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What's the better deal: mba rev2 $1250 OR mb unibody $850?

C

cecilkain8

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 16, 2009
11
0
So I'm in a pickle of what I should choose...

My friend is selling me his Macbook Air rev b 1.86 ghz, 120 hdd with superdrive for $1250 with 3 yr applecare.
Other friend of mine has a 2.0 ghz macbook unibody sealed for $850 with no applecare.

Which should go with? Style OR substance? I really care about portability & which has a better screen.
 
Buy the MacBook Air and I'll buy your friend's MacBook for $900 plus shipping. :D

Otherwise... what are your planned uses?
 
I plan to travel a lot and watch 720p movies when i'm on the road.

Also photoshop, logic pro and plenty of word processing.

Is the weight difference of the Air that significant for the extra 400 with applecare? I've never been able to test that out at the apple store, and it would be a deal breaker if it's not that much lighter/thinner than the unibody macbook.
 
There will be a noticeable speed difference between them, although the screen on the MacBook Air is nicer. The difference in weight is about a pound which you may or may not care about. I personally find the weight of my MacBook Air great and my MacBook Pro hasn't travelled at all since I got the Air. I would say go into an Apple Store and use both computers for a bit, get a feel for the speed and weight of them and then make your decision. Personally I would go for the Air of the two, but that is because I travel with about 50 pounds of gear and every pound I can shave off of that counts.
 
iBookG4user said:
There will be a noticeable speed difference between them, although the screen on the MacBook Air is nicer. The difference in weight is about a pound which you may or may not care about. I personally find the weight of my MacBook Air great and my MacBook Pro hasn't travelled at all since I got the Air. I would say go into an Apple Store and use both computers for a bit, get a feel for the speed and weight of them and then make your decision. Personally I would go for the Air of the two, but that is because I travel with about 50 pounds of gear and every pound I can shave off of that counts.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice! Has it annoyed you that the ram is not upgradable and its lack of ports are featured on your macbook pro?

Speed is not a concern for me, I just need it to be faster than my last 2006 2.0 core duo macbook.
 
cecilkain8 said:
Thanks for the advice! Has it annoyed you that the ram is not upgradable and its lack of ports are featured on your macbook pro?

Speed is not a concern for me, I just need it to be faster than my last 2006 2.0 core duo macbook.
Click to expand...

The amount of ports hasn't bothered me much at all, I just need one USB port for a card reader. As for the RAM, it does get a bit slow at times, although so does my MacBook Pro which has 4GB of RAM. And if speed is not a concern for you then go for the MacBook Air, it is a great computer and always seems to find itself by my side since it is so light :D
 
cecilkain8 said:
I really care about portability & which has a better screen.
Click to expand...

You need to get the MacBook Air. It's more portable, has a far better screen, and is faster than your 2006 Core Duo MacBook. The rev. B MBA should be a very very good machine. :)


Also, the price difference of $400 isn't much. Remember, the MBA comes with AppleCare, while the MacBook does not.
 
My rev B MBA is the fastest computer I have ever owned. It's quite amazing that it is all packed in a tiny shell. With all of the major changes from the original, the rev B MBA is a fully powerful Mac. You can definitely do everything you want with a revised MBA.

I fully recommend it over the MB. Cheers.
 
For what you need, I think the Air will fit you best. My friend has the first gen Air, and it's amazing how portable that thing is! And that is a really great deal you have on it, as Apple care costs 250$ I think.
If I'd have the opportunity, I'd definitely get the Air (maybe I'll even look for a refurb first gen sometime soon :p).
 
J&JPolangin said:
...if you got a new rev B MBA and apple care it would cost what both those deals are going for so I say get them both and you can pick and choose depending on your need for the day!
Click to expand...

You're absolutely right! I'm not really on a budget, and I can always craigslist one of these for a profit if I find myself not needing both! :D
Hoping the unibody's screen isn't horrible.

1250 +850 = $2100 for two latest gen apple notebooks! :p
 
cecilkain8 said:
I plan to travel a lot and watch 720p movies when i'm on the road.

Also photoshop, logic pro and plenty of word processing.
Click to expand...

photoshop and logic pro with a 4200 RPM 1.8" HD and 2 GB RAM? I can't believe so many people are telling you to get the air.

Even if the rev. B's are handling HD video better than the rev. a's, you have significant performance demands. Get the MB. For the price difference you can put in a 500 GB HD and 6 GB of RAM and still have enough left to get an awesome steak and bottle of whiskey.
 
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