A nice dilemma to be in....
Friday, March 20, 2009 at 7:09AM I'm at it again :-(
While I was at the Apple store a few nights back, I snuck in to take a look at the 17" MacBook Pro. I'd seen it before whilst at Macworld but that seems such a long time ago now.
If you follow my deliberations on the kit I currently use, you'll know that I use a 1st gen Macbook Air for my mobile computing (OK that would be sort of one step up from the iPhone type of mobile computing).
I don't travel that much (well not regularly each week, I tend to save it up for big trips) so my choice of the MacBook Air might be surprising for some people. Well the MBA is my pick it up with one hand, balance it on my lap, notebook mainly used whilst I join the rest of the family in the living room. Nothing too taxing, just checking my emails and RSS feeds.
It's small, yet has a full size keyboard and is light enough not to cause any major discomfort and speedy enough to handle its minimal duties.
When the new unibody MacBooks and MacBook Pros came out, it was not even a consideration to think about replacing the MBA. I was pretty happy with the machine and didn't really see much of a difference in the new MBAs to warrant an upgrade.
However, (here it comes...) one thing that I have to admit to having an issue with on the MBA is the lack of screen real estate. After spending all day in front of some pretty big monitors, it takes a bit of getting used to a 1280x720 screen.
What, no violins.....
Anyhow, I sort of started thinking about if I really should look at upgrading the MBA for a new MBP, either the 15" or the 17", mainly for the extra screen real estate.
Well the trip to the Apple store confirmed it for me...
No!
I found both the 15" and the 17" to be way too heavy for me. Don't you just know Allison's going to give me a hard time on the Mac Roundtable after my comments about the iPhone being too heavy to control a presentation on.....
Lovely machines, but I'm so used to the form factor of the MBA.
A bit of research on the new MBA machines gave me food for thought, when it looks like they've significantly upgraded the graphics on the newer models. Not a bigger screen, but much faster and they support the 30" external monitor. A quick question on twitter brought back several responses form people who had upgraded and these ranged from the new machines being snappier, to comments indicating quite a significant speed improvement, especially if moving to the SSD.
Well it wouldn't harm to price a new MBA with SSD on the Apple store would it, and I've still got that Apple Developer credit to be used by November............
I'll let you know how I got on tomorrow and explain my dilemma!
Reader Comments (6)
I moved from a 2 yr old MBP 17" to the MBA rev B, SSD.
Have to say that this MBA feels snappier than the 2 yr old 17" MBP in almost every regard.
I put my data on a diet, getting rid of clutter and simplify everything. Less is more. I love it. Have been very happy with the MBA, especially the SSD. Sometimes it is as silent as a calculator.
Next buy is a 24" screen though. Sometimes I do miss the real estate of the 17" MBP.
And when you do travel, you got to laugh that you bought the MBA.
Oh what a slippery slope we weave! (mixed ref, I know).
I do travel but have had the same thought's run through my mind. At the end of day I think that what you [Don] does and what I do differ quite a bit.
Personally I wouldn't be able to function now without my MBA and my 3G stick. The iPhone is great but there are certain tasks that just will never lend themselves to a mobile phone / PDA.
That's the "Niche Market" question I guess. One thing I will say is that the Netbook / Window's / Linux thing just doesn't work! Yes I have tried, just not convinced, but I can say it will not be a MS based device.
My God man, go a week without buying any Mac gear!
Awe come on Kevin. Prior to buying the "end of life" MacPro a week so so ago, it's been over a year since I bought my last Mac!
Well, nobody puts it all to better use than you do, that's for sure. Keep up the good work Don.