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groovdudeyo

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 16, 2008
234
0
Im not sure which one I should get. Im going to start giving piano lessons and by my calculations I should have about ten thousand dollars in 1 year so price doesnt matter.
 
Yes, it does matter. Don't blow money just because you have extra.

In any case, what will you be doing with this machine?
 
2 completely different machines. If you don't do any heavy productivity then the Air.
But sometimes spoiling yourself is fine also :D
 
I tried the Air and it felt like a toy. Looks good when it's closed, but I use my computer open. I got the MBP. No comparison. The Air is cool, but it's far below the mBP in performance. I asked 6-7 Apple people, and they all quietly gave me that look, and said 'Trust me, but the MBP.' That, even though the Air cost more. You could tell they were trying nicely to hint that for any kind of power usage, the MBP was far superior. I lusted after the Air. Like thinking about the hot college cheerleader who might have read SOME Shakespeare. Then I got the Pro.
 
I would purchase the MBP, however if all you do is cruise the internet an Air would do you fine if you need the form factor.

Tracer
 
If portability is more important to you get the Air as it's only 3 pounds and very easy to carry around. If you won't be moving the machine around much and performance is more important get the Pro instead as it's almost twice the weight of the Air.
 
I've got both a maxxed out 15 inch Uni MBP (2.8 GHz, 4 GB RAM, 320@7200) and this past Sunday I bought a new Rev B base MBA (1.6/120 HDD). Both are pristine and suffer from none of the issues people have had consistently with either model.

I love both machines to death, but here are a few impessions:

Everyone in the air forum goes on about how wonderful the screen is. I have one that is thankfully devoid of the dreaded lines, and it is by all means a great screen. Until I compare it to the MBP, or even worse, the 24 inch LED ACD. The screen is great but compared to the MBP it doesn't hold a candle. Far more yellow (even after using someone else's beautiful color profile) compared to the MBP, not nearly as contrasty, and the colors just don't "pop" like they do on the MBP.

The keyboard of the air doesn't light up nearly as much as the MBP. A non-issue, but nonetheless.

The pro seemed small and light and thin for a fifteen inch laptop...til I got the air. Now it just feels huge, heavy, and bloated.

The pro is much, much faster at opening programs and processing heavy usage like HD video, handbrake, etc. I haven't done any handbrake with the air (don't intend to) so I can't comment there, but even video can on rare occasion stutter on the air despite being a revision B. That said, it plays most videos without flaw.

Heat management is good on both. The MBP tends to run around 40*C when just doing a few things, copared to the MBA's 50*C for the same. With a normal amount of apps open (itunes, safari, skype, AIM, etc), expect the air to hang in the the low fifties, and the MBP to be in the high 40s, with stock fan settings.

The downer to the air is that it doesn't open up very far, making it impossible to put on your knees in bed if you have your knees kind of up to your chest...legs must lay flat on the bed.

The air's keyboard is quieter and has a better feel to it compared to the MBP.

Both machines are gorgeous.

The air is GREAT for taking to work and laying on the bed surfing the net while the MBP/24 inch do the movie task.

Perhaps only because I've had it a mere four days, and perhaps because I've always been partial to small, small laptops (swore I'd never go bigger than 12 inches, then went to to a 13.3 inch dell before going to a 15.4 inch MBP), I absolutely love the Air and find myself using it more often than the pro for my everyday simple tasks. I find that I do i fact use both, as I often watch movies on the ACD and have the pro hooked up to that, but since getting the Air I've used it more as I haven't had to do much "heavy lifting" so-to-speak where the pro really shines.

That said, it really comes down to what you use it for. My MBP is basically a work horse desktop replacement while my Air is a work and travel whore.

Hope this helps.
 
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