[smax013]

pollacjw said:

My MBP makes weird noises, gets super hot, and has LCD issues, all of which fall into known issues for first gen MBP and are not covered by warranty. All of which I just get to enjoy for the years to come. My friend who has a recent model has none of theses issues.

My first gen MacBook Pro works just fine. Zero issues...other than I would not have minded the ability to install more memory that later generations have and the Firewire 800 port that is on later generations...but those are just due to me being impatient. On the plus side, since my warranty is now long gone, I had zero qualms about upgrading the hard drive myself. It does get a little toasty, but no more toasty than my dad's 2nd gen MBP.

[smax013]

troy67 said:

I'm not a very big fan of the MB, and never have been. Its a fine computer which works well for the majority of the world, but The only way i would compromise and get a smaller screen is if I was getting something else out of it. The MBA's thickness and portability was in my opinion, a good compromise. I find that the casings on the MBs are too weak and they often begin getting 'bendy' (the screen gets shifty from the main CPU), and the material begins to squeak. That's not to say I wouldn't prefer that computer over nothing at all or worse over a PC, but I would definitely stay in the aluminum-body family which will remind me more of my PowerBook.

I think you hit the key issue for you to evaluate...do you want a small, really like portable laptop or do you want/need a laptop with more functions/ports. If you want a very light, portable laptop and don't have a need for many external devices (i.e. USB or Firewire ports) or an internal optical drive or a need to have a replaceable battery and can live with 80 gb of storage, then the MBA might be for you. If you need more storage space or want a replaceable battery or need more than one USB port or at least one Firewire port, then it might not be for you.



Now, since you do mention the "weakness" of the MacBook screen, you might want to wait a little bit on the MBA until there is some user feedback on the screen of the MBA. It is certainly possible that such a thin laptop might have some structural "weakness" in the screen. As someone else pointed out, who knows how such a thin, light computer will fair in a backpack with a bunch of books and other heavy stuff. While I don't carry my MBP around tons in a backpack, I have had no problems when I do carry it around in my backpack with heavy books or other heavy stuff. Still works great after about 18 months.



And be careful about extra storage in the form of USB drives. If you go with a portable, bus powered USB drive, you might run into issues...some such drives need two USB ports to work if the USB ports don't provide enough power. Just about every USB, bus power drive I have used with my MBP required two USB ports for it to work. Unless Apple upped the power output on the Air's USB port, it is possible that the same could be true for the Air. If so, then you are SOL.

[lostmodz]

Well it really depends.

If you get the MacBook Air then you'll have to be hauling a superdrive around.

However the Air is superthin and is the sweetest notebook in the world, plus its cheaper.

But the both have Backlit keyboards, the Pro has a bigger screen and is very attractive.

In my personal opinion, go for the Pro.

If the MacBook air had an optical drive built-in then you should've gotten it.

Hope you get some good luck.