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A difficult choice

A

Aperturexs

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 30, 2014
22
0
Hi everyone!

I have owned my Black MacBook listed in my signature for almost a year now, and so far I have liked the machine very much. It is a great school laptop, and I would say it is arguably better than most of todays laptops as well. I through in 4GB of RAM, and that has been the only upgrade made to this machine besides re-appling all the thermal paste on the heat sinks. However I have lately noticed the screen showing backlighting inverter issues, and I get a flicker every now and then. I would like to offload this machine in the near future, and I don't know what I would chose as my main portable after I sell it.

Here are some of my options:

1. MacBook Pro Non-Retina Mid-2012, new from Apple.

2. MacBook Air Early-2014 13", new from Apple

3. MacBook Unibody 2010

4. MacBook Pro Late-2008 15"

Please comment on what you think I should buy for my next Mac! Thanks!
 
What are your needs for the machine and what is your budget? Is upgradeability important to you, or is size and weight more important? If you want to be able to upgrade the hard drive, then the macbook pro or unibody macbook are the way to go, however if its size and weight, the air is the clear winner. If its budget, then go for the older unibody or an older macbook pro. I have a 2010 unibody that I put 8GB of RAM into along with an SSD and Mavericks flies on it.
 
Your budget? Your needs?

Generaly speaking the mba will outperform the others by far.
 
Well I mainly plan to use it for school, so having something in the light weight category would help. I also like to do some gaming, but nothing heavy. I understand that the newest Intel HD 5000 graphics are pretty good, but I have heard they are still nothing like a dedicated card (such as the 650m in the MacBook Pro 15" I listed, or the 8600m in the MacBook Pro 2008 I listed as well). My only gripe about the MacBook Air is no upgradability after you buy it, so I would probably spring for a 256GB with 8GB of RAM, and maybe an i7. I am likely to buy the Air, but can anyone tell me their luck with light gaming?
 
Aperturexs said:
Well I mainly plan to use it for school, so having something in the light weight category would help. I also like to do some gaming, but nothing heavy. I understand that the newest Intel HD 5000 graphics are pretty good, but I have heard they are still nothing like a dedicated card (such as the 650m in the MacBook Pro 15" I listed, or the 8600m in the MacBook Pro 2008 I listed as well). My only gripe about the MacBook Air is no upgradability after you buy it, so I would probably spring for a 256GB with 8GB of RAM, and maybe an i7. I am likely to buy the Air, but can anyone tell me their luck with light gaming?
Click to expand...

The intel hd 5000 is way better than the 8600m. I think you should get the air, its a newer computer than the others, if you are getting a computer for work and to play new games and its older than 2010, its a waste in my opinion (Except if you collect computers like me, or you can't afford a newer)
Macbook air isn't really a gaming computer but it does work when playing some games, Gw2 on low settings, skyrim on low settings with 30~fps, All call of duty modern warfares, minecraft and other games. What are you planning to play?
 
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It's nice that your BlackBook is still going strong and serves your needs well, but you come across as rather ignorant by suggesting it's better than modern machines. It is much, much worse. And I have an '07 one of my own. A current generic entry level budget laptop ~$500 will be significantly more powerful. Since you didn't specify a budget, option #2 is obviously the best and will keep you relevant for several years to come. Option #1 would be alright if you add extra RAM and an SSD yourself to save $. I wouldn't touch #3 or #4 with a 10 foot pole.
 
In Reply

Ok, after thinking it out I am definitely going to get a completely new machine. I know that my BlackBook is not better than machines today, I am just saying somethings like the keyboard and overall speed is of a better quality than that of todays ultra book standards. But now I have narrowed it down to two choices based on my budget. I plan to upgrade at the end of summer, when I have the money for these choices. My budget, would have to be up to the $1,500 USD mark, and no higher than that. So that leaves me with two choices:

1. MacBook Air 13" 256GB and 8GB RAM

OR

2. MacBook Pro Retina 256 GB and 8GB RAM

By the way thanks to those who responded!

----------

Oh and btw I only play some steam games like Portal, Portal 2, and Team Fortress 2, along with Minecraft. So no Call of Duty or Battlefield here, thank god, because a laptop that would actually play either of those decently is probably going to be in the $1,600 plus range!
 
Despite the affection I have for my relic BlackBook, your assertion that the 'overall speed is of a better quality than that of todays ultra book standards' is ridiculous. A current generation iPad would be faster for virtually every single threaded task than your machine.

As to your updated choices, #2 is far superior. Slightly better specs with the retina screen being the huge difference. Both machines will be virtually identical in terms of processing speed and will be miles ahead of your ancient machinery. The PCI SSD will feel like the future.
 
Aperturexs said:
Ok, after thinking it out I am definitely going to get a completely new machine. I know that my BlackBook is not better than machines today, I am just saying somethings like the keyboard and overall speed is of a better quality than that of todays ultra book standards. But now I have narrowed it down to two choices based on my budget. I plan to upgrade at the end of summer, when I have the money for these choices. My budget, would have to be up to the $1,500 USD mark, and no higher than that. So that leaves me with two choices:

1. MacBook Air 13" 256GB and 8GB RAM

OR

2. MacBook Pro Retina 256 GB and 8GB RAM

By the way thanks to those who responded!

----------

Oh and btw I only play some steam games like Portal, Portal 2, and Team Fortress 2, along with Minecraft. So no Call of Duty or Battlefield here, thank god, because a laptop that would actually play either of those decently is probably going to be in the $1,600 plus range!
Click to expand...

I totally understand the affection for the BlackBook! However, it will not hold a candle to today's machines, and there are a handful of models made by Apple and others that will cream it in every regard including keyboard and aesthetics.

That being said, you will greatly appreciate the Retina Display should you go that route. Plus having the PCI SSD will offer much better performance than the one on the Air. The Pro is also no pig, but it is larger than the Air.

I think you need to go to the Apple Store and pick the machines up and look at them. Decide whether you want the ultra-light Air or the Retina Pro. Personally I would go for the Pro, but everyone has different needs.
 
In Final Reply

I decided to go with the MacBook Pro 13" retina, with 256GB SSD and the 8GB of RAM. The machine is blazing fast, and I also get much better frame rates with almost any game I throw at it, even with it's (gasp) integrated graphics. Anyhow the assumption that I mad that my machine was more powerful than today's cheap machines was wrong, and I accept that. Guess I was just feeling the nostalgia from my BlackBook, and I wasn't ready to accept it sucked quite that much yet.

Thanks all for your contributions to the thread, I will leave it up as a reference for others making the same choices in the future!
 
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