So I think I've finally made up my mind and settled on a 13' MBA Ultimate. Originally I'd been leaning towards the 13' MBP for the faster C2D and longer battery but since I'm probably going to get an iMac in a year or two I've decided the MBA will make a good portable. I don't do anything very intensive.
The one thing that concerns me is the SSD. I've heard complete horror stories about them degrading to the point of not being usable. Now, those do seem to be before the new SSDs, but still -- how long do you think this SSD will last me with moderate usage? Coming from PCs if I'm going to lay out 2k for a laptop I want to get a good 3-5 years out of it.
Beyond that, another thing that pushed me to the MBA is that I do travel a lot visiting family and all and these are long cross-country flights. I'm also likely to be going to Switzerland sometime next year. Is the MBA fairly nice to use on a plane? I've used a 15' HP Laptop on an Economy AA flight and it was EXTREMELY cramped and barley doable so I can only imagine this would be 10x better. [/Well, you get my point.] The one thing that worries me is battery life. On an international flight I'd hope they are likely to have power ports but probably not on domestic. With stops and all I don't need it for the full 7-9 hours but I want to get at least 4-5 hours out of it watching pre downloaded videos and MAYBE some light Sims 3. [/Or not if that's a super-drainer, I can live with just my shows.] In short: Would the battery life of a 13' MBP Vs. MBA be a deal breaker here?
And lastly...aesthetics.
Yeah, when it comes to PCs most people chastise you for caring about it -- but if I'm paying the Apple premium I want a laptop that is both functional and shiny! Obviously the MBA is super thin, but do you guys think the unibody MBP looks/feels better? I've heard the MBP uses a glass screen...does it look nicer than whatever (I'm assuming plastic) the MBA uses?
And hey, anything else you want to throw at me as the prospective new owner of a MBA feel free to do so.
EDIT; Don't you love a wall of text that could probably be cut down to five sentences.
The one thing that concerns me is the SSD. I've heard complete horror stories about them degrading to the point of not being usable. Now, those do seem to be before the new SSDs, but still -- how long do you think this SSD will last me with moderate usage? Coming from PCs if I'm going to lay out 2k for a laptop I want to get a good 3-5 years out of it.
Beyond that, another thing that pushed me to the MBA is that I do travel a lot visiting family and all and these are long cross-country flights. I'm also likely to be going to Switzerland sometime next year. Is the MBA fairly nice to use on a plane? I've used a 15' HP Laptop on an Economy AA flight and it was EXTREMELY cramped and barley doable so I can only imagine this would be 10x better. [/Well, you get my point.] The one thing that worries me is battery life. On an international flight I'd hope they are likely to have power ports but probably not on domestic. With stops and all I don't need it for the full 7-9 hours but I want to get at least 4-5 hours out of it watching pre downloaded videos and MAYBE some light Sims 3. [/Or not if that's a super-drainer, I can live with just my shows.] In short: Would the battery life of a 13' MBP Vs. MBA be a deal breaker here?
And lastly...aesthetics.
Yeah, when it comes to PCs most people chastise you for caring about it -- but if I'm paying the Apple premium I want a laptop that is both functional and shiny! Obviously the MBA is super thin, but do you guys think the unibody MBP looks/feels better? I've heard the MBP uses a glass screen...does it look nicer than whatever (I'm assuming plastic) the MBA uses?And hey, anything else you want to throw at me as the prospective new owner of a MBA feel free to do so.
EDIT; Don't you love a wall of text that could probably be cut down to five sentences.
