downsizing advice

[HBOC]

Ok, I am in a real pickle (Will Ferrell voice).I have a 2011 MBP 15" 2.2GHZ (AG-Hi-res) with 8GB of RAM. I am going to sell this and my Canon 1Ds to upgrade to a 1Ds MKII.

In any case, what flavor MB should I get. Here are my needs:
I use Aperture 3 and have the CS4 Master Suite, although I only really use PS and Ai on occasion. I don't batch process 1000 photos at a time. You will never se me whining about the weight of a computer and won't sway my decision.

I have the Matte screen, and I checked out the Air in person today and talked to the store manager for a bit about the Air vs a 13". The Air seemed to have less glare than the 13", but that is due to the silver bezel I believe. I NOTICED a difference between these two machines, as far as glare goes.

Obviously cost is a factor as well. It would be pointless to sell my computer for like $2100 only to buy a MBA for $1500+ and only have $600 to play with.
The HDD size I can live with in the MBA (128GB SSD). I would obviously upgrade to 4GB of RAM, but not necessarily the 2.16 processor.

I play Black Ops occasionally, as well as NBA 2K11. Only thing I use windows for.

So what would I be better with? a base MBP 13" refurb and put an SSD in it for like $1200? The MBA I configured came in at like $1300 (student discount). Any and all advice is appreciated.

 

[r0k]

Ok, I am in a real pickle (Will Ferrell voice).I have a 2011 MBP 15" 2.2GHZ (AG-Hi-res) with 8GB of RAM. I am going to sell this and my Canon 1Ds to upgrade to a 1Ds MKII.

In any case, what flavor MB should I get. Here are my needs:
I use Aperture 3 and have the CS4 Master Suite, although I only really use PS and Ai on occasion. I don't batch process 1000 photos at a time. You will never se me whining about the weight of a computer and won't sway my decision.

I have the Matte screen, and I checked out the Air in person today and talked to the store manager for a bit about the Air vs a 13". The Air seemed to have less glare than the 13", but that is due to the silver bezel I believe. I NOTICED a difference between these two machines, as far as glare goes.

Obviously cost is a factor as well. It would be pointless to sell my computer for like $2100 only to buy a MBA for $1500+ and only have $600 to play with.
The HDD size I can live with in the MBA (128GB SSD). I would obviously upgrade to 4GB of RAM, but not necessarily the 2.16 processor.

I play Black Ops occasionally, as well as NBA 2K11. Only thing I use windows for.

So what would I be better with? a base MBP 13" refurb and put an SSD in it for like $1200? The MBA I configured came in at like $1300 (student discount). Any and all advice is appreciated.

I don't know if you have Microcenter around but they were carrying the base 13 in MBP for $999 a few weeks ago. The day I was in the store they sold 30 that day and had 150 more on hand. It's worth looking into. I have a 13 in white Macbook that is feeling a bit old and I'm considering the 13 in MBP but I'm also tempted by the 15 in MBP for more screen real estate. Right now I have an old beater Samsung Syncmaster 171s sitting next to my MBP but I'd rather have a nice 23 in external monitor. With a 23 in monitor, I bet I could make do with the 13 in MBP.

I don't recommend any of the 'Airs right now, especially since you are coming from a MBP. The 11 in Air geekbenches at a paltry 2000. My 3+ year old Macbook geekbenches at 3000. One reason I'm considering a new machine is it takes 3 hours to transcode a dvd on my MBP and I've decided to transcode all my DVDs and put the darn things in the basement next to the 8 tracks and 78 rpm records. So saving time on each dvd rip is worth something to me.

Let us know what you decide.