Macbook Air or Pro refurbished for school...

[Sup3rknova]

Ok 1st, im keeping my iMac desktop. (iMac5,1, Intel Core 2 Duo,2 GHz) It still runs strong. I noticed there's Macbook Pros (refurbished) that are similar in price to new Airs. I like the bigger hard drives on the pros obviously. But i wanted to get some opinions on speed. I do heavy browsing, heavy itunes, mix some music, watch movies, maybe play around with photoshop. Which is better for my money? Im looking to purchase late August.

Also I assume (since im not a spec expert) that both will be a significant upgrade from my current iMac..(?) Will I see a huge difference? Thanks

 

[Sup3rknova]

bump

 

[sumone]

For your money I would go for the Pro. The 2011 Pro rates well in in performance and should easily be able to accommodate your needs. The benefit of the Pro is that you have more options/expandability, by that I mean it comes with more memory for the price for storing all of your files, it comes with 4GB Ram and its upgradable if need be, optical drive is there if you ever need it. I'm not sure how well the newer airs handle multitasking but the Pro should be able to handle it easily and if ever you'd like to increase the speed you always can install an SSD in your Pro. Also, for roughly the same price as the lower model MBA you can get a 13" MBP compared to an 11" Air. JMHO.

 

[darknite38]

Pro.

 

[TheGenerous]

MBA and isn't just because it's more portable but because it makes sense to have less HD space so that you focus on your work rather than playing dumb videos

 

[Scepticalscribe]

MBA and isn't just because it's more portable but because it makes sense to have less HD space so that you focus on your work rather than playing dumb videos

Ouch; but true.

It is a trade off between power and portability; the MBA is faster, has excellent screen resolution and is extremely portable. On the other hand, you seem to like/need power, and for that, the MBP is better. It is also better value.

I've had both and liked both; these days, I have a MBA, but then, I travel quite a bit, and portability matters to me.

Cheers

 

[feflower]

MBA and isn't just because it's more portable but because it makes sense to have less HD space so that you focus on your work rather than playing dumb videos

I agree with this statement. Humanities, you don't need anymore than 64gigs for SCHOOLWORK. There is no need to have 8 windows/apps open at once. Keep all your extra stuff on your iMac. Use your laptop as a dedicated academic machine.

 

[sumone]

I agree with this statement. Humanities, you don't need anymore than 64gigs for SCHOOLWORK. There is no need to have 8 windows/apps open at once. Keep all your extra stuff on your iMac. Use your laptop as a dedicated academic machine.

I kept reading the original post to figure out when the poster said that they were a humanities major....i seem to be missing that part. And I don't know why anybody would suggest that some one else intentionally go for less memory specifically when the OP said that the extra memory was something they liked. Plus a lack of memory is not going to stop some one from fooling around on the computer. Students these day probably spend more time on Facebook than watching videos...

 

[Orlandoech]

Pro for sure

 

[JayMysterio]

I myself am looking at refurbed Pros at tax free time.

Though I'd love the portability & speed of the new 13 Air, I like having the ability of upgrading. Thus a 15 Pro seems to be an appealing choice to me.

 

[iPhysicist]

My colleague has a new MBA13 4GB 128 and it is for university needs only. Some coding lots of LaTeX, papers, office... It is perfect for these needs. Its portable and with its "real live 7h battery" mobil where you need it.

So if your iMac is enough for everything else you will be happy with the MBA13.

If I were in for a new Laptop i would choose the 13MBA over the more powerful MBP. If the next 13MBP would have a 1440*900 or an even better Display with at 7h lasting Battery under working condition then I would go for the MBP again, but the more powerful CPU and the upgradeable RAM alone would not be enough to buy a 13MBP again.

 

[Sup3rknova]

Thanks all. Im going to go with the Pro. VERY good point about the extra space not being needed so i can focus on school work, although im focused enough to work when work needs to be done. But awesome point though. Im going to go with a 2011 refurbished pro. THANKS ALL!!

 

[Young Spade]

Good; you made the right choice. People often forget that the Pro is very thin itself; the extra couple of pounds and half inch of height virtually mean nothing.

People get so wrapped up in design hype that they make statements like "The Air is an ultra-portable that's going to be 10 times more mobile/portable than the pro."

It's only 0.27 inches thicker.