Ugh - Torn Between 11" Air and 13" Pro

[mpfef]

So, here's my situation.

I have a late 2007 white plastic "Santa Rosa" based Macbook. I have dragged this thing with me from Singapore, Dubai, Thailand, Hawaii and all over the US for the past 3+ years.

It's time to upgrade.

I'm still in a job where I travel quite a bit, and we just got a 21.5" iMac for the house, so I'm thinking of getting an 11" Air to replace my old White Macbook. I just have a hard time pulling the trigger when the 13" Macbook Pro with it's Sandy Bridge/Thunderbolt combo staring me in the face.

On the surface, the Air is perfect, since I really use my laptop for iPhone sync/backup, email, browsing, and some light word processing and spreadsheet work, plus the occasional PowerPoint or Keynote.

How will the speed of the 11" Air compare on a daily basis to my 2.2GHz Santa Rosa Macbook?

Thanks.

--Matt

 

[entatlrg]

Get the 13" MBA 4 gb RAM/ 256ssd. Way better for you over the 13" MBP....

Lot's of info on the topic in this forum comparing the bunch, it's a worthwhile search/read.

Post back what you end up buying!

 

[theturtle]

So, here's my situation.

I have a late 2007 white plastic "Santa Rosa" based Macbook. I have dragged this thing with me from Singapore, Dubai, Thailand, Hawaii and all over the US for the past 3+ years.

It's time to upgrade.

I'm still in a job where I travel quite a bit, and we just got a 21.5" iMac for the house, so I'm thinking of getting an 11" Air to replace my old White Macbook. I just have a hard time pulling the trigger when the 13" Macbook Pro with it's Sandy Bridge/Thunderbolt combo staring me in the face.

On the surface, the Air is perfect, since I really use my laptop for iPhone sync/backup, email, browsing, and some light word processing and spreadsheet work, plus the occasional PowerPoint or Keynote.

How will the speed of the 11" Air compare on a daily basis to my 2.2GHz Santa Rosa Macbook?

Thanks.

--Matt

if portability is number one, no matter how advanced the mbp is, it can't beat the pro.

if you do non cpu intensive things than the air is your best bet.

this is from person al experience, but the hardest thing to overcome is the thought of "future" proofing. The macbook has the next gen processor so it makes you think that the mbp is the better value. the better option for the future but the reality is, the core 2 duo in the air is FINE.

the ssd makes opening programs a snap. so unless your going to do some heavy lifting, i say go air.

 

[torbjoern]

So, here's my situation.

I have a late 2007 white plastic "Santa Rosa" based Macbook. I have dragged this thing with me from Singapore, Dubai, Thailand, Hawaii and all over the US for the past 3+ years.

It's time to upgrade.

I'm still in a job where I travel quite a bit, and we just got a 21.5" iMac for the house, so I'm thinking of getting an 11" Air to replace my old White Macbook. I just have a hard time pulling the trigger when the 13" Macbook Pro with it's Sandy Bridge/Thunderbolt combo staring me in the face.

On the surface, the Air is perfect, since I really use my laptop for iPhone sync/backup, email, browsing, and some light word processing and spreadsheet work, plus the occasional PowerPoint or Keynote.

How will the speed of the 11" Air compare on a daily basis to my 2.2GHz Santa Rosa Macbook?

Thanks.

--Matt

The 11" Air will blow the SR MB out of the water.

 

[mpfef]

Get the 13" MBA 4 gb RAM/ 256ssd. Way better for you over the 13" MBP....

Lot's of info on the topic in this forum comparing the bunch, it's a worthwhile search/read.

Post back what you end up buying!

I've already decided that if I'm going with the Air, I'm going to get the 11". I figure if I decide to step up to a 13" laptop, I might as well just get the Pro.

--Matt

 

[Edmoil12]

I was initially a little worried about the speed of the macbook air (1.4Ghz C2D), but with an SSD it is blazing fast. It boots in 15 seconds, wakes up in a second, opens applications faster than any other computer I have ever used. Unless you are upgrading the Macbook Pro to an SSD, the air will certainly 'feel' much faster. I realized that almost all of the things I use computers for are not CPU intensive, and after using the 11", I don't think I can buy another computer without an SSD. That's without mentioning how extremely thin and light it is, as I travel often. At least for me I couldn't be happier about performance, size and battery life of the 11".

P.S. You are giving up a backlit keyboard and internal DVD drive, SD card slot, built-in ethernet port with the air, so if any of those are deal breakers that may affect your decision.

 

[iaymnu]

For me the 256SSD was what made me buy the 13".
Living on 128SSD is hard imho.

I've already decided that if I'm going with the Air, I'm going to get the 11". I figure if I decide to step up to a 13" laptop, I might as well just get the Pro.

--Matt

 

[jsgreen]

I have similar requirements - travel a lot (2-3 days per week) and don't do much CPU intensive intensive work, mainly email and word processing. Just got the 11 inch Air as a replacement for a 15" Dell PC; have to say it is a dream to use.

Future upgrades are a concern, so I'd recommend maxing out the RAM; OWC already has larger SSD drives for the Air, while they are expensive now, I'm guessing that the prices will fall substantially over the next 2-3 years and might provide a reasonable upgrade path.

 

[CorvetteZR1]

So, here's my situation.

I have a late 2007 white plastic "Santa Rosa" based Macbook. I have dragged this thing with me from Singapore, Dubai, Thailand, Hawaii and all over the US for the past 3+ years.

It's time to upgrade.

I'm still in a job where I travel quite a bit, and we just got a 21.5" iMac for the house, so I'm thinking of getting an 11" Air to replace my old White Macbook. I just have a hard time pulling the trigger when the 13" Macbook Pro with it's Sandy Bridge/Thunderbolt combo staring me in the face.

On the surface, the Air is perfect, since I really use my laptop for iPhone sync/backup, email, browsing, and some light word processing and spreadsheet work, plus the occasional PowerPoint or Keynote.

How will the speed of the 11" Air compare on a daily basis to my 2.2GHz Santa Rosa Macbook?

Thanks.

--Matt

If you're on a plane a lot, you might want to consider that the MBP has a backlit keyboard as the MBA does not.

If that doesn't matter to you, definitely buy the Air. The weight and portability fits your needs perfect. Order it with 4gb of ram and you'll be good to go. You could get a USB powered LED light for the keyboard if you really need to use it on a dark plane.

 

[mpfef]

Well, I broke down and ordered the 11" - I went for one of the refurbished models Apple had in it's store.

11" - 1.6GHz - 4GB RAM - 128GB SSD

Can't wait to get it.

--Matt

 

[CorvetteZR1]

Well, I broke down and ordered the 11" - I went for one of the refurbished models Apple had in it's store.

11" - 1.6GHz - 4GB RAM - 128GB SSD

Can't wait to get it.

--Matt

Good call, you'll love it. I have a 13" MBP 2.26 with 2GB of ram. I lug this thing to school and back (walking, bike, bus) and it sucks at nearly 5 lbs. I bought a 11" 1.4 4GB ram and it's way faster than my MBP and I am HAPPY AS HELL to have such a light weight and durable machine. For traveling/commuting it's a godsend.