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I can't decide! Help!

H

HenryHealy

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 1, 2011
69
1
I need to get a new laptop. I have always wanted a Mac but never had enough money but now I do. I've always used Windows but Windows 8 looks terrible and using the Consumer Preview really made me realise how bad it is on laptops.

I've decided to go with either a MacBook Pro or a MacBook Air. If I went with the Pro, it would be the old 13" base model but I would be upgrading the RAM to 8GB through OWC ($60 cheaper) and maybe an 128GB SSD but if not, the 750GB HDD. The other option is the base 13" model with 8GB of RAM. Considering that I have no plans to use this for gaming, Photoshop, Aperture or Final Cut Pro (maybe some small usage of iMovie), which would you get for your main laptop to use with iTunes, browsing and so on.

As this will be my first Mac, then everything helps.
 
HenryHealy said:
I need to get a new laptop. I have always wanted a Mac but never had enough money but now I do. I've always used Windows but Windows 8 looks terrible and using the Consumer Preview really made me realise how bad it is on laptops.

I've decided to go with either a MacBook Pro or a MacBook Air. If I went with the Pro, it would be the old 13" base model but I would be upgrading the RAM to 8GB through OWC ($60 cheaper) and maybe an 128GB SSD but if not, the 750GB HDD. The other option is the base 13" model with 8GB of RAM. Considering that I have no plans to use this for gaming, Photoshop, Aperture or Final Cut Pro (maybe some small usage of iMovie), which would you get for your main laptop to use with iTunes, browsing and so on.

As this will be my first Mac, then everything helps.
Click to expand...


I suggest you get the 13" MacBook Air and just upgrade the ram to 8GB and if 128gb SSD is enough for you it will suit you well. Or you could get the $1499 MacBook Air with 256GB SSD, unless that's too much.

13" MacBook Pro line will likely be phased out by next year as they come out with a retina model possibly this October. So Retina is also an option if you can hold out till October, but no guarantees.
 
Another vote for the 2012 13" Air from me, especially since you were thinking about a 128GB SSD in the 13" Pro anyway.
 
I vote for the base model 13" MBP. It's a great value for the money. I do not care for the MBA display and I think that it is rather fragile compared to the MBP. The cost for a decent sized SSD isn't worth it to me; speed isn't everything if money is tight.

A nice bonus is that you can continue to run your Windows software on the Mac.
 
I am most likely going to get the Air and as for the extra storage I'll just buy an external hard drive.
 
I like the the MBP it's solid and looks like it'll last forever. It has user replaceable parts as well. I say go with the MBP 13".

Either way enjoy! :)
 
I have Chrome open with 22 tabs, Safari open with 4 tabs and Excel open with three spreadsheets on my Mid 2011 MBA 13" 4GB system. Nothing really taxing here and with it pretty much idle, I am using 3.5GB of my 4GB memoy. Heaven forbid I open Aperture. 8GB is the way to go.
 
HenryHealy said:
Because you can't replace it in a few years, so it's better to get 8GB than to be stuck with 4GB in a few years time
Click to expand...

Agreed. Especially since it only brings the machine up to $1299, the same as the base 13" Air with 4GB cost last year.
 
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