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I am going Nuts! What to upgrade my original MBP to?

N

nph

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 9, 2005
1,054
216
I want to upgrade my original first gen MBP and am looking at either:
1) MBA rev B
2) Penryn MBP last gen glossy (since it is not glass)

Here are my key criteria:
- Less heat (most important!)
- Battery life
- Wifi reception
- Good screen for watching videos etc.

Portability is a plus since I am seriously considering the MBA although the line issue on the screen is holding me back.
I am not a hard core gamer so frame rate of quark etc is not an issue.
Video editing is also not a concern since we have an older imac in the house to handle any imovie or handbrake I want to run.

I just want a good laptop to bring with me when I travel and around the house that is cool (or at east not hot) with good wifi, screen and battery life.

I keep going back and forth between Penryn (stock is running out) and the new rev B MBA without making a decision.:confused:

What is your take/advice?

Would really appreciate if any first gen MBP owner who has upgraded could chime in as well!

Many thanks!
 
If portability is the most important, then go for the MBA.

If you enjoy watching movies on the go, and don't want to worry about keeping them all on an external, I'd go for the MBP - larger screen and hard drive.
 
If you want power but still want something small why not get a macbook, it will be small but still pretty powerful.

I went from a 17"mbp to a Alu MB and I'm really like the size and power.
 
Didnt like the screen. Lacks contrast big time in my view. Terrible viewing angle.
Besides that it is ok but the screen is a no-go for me.
 
I upgraded from a BlackBook, to MBP and MBA (orig), to a unibody MB then finally a MacBook Air rev B.

I absolutely LOVE my rev B MBA. I hated the original... well, I liked it for email and writing but other than that it was useless.

My rev B is MY ONLY MAC! Well, the only one I use. I have a backup with Windows that I use one day per month.

So, my rev B is an SSD 128 GB HD model. It absolutely feels like my fastest Mac ever. It seems to scream past everything. I know a lot of that is the SSD. I mean it boots in half the time of a MBP. Apps open INSTANTLY and everything works great. The CPU alone made a huge difference. Going from an overheating 65 nm CPU to a 45 NM Penryn made it a totally different computer. I use mine with a 24" LED Apple Cinema Display. It is stunning. My display on the MBA itself is the best laptop display I have ever owned.

The whole thing has been one excellent experience. I would NEVER go back from my MBA. I really make it work, and it never lets me down.

I completely and 100% recommend the rev B MBA to you. It will fly by your old MBP. It is light, and yet very powerful. It's cool. Definitely the coolest Mac I have ever owned.

Good luck with your decision.
 
I don't know about the new Airs, but the original ones were sluggish and extremely hot. I played with a friend's and within 5 minutes of googling and exploring OS X, the machine got really hot. I hear the Rev. B one's are better and the specs actually seem pretty reasonable now.

However, go with the Penryn Macbook Pro if you want more bang for your buck (faster processor, bigger hard drive, bigger screen, better graphics card, expandable memory, removeable battery, optical drive). The Macbook Pro isn't too unwieldy either. Battery life on the MBP is very good for a laptop of its power and size. I get around 3:30 on surfing the web. Once I was on the bus using my laptop :0 and was writing some code for my class with brightness turned down and no WiFi connection (though Airport was still on) and the battery meter read 4:30!
 
For what you need it for go for the MBA. It seems like your leaning towards it and you just want someone to say that it is a good idea
 
I'd go for the MBA if I were you.

Seems like an outstanding laptop. Now that its graphics processing isn't abysmal, you can actually do things on it and not make the fans go off all the time! ;)

Besides, rev A products are never perfect. Rev B MBA probably has a few unannounced kinks worked out.
 
I'd go for the Macbook Air, its well known it has a better screen than the Macbook which seems important to you, and you need portability and battery life, its a no brainer in my view.
 
Thanks, leaning toward the MBA right now due to less heat. Only thing now is timing since there seems to be quite a few MBA out there with bad screens (lines) so I wonder should I order from Amazon now and take a chance or wait and see if they fix it?

My take is that if they haven't fixed the screen yet, five months after it launched they probably wont and I simply have to hope for the best and return it if the screen is bad. I saw two almost perfect screens on the display units at Micro center and two really bad screens on the recently unpacked MBAs at two Best Buy near me. So to me it seems that even the last shipped units haven't got an improved screen but rather it is a random thing whether the screen is good or not.

Those of you who answered and have MBA were your screens sharp and nice and if so what week was it produced?

Thanks
 
bumzo1 I just read your answer again and LOL you are probably right!
:D
 
Any of our New unibody Notebooks will not disappoint users from the previous generation one's. I advise getting a new one (even if its refurbished).

This should help you make your own decision:

http://www.apple.com/getamac/whichmac/
:apple:


nph said:
I want to upgrade my original first gen MBP and am looking at either:
1) MBA rev B
2) Penryn MBP last gen glossy (since it is not glass)

Here are my key criteria:
- Less heat (most important!)
- Battery life
- Wifi reception
- Good screen for watching videos etc.

Portability is a plus since I am seriously considering the MBA although the line issue on the screen is holding me back.
I am not a hard core gamer so frame rate of quark etc is not an issue.
Video editing is also not a concern since we have an older imac in the house to handle any imovie or handbrake I want to run.

I just want a good laptop to bring with me when I travel and around the house that is cool (or at east not hot) with good wifi, screen and battery life.

I keep going back and forth between Penryn (stock is running out) and the new rev B MBA without making a decision.:confused:

What is your take/advice?

Would really appreciate if any first gen MBP owner who has upgraded could chime in as well!

Many thanks!
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