Air or Pro?

[Toughbook]

I believe one's eyes and ears are very individual. One screen that looks great to me can be awful for you. From what I saw by comparing the 2 models, the MBP was better to me. My 14 year old son was with me and he said the MBA was better. So I would think this is such a individual preference. Kinda like which model in general would be better for me. We can argue until the cows come home and still won't come up with a logical choice for everyone.

 

[alfa147x]

I thought it was the same display just with better resolution?

 

[dclive]

The MBA does have a better resolution; no doubt on that. We're debating if the display quality itself is any better; some believe it is.

 

[alfa147x]

The MBA does have a better resolution; no doubt on that. We're debating if the display quality itself is any better; some believe it is.

Right. I was under the impression that they both had the same type of display just different resolution. This having the same quality.

 

[Toughbook]

Anything that has a different resolution is going to look different to different viewers. With this crowd I am sure it's going to be whoever owns which model in regards to which one looks better.

 

[hellfire88]

Also Apple (like most if not all computer mfgs) use different panels on their laptops from different Manufacturers (LG/Samsung). So some MBPs have (subjectively) better screens than others. In the 13" MBP I think the "display model code" to look for is 9CC3. 9CC5/9CC7/9CC9 are generally not considered as good as 9CC3. I'd imagine the same apples to the MBA13" (LG VS Samsung screens, Samsung is usually preferred in MBA13"). So one person comparing MBA13" and MBP13" side by side at a store could be looking at the "inferior" screen in that particular MBP13" and deeming the MBA13" having a "better picture quality" screen (higher contrast, deeper blacks etc.). While another person could be comparing a MBP13" with a 9CC3 screen with a MBA13" side by side and deeming the MBP13" having the better screen.

All in all though, any model I've seen has a better screen quality than most Windows laptops I've used (unfortunately). This is the main reason I just bought a MBP13". I don't really mind the lower res but I really wanted good picture quality (better contrast and deeper blacks etc.) in my laptop's screen

 

[daws91]

Considering you got a gaming machine and your main use for it is university go for the air.

I am telling you this as someone who uses the pro (because there were no air back then) around campus.

-It's weights less, something you shouldn't underestimate considering the pounds of books you travel with at times
-Who really needs a DVD-drive nowdays?
-I think Air's are pretty fast now as well
-The flash drive makes starting super fast
-If you carry it around all the time it is better to shut down the pro with no SSD down which can be annoying at times, this problem should not occur with flash hard drives

 

[hellfire88]

Also, going back to the original discussion (before screen qualities were brought up) between a 13" Air or 13" Pro, I had both (Core i5 2011 versions). While the 13" Air was awesome for portability, I guess I'm old-school and like having the option to open up my laptop to upgrade parts. I had the 4GB/128GB version so would be stuck at that forever (unless I bought 3rd-party OWC SSDs for a price premium). Ultimately, I like having 8GB minimum nowadays and the extra 0.7GHz processor may help (along with 8GB RAM) would theoretically allow me to run more VMs should I need to in Parallels or VMWare Fusion. I also just like having "max power" so I have some reserves in case I decide to open 70+ tabs in Firefox or whatever (I actually do this often, I need to review my workflow lol).

I upgraded my 13" MBP with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD and get basically the same "snappiness" feel of the 13" MBA stock. Its pretty great and I don't mind the extra 1.5lbs or so.

 

[cheez]

I believe one's eyes and ears are very individual. One screen that looks great to me can be awful for you.

Well that depends... Pictures with greater depth in color and blacks is officially classified as better. We don't want grainy pictures with less depth and washed out look. This has been set to standard.:biggrin:

individual preference

No it's not. If you are talking one has better mobility over the other model, that's *preference*. This isn't set standard. 🙂

I thought it was the same display just with better resolution?

Apparently not. The picture depth (colors and blacks) is different. The Air was brighter, with less contrast and lack black levels. This itself doesn't directly indicate / prove that it is different display, but when you look at both displays at various angles side by side, I can see the immediate difference. The pictures get washed out on the Air. They are different displays.

As for the 1440 x 900 vs. 1280 x 800, yes, higher res will give you more room to work on the desktop screen. But for videos, this isn't necessarily good or bad. It depends on the display quality and video processors. You can have lower res display with better and crisper pictures and vice versa.

The MBA does have a better resolution; no doubt on that. We're debating if the display quality itself is any better; some believe it is.

The Pro does have better pictures (deeper colors / blacks). And better viewing angle performance and maintain picture richness. Not that I am saying the display on the Air is bad at all.

 

[alfa147x]

Glad I bought the Pro then 😉