13" ultimate air vs base 15" pro

[sanctified89]

I know I've made like three seperate posts about this but money is finally coming in so, I can pick up either the ultimate air or the base pro and I just can't decide. My computer use is fairly light aside from the occasional game (at least chrome with multiple tabs and iTunes always running). Ideally I'd play on an external 1080p monitor and my only concern with the air is if it's up to that task. The games I play aren't very demanding though. I'd like to keep the computer for a couple or years at least. If someone could please knock some sense into me that'd be great .

 

[ZacT94]

I know I've made like three seperate posts about this but money is finally coming in so, I can pick up either the ultimate air or the base pro and I just can't decide. My computer use is fairly light aside from the occasional game (at least chrome with multiple tabs and iTunes always running). Ideally I'd play on an external 1080p monitor and my only concern with the air is if it's up to that task. The games I play aren't very demanding though. I'd like to keep the computer for a couple or years at least. If someone could please knock some sense into me that'd be great .

Get the ultimate Air. As you said, your needs aren't that great, and if you're doing some light gaming, then the integrated graphics should be able to handle them quite well. Intel HD 4000 is quite a capable GPU.

 

[LaunchpadBS]

If I may offer another option...the 13" MBP i7 model.
It's small and light, and most importantly upgradable.
I use mine with an external monitor for gaming and it's more than capable.

 

[ZacT94]

If I may offer another option...the 13" MBP i7 model.
It's small and light, and most importantly upgradable.
I use mine with an external monitor for gaming and it's more than capable.

That is a good option because not only is it upgradeable, but it also has an ODD. However, the display isn't as good as the Air's. Swap the HDD for SSD if you choose to buy it.

 

[sanctified89]

Thanks for the advice guys. Not gonna go with the 13" MBP because of the resolution (a lot of the time I will probably have the computer
unplugged from my external). The most demanding thing I'd play is guild wars 2 so yeah, if the air can handle that at 1080p (not expecting super high quality settings) then I think I'll get the air.

 

[Starshadow]

Just a note of caution,

If your playing Guild Wars 2 and want smooth performance then the Intel 4000 isnt the greatest.

I have a MBP 13" 2012 upgraded to 16GB with the intel 4000 ( Same as the ultimate Air ) and the performance is clunky in my experience.

I'd get the baseline 15" or if you can, i highly recommend you get a Macbook Pro Retina, its light and extremely powerful.

Otherwise, a base MBP 15" will do all the tasks you need and run Guild Wars 2 without problems or slowness. But it will be a good deal heavier than both an Air and rMBP

 

[sanctified89]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I've thought about it and I'm just going to pick up a base 15" on Monday. I don't mind that it's heavier than the Air, I used to have a late 2008 MBP before I sold it for a home-built windows desktop (big mistake!!!!). I'll just throw in a samsung SSD/8GB ram and call it a day, at some point I'll probably replace the superdrive with the original HD. Thanks again!!!