Buyer's Remorse...buy an Air instead?

[Young Spade]

Same here ... about to order the 11.6 MBA and went in for the 13" MBP due to
* 8GB RAM upgrade (only 40 bucks) ... it will do less swaps to the SSD and will improve the life. Also I run VMs so extra RAM is more important than CPU horsepower
* SATA3 SSD upgrade (much faster than air)
* Got a slight headache at the store with the MBA

I ran 2 VMs last night at the same time (Ubuntu / 7) on my stock 4gb machine and all went well, although I had to restrict each machine to 768 megs of RAM.

I'm definitely getting 8 gigs; running my bootcamp partition, Ubuntu, and SL all at the same time will be amazing.

 

[mowbr4]

get the base 13" $999 + $99 500gb moments XT + $39 8gb ram corsair

the performance is just amazing!

Where is the base 13" $999? On Apple's site with the discount it is still $1099.

 

[Fugue]

Where is the base 13" $999? On Apple's site with the discount it is still $1099.

At Microcenter. Sometimes the Apple Store and Best Buy allow you to price match, but my local locations refused, so I had to drive 30 min to Microcenter.

 

[Vulcan]

Ok guys, so I have an update for you all!!! I visited my Apple Store yesterday morning and took a good look at the 13" MBA and MBP. I had a really hard time even considering the 13" MBP considering that's what I'm upgrading from, and wouldn't buy virtually the same computer twice. I then looked at the 13" MBA. I loved the size of it and fell in love with how light it was. One of the biggest things I loved about the MBA was how snappy its SSD's performance was.

I then thought to myself that 1.) I need this computer to last six years, and the fact that the Air cannot be upgraded was an issue...especially as 8GB of RAM is becoming the standard and as SSD sizes are increasing rapidly 2.) The power of the MacBook Pro's quad core processor and GPU, even though I don't use it now, might be useful in graduate school and future operating systems 3.) No matter how nice it would be to have, I really don't need the portability because I have an iPad

So with that being said, I decided to stick with my 15" Pro. I figure I'll upgrade to an SSD soon to boost performance, making it just as snappy as the Air.

 

[Young Spade]

Good job being rational.

On a side note, for people buying new systems: If you are getting a new machine, get what you need. Simply buying more now to ensure it lasts longer is a flawed idea.

Don't say "hey this is better because it will last longer since it has more RAM, discrete graphics card, etc."

Reason? If you don't use it now, and you haven't used it before, why would you use it in the future?

On a separate note, storage (RAM/HD) goes up as price goes down. It's irrational to get the biggest drive now when you can get a standard and then upgrade when you need to. You'll be able to get more later when you need it for cheaper than getting it now.

 

[palpatine]

sounds good.

not too keen on the future-proofing six year rationale, because in six years i will have the air with the i20 processor and 47 cores, so i'll be blowing by you playing Universe of Warcraft or something like that. but, glad to see you made a decision you are happy with. it certainly sounds like the best one for your situation!

 

[Young Spade]

sounds good.

not too keen on the future-proofing six year rationale, because in six years i will have the air with the i20 processor and 47 cores, so i'll be blowing by you playing Universe of Warcraft or something like that. but, glad to see you made a decision you are happy with. it certainly sounds like the best one for your situation!

?

I think your definition of future-proofing is flawed. Well, technically you do know it's completely subjective right? This 2011 baseline MBP is future proof for me as I don't play games. I can do everything else with it.

It's completely subjective.

 

[AppleGoat]

Good job being rational.

On a side note, for people buying new systems: If you are getting a new machine, get what you need. Simply buying more now to ensure it lasts longer is a flawed idea.

Don't say "hey this is better because it will last longer since it has more RAM, discrete graphics card, etc."

Reason? If you don't use it now, and you haven't used it before, why would you use it in the future?

On a separate note, storage (RAM/HD) goes up as price goes down. It's irrational to get the biggest drive now when you can get a standard and then upgrade when you need to. You'll be able to get more later when you need it for cheaper than getting it now.

That is a valid point, but when it comes to buying an Air it is better to get what you may need than what you actually need now. For all of the Air's assets, the fact that the RAM cannot be upgraded is a deal breaker.

OP, good decision. The base 15" may not have as much pep as its better equipped brothers and may not be as easy to tote around as the Air -- but it's still a hell of a computer that I sometimes wish I had sprung for.

 

[Young Spade]

That is a valid point, but when it comes to buying an Air it is better to get what you may need than what you actually need now. For all of the Air's assets, the fact that the RAM cannot be upgraded is a deal breaker.

OP, good decision. The base 15" may not have as much pep as its better equipped brothers and may not be as easy to tote around as the Air -- but it's still a hell of a computer that I sometimes wish I had sprung for.

That is my point?

It isn't upgradable, which makes it a bad buy IF you intend on upgrading it. However, for the average person here who has to ask about it, chances are they won't need more.