ArchGIS on mba vs mbp

[KyoteSam]

Hey guys, I know EVERYONE has been asking these same questions about which to buy: the mba or the mbp? I am already thinking of just going with the base mbp 13" but I have a tax free holiday coming up AND a student discount so I was looking at the base 13" mba for ~$150 extra.

What I am debating on is dual booting to windows so I can run ArchGIS. Has anyone done it on both these machines? Can the air perform as well as the pro? I'll be picking up the machine tomorrow

 

[Eddyisgreat]

There is no such thing as ArchGIS.

If you are talking about ArcGIS well...i've been running it on my boxes for the past two years. My MBP i5 and i7 handle it fine in virtualized win XP and of course it runs well in bootcamp.

I don't know how well the MBA would fare. It depends on what you are doing. If you *know* you're going to be doing some intensive calculations (meaning a lot of database operations, network analysis etc) then I'd get the strongest MBP you can buy. If you're doing into work then it'll be fine.

 

[KyoteSam]

thanks for that correction eddy, the h must have been throwing everyone for a spin as to what i was talking about. Your suggestions sound great, the base 13" for both models look fairly comparable minus the processors but the mbp might be the best option to cover all my bases.