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Other than the Retina display (which, honestly, might be a dealbreaker) - is there a good reason for me to get a Macbook Pro over a Macbook Air? The VAST majority of what I do at home is web browsing, and occasionally Skype or iPhoto. Once in a blue moon I fire up MS Office and use Excel.
I've heard very mixed things about the Air - some people love it and others complain that it's underpowered and overpriced. This one has 50GB more storage and double the RAM of my current 5 year-old Macbook Pro, which is very tempting since I think my trackpad is about to die. BUT I could get a comparable new Macbook Pro (with Retina) for about $400 more, and that would be brand new, not refurbished.
Everyone I know who has an Air really loves it. But yeah, I totally look at the retina screen and get all PRECIOUSSSS about it.
I love my 11" MacBook Air. I have a 2GHz i7 model and it has tons of power. I've used it for video transcoding in a pinch and have done lots of multitrack audio editing on it. It has never missed a beat.
I've been very pleased with my Air (am on it right now) and have used it for programming projects. It's almost 3 years old now, so the newer crop may be even more awesome.
I have the Pro because I do so much typing on it and it's my main work computer but my dad has an Air and loves it. I would like, i think, the fact that you can carry it with one hand which I can't do safely with the pro
The VAST majority of what I do at home is web browsing, and occasionally Skype or iPhoto. Once in a blue moon I fire up MS Office and use Excel.
Have you considered an iPad? I have one with a Logitech bluetooth keyboard. The combined is like a mini laptop. I use it ALL the time. On it right now. I take it to meetings, and take notes on it with Notability app. I use DocumentsToGo for excel and word types of stuff. Not sure if there is a Microsoft Suite app. Or what level of needs you have for Office & Excel. I know there is an iPhoto app. And I've Skyped with Shir from the iPad. I use it for work. I use it for home. And really suprised how fast my laptop stopped being used. My old (crappy) laptop is used for docking, and that's about it.
Doubt it's an option for you, but thought I'd mention it.
Not aware of a MS Office app for iPad. For the other purposes, an iPad is great. (I recommend the Magic Puzzle app. Endless jigsaw puzzle fun, including (for the $2-or-so upgrade) your own photos as puzzles!)
I don't have the money to get one, but played with Pages, Numbers and Keynote ont he ipad and they were awesome. Honestly, if I had the money I'd get the biggest most maxed out ipad available, a bluetooth keyboard, and one of those goosneck stands that let you put the ipad at the exact angle you want. And I'd use it for 90% of my writing. Since pages and what have you export to office, I keep some sort of mac or windows machine with office on it just to check for conversion formatting loss when sharing with others.
I have an iPad, but honestly, since I switched to an Android phone I barely use it any more. It's great for travel, but it's not a replacement for a real computer, IMO.
Yeah, I'd love a tablet for travel but alas I need both Acrobat Pro and decent Word screen size for work. In fact, I'm hoping whenever I next upgrade I can get an even bigger screen than what I have now.
