Deciding what to buy? Air or Pro

[Usual]

Dear friends,

I am a PC user, using 15.4" laptop. I am going to change my computer, but could not decide what to buy. I will use the laptop with a monitor at work, but at home I will not use any external screen.

What I am going to do is mainly Outlook & Excel (with an external display) at work and outlook, excel & web at home.

I do not think I need pure power. What I need is:

A nice screen
Long battery life.

It should not be heavy, but below 2 kg is ok for me. Up to 5 hours battery life is also ok.

About the price, I am leaving in turkey and the prices are nearly %50 over USA. So the price also become important.

My decision is to buy an 13" Air, not still decided, and would like to know your opinion also.

Thanks..

 

[Moccasin]

Having bought the 2010 11" MBA and currently doing similar things with it to those you you intend, I wouid say that the MBA is the best fit for you.

Given that you're saying less than 2kg and suggest you don't want pure power, it would seem that weight is a key consideration and so the MBA wins on that score. the 13" has a 7 hour battery life and the 2011 MBAs aren't that far away in power from an MBP from last year.

From my research when looking at buying my MBA, unless you're a power user or a heavy gamer, then an MBA seems more than adequate.

Compared to my old Sony Vaio, the MBA is a dream to use.

 

[scarred]

Given that you are going to use an external monitor, 13" screen is big enough for you. So now you are comparing MBP 13 vs. MBA 13.

The only reason to consider a MBP 13, for what you are doing, is hard disc space. Do you need a big hard drive? Like 500 gigabytes? That's what a Pro would do for you.

Honestly, for what you listed, I'd have to problems recommending the Macbook Air. Best computer I've personally ever owned.

 

[Usual]

Dear friends,

First, thank you both for your help.

About your questions, lets give more information:

* I do not need big space. My documents, outlook pst file, excel files, photos etc. are not more than 50 gb (this is the maximum space that I will need.). I have movies also, which sometimes are about 200 gb, but for these, I use external device. Having 128 GB SSD is much better than having 1 TB normal (SATA?, or lets say old fashion HDD ) harddisk.

I will use an external screen at work but when I come home, I will use it without a monitor. So, 11" will not be enough. Even for 13", I am not very comfortable that it will fulfill my needs. I think the resolution is also important.

Power is nothing for me. I mean the only power need is to watch a 1080p video or blueray. I do not play games for last 7 years, and I do not think I will. May be I will buy Xbox for it

One more question, I read that if you buy a MB, you will need an accessory for nearly everything. for example, if I need to connect my MBA to a LED (i.e, a Samsung LED) will I need any accessory? The question is because the accessories are so expensive in Turkey for MBs that you can not even imagine This question is also valid for connecting my MBA to a projector etc.

One more thing, I will go to customers to make some presentations so the visual perception is also important and I think MBA is very good in that...

Is it easy to use Win & MacOS at the same time? I read that, you can run Windows as it is a program under MacOs, so easy to use I mean, right?

I asked too many, thanks in advance for your support...

 

[Razzz]

i find it bad that the mbp 13 inch has the same integrated gpu as the mba. Also the really pathetic low res screen. go mba or go 15inch mbp.


11inch is the nicest imo. kinda a distinct apple computer.

 

[VMMan]

MBA 11" is my favorite computer. If you use an external display for serious work anyways, why not get the MBA 11" instead of the 13"?

The MBA 11" is less expensive too.

 

[CardboardGiant]

I would go for the Air.

This is the fastest laptop I have ever used. Everything opens and closes so quickly. Boot time and shutdown time literally takes less than 5 - 8 seconds!!

 

[Usual]

MBA 11" is my favorite computer. If you use an external display for serious work anyways, why not get the MBA 11" instead of the 13"?

The MBA 11" is less expensive too.

Because I will use also at home, without an external display Otherwise, you are absolutely right, I would go for 11" without thinking a second...

 

[Jaro65]

Sounds like a 13" MBA would be the best bet if you also intend to use it at home without external monitor. Many people here may argue that the 11" MBA would suffice - it is really a subjective decision. If I were you I would get a 13" MBA and be a happy camper.