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MB or MBA to replace MBP

S

sbb155

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 15, 2005
498
5
I have a MBP, 1 year old.
I use my laptop for video presentations and keynote presentations for business. I do very light video editing (using QT pro, not final cut) from an external usb hard drive on the road. But my primary use is presentations.
I am a road warrior - travel >100,000 miles per year by air. The MBP is a great machine, but really too big for my extensive airline travel.
It seems like a MB is probably what i need, as the form factor of it and the MBA are similar. What do you think? pros and cons?
Price is a secondary not a primary consideration
 
Hmm. I travel more or less as frequently as you do and don't find the MBP to be more of a hassle to tote around than a bunch of folders.

Anyways, the MBA will be able to do all the tasks you describe more than adequately. For portability you really can't beat it.
 
I travel as much as you and usually get upgraded to fly first class :cool:
MBP should not hinder you that much. I found my problem was my bag. I changed from a backpack to a smaller bag which limited the amount of gadgets that I carry.
 
miles01110 said:
For portability you really can't beat it.
Click to expand...

You mean, you can't beat it if you buy a Mac. There are many, many better choices for portability if you broaden your horizons beyond the Apple Store.

MacBook and MacBook Air are almost identical in terms of width and depth. The only dimension which is significantly different is the thickness, and even then it is only by a fraction at the thickest point.

What this means is that you won't be able to fit a MacBook Air on a tray table which can't hold a MacBook. It's not a true ultraportable because it has a 13" screen.

Air is a little lighter, but if you've got other baggage then the extra isn't going to really be noticeable if you go for the MacBook. Personally, I don't understand why people would spend extra money on the Air and get a machine which is significantly inferior.

Go with the 2.0GHz MacBook.
 
Macbook

I just switched from a six month old MBP 2.4 with 4GB RAM to a UMB 2.4 4GB RAM and threw in a WD Scorpio Black. Let me just tell you the performance is not an issue, this thing cooks. I really dont play any games on here, but I did download a couple just to try out the new video card and it seems to run pretty well. Over all I am happy that I switched.

Pros
-Easily upgradable HD
-No faulty graphics chip
-Faster system bus
-Rock solid construction
-New trackpad (that could go either way honestly, but the glass feels really smooth)
-Portability

Cons
-Screen size
-Display panel (much smaller viewing angle, but with a proper color profile it does not look a third as bad as some people say)
-RAM not as easily upgradable (still not difficult though)
-Chicklet keyboard? (I like it)
-Backlit keyboard only on 2.4 model
-Glossy display (I like the look of it most of the time)
-Slower graphics chip

As you can see, most of the cons revolve around the display in one way or another. Do you like glossy displays and are you doing very color sensitive work without the help of an external display? These are the things you will need to decide for yourself. If you can work around them then I think the macbook is a wonderful computer, I really couldnt be happier with mine. Good Luck!
 
The 15" MBP just doesnt cut it for me in the portability area. Too big for high mobility. Sure I see people with even 17" laptops in first class, but it doesnt do it for me. Prefer 13" at the largest.
 
Something which may be worth considering is that with the MacBook and the Air you require an adapter to output video. If you have the old MacBook Pro (with the silver keyboard) you have a full size DVI port on there, so you can connect it up to a DVI projector without any dongles.
 
neiltc13 said:
Something which may be worth considering is that with the MacBook and the Air you require an adapter to output video. If you have the old MacBook Pro (with the silver keyboard) you have a full size DVI port on there, so you can connect it up to a DVI projector without any dongles.
Click to expand...

almost everywhere i present, it is a vga connector, so i carry a dongle no matter what
 
Will you miss a built-in Superdrive? Or is having an external no big deal?

What are your hard drive needs? Macbooks have higher capasities.

A Macbook gives you both of these at the expence of being a bit thicker, and about a pound heavier.
 
ButtUglyJeff said:
Will you miss a built-in Superdrive? Or is having an external no big deal?

