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MBA instead of MBP for my Dad?

mrsir2009

mrsir2009

macrumors 604
Original poster
Sep 17, 2009
7,505
156
Melbourne, Australia
At the moment he's got a 15" 2006 low end MacBook Pro, but its probably going to die and need to be replaced soon...

He relies on it for his work, but he doesn't do intensive stuff (MS word, Outlook, Safari, etc) and only occasionally uses DVDs/CDs. So I was thinking that a 13" MBA might be better than getting a MBP. He travels into the city with it on a regular basis and moves it round the house lots :)

And for the times when an OD is needed he could either use the MBA external or remote borrow the OD from the family iMac :D

Oh one more thing to mention, he's been using a 70GB HDD in his old MBP, so I don't think the 128GB in the MBA will be a problem :p
 
Cheffy Dave

Cheffy Dave

macrumors 68030
Feb 5, 2007
2,664
324
Sunny Florida, on the Gulf Coast in Homosassa Fl
mrsir2009 said:
Will do:D

I'll probably be jealous of him - The MBA will make my 13" MBP look very chunky!

By the way, the speakers on the 13" MBA are decent aren't they? Like for watching YouTube vids.
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I think they are as good, if not better than the MBP, simply put, it is an awesome machine, I KNOW he will be be both amazed and VERY pleased with, the speed of it will just knock him out!:eek::cool:
 
Legion93

Legion93

macrumors 6502a
Apr 6, 2011
545
0
Death Star, Rishi Maze
Macbook Air would be ideal, if he's planning on using the CD drive a lot, you could look at purchasing the pro, however there is a superdrive for the air that is very convenient to use, and since he travels occasionally, the Air would be better - make it the 13" ;)
 
P

purpleair

macrumors newbie
Apr 19, 2011
3
0
Solid State Drives are a whole other world to older folks, I think he would love the Air. Just had to make my decision last night between the air and the pro, ended up getting the air ;)
 
F

fyrefly

macrumors 6502a
Jun 27, 2004
624
67
rrl said:
Keep him feeling young and have him get an 11" ultimate.
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One word of caution, depending on how your Dad's eyesight is... the 11" MBA has the highest PPI of any Mac. All crammed into the 11" Screen. All text and UI elements are VERY SMALL and hard on older eyes. (And don't listen to all the people who will say "just press  + all the time" -- they don't know how annoying it gets doing it constantly).

I'd definitely get him the 13" model over the 11", but even then, I'd try to get it from a place with a liberal return policy. The 13" MBA has the same resolution as his 2006-era MBP, but squashed into the 13" screen, so everything will be smaller. If he's okay with that, that's excellent, but if not, the 13" MBPro has a lower resolution, so it might be better if he finds the 13" MBA is too straining on his eyes.
 
mrsir2009

mrsir2009

macrumors 604
Original poster
Sep 17, 2009
7,505
156
Melbourne, Australia
fyrefly said:
One word of caution, depending on how your Dad's eyesight is... the 11" MBA has the highest PPI of any Mac. All crammed into the 11" Screen. All text and UI elements are VERY SMALL and hard on older eyes. (And don't listen to all the people who will say "just press  + all the time" -- they don't know how annoying it gets doing it constantly).

I'd definitely get him the 13" model over the 11", but even then, I'd try to get it from a place with a liberal return policy. The 13" MBA has the same resolution as his 2006-era MBP, but squashed into the 13" screen, so everything will be smaller. If he's okay with that, that's excellent, but if not, the 13" MBPro has a lower resolution, so it might be better if he finds the 13" MBA is too straining on his eyes.
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Yeah I reckon the 11" is too small... ;)

BTW how is the res on the 13" MBA compared to the 2006 15" MBP?
 
S

Steven in VA

macrumors member
Oct 9, 2009
46
0
speaking with some authority

on the matter of whether a semi-geezer would like an Air, I'm 61, am currently using my second one. Sold my Rev. A SSD, bought the new 13" 128GB and love it. My grown kids make fun of me, but they all wish they had one. They all have MacBooks or MBPs.)

I do miss the backlit keyboard, but not as much as I thought I would. Also, mine flew off the top of the toolbox in my pickup truck and bounced down the highway (a case of near-criminal stupidity on my part) and it still works!

Get him the Air. He'll love it. Really.
 
TheMacBookPro

TheMacBookPro

macrumors 68020
May 9, 2008
2,133
3
mrsir2009 said:
Yeah I reckon the 11" is too small... ;)

BTW how is the res on the 13" MBA compared to the 2006 15" MBP?
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Both are at 1440x900.

PPI for the 13" Air is ~128ppi
PPI for the current/your dad's 15" Pro is 110ppi
PPI for the current, high-res 15" Pro is ~129ppi
PPI for 11" Air is 135ppi (on par with the old iPhones/iPod touches)

Higher pixels per inch, yes, but for me, going from an Early 08 15" Pro to an 11.6" Air, I don't really notice that much of a difference [in terms of size of screen elements]. I expect the difference to be even less with the 13" Air.
 
NZed

NZed

macrumors 65816
Jan 24, 2011
1,139
1
Canada, Eh?
mrsir2009 said:
Unfortunately there aren't any Apple stores here in New Zealand... but I could take him to a department store sort of place that sells Macs...:)
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JBHifi and DickSmith usually have all of the macs for test drive. I dont know about your area but in my city, all JB's and DS has them.
 
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mrsir2009

mrsir2009

macrumors 604
Original poster
Sep 17, 2009
7,505
156
Melbourne, Australia
NZed said:
JBHifi and DickSmith usually have all of the macs for test drive. I dont know about your area but in my city, all JB's and DS has them.
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Yeah I was thinking of JB-HIFI. :) There are always lots of asian people crowded around the iPads there, but none really around the Macs, so we should be able to take our time exploring the MBA ;)
 
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