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AddisonRiley23

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 28, 2012
6
0
I am about to get a laptop for college. I was wondering what computer I should get. I will be using it for school so writing papers, research, web surfing and i enjoy watching movies and tv online. What are the pros and cons of both and which one will best suit me? Thanks
 
Do you need an optical drive? MBP
Do you need extra storage? MBP
Do you need small form factor? Air
Like up-gradability in the future? MBP
Better Screen Rez? Air
Slightly Quicker Processor (for the $1200-1400 Range) MBP
 
by upgrade-ability do you mean like os x lion or just in general? what is the difference between being able to and not being able to download between the mba and mbp?
 
I chose the MBP last week. I had one for the past five years and was great through college. Hard to go wrong.

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By upgrades I mean you can't upgrade space/RAM. So when you choose 4GB of ram on a MBP, you can open it up fairly easy and change it in a few years if you feel the computer is running a little too slow. In the air your stuck with what you choose (price of slim).

I guess there is a way to upgrade space on the (air?, reference?) but I know it is MUCH more difficult than the MBP.

Lion/Mt. Lion will all be the same on any comp you get.
 
i bought a mbp last week in fact its what i am typing on. however i will never use this cd drive and all these extra ports seem unnecessary. do you think 4gb is enough space for music and saving papers and software upgrades because I'm pretty sure thats all i will need it for
 
i bought a mbp last week in fact its what i am typing on. however i will never use this cd drive and all these extra ports seem unnecessary. do you think 4gb is enough space for music and saving papers and software upgrades because I'm pretty sure thats all i will need it for

You have 4gb of ram NOT space! If you multi task a lot then 8gb is better. That is if you like to open iPhone,iTunes,photoshop ,etc at the same time. If you don't know the difference between ram and storage space then i suppose 4gb is enough for you.
 
I think you should go with Air, the pro would be a better choice had Apple upgraded the screen resolution to match Air.
 
Either will work fine. If you are on a tight budget I'd go with the pro. The early 2011 2.3 refurb for $799 is a good deal for someone where cost is a concern.

If money isn't an issue then I'd go with the 13" Air. It is what I use and this was the logic I used when making the purchase. Being able to upgrade the HDD and RAM is nice, but I can get the 8GB I need in an Air now and the SSD is already installed, so there's really no need for me to upgrade the hard drive. Add in the lighter weight, thinness and higher res screen and it was a fairly easy choice.
 
It seems you are desiring the air and want some validation to return your mbp and get the air. You should return the mbp and get the air. For your needs air is great. Both machines are great and would more than suffice your needs. So you can't go wrong here with either machine. you can always buy a superdrive (for CD and DVD) and connect to the air later if you need to.

Get the air. lightweight, more cool looking (you will feel cooler/sophisticated), and more zippy with ssd. you will feel better and lessen any regrets. you know you want the air. go now.

your welcome.
 
if i had to get a laptop and planned on doing exactly what you said (itunes/movies/etc), i'd definitely get the air.
 
It seems you are desiring the air and want some validation to return your mbp and get the air. You should return the mbp and get the air. For your needs air is great. Both machines are great and would more than suffice your needs. So you can't go wrong here with either machine. you can always buy a superdrive (for CD and DVD) and connect to the air later if you need to.

Get the air. lightweight, more cool looking (you will feel cooler/sophisticated), and more zippy with ssd. you will feel better and lessen any regrets. you know you want the air. go now.

your welcome.

Haha. I nominate this for post of the day!
 
the air doesn't have the antiglare screen. for you air users has it been a problem?

13" Pro doesn't have AG either (or the option for it), so I didn't really take that into account.

Personally I don't use the laptop outside or in a room with with my back to a window, so it hasn't been an issue for me.
 
by upgrade-ability do you mean like os x lion or just in general? what is the difference between being able to and not being able to download between the mba and mbp?

By upgradeability they're talking about being able to upgrade the RAM and hard drive yourself in the future.

With the 13" MBP it's pretty easy to upgrade those. With the Air you can't upgrade the RAM, and upgrading the flash storage can be expensive.
 
the air doesn't have the antiglare screen. for you air users has it been a problem?

There's no glass in front of the MBA screen so it doesn't have that much glare. It's like in between a glossy and anti-glare MBP screen. It even has less glare than the rMBP which itself has less glare than regular MBPs.

ifwt_macbook_pro_2012_macbook_air.png
 
Psychic?

you literally read my mind with those first two sentences haha thanks
It seems you are desiring the air and want some validation to return your mbp and get the air. You should return the mbp and get the air. For your needs air is great. Both machines are great and would more than suffice your needs. So you can't go wrong here with either machine. you can always buy a superdrive (for CD and DVD) and connect to the air later if you need to.

Get the air. lightweight, more cool looking (you will feel cooler/sophisticated), and more zippy with ssd. you will feel better and lessen any regrets. you know you want the air. go now.

your welcome.
 
I chose a MBP based on my storage needs and ability to upgrade the RAM. Saved a ton of cash and got 10x the resources. Was a no brainer for me and my needs.
 
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