Decisions, decisions

Figment

I need a new laptop and have decided on getting another Macbook, but am torn between a Macbook Pro and a Macbook Air.

The pro has a faster processor, built in optical drive, and 500GB hard drive.

The Air is thinner, lighter, no optical drive and a 128GB Solid State drive so will also be quieter.

I don't need a bigger screen, and the lack of an optical drive whilst inconvenient at times wouldn't be a major issue, as I could share a drive across a network.

Macbook Pro
Apple MacBook Pro, MD313B/A, Intel Core i5, 2.4GHz, 500GB, 4GB RAM with 13.3 Inch Display


Macbook Air
Apple MacBook Air, MC965B/A, Intel Core i5, 1.7GHz, 128GB, 4GB RAM with 13.3 Inch Display



Pound for pound, the Pro appears to be the better deal, but before I make a decision, wondered if anyone here has either of these and can provide any feedback that may sway me one way or the other, or indeed should I be looking at one with faster processor?

To avoid unnecessary replies, I will point out that I already own another laptop running Ubuntu, so don't need to be converted. I am looking for opinions purely on which Macbook to buy. Thanks

goldndelicious

Whilst the pro has a quicker processor, for day to day tasks you might get better performance from your ssd

Mr_Toad

I had to make the same choice and decided that the Air is a sort of half way house, more than an iPad but not a full laptop.

I went with the MacBook Pro.

Like you I could share an optical drive over the network but s0ds law states that when you need to you won't have access to the network.

If the Air had been significantly cheaper I might have gone for it. I'm more than happy with my Pro.

Don't get hung up on the SSD in the Air, I'll be upgrading my Pro with an SSD in a few weeks.

Lifeforms

I had a friend who was looking to buy one, and was torn between the two, but leaning towards the Air because of the SSD alone. After point out how annoying it can be sometimes with my net book and tryin to get DVD's with it he decided to go Pro, but sacrificed the inbuilt delivered HDD and threw in an SSD himself. Best of both worlds for him, albeit an extra cost.
I'd go with the Pro, unless you really really are taken with the compact (and oooh kinda nice and small and sleeky) design of the air!

Figment

masonn wrote: »

I had to make the same choice and decided that the Air is a sort of half way house, more than an iPad but not a full laptop.

I went with the MacBook Pro.

Like you I could share an optical drive over the network but s0ds law states that when you need to you won't have access to the network.

If the Air had been significantly cheaper I might have gone for it. I'm more than happy with my Pro.

Don't get hung up on the SSD in the Air, I'll be upgrading my Pro with an SSD in a few weeks.

Lifeforms wrote: »

I had a friend who was looking to buy one, and was torn between the two, but leaning towards the Air because of the SSD alone. After point out how annoying it can be sometimes with my net book and tryin to get DVD's with it he decided to go Pro, but sacrificed the inbuilt delivered HDD and threw in an SSD himself. Best of both worlds for him, albeit an extra cost.
I'd go with the Pro, unless you really really are taken with the compact (and oooh kinda nice and small and sleeky) design of the air!

Must be honest, I hadn't actually considered upgrading the Pro with SSD. What's the best place to get and make/size to go for?

Mr_Toad

Figment wrote: »

Must be honest, I hadn't actually considered upgrading the Pro with SSD. What's the best place to get and make/size to go for?

The technology is still changing, that's why I've been waiting.

One of the early issues is that a blindingly fast new drive can slow right down with use. This is mainly to do with the controllers and they are improving all the time. I believe that MS introduced something called TRIM in Windows 7 to keep SSDs tidy and fast. I have no idea if Apple have taken a similar approach.

As for size, well that's an entirely personal moving feast!

My MacBook Pro is coming up to 9 months old and gets a lot of use. Looking at my disk tells me I'm currently using 150Mb of space. There's room for some housekeeping but I'd rather not be tight for space so I'll be going for a 256GB rather than a 160GB

Taking the early controller problems into account my current favourite is the OCZ Vertex 3 240GB.

I shall then put my old drive in a USB enclosure so I can use it as extra external storage as required.

Something else to consider is that some people remove the optical drive and use the space to mount the disk being replaced by the SSD. You can, I believe, get kits for this. This will bring you back to the no DVD dilemma and isn't something I'll be doing especially as an external USB case is so small and light that you'd hardly notice it in your laptop bag.

23n1th

I would imagine that OSX supports TRIM what with SSDs being in the air, though its worth looking at this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRIM#Operating_system_and_SSD_support

You need to find out whether the mac book is SATA2 or SATA3 and a SATA3 drive is a waste of money if the macbook is SATA2.

Figment

128GB SSD would be sufficient for my needs, so I'm swaying towards the Air, and purchasing the external superdrive (£66) so I can take with me when needed.