MacBook Pro or MacBook Air?

[capngeo]

Carl…..
I’m typing this on a 2009 MBP; One tough computer and still running the latest software.

As said above, get the most RAM you can and SSD! FWIW, my next computer will be an Air.

BTW, I’ll be on the rock for a few weeks starting the 8th…. Sold my slip in GB and am moving the boat to Sarasota; I’d love to catch you for an adult beverage while I’m in town. It might be my last in KW for quite a while.
George

[Capt Rottnest]

Originally Posted by RainDog

I find that insane in a $2000+ laptop. Bordering on negligent on their part. No way I would ever buy one of these. I cannot imagine what would have led them to make such a poor decision. Then to offer it with 4gigs of RAM is just irresponsible on the part of their marketing department. I bet there were some seriously pissed of engineers at Apple when this happened.

Start making them user customisable and the Air loses its form factor. Toshibas and other high end Win laptops cost more so I don't get the issue. Why would a high end hardware need to be user intervention able? These machines are the complete package and are well designed. The point is you choose what you want at point of purchase. RAM size is less relevant on a 'puter with SSD, since the swap file HD is almost as fast as RAM. 4G doesn't matter. I think the engineers at the time would have been chuffed.

Anyway, plenty of cheapie netbooks around, I'm big fan of buying what works for you..

[CarinaPDX]

The point is not that the Air should be customer modifiable - it is a great consumer device; it is that the Pro was always modifiable (for professionals!) and had lots of interfaces (again, a feature highly valuable to computer professionals), and had large screens (17" on mine) and thus quite different than the Air and justifiably priced higher. The new Pro's are not much different from the Air's having lost 17" screens, replaceable parts, and most interfaces. Even the 15" is only available as a Pro, starting at $2000 and $2600 with a discrete GPU. I have always justified the high prices with the great flexibility but that is a thing of the past.

Greg

[endoftheroad]

Some very good points

[endoftheroad]

I would bet that apple is aware of the evolved limitations with the pro whether intended or by mistake and also the recent closeness between the pro and air. My hunch is that we will see a change in the near future for the better.
Apple has great marketing strategies although I doubt this is one of them. This is likely to be a casualty of a greater development. It'll sort out, apple isn't one of the greatest companies on the planet by mistake.

[letsgetsailing3]

I have both.

My main machine is the MBP, and I use the air for travel.

My experience has been that the MBP is more bulletproof and faster, but I know they've changed a lot since I bought mine. Believe it or not, when I bought the air it was more expensive than the MBP. My air is currently crashed with an operating system problem.

I think they're both great machines, and I wouldn't hesitate to get either one. I'd probably only take a performance hit for the air if I really needed the lighter weight for travel.

[sparau]

Originally Posted by CarinaPDX

The point is not that the Air should be customer modifiable - it is a great consumer device; it is that the Pro was always modifiable (for professionals!) and had lots of interfaces (again, a feature highly valuable to computer professionals), and had large screens (17" on mine) and thus quite different than the Air and justifiably priced higher. The new Pro's are not much different from the Air's having lost 17" screens, replaceable parts, and most interfaces. Even the 15" is only available as a Pro, starting at $2000 and $2600 with a discrete GPU. I have always justified the high prices with the great flexibility but that is a thing of the past.

Greg

One thing apple does that is somewhat a negative for your old devices, is force updates through interface changes. Thunderbolt for instance is intended to be your "one interface to rule them all", walk up to your desk, 1 plug and your keyboard, mouse, screen, printer, scanner etc. are all daisy chained off the one port.

A very nice feature if you happen to have a suite of thunderbolt devices, else it's time to buy some adaptors, dongles…

You could argue that there would be no way to keep the form factor requested by customers if you support all the legacy interfaces.

[CarinaPDX]

Yes, one could argue that, except for Ethernet, which is very much a current interface. I will not miss the internal optical drive either. But unserviceable? Glued in battery? I could adapt to the soldered RAM as well, and perhaps even the unique SSD. But at $2000 for the entry price on a 15" display, plus hundreds for adapters, plus hundreds for future Apple service battery replacement, and it is pretty darn pricey for what it is. I think it likely that Apple has decided that it is a cash cow to be milked, and now cares about squeezing profits out over continuing to expand market share in a shrinking market (for laptops). I am holding out a bit longer before deciding, but this is the first time since the 80's that I am considering dumping Apple; even though I think it is still the best it is just priced crazy.

