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MBA vs MBP - suggestions?
- Thread starter Wingnut330
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Option 2, without a doubt. A whole nicely featured backup machine at the same price of a monitor and a GPU.
Definitely #1. It's a real nuisance trying to keep two computers synced all the time. Much more convenient to have everything in one machine and use the external monitor. The MBP is a perfect desktop replacement.
Until the MBP has to go back to Apple for a small problem - or big problem - and then you got nothin'.
Very true, but the choice is then between guaranteed daily nuisance or *maybe* a one week problem sometime in the future...
Having a HD crash in my last MB I'm a firm believer in backing up data and redundancy. Nothing like the panic caused by years of data and pictures and emails lost. The pain of syncing or backing up is really minimal compared to trying to get everything back.
Wish you well on whatever you choose!
Wish you well on whatever you choose!
It really depends on what you do, but if you're working on different documents, files etc, it means that you have to keep track of which version you're working on all the time. If you're out and about with your macbook and working on something and then go home and want to work on the same file you have to move it over to the other computer and then back again the next day, for example. Maybe there are sync programs that do this for you, or perhaps you could keep things on a server and save them to the server. My experience though is that it feels confusing to have your stuff spread over two computers. Just my personal preference to have everything in one place.
I also think the MBP is such a great computer that weighs just a little more than the macbook that it makes an excellent desktop replacement, especially together with a cinema display. You could also just have a macbook and a cinema display - that's equally good, though not quite as powerful depending on what you need.
With superduper and time machine, it really is no longer a hassle at all. I have little sympathy when I hear that people lose years worth of data and important files after a hard disk crash - it just irritates me. Backup is essential to anybody who uses their computer for anything important that they wouldn't want to lose. With superduper, I keep a bootable clone of my drive that I can boot from in case of disaster and restore from quickly if need be. Time machine allows for quick file retrieval and double security in case of problems. In the OP's case, I'd definitely go for a MBP and a cinema display as well as a good external hard drive for backup.
Overall, I agree with you, but I recently had a hard drive that I used for an archive (older stuff I don't want to keep on my machines normally) die. So I lost data that way. Though I do have backups of all the contents on all the machines. So data loss will strike where you least expect it. I need to research RAID disks for an archive mechanism.
Yeah, few consumer options are totally secure. Having all my important stuff both on my machine as well as on backup all the time feels pretty good since it's unlikely that they will both fail at the same time, but you never really know. I couldn't do that with the MBA though because of its small drive. I also put my most important files on a remote server - things that I'd be devastated to lose...call my paranoid, but I lost one short week of work once and that made me this way! That's all it took.
Agreed. The electron Gods sucker you into complacency without a failure for years and then when you least expect it - BAM. DOOHHH!
I do back my stuff up regularly now that time machine is so easy to use and am reminded. Since I do travel quite a bit when I get those 2 month long continent hopping trips, I tend to worry more about catching planes and making scheduled appts. than backing up data. It's amazing what can acquire in 2-3 weeks time.
Oh, lets not forget laptops get stolen. We've had three stolen in past two years.
You can get a refurbished 24 inch imac and mbp for under 3000.
My wife hates you!
She said "I thought you were getting somewhere." Now I have more to ponder!Well, I just got back home with my MBP 15" 2.4Ghz. I plan to get a 24" monitor and see how it goes. If I miss my MBA, maybe I'll get another one this summer.
Thanks to all for the advice!
I plan to get a 24" monitor and see how it goes. If I miss my MBA, maybe I'll get another one this summer.Thanks to all for the advice!
Well, I just got back home with my MBP 15" 2.4Ghz.
Thanks to all for the advice!
Well glory be... Glad you finally made a decision (as I'm sure is your poor wife)!!
Hope your new lappy works brilliantly.Good luck and congrats!
Cool, let us know how everything turns out. Did you get the basic mbp or the previous version since they are both 2.4.
It's a base model of the new version. It's fun so far. Very fast! The bad news is my screen is yellow at the bottom.
It really depends on how you use your machine. If you need it for pro applications like photo, video, music, or design editing then the MBA won't cut it except when you need to do some quick work while on the go. If on the other hand you just need something for word processing, email, surfing, iPhoto, etc. then the MBA would work well. Basically, use the best tool for the situation.
I agree... Consider this: Most people do not do video or music editing on their laptop. There are only a hand full of notebooks that can do this properly, anyways. So, don't compare the MBA to something that it wasn't designed for. If you're in the larger group of people that don't do these graphic/cpu intensive work, then you're fine. The MBA will perform like any above average notebooks that are sold today.
I bought my MBP to be kind of a portable desktop. I plan to connect it to a large monitor for long editing sessions. Keep in mind, I'm not a sophisticated user, I just wanted something I wouldn't outgrow and would grow with me as I dive into a new hobby - digital photography. If it weren't for that, I would likely keep my MBA.
Having said all of that, given my experience with my new MBP, I may return it and get another iMac.
Having said all of that, given my experience with my new MBP, I may return it and get another iMac.