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Should I get a 13" Pro or Air?

J

joebos617

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 7, 2011
2
0
I've been kind of going back and forth on this for a while. I'm in my last year of college and I just decided that I want to work with video editing stuff like Avid or Final Cut for a career. I want this to be an investment and do what I need it to do for the next 3-5 years. This is only a question because I like the feel of the Air and that I don't have to spend more than I want to on an SSD upgrade if I get the Air.

The 13 inch is all I can afford.
 
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if you are serious about video editing then DO NOT get the Air. It's a fine machine and all, BUT you cannot upgrade the RAM. For me, as a video editor, that is a deal breaker
 
Out of those two choices, and if you're set on 'just' those two choices, then the 13'' Pro would be better. Sure, the Air has an SSD but... well, it's SATA II and don't offer the speeds that you could get with SATA III.

Ultimately, you should really go up to 15'' Pro for the uses you've listed but the 13'' will do a decent job I imagine.
 
So I'll get the pro and use my TV for extra screen space. This isn't a big deal, but I want to know if there's any easy way to downgrade to Snow Leopard.
 
joebos617 said:
So I'll get the pro and use my TV for extra screen space. This isn't a big deal, but I want to know if there's any easy way to downgrade to Snow Leopard.
Click to expand...

from what I was told by an Apple Tech is that if the machine you buy ships with Lion there is no way to install snow leopard. something about a firmware thing...

if you want a machine that ships with snow leopard, look on amazon, bhphoto, or the refurb store
 
From what I've seen around online, it is possible to downgrade from Lion to Snow Leopard but it isn't exactly easy.
 
a lot of the mac retailers (amazon, for one) are still shipping macs with snow leopard; if that's what you want, CALL amazon (for example), and confirm that...
then go for it.

i do pro audio work (Logic) on a late-2008 13" macbook; the new one should do really well...
 
Don't know a thing about video editing but...

I would buy a 15 inch pro with Hi- Res. Then aftermarket to max ram and a SSD. Put down as much money as you can, then finance the rest. Barclay's has a good plan, as long as you pay it off in the time frame and not accrue interest. If you are into video editing for the long term, you need a really, really good machine. Also, get AppleCare.
 
Definitely the 15" for serious FCP and AMC work. If you really can't afford that, a 13" MBP with 8GBs of aftermarket RAM should suffice, just.
 
i have a 13". it works for me. but, it sounds like it wouldn't be the best computer for you. you seem like someone who could benefit from a 15". why would you want to downgrade to snow leopard?
 
palpatine said:
i have a 13". it works for me. but, it sounds like it wouldn't be the best computer for you. you seem like someone who could benefit from a 15". why would you want to downgrade to snow leopard?
Click to expand...

both the 15 and 13 pros can handle video editing better than the air.

the difference is how long ur willing to wait and convience
 
Mac-key said:
from what I was told by an Apple Tech is that if the machine you buy ships with Lion there is no way to install snow leopard. something about a firmware thing...

if you want a machine that ships with snow leopard, look on amazon, bhphoto, or the refurb store
Click to expand...

You can downgrade easily with the current machines, I strongly doubt it will be possible when the new generation rolls in.
 
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