Doug
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Registered: 8th Oct 03
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I am looking to get a new laptop as I am going to sell my iPad 2 through lack of use.
I am stuck in a debate between the Air and the Pro. I would get the 13" Air or the 15" Pro.
My main questions are:
- Does the Air pack enough punch to be a suitable desktop replacement? I would not be gaming on it but I would be using it for photo processing in CS5 as well as typical computing use of watching videos and listening to music streamed from a server.
- Is a 13" screen actually big enough?! I have only ever had 15 and 17" laptops in the past so I am wondering if its going to be too small to actually sit at a desk with and use?
- Do the SSD's in the Air have high failure rates?
I love the idea of real portability with the Air, I understand the restrictions such as not having a disk drive and that doesn't really bother me. I am just wondering if it will pack enough punch to get on with the jobs I require it to do!
As a point of reference I use the following:
Intel Core 2 Duo 3GHz
4 GB Ram
Win 7 Ultimate
I would like it to be faster than that ideally!
I look forward to any help and advice!
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LeeM
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Registered: 26th Sep 05
Location: Liverpool
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i dont see the point of the air personally. mbp is better
if youre gonna buy it try this link, no one i know whos used it has had to input any student numbers or show any proof http://store.apple.com/uk_edu_5000714
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ed
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Registered: 10th Sep 03
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I've got a 13" i7 Air.
- Yes, i do all my photo editing using Lightroom and Photoshop on mine with no problems. It will stream HD content from Vimeo, BBC iPlayer and the likes and it will play HD MKV's no probs either.
- It's a high resolution screen, which is actually quite beautiful when you compare it to a 13" MacBook Pro. It's pretty wide, rather than tall which could have it's limitations when word processing or similar.
- No idea. I did my research before I bought it and didn't read any horror stories. They're certainly more reliable than the first generation of SSD's you got a few years back, which was what give me the apprehension in the first place. How many iPads or iPhones do you hear about 'dying' from a failed SSD?
Having no DVD drive on it has lead to a few  moments with friends lending me CD's to listen to though. I tried to use a generic USB DVD drive to install some software but for some reason it wouldn't work. I'd say it would be noticeably faster than your Windows machine, the boot time is sub 20 seconds and it stays on standby for a month so 9/10 you'll be working 5 seconds after opening the lid.
[Edited on 17-01-2012 by ed]
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LeeM
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Registered: 26th Sep 05
Location: Liverpool
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for the same cost the pro is
13-inch: 2.4 GHz
2.4GHz dual-core
Intel Core i5
4GB 1333MHz
500GB 5400-rpm1
Intel HD Graphics 3000
Built-in battery (7 hours)2
and the air is
11-inch : 64GB
1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5
processor
2GB memory
64GB flash storage1
Intel HD Graphics 3000
seems silly to get an lower spec one for the same price for the purpous of portability when the pro is hardly bulky
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ed
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Registered: 10th Sep 03
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You're comparing apples and oranges though. They're two different products suited for two different types of consumer. Especially as you're comparing a 13" to an 11" Air.
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Sam
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Registered: 24th Dec 99
Location: West Midlands
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I have the 13" MBP and it's perfectly fine for things like Photoshop/Illustrator, watching videos, and even running Windows 7 in a VirtualBox session.
Bear in mind though that if you wanted the speed of SSD, you can't simply buy the MBP and fit any old SSD drive, has to be one of the ones Apple fit so not universal like with PCs (another Apple "feature" I'm afraid).
Regarding standby, I never completely shut mine down just close the lid or put it to sleep if it's connected to my HD monitor, fires back up in a matter of seconds (much quicker than Windows does).
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Doug
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Registered: 8th Oct 03
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Cheers Ed, I was hoping you would comment! You have put my initial fears to rest. This is not my only PC, I will still have my windows box attached to the TV full of HDD's for storage and serving duties.
