Help me decide which Apple Laptop ?

Hi - i'm a website designer, so the emphasis of my work is Top Notch Artwork & multitasking btwn heavy resource applications.

I want to invest in a Apple Laptop, can a Mackook Guru hlp me decide on which one ?

1. Do i go for Pro or AIR ?
2. 13 inch is ideal for my budget, since the bigger screens are more expensive.
3. As a current user of Windows, i use MS Excel heavily for programming & analysis for website maintenance.
Does Macbook have spreadsheet version to allow me to do just that ?
4. I'm currently using a 2GB RAM laptop & find it quite slow, especially when i'm switching btwn applns.
5. HD disk is not so important since i save all my work to an Ext. Hard disk.

Somebody pls help, which Macbook is suitable for me ?

Mave

 

If your talking about the Standard MBP and not the Retina.... then as long as the ports and lack of DVD drive aren't a factor, I'd definitely go for the Air... its smaller and has a higher res screen, and a SSD which will make it seem much quicker. The Retina MBP 13" though is a great little machine, but much more expensive.

There are several Spreadsheet programs you can find to use on Mac... Microsoft Office for Mac 2010 also has MS Excel if you want to just stick with that.

4GB+ may help, but you'll see a big performance boost from the SSD in the Air or Retina models.

 

Thanks. What's SSD ? Is it something i would need to buy extra ?

 

The Air will have a SSD as standard, so you don't need to buy it aftermarket (besides, these laptops aren't very user-upgradable anyway). IIRC, you can get a MBA with either a 128GB SSD or 256GB.

 

Solid State Drive instead of a traditional hard drive. These are flash chips instead of spinng magnetic platters. They use less power, are much faster, and use less power. The problem with current SSDs are that they cost a lot more than a HDD (Hard Disk Drive)

 

Before getting into answering any of the initial questions, it would be prudent to know if there are any specific programs that you require for your work. If so, are they even available for Mac OS and would you need to re-purchase them? Should that be the case, it would not make much sense to buy a Mac. You could install Windows via Boot Camp, but that would largely defeat the purpose when you could buy a Windows machine with similar specifications for the same or less money.

 

Thanks guys. I'm not someone who carries the laptop around,so portability is not so much an issue.

Is it possible to upgrade the RAM on the AIR ?

Saturnotaku - having been a user of Windows for last 15 years, i want to experience the Leopord O/S (which i'm toild is more superior in performance than Windows). As for S/W I use, it's mainly Photoshop, CorelDraw & MS Office.

There's a local Apple dist. in Kenya, where i'm currently based. I'll pop in & have a look at the AIR & ProBook.

 

The RAM on the Air isn't user-upgradeable (soldered on the motherboard, iirc).

Considering that your software is cross-platform, it shouldn't make a difference between what OSes you use, especially since there's no noticeable performance difference between OSX and Windows, given equal hardware (hardware is what actually determines performance... A Clevo gaming laptop will be more powerful than an Air, for example). Just for thought, but you can always play with a Hackintosh install (OSX on non-Apple hardware); I have a VM with 10.7 (legit copy) on my computer, for example.

 

You should also consider the screen: the MBP has a 1280x800 glossy screen, while the Air has a 1440x900 semi-glossy screen, which would be better for spreadsheets and programming. The MBP's screen has better color reproduction, but won't matter much in your case.

I would suggest getting the Air unless you need an optical drive (rare these days) or want upgradeability/storage (really your preference).

 

i d go for cheapest 13 model, maybe adding ram to 8gb.
I might be really biased but imo
1) air is lacking ports
2) its for girls
3) its less durable
4) its more expensive

Although i wouldnt get 13 incher for everyday's work since its not that great for your eyesight.

 

Although the MBA is missing a few ports than the standard 13" MBP, it most definitely isn't "for girls" (that connotation implies that someone who requires a thin and light notebook is a "girl" and "weak"), it's just as durable, and it is actually priced a lot more competitively than the grossly overpriced 13" MBP. The 13" MBA is priced similar with other ultrabooks while the 13" MBP is easily $500 way too high compared to the competition. Lastly, the 13" size isn't bad for everyday work in terms of restricting eyesight as I've been using various 13" notebooks every day and my eyesight has not deteriorated.

All-in-all, the MBA is a much better buy than the 13" MBP. Things would be different if the 13" MBP was less expensive but it features hardware that's found in other notebooks that are priced at $400. The aluminum enclosure isn't worth $500-$1000.

 

Why are you looking at relatively small laptops then instead of proper desktop Macs or PCs? You haven't mentioned any programs beyond Excel, but designers generally need all the speed and screen real estate they can get. Those things come at a hefty premium on a laptop.

Good idea. OS X isn't for everyone, so I'd strongly suggest you give it a trial run before blindly buying into an eco system you haven't tried before.

 

Yeah, definitely try out OSX first before buying. Just like test driving a car, you need to see if you like it first.

Anyway, if you feel emasculated by a small laptop, that's an issue that NBR can't fix . Even though I have a relatively large laptop myself, I'd be more than willing to take up a much smaller laptop if it has advantages that I need or want.

 

The only ports an MBA 13 is missing compared to a MBP 13 (non Retina display) are Ethernet and FireWire.

 

of the two for design work I prefer the Pro just because I can have larger storage options and upgrade the RAM

if you use Vbasic scripts etc in Excel you are going to need a copy of windows and MS Office or Excel. for CorelDraw you will also need Windows, plus now Adobe CS6 works better in windows although Photoshop is fairly agnostic still.

YIKES, for Photoshop and Corel I recommend a MINIMUM of 4

.

Leopard is an OLD version of OSX, the current version is Mountain Lion. in performance there is very little difference between the three main OS's on the same hardware.