Just looking to get a replacement to a PC laptop that died over a year ago. I'm just not sure on SSD HD's vs a regular HDD....
Go!
Just looking to get a replacement to a PC laptop that died over a year ago. I'm just not sure on SSD HD's vs a regular HDD....
Go!
SSD definitely. The way of the future. I've resolved to no longer needing a laptop for personal use. A quality tablet and good desktop could be had for the price of latest MacBook.
SSD is awesome. My Mac Air boots faster than my iPad. Bar none.
If you imagine needing a dvd on a regular basis or need the utmost performance, the Pro is the way to go. I have both an Air for home and a Pro for work and rarely miss the extra features on the Pro. For those few times I need a drive, I have a USB multi drive.
I'd consider a refurb to save some some cash. It's on the Apple site, but you have to search for them.
-Rob
My MacBook Pro now has an SSD. Yeah, it seems way faster. (I need the CD drive, hence why I don't use an Air.)
You can swap out the spinning platter type hard drive for a ssd after purcha-oh wait. You said Mac book. Have fun getting that open.. 
Ssd are the way to go. I just got a Samsung 256gb PRO a couple weeks ago for $160 and today there was a deal for $130. The PRO version comes with a 10 year warranty. Yep.
Mmmk. The local worst buy ad has a 4gb/128gb air on sale for 799 from 999 originally....
I despise win8..... Need more then a tablet and desktop still.....
Watched this video this morning. Not helpful to answering your question, but it is funny. I was looking at the Apple site last night because my mother-in-law said she wanted to buy a new gold macbook. After looking at the Apple site, I couldn't figure out why anyone would pay more and get less for a new macbook instead of an air. She essentially wants a maching to click like on random things her friends post on facebook and to read emails. My take away for her was to get the air with the bigger screen and the largest ssd drive and most ram they offer.
Who uses cd's/dvd's anymore? Unless you are using legacy software, there is simply no need.
I haven't used a DVD/CD in my computer in years... and I was still burning cd's for use in my car as of like 2012 lol.
I don't like the fact that the new standard Macbooks don't come w/USB plugs.
Tax refund going to MBA vs MBP? I vote Hoosiers. :)
SSDs are awesome, but the downside is that they are more expensive per GB. That said, they're into the semi-affordable range for the 256/512M range which is what most people put in a laptop.
codrus wrote: Tax refund going to MBA vs MBP? I vote Hoosiers
I vote Roth IRA, if we're throwing out other options.
rob_lewis wrote: If you imagine needing a dvd on a regular basis or need the utmost performance, the Pro is the way to go. I have both an Air for home and a Pro for work and rarely miss the extra features on the Pro. For those few times I need a drive, I have a USB multi drive.
The latest MacBook Pro doesn't have a DVD drive anymore either.
It doesn't really matter, both are decent. Go with the SSD either way.
stuart in mn wrote:rob_lewis wrote: If you imagine needing a dvd on a regular basis or need the utmost performance, the Pro is the way to go. I have both an Air for home and a Pro for work and rarely miss the extra features on the Pro. For those few times I need a drive, I have a USB multi drive.The latest MacBook Pro doesn't have a DVD drive anymore either.
Yeah, and that's why this machine needs to last. While all of the photos shot in-house are stored on hard drives, we have hundreds (thousands?) of photo CDs and DVDs from our outside sources--figure that covers a ton of stuff shot from 2000 through recently.
So that means if I need a photo from the 2013 Solo Nats, it's on DVD. Yes, we could copy them to hard drives, but that would be a gigantic task. Knock on wood, this laptop is chugging along just fine.
SSDs are very fast but also very dangerous - they can fail without warning and when they do, data is irrecoverable, so if you use an SSD make sure you make regular backups.
I snapped up a last gen MacBook Pro back in December: http://store.apple.com/us/buy-mac/macbook-pro?product=MD101LL/A&step=config
Normal hard drive with normal RAM chips. I just can't buy into the "Air" type Macs that are glued together with zero upgrade or repair options. If I want to go SSD, I can. If I want to put in 16GB of RAM, I can. But this is the last Apple compute I'll ever buy. I'm gambling that when this laptop dies I will have transitioned my entire workflow to web based services, which can be accessed by any computing device.
My home machine, a mid-2011 13" MacBook Air, is chugging along quite nicely. 90% web, 10% software development (for fun!), 1% processing vacation images through Aperture. It does everything I ask it to, but does get rather noisy and a bit slow when faced with lots of RAW images. I really love the ability to throw it in a bag and not notice it's in there.
My work machine, a late-2013 15" Retina MacBook Pro is a monster. It's bigger and heavier than the air, but not by as much as you might expect. It runs two 24" monitors and one 19" monitor at work, no sweat. SSD of course. It'll chew up big fat numbers and spit the bits out. It's a great work machine.
You want an SSD. I think the question you should ask is honestly, how much do I really ask of this thing? If you're going to do intense image editing, video editing, gaming, or serious programming, go for the Pro. For more mundane uses, go with the Air. The Air will still be overkill for whatever else you're doing.
Check the refurb deals available on the Apple store online. Some aren't worth it, but if you look around, you can find good discounts on older models, good as new, with warranty (of some sort).
I second the above advice. I've bought all my Macs on the apple refurb site, and I've always been very satisfied. There is a site called "refurbMe " that lists the sale prices of refurbished macs and how often they come up for sale. It will alert you when they come in stock. Very useful for snagging the exact model you want for hundreds less.
If you can swing $1500, the 13" retina MacBook pro Retina with the i7 quad core, SSD and 8mb ram would be the way I'd go. Should be pretty future proof.
SSDs are fantastic. Just do it.
On the Apple front though, I think in 2015 you have to really like Apple to spend the big bucks for one. The value for the money just isn't there as it was a few years ago. It IS super thin, has a nice keyboard, and has enough power. I just don't like that in a few years you won't be able to get the latest OSX for it and that it is so expensive.
I bought myself a Chromebook last year and LOVE it. My sister just replaced an older macbook with a Chromebook and its been good for her so far too. We both just use them for web and the occasional spreadsheet/word doc.
no input on the pro vs air debate but I will say SSD is wonderful.. or even better SSD with the OS and common use programs with the large data stuff on a traditional HDD (my sub $500 2+ year old windows machine does this ;-) also do it on my desktop... going to a computer running on traditional HDD is just painful.
for the disc needs... you can buy a USB dvdrw drive for $20... with how rarely they are needed these days there is no reason to carry one around with you in your computer all the time.
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