MBA v MBP & When to buy

[MGTagher]

I'm PC owner looking into getting my first Mac. I'm in college and travel extensively either by van or plane. My university is on a hill and I'm at the bottom, so I've got a twice-a-day 20 minute walk for classes. During the school year I do heavy word processing and research. During the summer, I game lightly, but mostly low-requirement Blizzard games like Starcraft 2 that apparently work fine for either MBP or MBA.

My PC is awful. Its bulky and married to an outlet--which is a major problem when I'm traveling. It takes a minute to come out of hibernation and 2-4 minutes to hibernate the computer. It's also got a noticeably loud fan. I'll be keeping it around for PC-only software, but I plan on retiring it to use a Mac as a primary computer.


So I'm comparing the 13" MBA and 13" 250 gig hard drive MBP. Right now I'm more interested in the 13.3" MBA with 4 gigs RAM. I really like the weight and portability of the MBA, plus it has better resolution. It looks to me like the main benefits of the MBP are the extra storage and backlit keyboard (the backlighting doesn't seem like a big deal).


So it looks like the questions I need to figure out before I buy are

1) Can I live with just 126 gigs on the MBA? I'm not really sure how to figure this out, any advice besides just looking at what I use now?

2) When's the best time to buy either? The MBA was just updated, so ASAP I presume. If I wait for the MBP line to be upgraded, should I expect anything special? It doesn't seem like that there's much that could be done to the MBP (but then again this is Apple--flash storage standard maybe?)

3) Are the best deals going to be Black Friday sales and the back-to-school sale in June? At best, I'm saving 100 dollars or so from Black Friday and about the same from selling whatever iPod I get from the back-to-school deal (I already have an iPhone).

 

[Hellhammer]

This is my post from another thread and why I chose MBA over MBP:

I went with the MBA. For me, MBP doesn't offer much over the Air.

The CPU is only barely better and in my usage the difference in negligible. If 13" MBP had i3 or i5, then I might think twice but since it's the same old C2D, MBA was no brainer in this category.

The GPU is the same in both machines. Although I bet MBA's is underclocked, I don't really care. I'm not planning to play games as I have PS3 for that so 320M is more than fine for me.

RAM wise MBP would have been better as it can take up to 8GB and it's user-upgradeable. I ordered my MBA with 4GB and I doubt I'm going to need more than that. If Apple offered no option for 4GB, then I would again think twice because that doesn't sound too good when I think about the future.

SSD vs HD is one the biggest reasons why I went with MBA. I know I can get MBP and upgrade its HD to SSD but that's an extra expense and brings MBP very close to MBA in terms of price. MBA's SSD may not be the best one on the market but I'm sure it will be lightyears ahead of any HD. I'm also fine with 128GB as I just ordered a 500GB 2.5" external HD for 40€ and I already got one 250GB which is portable (+ 2x1TB and 500GB that are not portable). I will keep most of my data in my iMac and externals, only some photos and music goes to the MBA (I got the external for videos so I can take it with me when I go for a longer trip).

MBA's hi res screen was also a deal-breaker. I don't know is there a difference in quality but according to AnandTech, the screen is very good and the extra pixels are just making it even sweeter. Again, if 13" MBP had had similar screen, the decision might have been harder but since it does not, MBA is the winner in this category.

Battery life is inferior in MBA but in all honesty, how many of us really need the 10-hour battery life? Of course it's something that is nice to have but not something that at least I would need. 7 hours is exactly what I hoped from the new MBA and AT's review and user comments show that you can get up to 10 hours off of it with basic usage. That's very, very nice from an ultraportable.

Multitouch trackpad and second USB port just sweetens the deal and makes it more similar to 13" MBP.

I don't think I really need the extra portability what MBA offers but due to the great updates what MBA got, I find it to be much better deal overall than the 13" MBP. MBA is about 700 grams lighter and little bit smaller form factor but with the same sized screen.

I don't know yet how much I'm going to carry it around but IMO extra portability is never a minus, especially when you don't compromise on the screen size or other specs. Due to the portability, the weight or size won't be a reason why I can't carry it around.

I have a 24" iMac as my current main machine (possibly secondary soon? ) so if I need more power or storage, I can always use my iMac. I'm sure MBA will be a perfect secondary computer for me and I can't see why it wouldn't work as a main computer. Some things make MBP better, like more storage and upgradeability but if those things don't bother you or you find the advantages of the MBA to be greater than its disadvantages, it's an amazing machine.