Greg

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by CarinaPDX

Yes, one could argue that, except for Ethernet, which is very much a current interface.

The ethernet connector is too large to to fit on the recent gen MBP's let alone a MBA.

It is however a bit annoying that they use the thunderbolt port to connect the adapter. The other day I wanted to connect a TB drive and ethernet to my MBA but had to switch to the USB3 cable. I suppose that could be Lacie's fail for not having 2 TB ports on their drive but maybe in doing so it would need it's own power supply.

[CarinaPDX]

Originally Posted by hoppy

The ethernet connector is too large to to fit on the recent gen MBP's let alone a MBA.

Good point, for the MBA at least. But a "professional" laptop should make a different tradeoff of size vs. flexibility. The only practical way to deal with the current mess is to get a dock, like the Belkin Thunderbolt Express. The price has crashed and it is now available in the States for $160 delivered from several outlets, including Newegg.

Greg

[vtsailguy]

Ok, so when comparing, the Mac book air has a solid state drive. No moving parts. This means smaller capacity and higher battery life.

In fact,to the Mac book pro comes in two versions. One with a conventional spinning hard drive and one with a solid state drive link the air.

Now I have one of each, less than a year old, and both with the solid state drive. I would say that the Air is better in the sailing environment, hands down.

Also, check out my most recent blog post for a MUST have bit of gear to go with your laptop!

[endoftheroad]

Originally Posted by Fog Bank

Here is an Apple 20 inch monitor which is refurbished. Prices out at $200.

http://www.overstock.com/Electronics...6/product.html

Combine that with this adaptor from the Apple Store which prices out at $29.

Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter - Apple Store (U.S.)

So.....check this out!!!!

I've been looking into getting a used cinema display, I'm not sure yet if I want to spend $200 on a used monitor but the reviews rave over Apples cinema displays.
So today I'm walking down the street here in Key West and a long time business vacated an office building and sat an Apple 20" display out front near the "empty" garbage bins. The bad is that the $50 power supply brick is not with the display but the DVI cable is attached. The office building is fully vacated so there is no one to ask if the display is fully functional and worth me ordering the power supply online. I took the display home but I really don't want to gamble ordering the power supply, for all I know there could be some bad pixels should it even power up.
It's funny here in KW as its common to find great items at the roadsides. I have found new things still in original packaging and about 4 months ago I found an almost new chop saw, the owners were on the porch for me to confirm it wasn't a mistake. I didn't need the chop saw but I know a carpenter that is having hard times so I donated it to him. Kind of funny to find an Apple Cinema Display today.
But without a power supply it does me no good unless I can figure someone local that has the power cable to try this display on.

[s/v Jedi]

I think you shouod have a look at an Optoma beamer. These are very small but very powerful projectors with LED lamp. I have one on the boat and no display can challenge it for movie night.

[endoftheroad]

Actually....I stayed up all night researching options for entertainment viewing in a boat, most of which have been discussed on this forum in detail.
The 20" Apple Display is twice as heavy and consumes at least twice the power of a 20" LED HDTV.
It really dawned on me last night just how many hours a tv will be running in our boat especially considering my wife's fondness for watching movies.
I learned a long time ago that it's better to design systems properly so theres no strain to the other half regarding usage.
It's the pits to feel stress for something as trivial as watching movies, wether on my side or the receiving end.
I have alot of power on my boat but I really should be considering a 12 volt system.

[endoftheroad]

Jedi,
Thanks, those are very interesting but remember how small my boat is? It's about the same size as one of your heads.
The entertainment seating areas and daybeds in my boat require a monitor to be mounted on a fully swinging and pivoting arm mount.

Now, back to the Beamer websites....I wasn't aware that a projector was capable of those specs. I always wondered why I still see those around, now I know it's because of their versatility and high performance.