MacBook air 13 + iPad Air or retina MacBook Pro 13

[MilleDav01]

I have the option to choose as a " you got into vet school" computer from my mother. I can either choose to get a base 13 mba + maybe an iPad Air (would spend my own money to upgrade to air 2 as an exchange once I get it) or I can get a base retina MacBook Pro 13.

I think I'm leaning towards the mbp because I think I want to get a surface 3 (not pro) to bring to class to annotate on PDF and PowerPoint slides as it would not be my primary computer I would just get the base atom + 2GB ram when I do + the pen, no keyboard, so I could in theory leave my "heavy" MacBook Pro at home.

It's going to be used for the basics, plus very light video editing. I prefer the screen of the mbp. I just sold my Mba 2013 to offset the cost for her a bit. While I love the mba I love the retina screens.

Any opinions?

 

[dyt1983]

edit: to remove personally identifying information not relevant to thread.

 

[Failurbydesign]

Check out the certified refurbished apple page and compare refurbished rMBP with the base new one. I love my rMBP, it's really only used for web/music/photos. Sure I could have kept my MacBook air, but this runs much smoother and I can honestly say the fans hardly ever kick up.

When I bought mine B&H photo had the 2013 model with 8gb ram and 256 ssd for 1000 BRAND NEW! I had to jump on that! Keep an eye out for deals!

 

[itsOver9000]

rMBP + S3 for classes looks like it would be a nice setup.

I wish the Surface line had been around when I was in college. I had one of those HPs that the screen rotated around so you could write on it. It sucked. Worst of all it was required at enrollment time, but after a month or two it suddenly wasn't required..