What are your hard drive needs? Macbooks have higher capasities.

A Macbook gives you both of these at the expence of being a bit thicker, and about a pound heavier.
Click to expand...

sounds more and more that the MB is for me... one has to wonder, if the MBA isnt for me, then is it really for anyone
 
For all of your traveling I would go with the Macbook Air. It's slimmer and lighter than the Macbook making it the easiest to carry around when traveling, especially going through the airport (security, carry on, etc.) and will accommodate all of your needs as far as presentations go, plus it'll make you look cooler for all of your clients and that always helps. I've never used QT Pro so I don't know how much resources it would take up, but if you're going to keep your MBP too then you could just use that for video editing if the MBA doesn't cut it.
 
sbb155 said:
I have a MBP, 1 year old.
I use my laptop for video presentations and keynote presentations for business. I do very light video editing (using QT pro, not final cut) from an external usb hard drive on the road. But my primary use is presentations.
I am a road warrior - travel >100,000 miles per year by air. The MBP is a great machine, but really too big for my extensive airline travel.
It seems like a MB is probably what i need, as the form factor of it and the MBA are similar. What do you think? pros and cons?
Price is a secondary not a primary consideration
Click to expand...

You want light? How about this and an iPhone? Pico Projector.

http://www.aaxatech.com/products/kp190.htm?gclid=CN7EnKjZyJkCFSQeDQodJDWQvA
 
tbae12 said:
For all of your traveling I would go with the Macbook Air. It's slimmer and lighter than the Macbook making it the easiest to carry around when traveling, especially going through the airport (security, carry on, etc.) and will accommodate all of your needs as far as presentations go, plus it'll make you look cooler for all of your clients and that always helps. I've never used QT Pro so I don't know how much resources it would take up, but if you're going to keep your MBP too then you could just use that for video editing if the MBA doesn't cut it.
Click to expand...

If someone pulled out a MacBook Air in a meeting with me, the first thing I'd think is that this person values style over substance. Fine if you work in fashion, but not so much elsewhere.

How exactly will the Air be better for "going through the airport" than the MacBook? They are the same width and depth, you won't get the Air in a scanner tray which doesn't hold the MacBook.
 
neiltc13 said:
You mean, you can't beat it if you buy a Mac. There are many, many better choices for portability if you broaden your horizons beyond the Apple Store.
Click to expand...

sbb155 said:
I use my laptop for video presentations and keynote presentations for business.
...
It seems like a MB is probably what i need, as the form factor of it and the MBA are similar. What do you think? pros and cons?
Click to expand...

Reasonable assumption that the OP was asking for pros and cons of the Macbook and the Macbook Air, only. Keynote also won't run on another operating system.

neiltc13 said:
If someone pulled out a MacBook Air in a meeting with me, the first thing I'd think is that this person values style over substance. Fine if you work in fashion, but not so much elsewhere.
Click to expand...

The Macbook Air is designed to be the ultra-portable Apple notebook. If you judge the merits of a presenter/presentation on what kind of platform they deliver it on, then that's a) quite unprofessional and b) silly.

They are the same width and depth, you won't get the Air in a scanner tray which doesn't hold the MacBook.
Click to expand...

Portability isn't based on width and depth alone. The MBA is 33% lighter than the MB. Portability over performance enhancement.
 
neiltc13 said:
If someone pulled out a MacBook Air in a meeting with me, the first thing I'd think is that this person values style over substance. Fine if you work in fashion, but not so much elsewhere.

How exactly will the Air be better for "going through the airport" than the MacBook? They are the same width and depth, you won't get the Air in a scanner tray which doesn't hold the MacBook.
Click to expand...

Over the last year, the Macbook Air as served me very well in purely functional, substantive ways.

1. If you are traveling a lot and are able to shave 2 lbs off your carry-on, that is something substantive. Your bag is noticeably lighter.

2. On 75,000 miles of flying the last year, the ability to just throw the notebook in the seat pocket in front of you for take-off and landing, I have found very useful.