Of course, MBP update may change the game but personally, I don't like the waiting game too much, especially when I know that I don't need the extra power. I tried my luck with iMac waiting game and all I got was a marginally better GPU. Besides, MBP would still be bigger than the MBA.

W000t my MBA just prepared for shipment! I didn't know they ship on weekends but I'm very happy that they do

1. How much data do you have now? 128GB is actually quite a lot if you don't have massive music, video or photo library. As I said in my other post, I bought a 500GB 2.5" external drive (very portable and doesn't require external PSU) where I'm going to put bigger files such as movies and take the drive with me if I'm going to longer trip where I may want to have more data with me.

You can always get the 256GB model if you're afraid that 128GB isn't enough.

2. MBA - ASAP

3. I would buy now as it's Black Friday. June is still over 7 months away, you don't want to wait till that

 

[neteng101]

1) You can manage with 128GB but you need to be mindful what you store onboard. An external USB hard drive can be used to offload other stuffs you don't use as frequently.

2) Buy now for MBA. There may or may not be a 13" MBP during the next refresh, so I'd say just buy now as well.

3) You get about 2 sales a year, and clearance when new models come out. You can look for refurbished units all year round. The 13" MBP is always on sale at Microcenter (in-store only) for $999. Today would be a good day if you wanted to buy a 13" MBA.

3lbs is 1.5lbs less than 4.5lbs. I'm sure you probably already did the math there. And likely close to 1/2 the weight of your PC laptop now.

 

[psirix]

1. Unless you are going to store a bunch of music, movies, and photos on your MBA, 128GB should be plenty. It will definitely be enough to handle your research and word processing tasks, even with a decent amount of applications. If you plan on filling your computer with endless photos, movies, and music, you may want to consider purchasing a portable external drive.

2. For MBA, ASAP. If you don't think the MBA will meet your needs and you can hold out longer, wait for the next gen of MBPs. However, it sounds to me the portability you desire and the computing tasks you do would be just fine on the MBA.

3. If you're looking for an MBA, today is going to be the best day for shopping for the 13". If not, there are the back to school deals in the summer which offer a free iPod. You can always save $50 or so if you shop through the education store.

 

[ja12ke]

I had to make the same decision between MBP and MBA...My wife has a MBA and I have a Sony Z12. I really enjoy using the MBA. My Sony is from work and I wanted to get either a MBA or MBP for personal use. The reason that I choose the MBA is because I didn't want to wait for the new version of the MBP. If the next MBP is something that I like, then I'll just sell the MBA to get it. Since the MBA is newer, I would get pretty good value for it once the MBP comes out.

 

[MGTagher]

Right now I use 200/230 gigs on my HP, but I don't think this is an accurate depiction of what I'll use on my Mac. First, I won't have to deal with antivirus, bloatware, etc. Plus, I definitely have tons of stuff I don't need, like an unused Linux partition. I don't have an external hard drive like you hellhammer but that's something I need to buy anyway for backups.

So I think you guys are right, I'll go for the MBA.

 

[gwsat]

My belief has always been that the time to buy a new computer is when you need a new computer. Based on what the OP tells us, then, I believe that now would be a good time for him to replace his unsatisfactory PC.

For the reasons Hellhammer stated earlier, I think the 13 inch MBA would be a great choice for the OP. If the OP could afford the $100 it would take to upgrade to 4GB of RAM and another $100 for the upgrade to 256GB of flash storage, I would also recommend that he spend the extra money. That's what I did when I bought a 13 inch Ultimate MBA. The result was that the MBA now handles both Windows in a VMware Fusion virtual machine and, at the same time, OS X as well as the MBP that it replaced does, although the MBP has 6GB of RAM.

 

[hcho3]

I buy new computers based on these factors.

1. Whenever the products get refreshed.
2. Apple comes with Back to school promo and offer iPod touch for free
3. Apple comes with new OS system. (Note: They usually come out on Summer or fall and you get this OS upgrade included)

4. Refurbished model comes out and they are just as good as new. If not, better because they have been inspected very carefully.

5. Whenever I need new one.

13 MBA is going to slowly overtake 13 inch MBP. Apple is on the mission to take out optical drive and Hard drive.