rMB or Air? (both fully upgraded)

[0879397]

I'll be traveling in a few weeks and I would like to replace my not-so-portable 27" iMac (Late 2012) to a new MacBook.

My two options that I've been looking after are:

1. 13-inch MacBook Air upgraded to i7, 8GB of RAM, and a 512 SSD.
2. Retina MacBook upgraded to 1.3GHz and a 512 SSD. (Already comes with 8GB of RAM.)

I would use it mainly for surfing the web, the new Photos.app, Pages, and very light 1080p (24FPS) Final Cut editing - overall, very light use.
Battery life is important to me as I will travel a lot (mainly trains).

My questions are:

1. Which has a better battery life?
2. Will I notice a poor screen from the Air even if I come from a non-Retina device? My iMac has 2560 by 1440 on 27" screen.
3. How far are they from a performance-wise perspective?

Please remember that I'm looking on the upgraded versions of those machines. For some reason YouTube is full only with regular models. I don't want a 13" rMBP.

 

[Larvas]

MBA is currently on it's peak, I would choose the MBA over the MB anytime.

You get a proper i7 processor, you get the light body.

Yes, the screen does not look so good as the retina one, and it's an TN panel, but it's a good panel and I don't see any issues with it as long as I have an Core i7 and 8GB of RAM on it.

 

[zhenya]

I would have a really really hard time buying a computer as expensive as that MacBook Air today with the current screen. It's many years outdated already, and it will only continue to feel more so over the next 5 years or so of the machine's lifespan.

The MacBook would seem to be fine for you, with me only questioning its capabilities with the video editing. If you find yourself leaning towards that machine, I'd go ask that specific question in the MacBook forum.

Why not the MacBook Pro as opposed to the Air? By the time you outfit the Air to that configuration, it's within $50 of the Pro's price outfitted similarly, but the pro has the great screen and a much more powerful processor. And it actually has a smaller overall footprint than the 13" Air.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

I would have a really really hard time buying a computer as expensive as that MacBook Air today with the current screen. It's many years outdated already, and it will only continue to feel more so over the next 5 years or so of the machine's lifespan.

The MacBook would seem to be fine for you, with me only questioning its capabilities with the video editing. If you find yourself leaning towards that machine, I'd go ask that specific question in the MacBook forum.

Why not the MacBook Pro as opposed to the Air? By the time you outfit the Air to that configuration, it's within $50 of the Pro's price outfitted similarly, but the pro has the great screen and a much more powerful processor. And it actually has a smaller overall footprint than the 13" Air.

I agree once you add in the BTO upgrades the rMBP is 1/2 a pound heavier than the air with a stella battery life, a smaller footprint, and better performance, with little difference in price.