Considering giving up 15" MBP for new Air, unsure what to do...need thoughts

I purchased my 15" MBP in Nov of 2008. It's pre-unibody, 2.4ghz with 5400rpm HDD. I've upgraded it to 4GB of RAM. The new Air has increased my lust for some new shiny. My MBP is fine, but it's started to annoy me with it's lagginess (which could be fixed by spending $200 on an SSD).

I have a desktop where I do my heavy lifting like photo editing and video encoding. What do I use my MBP for? Primarily to surf the web and read e-mail while I sit on the couch. I do IT for a living, so it also used for this purpose while on the couch, but that's primarily Office and remoting into other computers or using SSH to network gear, nothing intensive. Lastly, my notebook goes with me when I need to travel for work.

I have been travelling for work lately and I'll probably continue to do that for the next few months, and then probably 1 trip a month for a while after that. The 15" MBP isn't a huge deal to travel with, but something lighter would be nice too.

So, the new Air drops, new shiny. Is this a good time to seriously considering changing my notebook? Cost on an Air is high, so I'm looking to sell my 15" MBP to recoup some cost. So then I have to figure out how an Air could replace my MBP as my only laptop. Since my MBP has no SSD, the Air (even the 1.4ghz one) feels much faster than my MBP. However, I have a big hangup on screen resolution. I really like the 1440x900 resolution of my MBP (mainly for the 900 vertical). A lot of my websites are heavy text sites and I deal a lot with large excel/word docs, and the larger vertical res is very useful. To get that, it means 13.3" Air, which also means faster proc too, which seems like a smart idea for longevity.

The other side is giving up resolutin for the best portability and size. Will having a 11.6" notebook make me take it everywhere? Proibably not, I don't need it with me at work, nor do I need it with me everywhere else I go. So is that really important? I don't know just yet.

I've read some comments from people who say 11.6" laptops are not good for actual use in your lap, and are better suited for tables. Can users comment on this? Since I'm using this thing on my couch for an average of 3 hours a day, being comfortable with the device is a big concern. I've never used an 11.6" device so I have no good comparison. I have used my wife 13" MBP so I know the 13" Air would be of a good comfortable size.

What about the actual overall use and portability between the 11.6" and 13.3" sizes? I could only do so much in-store to try and figure this out. The weight felt pretty much the same to me, and so did single hand balancing. They both seem equally as portable to me. The big thing seems to be dimensions. Can those of you with more experience comparing these 2 sizes in general (Doesn't have to be specific to the Air) comment on these two sizes and why one may be better than the other?

What else have I not considered here? I need input from those of you who have more exposure to laptops of these sizes in general. Thanks!

PS - I am not opposed to a PC either, but what I've generally found is my issues with any PC notebook is the trackpad. I use the trackpad exclusively (no external mouse), and I am heavy use of multi-touch gestures (2 finger scrool, 3 finger swipe, etc). I've yet to use a PC trackpad that can touch Apple's. So if there's something out there that is just as good as Mac trackpads in a competitor device to the Air (size/weight/performance), please tell me about it!

 

I will say that in terms of size and comfort, the 11.6-inch MBA seems pretty great so far. Also, keep in mind that since you specifically mentioned vertical resolution, moving up to the 13.3-inch Air only gets you 132 more pixels. Not exactly a dealbreaker, I'd think.

The bigger Air is just that - a good bit bigger - and it's noticeable, imo. In addition to the faster CPU, you also get substantially more battery life and more space. For what you said you use a laptop for, though (basically, the same things I use one for, since I do a lot of heavy computing on my desktop), the 11.6-inch one seems ideal.

Alternately, you'd get nothing by switching to an Air that putting an SSD into your MBP wouldn't solve except portability (it is super light!).

 

I'd go for the Macbook Air 13", because it has higher screen res, and an SD card reader.

 

You said that your current MBP was 'laggy'. Given that it has pretty good specs, have you considered that it is probably overheating?

 

It's not overheating, it's just the slow 5400rpm hard drive. I've played with a lot of SSD equipped laptops lately and it makes mine look like a dinosaur.

 

IMO, a slow hard drive is hardly a good reason for getting a new computer, but it is your decision. The MBA doesn't bring any extra 'longevity' when your current MBP runs on a Core 2 Duo; a ubiquitous processor.

 

This exactly. If you really want the portability I guess it's a worthwhile trade but you could go spend $150, get a decent SSD and plop it in and be good to go. Certainly less hassle.

 

Im in the exact same situation as you, except I'm deciding between the MBA and an ipad.

