MBP 2.5 Core 2 Duo to MBA i7 - Upgrade or Downgrade??

[jiholl]

My current macbook Pro 15.4 is about 3.5 years old...it has a 2.5 Ghz Core 2 Duo processor, 4 GB RAM, and a NVIDIA 8600M GT 512 MB Video Card....so Im curious..If I "UPGRADE" to a Macbook Air, 13 inch, i7 processor, 4GB RAM, Intel HD 3000 Graphics, etc....am I actually "upgrading" or "Downgrading"???

I plan on using the MacBook Air as a desktop connected to an apple 27inch Thunderbolt display...giving me both a desktop and laptop if I want portability.

I know processor is faster, but am I loosing something with the graphics? Oh..I mostly just use the mac for very ordinary everyday tasks....only thing I sometimes do is Google Earth or Google street view in maps...that is kind of 3D though so am I going to miss the discrete video card?

I know I could save money and go imac route...but imac seems so "ordinary" and I love apple design and the MBA.

Thanks for thoughts.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Google Earth will run on an Intel 3000 HD.
As for faster/slower, look here:
Mac Benchmarks by Geekbench

PS: Due to the SSD inside the MBA, the MBA feels at least faster during everyday tasks.
But the i7 is probably faster than the C2D too.

 

[Boyd01]

I think you will find it a big upgrade in terms of performance. I came from a 2008 MBP with the same basic specs - see my post here: https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/14361757/

Of course, you will be giving up firewire, expresscard and DVI ports but I'm not finding much of problem with that. Also note that my MBA is the i5 version, so the i7 may be even a little faster.

 

[jmgregory1]

As noted by others, everyday tasks will scream on the mba. I went for an 07 mbp 15" with c2d 2.4 and I have a hard time even going back to dig things up on the old rig, when I need to. Even my wife's work 13" 2011 mbp crawls compared to my work air. She just told me we're going to get an air for her to use during non-work times so she isn't compelled to keep borrowing mine.

She asked if it would make more sense to get an iPad for her, but I just can't find any good reasons to get one compared to the air. That's how good the airs are.

 

[raftr]

I went up from a 2.4GHz Core2Duo with 6GB RAM and a fast hybrid SSD/HDD drive.

The difference in speed is staggering, there is no going back from here. Not to mention the older computer's fan kept spinning all the time in Lion which is very telling when it comes to Lion not being optimised for Core2Duo computers.