Pro or Air 13"

TheRiddler · 26-09-2011 9:26pm #1

Looking to get my first Mac, want something portable enough so going for a 13" screen. I'll be bringing it to college but using it as my main computer too. I won't be playing games or heavy video editing so processor speed isn't a major concern.

The screen on the Air is a higher resolution but I hear that the screen on the Pro is acutally still better? I'd like to be able to watch movies and one of my concerns was no optical drive on the air, however am I right in thinking I could just buy an external drive (Blue-Ray even) and use that? What would you recommend?

tombren · 27-09-2011 12:36pm

TheRiddler wrote: »

Looking to get my first Mac, want something portable enough so going for a 13" screen. I'll be bringing it to college but using it as my main computer too. I won't be playing games or heavy video editing so processor speed isn't a major concern.

The screen on the Air is a higher resolution but I hear that the screen on the Pro is acutally still better? I'd like to be able to watch movies and one of my concerns was no optical drive on the air, however am I right in thinking I could just buy an external drive (Blue-Ray even) and use that? What would you recommend?

you should probably hold off on making a decision either way for the mo as there's a good chance that a new macbook pro will be announced pretty soon

mac buyer's guide

http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/

Sad Professor · 27-09-2011 2:35pm

The next MBP refresh will probably be early next year, February/March sometime. I'm not sure I'd recommend waiting.

Cabaal · 27-09-2011 5:45pm

Personally the Pro is best bang for buck and as such is likely to last you the longest, ok its slightly heavier but it also has more storage and upgrade'ability (is that even a word?) then the Air.

Darksaga87 · 30-09-2011 7:30pm

I cant see the point in buying a MBA.

A 13' pro is worth the money, i couldnt justify €1000 + on a laptop with no disc drive, very small flash memory and limited in upgrading.

silvine · 02-10-2011 9:55pm

I have a 2009 pro and if I could I'd swap it for an Air. The new models have gotten some great reviews and are said to be very fast and portable. You could always just plug in your optical drive when needed. That said, I have an iMac and I only use my laptop as secondary machine.

If the laptop is going to be you're primary machine then consider that the pro is far easier to upgrade but it'll be heavier than the Air.

K.O.Kiki · 03-10-2011 11:08am

I'd recommend an Air unless you're fairly certain you want to do 3D gaming or watch a DVD (hassle-free).

TBH, Air + external drive is a better portable solution than Pro.
I've used my DVD drive maybe 3 times in the past year.

Hobbes · 03-10-2011 3:12pm

The air will cover everything except gaming.

Red Alert · 08-10-2011 11:55am

If it's a single computer, I'd find it hard to recommend the Air, nice and all as it is.

Cuddlesworth · 08-10-2011 9:15pm

Hobbes wrote: »

The air will cover everything except gaming.

Unless I'm missing something, the 13inch pro only comes with onboard Intel graphics as well. After seeing them both, I'd go for the air.

Hobbes · 09-10-2011 9:50am

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

Unless I'm missing something, the 13inch pro only comes with onboard Intel graphics as well. After seeing them both, I'd go for the air.

You can play games on it. But if you are a hard core gamer, you are going to be disappointed. Also it means your poor little MBA is going to have its fan in overdrive to compensate for the heat. Which doesn't sound nice.

Only thing that causes the fan to go crazy is some Flash games/adverts.

Running the following at the same time doesn't impact the heat.
- Art program.
- VLC
- Parallels
- Keynote

godtabh · 09-10-2011 11:44am

Is there any external out options for the air? Can you hook it up a monitor?

Sad Professor · 09-10-2011 1:10pm

godtabh wrote: »

Is there any external out options for the air? Can you hook it up a monitor?

Yeah, current models have a mini Displayport and a Thunderbolt port.

Paulw · 09-10-2011 1:29pm

Sad Professor wrote: »

Yeah, current models have a mini Displayport and a Thunderbolt port.

I thought they only had a single port - dual mini-display port combined with thunderbolt?

Sad Professor · 09-10-2011 1:35pm

Yeah sorry you're correct. It's just a Thunderbolt port. I have one of the new Airs so you would think I'd know that.

Paulw · 09-10-2011 1:55pm

But, I believe you can daisy chain devices on the single port, so using a display and then disk drives??

So few thunderbolt devices out there still, but hopefully they will increase soon.

TheRiddler · 09-10-2011 4:20pm

I won't be using the laptop for any gaming at all so I don't have to think about that

godtabh · 09-10-2011 5:48pm

So what is the difference between the Air and Mac BookPro?

I was considering getting an mac mini but looking at the air (other than the hard drive) it would meet my needs.

External drives are cheap as piss these days so wouldn't be to bothered by that.

All i would be looking to use it for would be

general use internet, vlc, office

encoding of stuff

I have a decent 23 inch screen so would need to be compatible to that. If it had digital out for sound it would be great but that wouldn't put me off

Chiparus · 09-10-2011 9:35pm

Had a 15 inch MBP, now have a 13 inch MBA, the Air is much more portable. And for someone who does not need to upgrade, uses it for surfing ,MS word, powerpoint and some family photos, I dont see the point in the pro.

FruitLover · 09-10-2011 10:42pm

I've found from personal experience that if you'll be using it on the go a lot, you're better off with the lighter option. Personally, if it were between an Air plus external optical drive and a Pro, I'd go with the Air (truthfully, I'd buy both a desktop PC and netbook for cheaper than the Air, but I don't think that opinion will be too popular on this forum

).

You can keep the optical drive at home and transcode DVDs or whatever for storage on the HD for viewing on the go if you want.

Hobbes · 10-10-2011 3:49am

Re: monitor. You can plug in the thunderbolt or get a converter.

The thunderbolt monitor will also allow
- 3 USB ports
- 1 thunderbolt device (or chained)
- network cable.

All coming through the one cable. Plus it has a built in charger for the air.

godtabh · 10-10-2011 8:14am

The monitor I have has hdmi, dvi and vga so I assume I would need to get an extra lead

K.O.Kiki · 11-10-2011 9:50pm

godtabh wrote: »

So what is the difference between the Air and Mac BookPro?

I was considering getting an mac mini but looking at the air (other than the hard drive) it would meet my needs.

External drives are cheap as piss these days so wouldn't be to bothered by that.

All i would be looking to use it for would be

general use internet, vlc, office

encoding of stuff

I have a decent 23 inch screen so would need to be compatible to that. If it had digital out for sound it would be great but that wouldn't put me off

Air has a slower CPU, smaller drive, no DVD, no audio-out, no Firewire, no lock slot.

On the plus-side, its display is better, it's lighter, and it uses an SSD drive.

I guess you could get a USB sound card for audio-out?

Paulw · 12-10-2011 8:01am

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

On the plus-side, its display is better, it's lighter, and it uses an SSD drive.

Macbook Pro has the option of SSD instead of HDD.

While the Air can have a better display, many models of the MBP has the same display.

Oafley Jones · 12-10-2011 10:10pm

Paulw wrote: »

Macbook Pro has the option of SSD instead of HDD.

While the Air can have a better display, many models of the MBP has the same display.

Not sure what you're saying here, but the panel on the 13inch MBA is only found on the MBA. The 15 inch MBP has the same resolution but it's obviously not the same display. I've said it before, but I think the display on the MBA is the only decent panel (in standard config) in their laptop range.

Pro or Air 13"

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