Im going to wait until my best buy gets them in so I can play around with one for a while before I buy.

Im leaning towards the 11 inch MBA simply because it is a full on laptop. The 64 GB size is not an issue to me because I use my MBP as my main computer anyways. As far as RAM, 2 GB should be enough for what I want to do with it (word document/pdf/safari/itunes at the same time).

 

The difference between a 5400 RPM and 7200 RPM are pretty significant. I switched all the laptops I service to 7200 because boot times are cut in half, faster reads/writes. They used to be pretty expensive, but now they have been on the market for a while, they have fallen... I miss my pre-uni MBP 2.6 too and wish I kept it.

If you are looking for a reason to buy something, they go with the air, but if you wanna make your dollar stretch a long way, buy a 7200 hard drive, fresh install... wait until you REALLY need it.

Good luck.

 

As I recall, the Seagate Momentus XT series of hybrid HDs offers SSD-like performance for a lower cost. For a 2 year old laptop, that's what I'd get.

 

+1

These drives perform exceptionally well.

 

Or you can buy barely used SSD for a good price (like Intel 160Gb or 128Gb Vertex). On the other hand portability of 13" Air and its unibody is serious advantage. It should have almost double battery life too.

 

I had the same issue and bought a FileMate 48 GB ExpressCard SSD for about $170 (you should be able to find it a bit cheaper than that). My 17 inch MBP is like a new machine with it. It uses the SSD for booting and applications and the 5400 HDD for user files. It was a cheap way to get much better performance without having to open up the laptop which I understand is a bit of a pain.

I'm also considering a MBA for my portable. I would convert my 17 inch to my home desktop which is an aging 6-year-old Windows desktop if I did this. I plan to drop by the Apple Store in the next few days to take a look at the MBA. I would go for the 13 inch with faster processor and 4 GB of RAM if I went this route.

I'm also wondering if Apple will be changing the rest of their lineup to be more Air-like in the future.

 

I agree with others-get a Seagate Momentus XT, or a quality SSD if you really want (bearing in mind that OS X still doesn't support TRIM).

It sounds like your current Macbook Pro should still be FASTER than a Macbook Air, so switching to one because of speed seems like a bad idea.

 

I had much the same thoughts this week when I went and played with a few Air at the stores.
In the end it seemed silly to me not to get the 128g SSD and 4gig 11.6" Air but NO ONE stocks this one for some reason?

When I priced it and looked to order one I stumbled across a sealed 17" MBP I5 for a few hundred bucks more......HMMMMM?

It seemed even more crazy to spend that kind of money on a machine I could never upgrade and will likely be able to find used before long for a lot less money.
So I snagged the 17.

I think overall they priced the new Air just out of range for anyone using common sense to decide.

I have and have used 11" machines a lot and they push the limits for me of usefulness and should be more price competitive not less for me.

Another thought you do not bring up is your age?
I have a tough time really using a 11" machine as my eyes are not getting what they used to.
If this is an issue please play with them before buying.
I will say the 11" Air had the most friendly screen of that size I have tried and I also have an Alienware MX11 for comparison.

Isn't this fun?

 

Oh I forgot,I use a 13"MBP now and it is about the perfect blend of portability and power for me.
I use 1 piece of software that really needs more screen space when I travel and that is the incentive for the 17" Up to now I have been dragging a 24" Monitor on the road with me,not a good time!

Ed

 

> I had much the same thoughts this week when I went and played with a few
> Air at the stores.

I've been thinking about the Air, 15 and 17 inch MBPs and have been having discussions with coworkers. One coworker who only uses his MBA for presentations is seriously looking at the 11-inch model.

Another has a Sony Vaio Z with Core i7, 8 GB, max SSD, totally loaded but complains that he can only get 4 hours on battery. He has the high-res screen and looked at the MBA but I think that he'd really like the 17 inch MBP with 512 GB of SSD. I have the same issues. I'm thinking 15 inch but he's suggesting I get a 17-inch. If the 15-inch had an ExpressCard, I'd go with that. At the moment, I'm undecided.

Sandy Bridge should be out in January. Hopefully Apple will do a CPU refresh. I'll think about it then. I could always wait for Ivy Bridge in late 2011. Nothing wrong with my current system of course.

 

i have a momentus xt and it is exceptional especially coming from a 5400rpm hdd. i boot in 20 secs and i do have a lot of programs and hefty hardware.
however there have been many complaints about the xt's working with mb and mbp's so best to do a little research first.

 

If I were you I would get rid of my HDD and get a new SSD something like the Vertex 2 SSD and do a fresh install. You will see a day and night difference in performance.