Upgrade my 2011 Pro 15 or get Air 13?

[howard911s]

Good morning all..this is my first post here.. please be gentle

I have an early 2011 Pro 15 with I7 upgraded to 8GB ram and 750gb HDD and 1GB AMD 6750M video card. It works fabulous and absolutely no problem. I recently tried out the air and has been mesmerized by it's performance (mainly due to SSD).

I do not render video nor do I do anything intensive on it at all. My main reason for getting the 15 in Pro was that I lust for power (then) and wanted a mac that can also play some game (AMD 6750M) which suited me fine. However I travel more now and is no longer interested in any games. I use my mac to watch movie, music, occassional photo edit and convert some video format once in a while.

I am currently debating two options.

1) Upgrade my Pro to SSD (200 bucks or so for curcial M4 on Amazon). However I have seen mixed review, some works good, some bad, some bricked, some good for a year.. and every update from apple, need to re-do the TRIM thing again, overall seems less than 100% reliable for going this route. It would be fast but also also bulky for travel.

2) Get the base 13 in Air i5, 4gb ram 128gb SSD. I have plenty of portable external HD so I don't mind the 128gb storage. Great for travel and seems to be fast enough for my need.

By selling my pro on ebay, minus all the fees and stuff, the Air 13 would be an even trade for my pro 15.



Any suggestion? on whether it's worth the trade or just upgrade?

Thanks.....

 

[semiauto]

Good morning all..this is my first post here.. please be gentle

I have an early 2011 Pro 15 with I7 upgraded to 8GB ram and 750gb HDD and 1GB AMD 6750M video card. It works fabulous and absolutely no problem. I recently tried out the air and has been mesmerized by it's performance (mainly due to SSD).

I do not render video nor do I do anything intensive on it at all. My main reason for getting the 15 in Pro was that I lust for power (then) and wanted a mac that can also play some game (AMD 6750M) which suited me fine. However I travel more now and is no longer interested in any games. I use my mac to watch movie, music, occassional photo edit and convert some video format once in a while.

I am currently debating two options.

1) Upgrade my Pro to SSD (200 bucks or so for curcial M4 on Amazon). However I have seen mixed review, some works good, some bad, some bricked, some good for a year.. and every update from apple, need to re-do the TRIM thing again, overall seems less than 100% reliable for going this route. It would be fast but also also bulky for travel.

2) Get the base 13 in Air i5, 4gb ram 128gb SSD. I have plenty of portable external HD so I don't mind the 128gb storage. Great for travel and seems to be fast enough for my need.

By selling my pro on ebay, minus all the fees and stuff, the Air 13 would be an even trade for my pro 15.



Any suggestion? on whether it's worth the trade or just upgrade?

Thanks.....

Honestly, with the kind of work you'll be doing, the 13" Air will work great. Simple tasks like watching movies, editing in iPhoto, and conversions will be seamless on the MBA. Also, if you sell your 15", you won't have to worry about installing an SSD yourself. I would say that if you don't mind losing 2" of screen real estate, go with the Air.

 

[InlawBiker]

You will lose a bit of money selling a basically new 2011 15" to trade for an Air, but if you really want the smaller size that makes a big difference.

On the other hand I upgraded my late 2011 15" with an SSD and it's awesome. It spends most of it's time on the desk, if I traveled I would prefer an Air too.

Basic common sense says to keep the 15" for another year or two then switch. It depends on how well you can curb your new gadget lust.

 

[howard911s]

You will lose a bit of money selling a basically new 2011 15" to trade for an Air, but if you really want the smaller size that makes a big difference.

On the other hand I upgraded my late 2011 15" with an SSD and it's awesome. It spends most of it's time on the desk, if I traveled I would prefer an Air too.

Basic common sense says to keep the 15" for another year or two then switch. It depends on how well you can curb your new gadget lust.

Which SSD did you upgrade to if I may ask and how did you transfer all the data or just re-install.. but there's no disc now for Lion and Mountain Lion.

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Honestly, with the kind of work you'll be doing, the 13" Air will work great. Simple tasks like watching movies, editing in iPhoto, and conversions will be seamless on the MBA. Also, if you sell your 15", you won't have to worry about installing an SSD yourself. I would say that if you don't mind losing 2" of screen real estate, go with the Air.

Not having to install SSD is a plus even though it's not hard, not having to worry about SSD failing which seem to happen a lot amazon and newegg review (various brand like crucial, Sandisk..etc) is my utmost worry. The quality still seem inconsistent while I haven't heard too many apple installed SSD failing.......

 

[filmak]

Which SSD did you upgrade to if I may ask and how did you transfer all the data or just re-install.. but there's no disc now for Lion and Mountain Lion.

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Not having to install SSD is a plus even though it's not hard, not having to worry about SSD failing which seem to happen a lot amazon and newegg review (various brand like crucial, Sandisk..etc) is my utmost worry. The quality still seem inconsistent while I haven't heard too many apple installed SSD failing.......

The samsung 830 is very reliable you van enable trim for this ssd without any problems using trim enabler 2.

You can easily clone your current hd to an ssd using cc cloner.

Have you thought about he smaller display (everything will be smaller) of the air? is this ok for you?

Also note that the 15" screen is of a better quality, to say it as simple as possible.

Of course if you travel a lot the air is very portable but has its limitations, no ram upgrade, less powerful, the fans kick up sooner so more noisy (video converting), and no discrete graphics card.

You are the only one who knows what you really need....

 

[InlawBiker]

Which SSD did you upgrade to if I may ask and how did you transfer all the data or just re-install.. but there's no disc now for Lion and Mountain Lion.

I used the Crucial M4, it was extremely easy to install and setup. No issues at all for me. I did a fresh install, and moved the old internal HD to the optical bay.

I wouldn't be afraid of them failing. Sure there are some reports of bad ones, no big deal send it back and get a new one.

 

[FastEddiebags]

I also have the crucial M4 and I think the clean install alleviates all the problems that you have read about.I absolutely love this ssd and it makes the MBP very fast. I think it would be a waste to sell your MBP for an MBA and take a loss.

 

[user418]

I have a late 2011 15" MBP, 256 GB SSD, 16 GB RAM and I love it. Did the upgrade to ML and everything is smooth and fast. My personal preference is the Samsung 830. I'm currently running a Samsung 470 but plan to purchase the 830 as soon as the right deal comes along. FYI, Apple is using Samsung drives in the new rMBP. They are very fast, reliable, and with SSD prices continuing to fall, can be had for about $10-15 more than the Crucial M4.

Lastly, are you sure you want to lose the extra screen real estate?

 

[howard911s]

THANKS ALL!

After much consideration and all your input...

I have decided to keep my pro.. My 16GB, Data transfer cable and Crucial M4 256GB will arrive tomorrow!

 

[clyde2801]

I quickly installed my m4 512 today in my late '11 with nary a snag using cc cloner. Put the old drive in an external caddy.

I think you're going to like the difference, and I upgraded from a 2011 13" ultimate MacBook Air.

The size and the weight of the Air was really nice, but what I loved about it was the SSD. Now I have a really great screen, and all the snap crackle pop of the Air.

And you really can't go wrong with either a m4 or 830; kind of a 'toyota vs. honda' thing.