Need Help Deciding

To be honest, I think if you are not sure of why you need the MBA, I would go with the MB/P. You could very well find yourself missing the expandability those models afford down the line. Not trying to put you off a very nice machine, but you really should be aware of its limitations.

In a minute you will have 20 posts telling you the MBA 'sucks', but try to look past that and really think about what you will need to use it for now and in the near future...

Good luck,

C

 

Oh and as to 'when' to buy... Buy it when you need it. I think people get far to obsessed with waiting on that extra 0.2Mhz increase. If you need it, then buy it. If you can wait for the next upgrade then wait.



C

 

There is nothing negative about the MBA. Is there any advantages you would think you would have by getting the MB over the MBA?

 

If you want a solid computer for your money, get the Macbook. If you like paying more for less, get the Macbook Air. You'll learn soon enough in college how hard money is to come by.

 

I would at least wait until the MBA is shipped and we get reviews from people who actually own them, because for right now we only have speculations/ideas and reviews from people who haven't used it for more than a few minutes (a few hours at most).

If you are really looking for productivity though, then I would get the MB, and not the MBA, the MBA is only really productive if you are constantly using it on the move. The MB beats the MBA on almost all productivity specs, the MB would suit you just as well for being on the move.

 

Hey ipodtouchy333, student here too.
I got a macbook in Oct 07 and haven't regretted it once!

I can definately assure you that you won't be disappointed if you get one.
Its the most obvious option in the mac family for web browsing, word processing, itunes and all that, but if you're doing alot of programming or movie editing you might be better off with the macbook pro, definately not the macbook air though!

If you just want a mac that is able to do 'average' stuff, surf the net, produce documents, play around with etc, the choice is between macbook and macbook air I think.

A word of caution for the macbook air though: Will you be able to live without a CD Drive and lack of ethernet port? Remember that your college probably won't be totally wifi and if collegues give you work on a CD etc. It is a bit ahead of its time right now, but 3 years and it'll be way behind standard future models.


Hope that helps!

 

Personally I just bought a white MB. I'm adding a 250GB Western Digital HD and 4GB of RAM and will still come up less cost than the MBA.

You would probably be better served with a refurb MBP or a MB. The MBA is aimed at a specific market, and it will carry a big "Gee Whiz" factor. But as a college student you have to assume (not knowing your major) that it is likely that:
One: that at some point you will run into the need for a computer that will run Windoze software. That will take up a chunk of your HD and your RAM.
Two: you will want to carry more entertainment media than the average business user. You'll be surprised how quickly 80GB can go if you start carrying around movies to give you something to do during, sorry, between classes.

Unless you have some sort of a base station computer you will probably find yourself limited by the 80GB HD. While the MBA weighs 2 lbs. less than a MB (or about the weight of a medium text book) it's not that much thinner.

If you have the money, want the latest design, and are willing to accept the compromises that Apple made then buy a MBA. If you want a tough, proven design that is a bit bigger and has a larger screen get a refurb MBP. If you want that somewhat smaller footprint but a system that you can easily upgrade yourself then try a MB.

 

Tough? The Macbook Pro? There must be a misunderstanding here.

 

+1. The Macbook is tougher than the MBP for the same reason the iBook was tougher than the Powerbook.

 

Until I can afford to drop a MacBook and a MacBook Pro side-by-side off my roof, I'm reserving judgement on "toughness". I've seen no real evidence, other than people's expectation that the aluminum case is more fragile, that sways the argument either way.

 

I'd say no way to the notion that the the macbook/ibook wins in toughness. Not even close.

 

Thats a great point...i'm a student too and have found the cd drive on my macbook to be invaluable. It's just far more practical than having to rely on email or a usb stick to more your work about etc.

Also if you did get the macbook air, you'd really need another computer in your room (be that a pc or whatever) to do all that remote disk stuff and from my experience space is at a premium in your college room (probably the reason you'd be after a laptop in the first place). You dont want to be having to go round to a friends room all the time just to load on a program or even rip a music cd.

Also i think in the majority of uni's (in the uk at least) the internet is via ethernet in your halls of residence and then in a few bars and that kind of thing on campus. Obviously you can check beforehand but it'd be totally frustrating if you got there and realised that you couldn't access the internet from your room.

To me it sounds as if the macbook is the safer option...my black book looks great too and i love it. I was regretting not getting the mbp for a while but now i've got used to this i know i made the right decision