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Almost ready to buy a 13" MBP. Last minute thoughts.
- Thread starter ste1989
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I'm going to buck the trend and say get the 13"MBP. you get all of the ports that the 15" has, you have a powerful GPU (9400m), smaller form factor and lighter weight.
Back in October when the differences were more pronounced (mbp = better screen, fw) I agonized over the decision. While I have no regrets, the deciding factors for me were the screen and GPU. After the fact, I find myself in the 9400m most of the time.
Like I said, I have no buyers remorse but knowing what I know now, I'd probably get the 13" model.
While I'm truly enthralled by the MBA, I don't think its cut out for a primary machine, due to the sacrifices made because of its form factor and now that the 13" MBP has the same screen as the MBA, it makes even less sense to spend more and get less.
Back in October when the differences were more pronounced (mbp = better screen, fw) I agonized over the decision. While I have no regrets, the deciding factors for me were the screen and GPU. After the fact, I find myself in the 9400m most of the time.
Like I said, I have no buyers remorse but knowing what I know now, I'd probably get the 13" model.
While I'm truly enthralled by the MBA, I don't think its cut out for a primary machine, due to the sacrifices made because of its form factor and now that the 13" MBP has the same screen as the MBA, it makes even less sense to spend more and get less.
I was comparing the Asus EEE T91 to the MBP 13-inch.
Not sure about the screen argument, went to an Apple reseller and saw the previous MB 13-inch and thought the screen was quite flat (color wise) and somewhat washed out; not really impressed. Didn't Apple add the 'best panel yet' to the MBP 13-inch? I think I'll wait and see.
Not free. up to £145 off the iPod and I believe up to £60 off the printer.
ste1989 said:
Really? I assume you're getting the HE discount which is the maximum, I got the same deal minus the printer...and mine came to a little more than that
only by say £8 or so.Really? I assume you're getting the HE discount which is the maximum, I got the same deal minus the printer...and mine came to a little more than that
Sorry, I hadn't accounted the £15 of the iPod touch, if that is why its different
I'm a student as well and I'm happy with my Air - I always have it with me at uni and there's no way I'd exchange it for a MBP. I realize it isn't upgradeable (at least until there are drives with SATA-LIF connector available), but it's otherwise great. SSD is a must-have if you go for one of these machines - Airs without it simply feel slower at everyday tasks. It's no longer as overpriced as it used to be, as well.
I think most important thing to consider is whether there's any chance you'll want to use it for much more intensive tasks than you do now. Most people never use more than 2GB RAM anyway, or need a faster CPU. It'll still be much more powerful than the netbook you were considering. Compared to MBP, there's only 0.13 GHz difference in CPU, but it has more cache (6 MB vs 3 MB). Overall it'll be only slightly less powerful than a low-end MBP, but you can upgrade the latter to 4 GB RAM.
With Asus you get portability and very little power. With MBP you get less portability and more power. Air is closer to Asus in portability, but closer to MBP in power. For many people it's the happy medium, but not for everyone.
I think most important thing to consider is whether there's any chance you'll want to use it for much more intensive tasks than you do now. Most people never use more than 2GB RAM anyway, or need a faster CPU. It'll still be much more powerful than the netbook you were considering. Compared to MBP, there's only 0.13 GHz difference in CPU, but it has more cache (6 MB vs 3 MB). Overall it'll be only slightly less powerful than a low-end MBP, but you can upgrade the latter to 4 GB RAM.
With Asus you get portability and very little power. With MBP you get less portability and more power. Air is closer to Asus in portability, but closer to MBP in power. For many people it's the happy medium, but not for everyone.