Normally not in doubt but......

[Treefungus]

Hi guys

I wanted to hear from some more experienced guys than me. Normally I am not in doubt about what Mac to get but this time I cannot make up my mind.

I found a mac book pro 13 on ebay that had SSD in. I didnt buy it but suddenly got hooked on the whole SSD thing. After that I then looked at MBA 13 as it has SSD as default. I have googled a lot about whether I need more memory than the 2gb there is in the MBA.

I run mail, skype, msn, firefox (5-10) tabs, iWork, record and encode 1 video only a week and then I run stock chart application every day. This application uses JAVA to run. I guess that application is rather "heavy" on the memory. So my question is should I get:

MBP 13 with SSD

or MBA with 2 or 4 gb memory.

I am tempted to buy the MBA 2gb as my budget is a bit tight.

 

[Beanoir]

Well you haven't said what specs the MBP is (processor and RAM), I note it's on ebay so how old is it?

Either way, I reckon you'll be better off with 4gb for the tasks you do, if you'd stopped your list at firefox i'd have said 2gb would be more than enough, but with video work more RAM would help.

Dependant on the processor and RAM in the MBP i'd say for the jobs you want to do it will perform better than the MBA. However, it depends how much you are willing to sacrifice portability for performance...

Difficult one, and you're not the first to ask it!!

 

[Beaverman3001]

Don't go 2GB, it might be sufficient for a lot of your usage now, but 4GB is so much more future friendly. Plus resale value should be significantly better with 4GB verse 2GB.

As for MBA verse MBP, just depends on your needs. If you were going for a MBP you might consider finding a older 2010 model (normally 900-1000 range) instead of the new ones.

 

[alust2013]

Don't buy a 2GB MBA. You can't upgrade it later, and if you run anything that's "memory heavy", that won't work well. If you're on a budget, it's best to get a MBP, and possibly skip the SSD for now, then add one later when you have the budget for it.

 

[Legion93]

I bought a 2.13gHz processor, 256GB flash storage, 4GB RAM macbook air 13". You could get a macbook pro with an 4 GB RAM and buy an aftermarket 8GB memory module (usually around £70 - very cheap!) to replace the default 4GB on the pro.

But I prefer the MBA, more light and thinner and also fast as well, but since you plan on using RAM-eating tasks, you're better to get a 13" pro with 8GB RAM - don't worry too much about having a HDD or SSD - all programs/software that is very intensive (e.g. photoshop, movie editing, JAVA and flash work etc.) are totally dependant on the amount of memory the computer has.

 

[Psilocybin]

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I am running lion as a 2nd os and I don't get near 2gb fwiw But I still suggest 4

 

[Moccasin]

Are you looking at a 13" MBA? If budget is a bit tight, then try the 11" with 4GB RAM. If not, I think the upgrade is $100/£80 so I'd agree that 4GB is a worthy upgrade. I think resale value and future proofing is a good enough reason to go for 4GB.

 

[Treefungus]

Thanks guys. I can see that going with the 2gb is out of the question. Will look at either upgrading the 2gb to 4gb or just go with baseline MBP 13 inch.

 

[Cheffy Dave]

Hi guys

I wanted to hear from some more experienced guys than me. Normally I am not in doubt about what Mac to get but this time I cannot make up my mind.

I found a mac book pro 13 on ebay that had SSD in. I didnt buy it but suddenly got hooked on the whole SSD thing. After that I then looked at MBA 13 as it has SSD as default. I have googled a lot about whether I need more memory than the 2gb there is in the MBA.

I run mail, skype, msn, firefox (5-10) tabs, iWork, record and encode 1 video only a week and then I run stock chart application every day. This application uses JAVA to run. I guess that application is rather "heavy" on the memory. So my question is should I get:

MBP 13 with SSD

or MBA with 2 or 4 gb memory.

I am tempted to buy the MBA 2gb as my budget is a bit tight.

How bout this, GO REFURB, get a 13" 4GB RAM 256 SSD for $1549 in the refurb store RIGHT NOW!

 

[Legion93]

Thanks guys. I can see that going with the 2gb is out of the question. Will look at either upgrading the 2gb to 4gb or just go with baseline MBP 13 inch.

Have you considered an upgrade by an aftermarket RAM? You can purchase an 8GB memory module from Crucial for as little as £70 - and it literally takes 1 minute to install it into your MBP. I've done it myself and it is amazing, it is also very cheap for what Apple sells, and a better brand, which means it is more reliable/better quality than Apple's RAMs. Apple uses cheap Korean branded RAM manufacturer 'Hynix'.