would consider switching from this laptop to a 13" macbook air?

[xxcysxx]

the thinness and lightness of the macbook air keep talking to me for a few weeks now. i'm considering selling my early 2011 13" macbook pro to buy a new 13" macbook air. the one with the i7 with all the bells and whistles upgrades. my current macbook pro has some upgrades too; i installed a 256gb crucial m4 ssd, 8gb ddr3 1066 crucial memory, and 1tb samsung hdd in the optical bay with optical bay caddy. i even have windows 7 installed on bootcamp, and it even have the core i7 at 2.7ghz. it is very snappy and quick on every application i use in both win7 and lion, and i enjoyed using it very much.

some gripe that i have on the 13" macbook air is the cpu is only 1.8ghz max not 2.7ghz like the pro, can't upgrade the ram, 4gb is max and it's soldered on, and the matte screen, perhaps i can use a glossy screen protector. i can live with the without the 1tb hard drive since i can make that external to save battery, but i can definitely appreciate the snappiness with a fast cpu.

but what do you think, is it worth it to trade all that for thinness and lightness of the air? would you have a remorse in switching after being spoiled from all that supposedly "better" stuff for a while?

for me, i chose the pro the first time because because of the upgradeability, but each day i carry it around on campus, i wish it could be a pound or two lighter on my back.

i don't use my mac to play games, its primarily for programming and web designing, word processing, and a bunch of other personal image/video editing and encoding and converting, mostly cpu intensive stuff.

 

[Wehrwolf]

its primarily for programming and web designing, word processing, and a bunch of other personal image/video editing and encoding and converting, mostly cpu intensive stuff.

I think you answered your own question.
But my personal opinion is no.

 

[malman89]

You have a 13" MBP upgraded to the max practically and you're thinking of switching to an all-around less powerful MBA?

The little bit of thickness or saved weight isn't worth all the upgrades you put into the MBP alone. Combined with what you want - CPU power - it's a no brainer. Keep your MBP.

 

[arctic]

image/video editing and encoding and converting, mostly cpu intensive stuff.

you posted this in the MBP forum so you probably know what the answers will be

Nevertheless, a max'd 13" MBA can still do the work done but with lesser muscle. And if you do extreme multitasking + power hungry applications, the MBA's lesser RAM will be the bottleneck. Are you willing to live with that for the sheer portability and higher resolution? Think it out.

 

[vistadude]

It's a huge downgrade compared to your current setup, and doesn't have Ethernet. Not worth it in my opinion, and not much more comfortable than the pro.

 

[wineandcarbs]

No. I actually prefer the thickness and design of the MBP over the MBA (though it'd be nice if it were a little lighter, but the current size is portable enough for my needs). Also, I wouldn't like the MBA as a primary computer; maybe as a secondary one, but I need/enjoy the power of the MBP as my primary/sole laptop.

 

[camardelle]

+1

I also think the mba feels a little thin, almost flimsy to me. I prefer the heft of the mbp.

 

[bdinger]

You won't like it. For someone spending the majority of their time in a browser, creating documents/etc, web design, or even Photoshop - it's a good alternative. However the second you start using it as a workhorse, it won't even begin to hold up.

I was attempting the same as you, but after much consideration the MBA just wouldn't cut it for me. Heck, I even (have) considered replacing my 6,2 white MacBook with one, but I'm going to keep the MacBook because of the lack of RAM limitations, potential drive expandability, and comfort of it.

An air is a fantastic machine for many, but for those who consider a Pro there is often very good reason why the Air wouldn't cut it.

 

[throAU]

You'll be going backwards. The 13" isn't THAT heavy... and its sure a lot more convenient than carrying around an MBA + external 2.5" hard drive, ethernet adapter that's only 100 megabit, etc.