Best bang for your buck laptop right now?

11" MBA

 

What exactly do you want to do with your laptop? Any apps in particular, planning to use multiple apps at the same time or leave them open? Without some info, it is hard to make any suggestion that make sense.

 

I agree

 

11" mba hands down

 

Since you already have a mac, a refurb 13" MBA would be my recommendation. Don't go 11" MBA since it is too small to use for notes and such as a student. However, this is just my opinion. Try it out in store before deciding.

 

Once you spec out an air with 8GB of ram and the same size SSD it's much the same price as a 13 inch rMBP I would say go for the refurbed 13 inch rMBP and have all the power you could need on the go, an amazing screen (more real estate when needed and text that looks like print) for the compromise of an extra 1/2 pound of weight.

 

I tend to agree, if you want to save some money and get a base MBA then it's a decent deal but if you go with 8GB of ram and 256GB SSD the price isn't that much higher for the retina macbook pro. Have a look at the refurb section on apple's site to see the configs and prices and see what you think is the best bang for the buck.

 

13" rMBP IMO.

 

Depends on what you are using it for.

4gb is plenty for most things.

Also look here:
http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/how-much-ram-do-i-need-in-my-macbook.1756865/

 

I have a rMBP 13" I use at home and bring back and forth between work, its not that heavy to lug around. But it isn't light either. I just grabbed a 11" MBA for a travel computer. I'd rather not travel with my main laptop.

Id say go for the better screen, the 11" MBA is good enough for occasion travel use, but I wouldn't want it as my only laptop. The 13" also has a SD card reader if that matters. I might have grabbed a 13" MBA if I didnt have the rMBP already.

Next year if I can find a deal on a 15", ill probably swap a rMBP 15" for my Mac mini. I could use a bigger screen at home, but never seem to use the mac mini, I usually just check out the internet while watching TV. I could get by with a lower spec'd out 15" model.

Since getting my macbook, my iPad gets little or no use.