Dilemma - Need some advice...

[Divers]

Hi everyone,

I currently have a 15" i7 MBP and am giving some thought to switching over to a 1.86GHz, 4GB 13" MBA. I do a lot of traveling, and the portability of the MBA is a big draw.

I spend most of my time in Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Transmit, and surfing. I also have about 60GB of music.

Thoughts? Am I crazy for considering this?

Also, I'm wondering if the smaller font size of the 13" would be bothersome in the long run. I tried out a high-res 15" MBP for a while but swapped it out for normal res as it was causing eye strain.

Thanks in advance for any and all feedback, I appreciate it.

Divers

 

[fswmacguy]

If you travel a lot it's a no-brainer. I couldn't see myself traveling frequently and hauling around a heavy MBP.

As for the specs, I've heard that the MBA is very fast, surpassing even the MBP in some Geekbench scores. Mind you, the SSD contributes mostly to that; nevertheless there is no doubt that there's a moderately powerful engine under the hood.

Assuming you're not going to be editing 9000x9000 pixel images in Photoshop, rendering a feature-length film off of a RED camera, or mixing 130 live instrument inputs with the Philharmonic orchestra, it should be fine. Granted, since you said you are traveling often, I doubt you would be doing any of those things in the first place.

I was torn between the MBP and the MBA. Ultimately, purely for portability (and recent update) reasons, I went with the MBA. It is due to arrive next week.

 

[jenzjen]

I had a 15" i7 hi-res w/an Intel SSD and 8GB of RAM, and I sold it on CL for a 1.86 13" MBA w/4GB of RAM, and I have not regretted it one bit. I travel a decent amount. It is an absolute joy on planes, now.

Granted, it reads like you run harder stuff than I do, as I don't edit any media, so YMMV, but I think you should be fine.

 

[Divers]

Thanks for the feedback guys, much appreciated!

 

[teski]

I think you'll be fine. I run Photoshop CS5 everyday on my 13" MBA ultimate and it runs very smoothly. This is my primary machine, and it's really fast. I personally went for the full 2.13 and 256GB drive so I could have the extra space and any extra processor perf I could get.

Regardless, I don't miss my 15" at all, and the resolution is the same. Yes it's smaller in the 13" screen, but no eye strain at all for me.

 

[Soordhin]

If you travel a lot the air has a huge advantage. Only have the 13'' MBP, however i bought an additional MBA 11,6 "Ultimate" since i'm on the road around 220 days or more per year. The lower weight helps so much, and the performance is not really a big issue compared to the MBP as the SSD helps quite a bit.