LeeM, that link is good! Also they give you 3 years of Apple care rather than the normal 1 year. Is there any cons to buying through that link? Will they ask for a .ac.uk email address or a UCAS number etc?
I don't mind using that link but I would prefer not to get caught out by it!
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Sam
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Registered: 24th Dec 99
Location: West Midlands
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quote:
Originally posted by Doug
Cheers Ed, I was hoping you would comment! You have put my initial fears to rest. This is not my only PC, I will still have my windows box attached to the TV full of HDD's for storage and serving duties.
LeeM, that link is good! Also they give you 3 years of Apple care rather than the normal 1 year. Is there any cons to buying through that link? Will they ask for a .ac.uk email address or a UCAS number etc?
I don't mind using that link but I would prefer not to get caught out by it!
At worst they would just cancel your order and ask you to pay full retail price. Worth a shot TBH.
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Doug
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Registered: 8th Oct 03
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I would be looking at:
Pro 15" £1332
15-inch: 2.2 GHz
2.2GHz quad-core
Intel Core i7
4GB 1333MHz
500GB 5400-rpm1
Intel HD Graphics 3000
AMD Radeon HD 6750M with 512MB GDDR5
Air 13" - £945
1.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor
4GB memory
128GB flash storage1
Intel HD Graphics 3000
Just wondering if the cheaper option will actually do all I need it to do 
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ed
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Registered: 10th Sep 03
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Did consider a Pro with an SSD at one stage, but the thinness of the Air enticed me too much. Mine runs Windows 7 via Paralells, but I have to say, it's a little bit slow compared to native OSX.
When I was doing the research, the general consensus was that the i7 upgrade wasn't necessary on the 13". But when the guy brought the wrong one down from the stock room, a fuck it moment happened  But as for disk size, that's up to you. There's no way of upgrading an Air's SSD as it's on a proprietary board so I went for the 256GB. I guess you could live in hope that Apple would use the same board technology if/when they bring out a 512GB Air?
[Edited on 17-01-2012 by ed]
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Rob_Quads
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Registered: 29th Mar 01
Location: southampton
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I used my i7 air for photo work and also video editing using FCPX and don't have any processor issues. Sure faster would be nicer but I love the portability of the air.
Failure rates - Not seen any mention of them failing on the forums.
Screen size is fine. Note that in pixels the 13" air gives you exactly the sam as the 15" MBP but with a closer DPI which personally I like. I'm used to my work 17" 1920x1080 screen
The SSD is great in the air. Make its nice and snappy to use and does give it the slight edge over the MBP for snappiness
Good tip to use the Uni Link 
The only reason IMO to go for the Pro is if you need the CD slot and storage space. If you don't then the gains over the air are minimal but its a lot bigger.
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LeeM
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Registered: 26th Sep 05
Location: Liverpool
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you wont get the 3 year applecare, they require student id for that i think
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Balling
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Registered: 7th Apr 04
Location: Denmark
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quote:
Originally posted by Sam
Bear in mind though that if you wanted the speed of SSD, you can't simply buy the MBP and fit any old SSD drive, has to be one of the ones Apple fit so not universal like with PCs (another Apple "feature" I'm afraid).
There's no shred of truth in this.
I have a regular Intel SSD in my MBP. Any 2.5" SSD will fit a MBP.
The Air on the other hand has a custom SSD, so a storage upgrade is a hassle.
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Dom
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Registered: 13th Sep 03
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quote:
Originally posted by Balling
quote:
Originally posted by Sam
Bear in mind though that if you wanted the speed of SSD, you can't simply buy the MBP and fit any old SSD drive, has to be one of the ones Apple fit so not universal like with PCs (another Apple "feature" I'm afraid).
There's no shred of truth in this.
I have a regular Intel SSD in my MBP. Any 2.5" SSD will fit a MBP.
The Air on the other hand has a custom SSD, so a storage upgrade is a hassle.
