MBP vs MBA Hard Drive Question

[Bioguy35]

Hello everyone,

I am about to purchase my first mac and have narrowed my choice down to two:

13" MBP 2.3GHz i5, 4GB, 320GB HD or a 13" MBA 1.7GHz i5, 4GB 128GB HD.

I would like the machine to last me a while, so the thing that is giving me second doubts about the MBA is that you can't upgrade it. I've also read the the SSD in the air's are a better choice over the HD's in the MBP in terms of speed and reliability.

I know you can upgrade the RAM in the MBP, but could I also install a SSD down the road as well? Are there third party SSD's out there?

I'm tired of Windows hijinx (I had to fix a "black screen of death" problem in order to post this thread!).

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

 

[spazma7ik]

According to iFixIt's breakdown, it's definitely replaceable as it's not soldered to the MB.

And it's not just a marginal difference between a HDD and an SSD. The Macbook Air will have unbelievably faster load times/boot up speeds/etc. SSD's are damn near instantaneous in comparison to their HDD counterparts.

A HDD uses plates and heads that literally spin and pinpoint the location on the drive for a file. SSD's use flash memory which loads up programs/boots up the OS incredibly faster.

It'll be a night and day difference.

 

[snaky69]

Hello everyone,

I am about to purchase my first mac and have narrowed my choice down to two:

13" MBP 2.3GHz i5, 4GB, 320GB HD or a 13" MBA 1.7GHz i5, 4GB 128GB HD.

I would like the machine to last me a while, so the thing that is giving me second doubts about the MBA is that you can't upgrade it. I've also read the the SSD in the air's are a better choice over the HD's in the MBP in terms of speed and reliability.

I know you can upgrade the RAM in the MBP, but could I also install a SSD down the road as well? Are there third party SSD's out there?

I'm tired of Windows hijinx (I had to fix a "black screen of death" problem in order to post this thread!).

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

You can easily upgrade to a SSD, it takes literally all of 5 minutes to swap one in, then all you have to do is reinstall OS X.

What will you use the computer for? SSD's just aren't there yet in capacity, they aren't big enough for me yet, the lack of space is keeping me from upgrading.

 

[Bioguy35]

What will you use the computer for? SSD's just aren't there yet in capacity, they aren't big enough for me yet, the lack of space is keeping me from upgrading.

I'm a teacher, so I'd be researching/writing lesson plans, listening to music, light gaming, photo and video editing et.

I was leaning toward the MBA for portability and higher screen resolution, but the lack of ability to upgrade sent up some red flags. I tend to keep my computers for a while, and keep them up to date through upgrading ram etc.

It would probably be a year or so before I would consider the SSD upgrade, so hopefully by then the capacity will be larger.

 

[Young Spade]

What will you use the computer for? SSD's just aren't there yet in capacity, they aren't big enough for me yet, the lack of space is keeping me from upgrading.

I'm a teacher, so I'd be researching/writing lesson plans, listening to music, light gaming, photo and video editing et.

I was leaning toward the MBA for portability and higher screen resolution, but the lack of ability to upgrade sent up some red flags. I tend to keep my computers for a while, and keep them up to date through upgrading ram etc.

It would probably be a year or so before I would consider the SSD upgrade, so hopefully by then the capacity will be larger.

Get a baseline MBP.
Personally, if everything goes well, I'll actually be getting one tomorrow. I need a new computer for college and with the education upgrades, I can definitely get the baseline MBP. The MBA would be out of my budget 200 (wanted the 13 inch) and I would have had to sell my phone to get it. Not too keen on that one.

Bottom line, I'm getting the MBP. Faster clock speed, upgradable RAM, the same 7 hour battery and a better graphics card for games. Oh and it's cheaper for me with education pricing. I'm not complaining.