Need help deciding on a new MacBook.

[TrillyandTruly]

I'm not very technical on computers and laptops, so please excuse me. I'm a college student studying Business and Economics. I currently have the old white MacBook from 2007. It's getting slow, and the battery just died on me. I have to keep it plugged in for it stay on.

I'm going to get a new laptop soon, maybe during the holidays, but don't know whether to get the MBA or the Pro. I know they're almost the same price (13"), but is weight and portability of the Air better than the PRO? I surf the web a lot, and I hardly ever turn off my laptop, only on weekends. I use Word, Excel, and Powerpoint a lot, and that's about it. The missing CD drive isn't that important to me. And also, does the AIR have a hard-drive? I really don't know what Flash is. Anyways, thanks in advance.

 

[Beanoir]

I'm not very technical on computers and laptops, so please excuse me. I'm a college student studying Business and Economics. I currently have the old white MacBook from 2007. It's getting slow, and the battery just died on me. I have to keep it plugged in for it stay on.

I'm going to get a new laptop soon, maybe during the holidays, but don't know whether to get the MBA or the Pro. I know they're almost the same price (13"), but is weight and portability of the Air better than the PRO? I surf the web a lot, and I hardly ever turn off my laptop, only on weekends. I use Word, Excel, and Powerpoint a lot, and that's about it. The missing CD drive isn't that important to me. And also, does the AIR have a hard-drive? I really don't know what Flash is. Anyways, thanks in advance.

First question is, do you really need a new laptop? A replacement battery and good clean up re-install might sort you current macbook out, its only 3 years old after all? Being a student, it would probably help to save a few quid.

But to answer your questions, the Air is much lighter and more portable than the Pro, go in to your local Apple store and have a tinker with them. Time will tell if it's capable of standing up to abuse in the same way that the macbook and pro are.

The Air will be fine for the MS Office stuff and probably everything you'll need to do for your course. The Air does have a hard drive, the Flash name refers to the type of hard drive it has, which in basic terms is like the hard drive in an iPod or iPhone with no moving parts, as opposed to the traditional type of hard drive which has discs similar to a CD which spin. This means it's more resistant to being knocked about and will run quicker.

Hope that helps!

 

[alust2013]

Either machine will suit you well. I think the Air might be a better fit for you than the Pro, simply because you use excel a lot, and it has a higher resolution. That means you can fit more stuff on the same size screen, which is great for excel.

It does not have a hard drive, but that is replaced with flash storage. That is basically the same type of storage as digital cameras, phones, etc use. It works the same as a hard drive, but has no moving parts and is faster. The only downside is that the most storage you can have right now is 256GB. If you need more go with the Pro. Otherwise, the 13" Air with 4GB of RAM and whichever storage option works best for you would be good.