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Macbook Air or Macbook Pro??

E

Eyedn

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 14, 2009
115
0
Yes another one of these threads, really looking for some advice.

Im currently a PC user..

my specs are C2Quad 2.4ghz
4GB Ram & 460GB HD..

The two Notebook's i am stuck on do contrast each other quite a bit and i am worried if going with the MBA would be a downgrade...however i know the SSD would provide a boost. Im not too keen on the Macbook because of the screen.

Any thoughts or advice on which model to get.

I would mainly be using iLife and iWork, maybe Logic Express, Web browsing & Music.

Thanks.
 
Eyedn said:
Yes another one of these threads, really looking for some advice.

I would mainly be using iLife and iWork, maybe Logic Express, Web browsing & Music.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

For those purposes, you could really buy either. Just up to you whether you can justify the performance hit, more in terms of product longevity than anything else.
 
I know, its such a hard decision, its a shame the air doesn't go up to a 256SSD, does anyone know if these are in production yet? thanks for the reply.
 
Eyedn said:
Any thoughts or advice on which model to get.
Click to expand...

If you travel constantly and have to carry your machine all day, the Air is worth its lack of weight in gold. Otherwise, the Pro is a more capable machine.
 
I'm not really sure what it is about the MacBook's screen you don't like. It can't be the resolution, because that is shared with the MacBook Air.

I know, the panel inside is not of the highest quality but I'm looking at mine right now and it doesn't look bad at all. The only time I have problems is if I look at it from the side, above or below. I don't use my computer in any of these positions so it really doesn't bother me.

Quite frankly, for what you want to do you'd be wasting your money if you bought either the Air or the Pro. You simply don't need the power of the Pro and I've always been a firm believer that Air is a complete waste of money because it is the same width and depth as the regular MacBook, yet it is slow and has very few features.
 
Thanks for your opinions...

neiltc13 said:
Quite frankly, for what you want to do you'd be wasting your money if you bought either the Air or the Pro. You simply don't need the power of the Pro and I've always been a firm believer that Air is a complete waste of money because it is the same width and depth as the regular MacBook, yet it is slow and has very few features.
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It wasn't so much the power of the pro i was after, it really is the screen. The MBA screen is different to the MB and i do prefer it, however the MBP screen is bigger and looks nicer to me..:confused::confused:
 
That should be a rather easy decision based on your needs. The MBA's strong suit is that it's more portable. The MBP's strong suit is that it's as close to a desktop alternative as you are going to find in the Mac line.

The MBA is barebones on all aspects: ports, proc, video, RAM. It's not a netbook per se but functionally it is. The MBA, functionally, compares with well with an iMac.

So what is boils down to is, do you want to buy portability or power? The MBA isn't heavy, but it's not light either, especially if you are changing planes in Atlanta or Chicago or some other ginormous airport. OTOH don't expect the MBA to run Photoshop CS4 like a champ.
 
Simple, if you want portability, and are willing to sacrifice the power, go for the Air. If you don't mind the weight, and want a beast of a machine, go with the Pro.

Oh and yes, Apple typically uses higher quality screens in their Pro notebooks, although the Air one is nice.

I would go for the Pro. Although the Air will do everything you described, except for maybe Logic.
 
I had a similar problem last year with a choice between a mba or a mbp. In the end I decided to go for the mbp, the bigger screen and the more power for not much more than the air did it for me. (with hindsight the air would not have been powerful enough for me) I can put up with the fact that the pro is heavier than the air. I do travel with it and don't mind it at all. Worth the trade off, for me anyway. If you don't need the power and can put up with the extra weight maybe look at the macbook
 
Go for the Pro. You'll regret it otherwise. It is still a pretty lightweight laptop, and the screen is just fantastic. The MacBook's screen is really poor, viewing angles suck and viewing straight on, from top to bottom there is a huge difference in the blacks. The Air's screen is beautiful though!

The Pro has the advantage that it has a much more powerful CPU and a dedicated GPU, plus you can upgrade the hard drive yourself. You might not need all that power just now, but if you get into Logic Express, and have lots of tracks playing at once then the more CPU power you have the better.

Plus the Pro has FireWire 800 and ExpressCard34, so you can hook up some decent audio recording gear. Again, you might not need/want that now, but you are future proofing yourself ;)

They are basically the same price, and I think you'll regret not getting the Pro.
 
Kilamite said:
The MacBook's screen is really poor, viewing angles suck and viewing straight on, from top to bottom there is a huge difference in the blacks. The Air's screen is beautiful though!
Click to expand...

Exactly my reasoning. They are both so nice and i do agree that if i do end up working in Logic the MBP will be of great benefit. Shame i can't get both:cool:...
 
Kilamite said:
Go for the Pro. You'll regret it otherwise. It is still a pretty lightweight laptop, and the screen is just fantastic. The MacBook's screen is really poor, viewing angles suck and viewing straight on, from top to bottom there is a huge difference in the blacks. The Air's screen is beautiful though!
Click to expand...

The screen isn't as good as the others, but it's fine head on. It probably doesn't have the most faithful colour reproduction, but the OP isn't a graphic designer or anything are they?
 
neiltc13 said:
The screen isn't as good as the others, but it's fine head on. It probably doesn't have the most faithful colour reproduction, but the OP isn't a graphic designer or anything are they?
Click to expand...

Neither am I. Doesn't mean I don't want a good screen ;)

The MacBook, even head on, has a slightly washed out screen, and the blacks are pretty poor. Not a big deal to most people, but the OP, like me, likes to have a nice quality screen. Good for watching movies for a start, and plus when you move your head an inch to the side, the colours don't diffuse ;)
 
I'd go for the MBP. You just get so much more with it (like the above poster mentioned, you will regret getting the Air when you want to do more with your Mac).

IMO the Air is just a waste and I predict it to be discontinued in 2010. What is the advantage of the Air over a Macbook anyway? Just because its thinner? Now that the Macbooks are Aluminum, they might as well just stop making the Air.
 
Gunga Din said:
I'd go for the MBP. You just get so much more with it (like the above poster mentioned, you will regret getting the Air when you want to do more with your Mac).

IMO the Air is just a waste and I predict it to be discontinued in 2010. What is the advantage of the Air over a Macbook anyway? Just because its thinner? Now that the Macbooks are Aluminum, they might as well just stop making the Air.
Click to expand...

It's just a choice of form over function, i love the form of the MBA but the function of the MBP. I doubt they will discontinue it though.
 
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