11 and 13 inch Macbook Air vs 13 inch Macbook Pro

Have you considered getting a 2009 MBP? No heat problem, plenty of capacity, still relatively fast - and a bargain?

It seems that you have a pretty good understanding of the contrasting issues of the two machines you mentioned. I would strongly suggest visiting your local Apple Store, and a sales staffer will be able to help weight the assets and liabilities.

I faced the exact same problem as you two weeks ago, after waiting a whole month for the Air to be released. In the end, I chose the Macbook Pro. A standard Air (13") feels nearly as fast as a standard 13" Pro due to the speed increase of the SSD. However, the processor speeds are in fact noticeably different. The Air's processor is not only much slower, it's also what Intel's calls a "ULV" (ultra-low voltage) processor, which has other degraded performance cabilities in addition to slower clock speed.

The real reason I chose the Pro was the ability to upgrade different components. As a student, my needs in 2 years won't be much different than now (word processing, web browsing, iMovie). However, apps consistently get larger and demand slightly greater resources each year. Even now, with just Chrome, Word, VLC, Dropbox and iMovie running, my Macbook Pro is running at 3.8GB of RAM. I ordered a full 8GB of RAM for $50 on Newegg ealier today and it will take me only 10 minutes to install when it arrives next week. You can't do that type of upgrade on a Macbook Air because the components are all pernamently fitted due to size constraints. Additionally, in two years, SSDs should have come down significantly in price, and for $100-$200 I will be able to get an SSD which will definitely give my Pro a speed trump over the Air. You can't make either of these upgrades on the Air, so while the Air may feel speedy for now, there's no potential for making it last.

My final thoughts are on the optical disk drive/slim design. I rarely use an optical drive, so it wasn't a factor for me in buying the Pro. However, it does have an advantage - you can easily install a secondary hard drive/SSD in place of the optical drive. You could, for example, install a 64GB SSD in the optical drive and install Lion and all your apps there, leaving your documents, photos and videos on the 500GB hard drive. Just Google "optibay" to find an easy way to do this. I still like using my optical drive now and then, so it isn't an option for me yet, but I know a lot of people like doing this as an inexpensive way to take advantage of the speed of solid state drives.

First, my typical advice for college freshman is to hold off on buying a new computer and wait until late in the sophomore year or early junior year. In the meantime either rely on campus provided labs and/or your room mate's computer or take an older one from home. My reasoning is this: during your junior and senior year you are likely to have the greatest need for a powerful computer while early in your college career what you really need is something for going online and writing papers so just about anything will do. Buying the new computer your freshman year means you will have a 3 year old computer when you start your senior year - and that assumes you actually work through college in a 4 year schedule. It is becoming the norm today for students to take more than 4 years to get their bachelors degree.

But as to your specific question - I think the 13" MBP and MBA are, for most people, the best choices and I'd lean toward the MBA with 256GB drive if you can afford it. Both computers are comfortable to haul around campus and can stand up to being put into a backpack along with your books and other stuff. The MBA is lighter and gets better battery life which is a plus. Its lack of upgradability is a minus.