MacBook Pro or MacBook Air for university??

If all you're doing with the computer is taking notes, checking mail and browsing facebook, go with the MBA. It's much lighter and smaller and much easier to carry around. And, like you said, it won't heat up too badly (not nearly as bad as the MBP anyways). I know for me though, I do video editing and some developing on my computer, so if you're going to be doing things that are more strenuous on the processors, I would go with the MBP.

As for heating, make sure to turn off the computer before you put it in your backpack and try to use it on flat surfaces. If you use it on something like a bed or leave it in a backpack, it makes it so that the actual computer bottom is touching the surface (which the little rubber circles on the corners are supposed to prevent). Because of that, it basically renders the fans useless, which makes the computer get REALLY hot.

Good luck on the new computer!

This really depends upon you.

The macbook air is lighter, and marginally slimmer. Is the macbook pro too heavy for you?

The macbook air has no dvd drive. Do you need one, and would you prefer it built in (like the macbook pro) or external (macbook air ---> you would purchase it yourself)

Are you going to do anything which requires a powerful graphics card? (Macbook pro is better)

Do you need more storage space? Macbook pro has more.

Do you need firewire or ethernet ports? (Macbook air has none)

It doesn't really matter what other people think. Look at why you need a laptop, and pick the one which works for you.

The 13" MBA and 13" MBP are almost identical in terms of performance.

Here is a review comparing the two...

http://macbook-air-vs-macbook-pro-which-apple-13-incher-should-you-buy/

As far as the new line, Apple just released their new operating system, Lion (as you may have heard), and with it, their new line of MacBook Air's, so the new laptops won't be coming out for another year.

As for endurance, you're not going to have to worry about that with an apple computer. My first Apple computer was the PowerBook G4, the model back from 7 years ago. I only JUST got my second apple computer two weeks ago with the release of lion, and i finally gave the PowerBook away. Apple computers will stay in good shape as long as you keep them in good shape. When you start eating while you're using your computer, or you start to get careless and drop it once or twice, you're decreasing its life by months at a time. Just be careful and no matter which computer you get, you'll be good.

For the photo editing, if it's in your budget, i would suggest getting Photoshop. It's the most professional photo editor out there and it works like a dream on a Mac.

From the sound of it, you're not going to be using that much CPU, or actually utilizing the full potential of either of the computer's hard drives, so I would recommend the MacBook Air. Of course, if you're going to be storing a lot of music, movies, and photos on the computer you might want to pump the hard drive (you'd have to purchase the computer online to customize it like that, but it's probably better to purchase it online for a host of reasons). The only problem with the Air though, is that you're not going to have a CD drive, which could be a bit of a bummer if you want to watch a movie. But other than the lack of peripherals, it sounds like the Air is the computer for you!

Let me put it like this, unless you're going to be rendering a 1080p movie in FinalCut, Processing huge amounts of data into spreadsheets, or doing some other strenuous activity when you click safari, you won't even be able to tell the difference. If you are going to go on performance alone, go with the MBP, it has an actual hard drive (as opposed to the flash memory in the MBA) and the processor and RAM can be upgraded further than on the MacBook Air. However, if all you're going to be doing on the computer is watching movies, typing word documents, browsing the web and playing music, the base model already has everything you need and more. Don't worry about the performance, with as little as you're doing it's not going to matter, pick the computer that is externally the best for you.

Hi Db,

The air will be much much faster in actual use, unless you opted to spend the extra $800 to get a pro with an SSD, in which case they would be a little more comparable.

In my opinion, the only real drawbacks of the air are the optical disk and, possibly, the limited SSD space. In exchange for those you get a crazy fast computer thats sexy as **** and light as a feather - you will FEEL the weight difference in your backpack.

You'll be happy with either but a 13" macbook air with 256GB hdd should be plenty of space. What you can also do is get a $79 external superdrive for the times when you want to watch a DVD or rip a CD (assuming you even have any CDs that aren't already in iTunes) and a $100 750gb portable HDD to store extra stuff on (such as downloaded movies / tv series). Again, if you need to. You might find that 256GB is plenty.

The pro is good, the air is the future.

It's a very close call between the 13" MBP and the 13" MBA.

Here are some benchmarks.

I'm looking at upgrading my 2009 13" MBP. The MBA is the laptop I want but here are my reservations.

The MBA maxes out at 4GB RAM and 256GB SSD drive, while I can put 8GB RAM into the MBP and add a 512GB SSD.

I can also remove the optical drive from the MBP and add another 1tb HD. When prices come down, should I ever feel the need I can up the RAM to 16GB.

The MBA has a high resolution screen which is great, but the color gamut is not up to that of the MBP. This may be a deal-breaker if you are into photography or color accuracy is crucial.

Lastly, there is no kensington lock slot on the MBA. I like to keep my MBP locked for when I'm away from my desk. You don't know who may walk by and decide the MBA is too cool to resist.

I may end up getting the MBA anyway, although common sense tells me I should get the MBP.

If you get a Macbook Pro get it from bestbuy. Go and ask them if you can price match this link.

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0358117

After that you can get the macbook pro 13" 320gb for $999 and its the core i5.

Buy it through your university purchasing center, as there are special programs for students, that are sometimes better than bestbuy etc