MacBook, MacBook Pro, or MacBook Air?

[DodgerKing]

Going to get my wife a Mac rant: much to my dismay) for a combo anniversary (the theme is steel after all) and birthday gift. She wants something no bigger than 13 inches and I am still on the fence as to which model of MacBook to get her.

They will knock $100 off both the MacBook and MacBook Pro and $50 off the Air with my teacher discount. This is still a few hundred dollars more than I can get for a windows based laptop with better hardware.

 

[diogen]

For mostly work - get the Pro.
Otherwise - the Air.

Diogen.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

The air is "cool", the 13" mbp is a work horse. I would not get the mac book.

Get the minimum ram you can, then replace it with 8Gb of ram on your own -- only about $80; just need the smallest philips screw driver known to man.

And you know, once you go mac, you never go back.

 

[DodgerKing]

The air is "cool", the 13" mbp is a work horse. I would not get the mac book.

Get the minimum ram you can, then replace it with 8Gb of ram on your own -- only about $80; just need the smallest philips screw driver known to man.

And you know, once you go mac, you never go back.

Thanks for the info. I was actually thinking about the MacBook, but if it is between that and the Air, I will now get the Air. Now I have to decide if it is worth paying more for the Pro.

The Air is upgradable and you can do it yourself?

BTW, they are supposed to come up with a new Air this August with 4GB of Ram and a 128 SSD standard

I will probably never go MAC (except for APPLE mobile devices). This is for my wife. Then again, I also said I would never get an iPad.

I have used MACs for a long time and still do on occasion. I do not care for the UI (although Snow Leopard and Lion are pretty sweet), and I can get a really good windows based laptop that is more powerful for less money.

 

[Ronnie-]

Just curious, why do you guys not recommend the regular macbook?

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Thanks for the info. I was actually thinking about the MacBook, but if it is between that and the Air, I will now get the Air. Now I have to decide if it is worth paying more for the Pro.

The Air is upgradable and you can do it yourself?

BTW, they are supposed to come up with a new Air this August with 4GB of Ram and a 128 SSD standard

I will probably never go MAC (except for APPLE mobile devices). This is for my wife. Then again, I also said I would never get an iPad.

I have used MACs for a long time and still do on occasion. I do not care for the UI (although Snow Leopard and Lion are pretty sweet), and I can get a really good windows based laptop that is more powerful for less money.

The Air has limited upgradability. No optical drive. Less ports. But it is cool. The new Air does have 128GB of SSD storage, which is an improvement.

The real question is what will she use it for? If its for actual work, I'd go with the pro. I love mine. Best laptop I have EVER had. EVER.

 

[DodgerKing]

Will I be able to add more RAM to the Air on my own? Or is it like an iPhone where you have to take it to the store to have any internal parts replaced?

She will mostly be surfing the net, taking on-line classes, word processing, ex. She will also use it as her main iTunes backup and sync computer for her iDevices. I do not see her needing an optical drive other than downloading the few CDs she may want to add to her iTunes library. That can be done our our main PC and transferred to her laptop via iTunes Homesharing.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Just curious, why do you guys not recommend the regular macbook?

A lot more power, more ports; just a better deal for the money. THe white macbook really is their entry level device.

 

[DodgerKing]

Just curious, why do you guys not recommend the regular macbook?

I have the same question

 

[rockymtnhigh]

She will mostly be surfing the net, taking on-line classes, word processing, ex. She will also use it as her main iTunes backup and sync computer for her iDevices. Other than that I do not see her needing an optical drive. The few CDs she may wan to add to her iTunes library can be done our our main PC and downloaded to her laptop via iTunes Homesharing.

At the same time, there is such a small price difference between the baseline pro and the air. But the Air is sure portable. It is a beautiful notebook, for its size and power. In an ideal world, where money wasn't an issue, I'd add one to my arsenal for light travel, but the iPad does a pretty sweet job for that purpose too.

 

[DodgerKing]

I may just get a gift card to cover the cost and let her pick what she wants

 

[lparsons21]

The Air is really not upgradeable in any sane sense. You can get 3rd party SSD to replace the one that is in it, but RAM is soldered in from what I've been reading, so no upgrade for that.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

New Airs next week...

New MacBook Airs Coming 'Late Next Week' - Mac Rumors


Probably why Lion was not introduced today; they are waiting for the Airs to come out, so they ship with Lion.

 

[Ilya]

My wife would definitely prefer the Air for it's sexy look.
For me, the Pro is a much more practical choice with better specs and upgradability.
So, look at the specs and decide if they are sufficient for your wife's needs (for the next couple of years). If so, go with the Air (though waiting for the new version might be well worth it).

 

[diogen]

iFixIt on the new Air

All the components -- including RAM and SSD -- are proprietary,
meaning that no off-the-shelf parts will work in it without serious rigging.

Diogen.

 

[Bongu]

I got the pro for my daughter. She really liked the air but she felt it wouldn't hold up to her abuse. She has been using it with ZERO trouble since last fall. Her last laptop, a Sony, needed care for software/OS problems every 2 to 3 months, the hardware was solid. I expect the macbook pro will outlast her collegiate experience.

Sent from my Timex Sinclair using SatelliteGuys

 

[rockymtnhigh]

I got the pro for my daughter. She really liked the air but she felt it wouldn't hold up to her abuse. She has been using it with ZERO trouble since last fall. Her last laptop, a Sony, needed care for software/OS problems every 2 to 3 months, the hardware was solid. I expect the macbook pro will outlast her collegiate experience.

Sent from my Timex Sinclair using SatelliteGuys

Sent from your Timex Sinclair huh? LOL

I suspect you are right. The Air looks cool, and has the benefits of being super light for travel, but the mbp is a workhorse.

 

[Bongu]

I got the pro for my daughter. She really liked the air but she felt it wouldn't hold up to her abuse. She has been using it with ZERO trouble since last fall. Her last laptop, a Sony, needed care for software/OS problems every 2 to 3 months, the hardware was solid. I expect the macbook pro will outlast her collegiate experience.

Sent from my Timex Sinclair using SatelliteGuys

 

[rockymtnhigh]

I got the pro for my daughter. She really liked the air but she felt it wouldn't hold up to her abuse. She has been using it with ZERO trouble since last fall. Her last laptop, a Sony, needed care for software/OS problems every 2 to 3 months, the hardware was solid. I expect the macbook pro will outlast her collegiate experience.

Sent from my Timex Sinclair using SatelliteGuys

Didn't you post this yesterday?

 

[DodgerKing]

Didn't you post this yesterday?

It must be that Timex he is using. There was some glitch in time travel 30 years into the future where it appeared in the same place at two different times. Those damn flux capacitors