3. Archives generally have very restrictive measures on what can be taken into reading rooms. For instance, at the American National Archives in College Park, the lockers are in the basement, the paper reading is room is a couple floors above that, and the microfilm floor above that. You have to go through security going in and out. Being able to have a robust, very light notebook to get around all day with is very useful. Further, having a useable keyboard and big enough display for 8+ hours of work in an archive is an absolute pleasure compared to people using small displayed, small keyboard ultra-portables or large heavy notebooks.

Granted, now that the 13" macbook is a bit lighter and thinner, there might be less of a case for the Air. I would certainly think twice.

That said, the Air is an incredibly utilitarian notebook for a certain group of people who want something light, yet is comfortable working on it all day.

The Macbook Air might not the notebook for you, but when it was released there is nothing as useable in its weight class.
 
neiltc13 said:
You mean, you can't beat it if you buy a Mac. There are many, many better choices for portability if you broaden your horizons beyond the Apple Store.
Click to expand...

Wow, once again you bring along your windows hat and Mac torch...

He wouldnt post on Mac Forums about buying a MB or MBA if he/she wanted something else.
 
Eyedn said:
Wow, once again you bring along your windows hat and Mac torch...

He wouldnt post on Mac Forums about buying a MB or MBA if he/she wanted something else.
Click to expand...

It would be foolish not to consider offerings from other companies. I think Sony is a good place to start.
 
neiltc13 said:
It would be foolish not to consider offerings from other companies. I think Sony is a good place to start.
Click to expand...

Why? The OP wants a Mac.

Sony is such a good choice you recommended a Macbook 2.0? Good point.

Apologies for moving off the discussion, I would go for the MBA, perfect for your needs and nice and light for traveling.
 
Well let me tell you...
I originally bought a dell mini 9, and using SIMPLE online instructions, I converted it into a Macbook "nano"... it was GREAT for surfing the internet and basic word processing... but when it came to running video on keynote... forget about it.... It was still the best $300 I ever spent (check out dell refurb store - everyone needs one of these), and I use the netbook all the time with XP to do "netbook things" - word processing and email. If those things are the goal, there is NO NEED to get a MBA. Any netbook can do those things...
I need the ability to do MINOR video editing on the road - with QT pro.. never final cut. Just got back from the apple store, and it is VERY difficult to tell the difference between the MBA and the MB as far as weight. Sure, alone, the difference is noticeable, but when I put them into my laptop bag, with cords, small external drive, ipod, phone, chargers, files, pens, headphones, the 1 lb difference seems a little irrelevant.

Still, the MBA has a certain subtle portability that the MB doesnt have. But, the lack of optical drive, USB ports, and slower speed really got to me... But the really big deal is the lack of a removable battery... For road warriors, having and using an extra battery is important - I put it into my main suitcase, but pull it out if necessary.

Price is not really an object - this is a corporate purchase and the dollars are not important.

The MBA looks great and is great... if it had a few more USB ports and a removal battery, i might feel differently... Hmmmm. I am sure I'd be happy with either.

From a practical standpoint, the MB probably gives me better video editing performance as I can get 4gb of ram...
 
I would go with the Macbook Air. If you still want a little extra out of your computer go with the Macbook.

good luck let us know with what you have decided.
 
If i were you, go for the MB. I think you will miss out on the features of the MB if you go for the MBA. It's easier with a built in superdrive, several usb ports instead of carrying around an external superdrive and usb hub for the MBA. The MB will also give you more RAM, HDD space etc.
 
sbb155 said:
I use my laptop for video presentations and keynote presentations for business.
Click to expand...

Did you take a look at the different viewing angles between the MBA and MB? I compared MBP (same quality screen as MBA) vs. MB yesterday by watching a movie trailer and the color distortion was dramatic beyond reasonable front-viewing angles.

You said you hook up to a projector, so unless clients actually watch the video on your screen it wouldn't matter.
 
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