Yup, i've never known MBP's to be 'fussy' on SSD. Always been the case of dropping out the old drive and replacing with a decent SSD drive.
Personally i'd opt for a MBP, better spec and not much heavier/bigger. If you want SSD then just do a replacement or you can replace the superdrive with a kit that allows for two drives.
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Nismo
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Registered: 12th Sep 02
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I went Pro 15" with HD screen upgrade, I upgraded the ram to 8Gb using Crucials website and cost £35, apple want £160 fr this
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Doug
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Registered: 8th Oct 03
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Hmmm I shall have to pop to an Apple store and have a play with the two to see what they are like.
Will buy through the education link though!
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Wrighty
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Registered: 28th Feb 04
Location: Howden
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i run a 15' mbp its a few years old now only dual core and it copes with a digital vinyl system no porbs...hardly even tohches it performance wise. gotta remember it wont be running windows anymore  think i may upgrade to a quad core mbpthis year
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Balling
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Registered: 7th Apr 04
Location: Denmark
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quote:
Originally posted by Nismo
I went Pro 15" with HD screen upgrade, I upgraded the ram to 8Gb using Crucials website and cost £35, apple want £160 fr this
I'm running same setup, i7 and with a 300 GB Intel SSD. Absolute beast of a machine. High res screen just looks fantastic.
I think in the future the wifes white 13" MB and our iPad will be switched with an 11" Air, as we do travel a lot and the 15" is just a bit heavy to have in the carry on, but the iPad doesn't meet my needs while travelling.
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ed
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Registered: 10th Sep 03
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There was a video on YouTube showing a Pro with a top spec OCZ SSD. Was a beast! So quick. I think the video was comparing Pro performance to Air performance so I'll try find it.
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Wrighty
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Registered: 28th Feb 04
Location: Howden
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are the SSD's worth the extra?
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ed
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Registered: 10th Sep 03
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They have no moving parts so they're faster, more reliable and arguably more suited for portables. Worth the extra money? Yes if you like a snappy PC There's a guy in my office who needs one for HD video recording because his data rate is so high, but for most people they're a luxury.
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Balling
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Registered: 7th Apr 04
Location: Denmark
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quote:
Originally posted by Wrighty
are the SSD's worth the extra?
They can be.
If you require huge amounts of storage, it's quite an expensive upgrade though.
If you can settle for 300 GB or less, you can not get a better performance upgrade for the same cost.
My MBP came with a cheap Toshiba 120 GB SSD which was not overly impressive, speed wise. However, I stuck it in the wifes 4+ years old MB and the performance of the thing is unreal. It's only a 2.0 GHz C2D with 2 GB ram. Boot time is sub 30 secs till it's on wifi. Shut down is sub 2 secs. All applications launch within seconds as well.
Also, battery life is noticeably better.
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ed
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Registered: 10th Sep 03
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Accidentally opening Photoshop becomes a minor 5 second mistake rather than a 2 minute annoyance 
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Sam
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Registered: 24th Dec 99
Location: West Midlands
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quote:
Originally posted by Dom
quote:
Originally posted by Balling
quote:
Originally posted by Sam
Bear in mind though that if you wanted the speed of SSD, you can't simply buy the MBP and fit any old SSD drive, has to be one of the ones Apple fit so not universal like with PCs (another Apple "feature" I'm afraid).
There's no shred of truth in this.
I have a regular Intel SSD in my MBP. Any 2.5" SSD will fit a MBP.
The Air on the other hand has a custom SSD, so a storage upgrade is a hassle.
Yup, i've never known MBP's to be 'fussy' on SSD. Always been the case of dropping out the old drive and replacing with a decent SSD drive.
TRIM support is only enabled on Apple SSDs by default. Although you can use something like Trim Enabler with your own SSD, I couldn't comment on how well it works.
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Russ
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Registered: 14th Mar 04
Location: Armchair
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quote:
Originally posted by Sam
TRIM support is only enabled on Apple SSDs by default..
wut
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