Traveling around the world.... With a Macbook Air?

[Mactagonist]

One important thing that I forgot to mention about the MBA...it takes a LONG time (3-4 hours) to fully charge up the battery. This is a big handicap you may get if you go with the MBA. The new battery in MBP is years ahead of the one in MBA, in terms of the technology it uses

You make a good point, the newer MBPs battery charges sooooo much faster then both the older MBP and MBA. In a situation when access to power was intermittent and limited it might be an important advantage.

You buy the retail copy of OSX so you did pay for it. You do not modify any source code when you install it...

edit: *points to your sig* You have a Mini9 with OSX?

Anyway as a MBA owner I agree that you probably won't want to use it in the field. You are more than welcome to try however, might give me more confidence about my MBA. But from my experience a MSI Wind will take more abuse than the MBA.

There is really no point in correcting someone who doesnt understand the legal definition of theft or the difference between civil and criminal!

 

[killerrobot]

I would second getting a netbook.

If you are truly out in rural areas of developing countries, there will more support for pc than mac in case anything breaks. You might be without a pc for a couple of weeks, but I would bet you'd be without the mac for at least a month.

I know I'm talking about a big IF, but it seems as though the MBA's build quality isn't that of the rest of the macs.

 

[japasneezemonk]

Keep the MBP

If you have to carry an external HD, then it makes getting an MBA sort of irrelevant. I have an MBA and personally find the spec's suitable for light use, but once I have 30 tabs open in Firefox, while running Excel and maybe Itunes, it starts to feel a little slow. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I love tabs.
When I traveled during my college years, my 15" PB was awesome. The weight will only become a problem if you find yourself walking everywhere and for long distances, maybe more than 3 or 4 miles at a time. If you have a MBP, just keep it and use it. Plus, if it's a little old, you wont really care if it gets beat up while you travel.

 

[pmackin]

How would you be accessing the internet ?
Dont think too many 3rd world nations have jumped on Wifi yet .
If you will be using the ehternet adapter , remember you cannot use any other usb device at that point like a external HD .
Get the 13 MBP , it has everything you need on a laptop .. just in case .

 

[Balin64]

Mmm. Well, if you are truly going to the places on this earth where you are needed the most, good luck finding electricity; let alone a high speed internet connection.

I suggest a sturdy dSLR with video capabilities, and a journal.

When you come back home, take a sweet long time producing a collection of your images, videos and writing into a comprehensive collection.

Concentrate on your volunteer work first, and documenting it second. Otherwise, don't do it at all. If you are traveling around the world, take a MB: cheaper if you lose it, break it, etc. If you are helping others, take a camera and paper and stop worrying about the perfect Mac to take.