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For the wife?

J

J.L.Photography

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 23, 2012
283
0
South Florida
Good evening/morning,

Want to surprise the wife with something portable & light for our anniversary in march.

She uses computers heavily for school (typing essays) or her work, Internet, etc, easy stuff....

Would a 13" mb air be for her or a mbp 13"

The dell I got her last year freezes constantly & I feel guilty, even tho she loves the pink ;) (sarcasm)

Thanks.
 
Ya I mean, any Mac really lol, she goes crazy when I talk about the mbp I'm waiting on (2012s)

But for basic schoolwork and internet, will the 13" MBA be solid or too little computer, go more for mbp?
 
It doesn't get anymore basic that that. If the MBA were too little of a computer for that it would be the most worthless comptuer ever made.

In other words, its WAY more than enough for those tasks.
 
Lol, awesome,I'm sold then, I'm a splurger,.. And considering the ipad3 comes out in march as our anny is on march 21.... Oooohaha gonna be an appletastic month!
 
Are you set on the 13"? Just a suggestion, but the 11" is very portable and I would assume is much more 'cute' (I feel I sound a little gender biased here :eek:)
 
The MBA is actually powerful enough to do most other tasks as well. I use mine for all the Office applications, for Adobe Master Suite (no problem) and for the normal array of photo storing packages as well.

It doesn't even struggle when I fire up Aperture with over 30'000 pictures and 300 faces identified.

Face it, for normal computing requirements today's laptops are well over sized, and that goes for the MBA as well. The folks in these forums are usually power users and of course they (we) at times have the need for stonger computers.

Just make sure you buy the biggest baddest MBA you can afford:)

Bo
 
@ani: I still want it to be at least 13" so it still resembles a laptop, we will end up with two iPads after all!

@bob: I'll b the one spending $3500 on my 2012 ivy bridge mbp... Lol and yes, for my photo editing, I'll use every bit of it! I can't wait!
 
Mba

The MBA is just awesome, it runs LR3 while multi-tasking so can't be all bad. Iv'e just been given one for my birthday, and love it !
BTW for your photography have you tried the eye-fi card ? Works a treat with MBA and iPad !
Minty
 
This seems more like a "I'm spending 5 grand on Apple products and want to tell you all about it" thread.

Good for you
 
J.L.Photography said:
Good evening/morning,

Want to surprise the wife with something portable & light for our anniversary in march.

She uses computers heavily for school (typing essays) or her work, Internet, etc, easy stuff....

Would a 13" mb air be for her or a mbp 13"

The dell I got her last year freezes constantly & I feel guilty, even tho she loves the pink ;) (sarcasm)

Thanks.
Click to expand...

My GF wanted the MBA 11" really bad. Had ZERO interest in the 13" even though the price for a decked out 11" is on par with the base model 13" and similar spec (but with lesser screen).

Why?

It fits in a handbag. Thats it. Thats the entire reason for the 11" over the 13" for her.


Don't overlook that fact - I suspect other girls would be of similar mindset - irrespective of YOU wanting a 13", remember, it isn't for YOU. :D

She also owns an iPad - they're not the same, even though they're similar sized. The iPad is for reading/browsing - the MBA is for typing on and creating.... don't let the size similarity fool you - they're different.
 
J.L.Photography said:
@ani: I still want it to be at least 13" so it still resembles a laptop, we will end up with two iPads after all!
Click to expand...

That was one of my main reasons why I went with the 13". Also because it was meant to be my primary system and I dont use an external display like many do on MR. But I knew what I wanted.

You could try going to the Apple store (on the pretense of buying something else, if you want it to be a surprise :rolleyes:) with your wife and see what she thinks about the 11". Either way, you cannot go wrong with the Air. 11" or 13", she'll love it.
 
I've said this before, but the main deciding factor between the MBA and MBP, everything else aside, is the display. The MBA display has the same resolution as the 15" MBP, however, the colour gamut is far lower than that of the MBP display, meaning that for some users (myself included), the MBA is virtually unusable. As for the extra resolution, there isn't a huge difference when you factor in Lion's full-screen apps mode.

