Snagging a new laptop for school, help would be great.

[J. Crawford]

MacBook Pro vs. MacBook Air vs. Other

I've had, and miss, a Mac. But they are mad expensive. I have the money, that's not a huge issue, but it isn't something to ignore.

It will be used for college, recording, multimedia, and video. No gaming or anything.

Thanks!

[MJ5150]

If you need to plug in peripherals quite a bit, go with the Pro. We have an Air and it totally rocks, but limited options for plugging in.

-Mike

[Kwesi]

I wouldn't even look at the Air. Everything you've mentioned points to a MacBook or MacBook Pro.

[jmattbassplaya]

I might as well jump in on this. I need to a new laptop because mine is dying. I'll be using it for business classes (Access, Excel, and other simple stuff), some rough music recording, and some light (but demanding) gaming, like Starcraft 2. I'd prefer PC.

[Strohsx]

Depends if you're really going to all the multimedia or what not.
(A lot of people say it but never really do a whole lot of it or heavy work and always buy more than they need)

I've got the smallest Air I use to run my network (over a year now), sucker is built solid and does all the small audio/video, picture and web work I need it to do. Battery life is killer and I can almost fit it in my pocket.

Great little machine, my only beef if no Ethernet port, which is fine just drives me nuts sometimes.


If you are going to be doing major audio and video rendering get the pro otherwise for a normal everyday work horse get the Air.

[J. Crawford]

When I saw multimedia I mean small video projects, iTunes, etc. Nothing big time.

I'm just worried about the Air not having enough space and no CD drive.

[fdeck]

My view of the CD drive (at least from the non-Mac side) is that less and less stuff is being distributed on CD, and more via download. For that reason, a CD drive would just be size and weight that I wouldn't want to carry around all day. In the rare case that someone hands you a CD, you can copy it to a flash drive on someone else's computer.

[Kwesi]

Originally Posted by J. Crawford

When I saw multimedia I mean small video projects, iTunes, etc. Nothing big time.

I'm just worried about the Air not having enough space and no CD drive.

I'm telling you man, you want a MacBook or MacBook Pro. I don't even do that much and I'd be boned with the storage capacity of the Air.

[J. Crawford]

But can't you add space to the Air, unlike the Pro? Plus, the Air is smaller, so I could cram my Air, iPad and school stuff in my bookbag without feeling like a pack mule.

I'm loving the tips though guys, that's the most posts I've ever in OT that were all on topic...

[Kwesi]

Originally Posted by J. Crawford

But can't you add space to the Air, unlike the Pro? Plus, the Air is smaller, so I could cram my Air, iPad and school stuff in my bookbag without feeling like a pack mule.

I'm loving the tips though guys, that's the most posts I've ever in OT that were all on topic...

I've upgraded HDDs on every one of the MBP's last 3 incarnations. Never had any issue fitting my MBP in my bookbag either. Just stick it in the laptop compartment. You can upgrade your storage space on the Air too and it's pretty much the same process but your options are more limited and depending on how much space you want, they could be very expensive. The worst the about the Air to me is the fact that it's not very port friendly. The MBPs are already pretty lean with only 2 USB 2.0 ports and a single firewire 800 (I don't count thunderbolt because it's really supported yet).

[J. Crawford]

See, I've never needed more than 2 ports though, if even that. So that doesn't seem like a problem.

I'm going to get some "hands on" this weekend, so that'll be a big decision maker.

[Ziltoid]

Seems like you really want the air from the way you speak. Personally I prefer the pro for the reasons mentioned here, space,cd's, ports, sturdier...

[J. Crawford]

No, no, its not that I've already made up my mind, I just feel like giving the Air some credit to keep the debate going. The more opinions and ideas the better, IMO.

See where I'm coming from?

[Strohsx]

Originally Posted by J. Crawford

When I saw multimedia I mean small video projects, iTunes, etc. Nothing big time.

I'm just worried about the Air not having enough space and no CD drive.

I was going to suggest a small portable USB cd rom (almost a dead format anyway) and of course a small wallet sized external hard drive 1tbs can be had for 50$ if you take the time to look.

[fdeck]

Every portable thing that I've owned, after a few weeks, I've wished for something smaller and lighter.

[Turock]

It's easy enough to add more USB ports. I wouldn't worry much about a CD drive either.

[L-A]

Go to Apple's refurb online store. You can get a just-before-last-gen Macbook Pro, and I think it'll fit your needs very well. I have a relatively recent 13-inch and it works like a charm. OS X Lion is great with laptop screens.

With a year of intensive use before I got it, the computer still has a battery that lasts 6-7 hours of light duty, 3-4 of heavy work. It's a blessing in classrooms with limited wall outlets.

[Snarf]

Vaio. Down with Apple.

[MakiSupaStar]

Originally Posted by Kwesi

I wouldn't even look at the Air. Everything you've mentioned points to a MacBook or MacBook Pro.

+1. Add a boost in memory and HD space. Education discounts can get you at least a 100 bucks off too. Not a huge amount but better than a kick in the nuts.

[Kwesi]

Originally Posted by Turock

It's easy enough to add more USB ports. I wouldn't worry much about a CD drive either.

The issue with this is that an un-powered external USB bus can have intermittent data transfer slowdowns based on the amount of data being transfered. During recording that could mean a ruin track/take. Of course, you can remedy this by using a powered bus or not dealing with a bus in the first place which is the most convenient option.