I'm trying to decide between the MBP 13 and the MBA 13

[x30Jx]

Any users around here have experience?

I like the idea of the added resolution on the display of the MBA; and the reduced weight, but I'm not as hot on the idea of not being able to replace the hard drive or RAM, plus the reduced CPU power.

Thoughts?

 

[grinder]

I'd go with the MBA... your eyes is "where the rubber meets the road" as they say. Let Apple Care cover the HDD/RAM

 

[lowfat]

Doesn't the MBA still use a blade type SSD? AFAIK it is replaceable, just a pain in the rear.

 

[SKYMTL]

If there are that many concerns, why even go with a Mac?

Personally, I have a serious love / hate relationship with my MBP from 2010. The keyboard is second only to the one on my Sony Vaio Z but the battery life is now down to about 2 hours at most and there's no easy way to replace the battery. As such, my huge investment will quickly become an oversized paper weight. However, in that same vein, I would also hesitate to recommend many of the Ultrabooks for exactly that same reason.

 

[x30Jx]

I'd go with the MBA... your eyes is "where the rubber meets the road" as they say. Let Apple Care cover the HDD/RAM

Yeah, the screen resolution is a big deal for me, unless I could find some way to mod the size of the menu bar (I actually want to make it skinnier on the screen); it is thicker than I need it to be on the MBP.

Doesn't the MBA still use a blade type SSD? AFAIK it is replaceable, just a pain in the rear.

Blade-type, yes. However, do blade SSDs exist for the 2012 MBA yet? Not so much. OWC and a few others (iirc) carry replacements for the 2011 models, but the 2012 models have a retooled interface, so they don't fit in the MBA as of yet.

If there are that many concerns, why even go with a Mac?

Personally, I have a serious love / hate relationship with my MBP from 2010. The keyboard is second only to the one on my Sony Vaio Z but the battery life is now down to about 2 hours at most and there's no easy way to replace the battery. As such, my huge investment will quickly become an oversized paper weight. However, in that same vein, I would also hesitate to recommend many of the Ultrabooks for exactly that same reason.

These aren't concerns; they are points of difference between the two models. All other brands that I have looked into basically just don't compete with what you are getting for your money, and those that do cost as much as or more than a MBP anyway.

2 hours? That is a major issue. You should definitely have that looked at; battery service is not that much compared to the lack of value of a machine that only has a two hour battery life.

 

[SKYMTL]

ll other brands that I have looked into basically just don't compete with what you are getting for your money, and those that do cost as much as or more than a MBP anyway.

Other than the operating system, can you detail what the MBP and MBA provide that other brands don't? I'm just curious since I went through this very exercise not three months ago. :thumb:

 

[great_big_abyss]

These aren't concerns; they are points of difference between the two models. All other brands that I have looked into basically just don't compete with what you are getting for your money, and those that do cost as much as or more than a MBP anyway.

Please, do a side by side comparison of Screen size, processor, GPU, memory, Storage, etc, and determine if the Mac actually IS better value or not!

 

[Mars]

MBA, easily.

Unless I'm reading the specs wrong (am I? this is a bit surprising to me), the current 13" MBA has a higher resolution than the current 13" MBP. (1440x900 vs 1280x800)
edit: Oh, right, this is what you said in the OP, I was reading it backwards.

Prior to the latest model MBA, it was limited to 4GB RAM, which crippled it for me, but you can get 8GB now.

The biggest performance limitation for me with the MBA is the dual-core processor, but you have to move to the 15" MBB to get a quad-core.

 

[x30Jx]

MBA, easily.

Unless I'm reading the specs wrong (am I? this is a bit surprising to me), the current 13" MBA has a higher resolution than the current 13" MBP. (1440x900 vs 1280x800)
edit: Oh, right, this is what you said in the OP, I was reading it backwards.

Prior to the latest model MBA, it was limited to 4GB RAM, which crippled it for me, but you can get 8GB now.

The biggest performance limitation for me with the MBA is the dual-core processor, but you have to move to the 15" MBB to get a quad-core.

Yeah, I really don't want to go up to the 15 just for quad core.

Also, do you think that the 8 GB would be a good investment now? I was thinking that the CPU would be "aged out" before the RAM proved itself insufficient.

Other than the operating system, can you detail what the MBP and MBA provide that other brands don't? I'm just curious since I went through this very exercise not three months ago. :thumb:

Please, do a side by side comparison of Screen size, processor, GPU, memory, Storage, etc, and determine if the Mac actually IS better value or not!

Can you guys suggest other brands that I can examine further and look into reviews and specs?

 

[Mars]

Also, do you think that the 8 GB would be a good investment now? I was thinking that the CPU would be "aged out" before the RAM proved itself insufficient.

I guess it depends on your usage, but I hover around 4GB of memory usage with just regular desktop stuff (browsers, office, email, IM) open in Mac OS.