What I'd do, take a look at your wife's current Dell, then pop to a local store and take a look at the MBA's display. If the MBA is "better" as such, the colours being richer and deeper, I'd go for the MBA in a heartbeat. The MBP is heavy in comparison to the MBA, no matter how you look at it. I don't personally have any issues with the extra weight, as I believe that the MBP offers more to balance it up, but your wife will definitely be happier with the lighter weight of the MBA.
 
throAU said:
My GF wanted the MBA 11" really bad. Had ZERO interest in the 13" even though the price for a decked out 11" is on par with the base model 13" and similar spec (but with lesser screen).

Why?

It fits in a handbag. Thats it. Thats the entire reason for the 11" over the 13" for her.
Click to expand...

This. I'm using my Air when moving around for whatever reason - on my vacation, when traveling at work, to take notes or showcase something at meetings with clients, at nighttime to watch movies in bed and so on. The 11" is just SO much better with that than the 13" (tried that one too). The 13" Air is almost as "bulky" as the 13" Pro to drag around, so if I was going for a 13" I'd rather get the Pro for the extra juice. For a computer "on the go", the 11" wins hands down imho.

So, to summarize: If it's a computer brought to work / school a lot, go with the 11". If it's something that will sit on a desk at home most of the time, get the 13".
 
Don't get me wrong. its not like the 13" is heavy or anything. it just didn't fit in a handbag :D I guess thats fair enough, it would mean she would need an additional bag to carry it in...


she always has a handbag on her, so the 11" wins.
 
throAU said:
She also owns an iPad - they're not the same, even though they're similar sized. The iPad is for reading/browsing - the MBA is for typing on and creating.... don't let the size similarity fool you - they're different.
Click to expand...

If you want to do any iWork stuff, then I disagree. Get a bluetooth keyboard with the iPad and you'll find the functionality between the two is not at all that different. It can be quite the productivity machine depending on what you need it for.
 
If your applications run on an iPad, sure.
If you don't need to copy anything to a memory stick, sure.
If you don't need to run anything that isn't on the apps tore, sure.

The iPad can do few things, but running general productivity apps is not one of those things.
 
throAU said:
If your applications run on an iPad, sure.
If you don't need to copy anything to a memory stick, sure.
If you don't need to run anything that isn't on the apps tore, sure.
Click to expand...

Yea that's why it really depends on what you use it for. And as far as removable storage goes, for iWork at least, documents in iCloud will finally work with your Mac once Mountain Lion is released so I think that's a powerful alternative to memory sticks.

throAU said:
The iPad can do few things, but running general productivity apps is not one of those things.
Click to expand...

"General productivity" to me sounds like your most basic usage for the casual consumer, which means internet, email, and word processing; everything the iPad can currently do. It's the power usage in productivity that as of right now, demands OSX. Though there are currently some production apps from Apple such as iMovie and Garageband that really begin to stretch the iPad's capabilities. I've already been able to make a pretty decent skeleton track on the iPad while on a trip. And companies like Apogee and M-Audio have already released an audio interface, a professional mic, and a MIDI keyboard, pretty much everything one needs to record a track. I'd say thats pretty powerful production tools right off the bat for such a mobile device. The front page article on Macrumors says Adobe Photoshop Touch is set to release on Monday. So it's clear that large names like Adobe are hard at work to bring more productivity on the iPad and its just going to continue to grow as iPad gets stronger and faster. I bet Apple is already working on an Aperture app as well.
 
Last edited:
J.L.Photography said:
Ya I mean, any Mac really lol, she goes crazy when I talk about the mbp I'm waiting on (2012s)

But for basic schoolwork and internet, will the 13" MBA be solid or too little computer, go more for mbp?
Click to expand...

My cousin uses her base 11" MBA for Law School and loves it. Does everything she needs for school. She can carry it in her purse and doesn't have to take it out for inspection when she flies (it's treated like iPad and other mini computers). If you're wife has good vision and the small screen doesn't bother it this might be an option.

Cheers,
 
I have both a MBA and MBP and for what your wife needs to do the MBA would be fine for here. You really don't need to pay the premium to go Pro as your wife doesn't really need the extra power. The only thing to consider is if you can get a large enough SSD for her but other than that the MBA is a great little machine. It is very fast and very light both are a plus if you going to be on the move with it. That being said the Pro isn't too much heavier but again, for what your wife needs I wouldn't pay the premium the Air will serve her very well and then some. Cheers
 
That's exactly y I'm thinking the 13" MBA

Color & screen aren't the priority. Size, portability, but yet the 13" can squeeze a bit more "umph" than the 11"
 
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