glass in front, but it's still a glossy screen nonetheless. Don't know if it matters to you but it would to me.

They don't trade-in but you'll probably get a few hundred still for the PowerBook on the open market.

 

[Chuchichan]

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I suppose I'm most concerned about the 2 inch difference in real estate. I tried them both out about 6 months ago, when my PowerBook was acting up, but now it seems that it's freezing and on it's last legs.

Does Apple offer any sort of small discount for a trade-in?

One thing that would sway me: The 15" is configurable with a matte screen. The Air is always glossy. It's not as glossy as a MBP with the glass in front, but it's still a glossy screen nonetheless. Don't know if it matters to you but it would to me.

They don't trade-in but you'll probably get a few hundred still for the PowerBook on the open market.

Should I sell this laptop though? It freezes all the time that's why I was hoping that Apple might take it.

 

[talmy]

For video chatting, the camera in the MBP models is much better than that in the MBA models, or at least it was at the end of 2010 when I compared.

Airs have a "FaceTime" camera while other Macs had an "iSight" camera of higher quality (seems to have better low-light performance) and new models have a "FaceTime HD" character which offers higher resolution than the others without losing the low-light performance of the iSight. My comparison may be bogus as I haven't checked the mid-2011 Airs, but Apple still claims just the "FaceTime" camera.

 

[jamesr19]

You wont see a loss of screen real-estate if your got the standard 15" PRO as it has the same 1440x900 resolution as the MBA 13". The SSD is rapid and since you aren't a heavy user, i'd suggest the MBA - i'm happy with it and i'm a "heavyish" user!

 

[Brandon0448]

I would definitely recommend getting the Air. For your uses you would get no benefit from the faster processors in the Pro. But you will love the speed you get from the SSD in the Air. I will never go back to a HDD for my main boot drive after owning a few SSDs. The only thing a HDD is good for is a data drive now.

 

[57004]

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Should I sell this laptop though? It freezes all the time that's why I was hoping that Apple might take it.

Oh sorry I missed that part. Yeah then the resale value will be limited, I would say you'd still get at least 100 for it if it's cosmetically in good condition. I think there's still people interested in those as a fixer-upper or for parts. Especially if it's got the backlit keyboard, 2-finger scrolling and other late-model PowerBook features.

But no, Apple won't take it back, even for a small discount. Although if you press them over the phone they may give you a bit of a discount without a trade-in. But it'll be very small, a few percent. You just have to play it right.

Try a sad-sam story about your dear old PowerBook suddenly failing after all these years of hard work but the new laptops are so expensive Just asking nicely has saved me a few bucks in the past with them, although it was always a very minor discount, significanly less than the student discount.

 

[DarwinOSX]

Apple doesn't do trade ins.
The Air is more than sufficient for your needs and it will blow you away with how fast it is for being so light.
This years Airs are as fast or faster than last years Pro's.