Which is better a MacBook Pro 13 8GB 2017 ntb 256gb or MacBook Air 2019 256gb?

https://browser.geekbench.com/mac-benchmarks

I'd probably go with the Air. They are on par or better than the dual core Pros in CPU, however the iGPU is still a little better in the Pros. But with what you are doing, it doesn't really matter. The 2019 Air also has the revised keyboard.. I doubt it will fix the keyboard issues, but surely it couldn't hurt.

You could also consider an iPad. You'd save a bit and iPads are perfectly fine for content consumption.

Edit: Spelling

 

I had the same 2017 MacBook Pro non-Touch Bar for about a week. I ended up returning it because there was a random white bar flickering across the screen. I’ve seen this before when a graphics card is going bad. Considering how some people have had issues with the ribbon cable connecting the monitor on this computer I didn’t hesitate to bring it back. The other thing I noticed was the keyboard was really loud. I actually liked using the keyboard but after reading about all the issues with the keyboard and ribbon cables etc. I got cold feet and returned it for a 2019 13” MacBook Pro 1.4 with 256 GB of storage.

 

The 2016/17 MBPs seem to incur more complaints by half than the 2018/19. Even from early release there were so many issues with those machines. I wouldn't get anything older than a 2018.

The new MBA seems like it would be the perfect machine for your needs.

 

That's precisely the machine I'll be ordering this week. Well I might bump up to 16/256. But anyway by most accounts it seems to be the best value laptop Apple has released in years.