Macbook Air or Ultra Book
Sep 16, 2012 12:28:29 #
keithmac
Loc: Nanaimo, B.C. Canada
I am considering buying a new lightweight laptop computer. My biggest concerns are for battery life and light weight. I do a lot of wildlife and bird photography and want to be able to take the computer with me into the field and on trips. The only programs that I will probably be using are Lightroom 4 and possibly Microsoft Office. Does anyone have any experience with any of the new Ultra Books or with the Macbook air. My one concern with all of them is that none of them are upgradeable so I am also considering the 13" Macbook Pro. I have never used a Mac always a PC but I am willing to make a change.
Any comments or suggestions are welcome.
Any comments or suggestions are welcome.
Sep 16, 2012 21:38:27 #
13 is small to do any serious editing and viewing other than a quick look. If you have another machine at home you would be doing good going with PC so not to have any conflicts. If this will by your main computer go with the MacBook pro and an external monitor when at home. Once you use a mac for a short time you will think why did I not go to MAC sooner. You can get office for MAC but you really dont need it. Any thing you do in Pages or Numbers can be saved Word and Excel compatible and they will open any word or excel file.
Sep 16, 2012 21:55:17 #
Not to start a war but I feel a 13" is more than adequate for photo editing. Usually when editing photos, I am zomed way in- 200x to 400x.
The MacBook Air is a nice machine but is limited considerably in speed and drive capacity. A lot of the speed is made up with the quick SSD though. Batery life is also great on the MBA. The MBA would be my first choice over the ultrabooks/netbooks. I used to use an HP Mini bit that screen IS too small for serious editing. After that, I used a Dell Mini, running MAC OSX- it wasn't that the screen is small but the screen resolution (1280 x 600) is poor. also the colors, especially the purple and blues are to far off.
The MacBook Air is a nice machine but is limited considerably in speed and drive capacity. A lot of the speed is made up with the quick SSD though. Batery life is also great on the MBA. The MBA would be my first choice over the ultrabooks/netbooks. I used to use an HP Mini bit that screen IS too small for serious editing. After that, I used a Dell Mini, running MAC OSX- it wasn't that the screen is small but the screen resolution (1280 x 600) is poor. also the colors, especially the purple and blues are to far off.
Sep 17, 2012 06:03:14 #
Get a MacBook Pro with Retina Display, great resolution for photos. Personally I find 13" frustratingly small, but if you mainly want it in the field you might prefer that size. A couple of other discussions going on in todays forum on the same topic that you might want to read. I ordered one myself today but went for the 15" as I will mainly use it at home, wish they made a 17".
Sep 17, 2012 09:12:13 #
your going to be sorry with the retna display one because the battery is glued in the memory is soldered in etc and cannot be upgraded later what happens when you have to change your battery get the one with out retna its up gradeable later and the battery is not glued in , I use a 13 mac book and I use it with a 42 inch tv with wireless key board and track pad from my recliner and when i travel it travels well i wouldn't use anything else I borrowed a buddies 15 mac pro to do some stuff to it for him it was clumsy on the lap the 13 inch is alot more comy to use and haul
Sep 17, 2012 09:29:53 #
I've upgraded as much as I can at purchase time. Hopefully the battery will last as long as the laptop. I mostly plug in at home anyway.
Sep 17, 2012 09:37:13 #
MacBook pro is light, responsive and reliable. Yes it is pricy and yes it is worth it. Bought it, rely on it, never will I get a pc again.
Sep 17, 2012 11:20:25 #
keithmac
Loc: Nanaimo, B.C. Canada
Thanks for the info, I think I will go with the 13" Macbook Pro. It will not be my main computer and portability is my main concern. My desktop is a PC but I have been told the there shouldn't be any problems with photos between the two. I think the ability to upgrade the Macbook pro at a later date if I need to is what finally sold me in the end. Also the fact that I can buy the components and update it myself are a real plus.
Thanks for your input and information.
Keith
Thanks for your input and information.
Keith
Sep 17, 2012 12:44:31 #
Don't know if it is a concern or not, but I don't think the Air has a cd/DVD player/burner.
Sep 17, 2012 13:06:29 #
DennisK wrote:
Don't know if it is a concern or not, but I don't think the Air has a cd/DVD player/burner.
Good point. No the mac book air does not have a cd drive, neither does the mac book pro retina display models. The regular MBP does for now. CD drives are a thing of the past for laptops. If need you can get a compact CD drive that is USB powered. Software and things of that type can be downloaded from the internet, it will not be long until that is the only way to get new software
Sep 17, 2012 23:54:17 #
keithmac wrote:
I am considering buying a new lightweight laptop c... (show quote)
I'm not a huge fan of the MacBook Air. No CD/DVD drive, not as many connections as the MacBook Pro, less choice on screen size. Big plus, of course, is the weight. Personally, I'd go for the MacBook Pro, but that's me.
Sep 18, 2012 03:33:34 #
FilmFanatic
Loc: Waikato, New Zealand
RMM wrote:
quote=keithmac I am considering buying a new ligh... (show quote)
I am the opposite - I am a massive fan of the Air. Who the heck needs a CD drive permanently mounted in their laptop nowadays?
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