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Help me decide!!!

Z

zbro90

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 1, 2011
10
0
Alright guys, I'm in between two computers. I'm in between:

13in 1.8 i7 Macbook Air

and
13in 2.3 i5 Macbook Pro with 256gb SSD


Keeping in mind that I don't really game and the most CPU intensive thing I do is Final Cut Pro X. I'm coming from a late 2007 15in non-unibody MBP 2.6 Core 2 Duo 4GB 667 MHz DDR2.


I really like how thin the airs are, just saying. But what would you do? I've heard FCPX doesn't run too terribly on the Air. But I don't like the 1280 x 800 lower res of the 13in pro. Will I notice it?
 
Last edited:
So you like the thinness of the air and don't like the screen of the Pro.

Why is this such a hard decision again???
 
I dunno. I guess I'm just putting my hand out waiting for someone to help me rationalize the Air over the Pro.
 
And if I get the Air, whats the best way to transfer my iTunes library in migrate assistant? Over wifi? Or should I get the USB ethernet adapter and do it over that? I have about 30 GB in my iTunes, all with album art. Does the Album art transfer?
 
Because at the end of the day you want more than 4 gigs of ram. That would be the only issue.

Processors are similar, screen res is better on the air but quality is better on the pro (colors), and the air is limited to 4gb ram.

Here's the thing. I couldn't see going back to 1280 res.. it's awful. OTOH, the bad viewing angle and color reproduction of the 13 (i have the samsung) is pissing me off.

So I feel you. I would skip the 13" mbp and decide if you want the 15" with more oomph and ram and a better screen for more money.. or the lighter still capable but somewhat crippled in screen and ram air.

The 13" mbp is, to me, a non starter.
 
My reservations about 4GB of DDR3 subside a bit knowing that its waaay faster than my 4gb of ddr2 4GB of DDR2 (which I've had for 4 years anyway.)
 
True, it's way faster.. however - there's still not enough of it :/

Lightroom and photoshop get this thing paging fast... otoh, at least it's paging to a ssd.
 
Well the good news is I don't use lightroom or photoshop, and I do also have a 24" iMac 2.66 Core 2 Duo 4gb RAM if I need those.

Like I said, most I'm doing is FCPX
 
zbro90: Since you are in the p**n business, only using FCP. JK. Haha. You should buy the Macbook Air. If you were able to survive with 4gb of ram before. You should be able to again, but this time with a faster CPU that kicks the core 2 duo's ass. Plus you'll get full screen p**n with the Lion OS.
 
zbro90 said:
Well the good news is I don't use lightroom or photoshop, and I do also have a 24" iMac 2.66 Core 2 Duo 4gb RAM if I need those.

Like I said, most I'm doing is FCPX
Click to expand...

Video is going to take more than photography I would think... especially with compositing - no?

At the end of it - it sounds like you really want the air. SO you should get the air! :)
 
The new MacBook Air is lightning fast and will satisfy your needs in every way. You want a thin, light, sex, yet fast and powerful computer,...then the Air is your type.
 
I would recommend the air because simply the air is so much better. If you look at the benchmark scores the difference bewteen the air and the pro is really not that much of a difference. Also, I upgraded to a 2011 13inch air from a 2010 macbook pro 13inch and i love it. Its so much lighter and you can really feel the difference. I also like the higher resolution display on the air and mostly you wont see a difference in the performance between the air and the pro according to what you are doing. Plus if ur doing fcp 128gb is not going to be enough. BTW i would get the i5 macbook air rather than the i7 cuz the i7 is significantly has louder fan noise and i thought the i5 was loud and also the i7 is much hotter with very minimum performance increase. Get the 13inch i5
 
zbro90 said:
And if I get the Air, whats the best way to transfer my iTunes library in migrate assistant? Over wifi? Or should I get the USB ethernet adapter and do it over that? I have about 30 GB in my iTunes, all with album art. Does the Album art transfer?
Click to expand...

Back up your /Music folder to an external HDD (or copy it directly between the MacBooks, Wifi will work, if a bit slow - I like having an external backup anyway) . It contains the .itl library files as well as all your art, settings, etc.. I did this and everything came over: music, apps, itunesU downloads, and all the art that went with it.

Just to note, I've never tried Migration Assistant, so I can't directly answer your question about that. I just moved everything manually.
 
Looking at the Air's today at Best Buy and then going home to my MacBook Pro 13", I have made the decision to buy one of those beauties soon. They are really HD, I noticed it instantly.
 
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