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Mac book for uni (on the move) - Macbook or Macbook Air

M

masteroftheseas

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 7, 2009
9
0
Hi, i purchased a 3.06ghz 2gb 24" iMac in October for uni - and i'm honestly thrilled with it. The only downside is - it portable (i know - pretty obvious but still). I've been looking at saving up for a some form of macbook to take around uni - to lectures etc. After browsing the internet i've found that it wouldn't really make much sense to pay around £1160 (with student discount for a standard 15.4" macbook pro) and that it would probably make more sense to get a 13" white macbook. this was before i discovered the price of 2nd hand macbook airs - which is not too much more than the 13" macbook.
i have looked in other forums and read the ups and downs of the macbook air etc. but still which to choose, as i do have a powerful iMac with a large screen.
 
If you need the CD drive don't get the MacBook Air. If you think 1.6 GHz is too slow get the MacBook
 
I used a 15" PowerBook at school every day until I was homeschooled and while a smaller one would of been useful weight matters more than size. I had to use a 15 inch because it was the only way I could get the resolution I needed on the screen. Then the 13 inch MacBook came out with the same resolution screen as my PowerBook but I never got one and now I don't need to take my computer everywhere anymore.
 
I would go for the MB, you can find them online at the refurbished store for a good discount. I have the 2.0 macbook and the only thing that I don't like is the no back lit keyboard, but I do surf the internet alot in the dark or poorly lit areas.
 
Macbook.

With student discount it's a pretty good deal. I'd go for the base model + 4GB ram + Applecare.

What's the point in dropping all this cash for MBA? No ports, no optical drive, not really lighter; slightly thinner, but who cares?

For 800quid Macbook with edu discount costs you, it's a steal.
 
L0s7man said:
What's the point in dropping all this cash for MBA? No ports, no optical drive, not really lighter; slightly thinner, but who cares?
Click to expand...

I do!

You should go with what ever is cheaper since you already have the power in your iMac and the differences between the macbook and air are not that great if you dont need the power and you can remote disk with the iMac.
 
Netbook. Dirt cheap, perfectly capable for your needs, and you can even instal OSX on many of them these days.
 
At this point, I think I'd only go for a refurb MBA if it was the rev. B version with the 9400M integrated graphics. If it was the rev A model, then forget it and go with a new or refurb MacBook.
 
Macbook Air.

You already have a workhorse machine at home, so there's no need to worry about processor speed. But if you do want to compare, consider the fact that the 6MB of L2 cache in the MBA is more than on the iMac and MacBook.

The RAM is 2GB on the MBA- same as on the MB. Both have the same RAM speed and FSB. 2 USB ports on the MB, 1 on the MBA. That's 1 extra USB port. When do you even need a single USB port while taking your notebook around university?

So the performance won't really be relevant to you. But what will, is the weight and thinness. The MacBook Air makes it so convenient to just slide into your bag and yet is still durable enough to be taken everywhere.
 
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