If money was not an issue for me I think I'd just go for the MBP 15". Now I'm going back and forth between the 13" MBP and 13" MBA. So is the SD card reader in the 13" MBA not SDXC?
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13" vs 15" vs Air
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If money was not an issue for me I think I'd just go for the MBP 15". Now I'm going back and forth between the 13" MBP and 13" MBA. So is the SD card reader in the 13" MBA not SDXC?
If money was not an issue for me I think I'd just go for the MBP 15". Now I'm going back and forth between the 13" MBP and 13" MBA. So is the SD card reader in the 13" MBA not SDXC?
*sigh*
Ok, lets try and close this thread.
Go to their site and compare the two side by side. If you can't do that (as in, the site doesn't let you),l jot down all of their specs.
EITHER MACHINE will be great for whatever you want to do with it. It's just a matter of preference. That's all. Same battery life, same hardware, the internals won't really matter (for your case), and you're going to have the same overall experience.
Now do you want
HD or SSD?
DVD drive on board?
Option to upgrade internals?
Firewire?
Ethernet Port?
Just go through that list (and whatever other differences you find, aside from the CPU/GPU) and just make a choice.
If you are going to be ripping DVDs, then obviously you need an optical drive, so it is between the 13" and the 15" MBP. The MBA is not even an option.
You are unwilling to pay for the 15", so the 13" MBP is the only one left.
You can upgrade it with RAM, SSD, or more HDD, but I don't see any reason given the usage you have described. If you need it, you could just get an external HDD and you'll be fine.
You are unwilling to pay for the 15", so the 13" MBP is the only one left.
You can upgrade it with RAM, SSD, or more HDD, but I don't see any reason given the usage you have described. If you need it, you could just get an external HDD and you'll be fine.
Was your tone supposed to come off as condescending or just bored? This is an investment and I'm not rich. I've been to the US and TW site and I'm comparing models. I'm not stupid. I just like to hear from others that have already purchased their machines and just hear from others as a sounding board. I didn't know that I was doing something wrong and I apologize if I've offended you by asking your opinion. I can of course go to the site and compare processors and other specs but I genuinely don't really know how this would equal in real world tasks. That's why I wanted to open a posting and 'make meaning' with peers in order to gain knowledge and information in a meaningful collaborative manner. I wasnt intending for people to do my 'homework' for me and I'm sorry again if I came across that way.
Sorry if I missed it, I just glossed through the replies but couldn't find anything stating your actual requirements. Unless you're doing any hardware intensive work on the laptop, I don't see why you would need the 2.7 over the 2.3. Get the 15" if you need the extra screen space. If it's a once a day commute (to and fro), I don't really think the reduced weight of the MBA is justifies the performance deficit but that's up to your preference really. IMO, get the base 13" MBP and if you've got some spare cash, get an SSD further down the road.
buy at the Apple store, try out for 14 days, return (or keep)
If return buy the Air, try out for 14 days, return (or keep)
It was boredom after so many repetative topics. It seems like everyone asks the same question, however, they think that their situation differs from the 40+ situations of everyone asking the same thing. I understand you wanting to know the specifics, however, I (not to my knowlege) asked one redundant question about "which is better' because you can simply scroll through 4 pages or less of the MB and find the answer. Nothing against you personally, it just gets tiring.
But I understand what you're saying. It's not directed at you, more of a "sigh at sexism, people being homophobic, and people being stupid (not applying to anyone here obviously). It isn't "your" fault, people are products of their environments.
But to be honest, get the 13 inch MBP. Baseline.
People often forget how thin the machine is (often because they don't have one themselves). When open, my index finger (lenghwise) is thicker than the MBP. That's thin. Very thin. It's under 5 pounds. That's light.
It has all day battery life (I just took it offt he charger; I have 14 canary (google) browser windows open, itunes, a video paused), a PLETHORA of background tasks (small productivity apps), I'm at 83 percent, and I have 5 hours remaining.
It's upgradable. If you want to keep the machine for years (and with the SNB [sandy bridge] processor, you should) you can upgrade the HD as you see fit, take out the optical and put another HD/SSD in there, and upgrade the RAM. You can't do that with a MBA (only SSD).
I can edit high resolution pictures in Aperture without waiting. I can play Portal 2 in bootcamp on med-high settings with no lag.
THe machine does it all. Honestly, I think we should have a repository here with videos of people actually USING the MBs and doing things with them. Editing pictures, videos, rendering, gaming, everything, so people can SEE what it does first hand.
So yea, sorry about the beginning; if you want the best value for your money, get the baseline 13 inch and upgrade the internals yourself after buying them from a third party site. (much cheaper).
Consider your primary uses, and prioritize them.
If portability is more important than desktop replacement *without* an external monitor attached, go with the 13" pro.
The 13" with an external monitor will be more than fast enough for what you've described - the LCD resolution isn't great for today, but compared to your network will still be an improvement of the screen, and if you have an external LCD at work and home, it's a nice combination.
I wouldn't pay that amount for the relatively small performance difference in cpu speeds - for the same $, you could buy 8GB of RAM to install yourself and pocket $200.
The CPU performance difference between the dual core 13" and the quad core 15" is fairly significant, but the 13" dual core i5 is nearly double the speed over the C2D prior systems - it will still be a very nice machine, and I just don't see anything you've mentioned as 'needing' more. You're also looking at quite a bit of $ difference in going to the 15", as once you're at that point, you will most likely want the hi-res screen, possibly anti-glare, possibly bump to 2.2 to pick up the larger video RAM - it's easy to significantly increase the cost, but if you don't *need* the higher resolution, or will mostly be connected to an external display, and in your case you don't need the added CPU power, it's a lot of money for somewhat reduced portability (including using on the train) vs the 13" Pro.
People will often tell you to buy whatever they bought - I guess it's to validate their own purchase or something, without considering what the person asking really needs. I own the top end CTO 15" except for SSD, but still think you'd be better served by the 13" Pro (and add the RAM yourself, easy and nearly free).
If portability is more important than desktop replacement *without* an external monitor attached, go with the 13" pro.
The 13" with an external monitor will be more than fast enough for what you've described - the LCD resolution isn't great for today, but compared to your network will still be an improvement of the screen, and if you have an external LCD at work and home, it's a nice combination.
I wouldn't pay that amount for the relatively small performance difference in cpu speeds - for the same $, you could buy 8GB of RAM to install yourself and pocket $200.
The CPU performance difference between the dual core 13" and the quad core 15" is fairly significant, but the 13" dual core i5 is nearly double the speed over the C2D prior systems - it will still be a very nice machine, and I just don't see anything you've mentioned as 'needing' more. You're also looking at quite a bit of $ difference in going to the 15", as once you're at that point, you will most likely want the hi-res screen, possibly anti-glare, possibly bump to 2.2 to pick up the larger video RAM - it's easy to significantly increase the cost, but if you don't *need* the higher resolution, or will mostly be connected to an external display, and in your case you don't need the added CPU power, it's a lot of money for somewhat reduced portability (including using on the train) vs the 13" Pro.
People will often tell you to buy whatever they bought - I guess it's to validate their own purchase or something, without considering what the person asking really needs. I own the top end CTO 15" except for SSD, but still think you'd be better served by the 13" Pro (and add the RAM yourself, easy and nearly free).