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Ask HN: Macbook Air vs Mac Book Pro vs Ultrabook, help me choose.

3 points by Concours ↗ HN
I'm planing to buy a new portable computer and can afford to buy a really good one. I'm considering buying a mac book Air, mainly because of the portability and mobility. I however need a very robust computer with some a giod battery and a descent screen size, the macbook Air screen however seems to be too small for that. What would you recommend me to do? the only reason why I'm considering an Ultrabook is, I've been working with PC's all my life and have never used any Apple products. At the other hand, the Macbook pro looks very robust. Can you please advise?

computer used for: coding, ftp'ing, office tasks (emails, word processing...etc).

I'd like to write some iphone apps at some point, so a Mac mini + Ultrabook is also an option.

p.s. french native speaker, sorry for any "funny sentence" there.

Thanks

14 comments

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duiker101
I'd go for the Ultrabook + Mac Mini. This comes from an anti-Apple person. But I owned a Mac Mini to make iPhone apps. Then it came the wonderful Apple's programmed obsolescence and I got cut out. Apple's products are way to expensive for what they offer. Not that they are not good, but not amazing as some people would say. I now stand against Apple because of they restrictive policy. Every single things they do makes me feel like they only want your money and that they want to rule the world. Every single thing.

Also, there are some very good Ultrabooks.

Concours
Thanks, that sounds good. Well, I don't like Apple politics as well, but it looks like their products are very stable. I may try the 13" macbook air
UnoriginalGuy
Why isn't a Thinkpad on that list? Most would agree that they're on the same "level" as Macbooks. Just with different pros and cons.
Concours
when I think or portability, Thinkpad isn't really the first option I'll take, too heavy, too big...and I don't like the design. Samsung Ultrabooks are slim and just fine, but it looks like the macbook air is the way to go.
phaus
If you personally don't care for them that's fine, but the x230 is about the same weight as a macbook air. It's also one of the only ultra portables that you can add ram and an ssd to on your own. If you can get past the design (many of us actually prefer it) then an x230 with an ssd and 16gb ram is a pretty compelling option.
PankajGhosh
Agreed with comment above. I recently bought ThinkPad x230 with ivy bridge processor, 128GB SSD and 8 GB RAM. The weight would be around 3 pounds. I doubt if any other machine (ultra book/air) would beat this in any performance benchmark.
Concours
I just took a look and read some reviews, impressive specs. but still hate the design, this doesn't look like a slim computer. really love the specs, but unfortunately hate the design/look.
PonyGumbo
I have a new 11" Macbook Air, and I use it on a daily basis for coding. Portability was my primary concern (I wanted something I could carry with me whenever I leave the house), and I've been really impressed by the speed.
Concours
Thank you, will give it a try, 13" macbook Air
OafTobark
For your purposes, a 13" Macbook Air would suffice.
scottyallen
I'm a fulltime developer, and a macbook air 13" is my main machine. I love it, and wouldn't trade it for anything. The battery life is better than I've ever had before (4-5 hours in real world scenarios), and the portability can't be beat. At the same time, it's not too small to do real work on. That being said, I do hook it up to a 30" dell monitor & mouse and keyboard when I'm not out and about.
Concours
Thanks scotty, it looks like macbook Air is the way to go, nobody seems to suggest the macbook pro option. This leaves me with the macbook Air 13" or Ultrabook+macmini option.
elrzn
Get an Asus Zenbook UX32VD (the one with the dedicated card and 1080p screen), update the HDD for an SSD of your choice and up the RAM.
swastik
For portability, the Air can't be beat.

I use a MacBook Pro because I don't really have a use for portability but I have worked with an Air and it is more than enough for what you need.

The battery life is slightly lower than the Pros but, at least for me, 5 hours is pretty good.