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MBA or MBP more durable?

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  MBA or MBP more durable? RonTheGuy@null.invalid (Ron) - 2014-04-15 09:40 -0700
    Re: MBA or MBP more durable? Dorian Grey <oscar@wild.net> - 2014-04-15 13:48 -0400
    Re: MBA or MBP more durable? Davoud <star@sky.net> - 2014-04-16 01:54 -0400
      Re: MBA or MBP more durable? Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-04-16 17:01 -0400
        Re: MBA or MBP more durable? billy@MIX.COM - 2014-04-16 21:58 +0000
          Re: MBA or MBP more durable? Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> - 2014-04-17 13:43 +1200
    Re: MBA or MBP more durable? Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-04-16 17:01 -0400
    Re: MBA or MBP more durable? Leonard Blaisdell <leoblaisdell@sbcglobal.net> - 2014-04-16 21:29 -0700
      Re: MBA or MBP more durable? dorayme <do_ray_me@bigpond.com> - 2014-04-17 14:51 +1000
      Re: MBA or MBP more durable? JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> - 2014-04-17 01:06 -0400
        Re: MBA or MBP more durable? dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson) - 2014-04-17 19:02 +1200
          Re: MBA or MBP more durable? JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> - 2014-04-17 04:12 -0400
          Re: MBA or MBP more durable? Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2014-04-18 00:17 +0000
            Re: MBA or MBP more durable? dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson) - 2014-04-18 23:24 +1200
        Re: MBA or MBP more durable? Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2014-04-17 07:14 +0000
        Re: MBA or MBP more durable? Lloyd  E Parsons <lloydp21@live.com> - 2014-04-17 08:56 -0500
          Re: MBA or MBP more durable? Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2014-04-18 05:33 +0000
    Re: MBA or MBP more durable? Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> - 2014-04-17 19:28 +1200
      Re: MBA or MBP more durable? Lloyd  E Parsons <lloydp21@live.com> - 2014-04-17 09:00 -0500
    Re: MBA or MBP more durable? Nelson <nelson@nowhere.com> - 2014-04-18 10:07 -0400
    Re: MBA or MBP more durable? glawrie <gavin.lawrie@2gc.co.uk> - 2014-04-21 14:23 +0100

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#58554 — MBA or MBP more durable?

Which would stand up the best to handling and abuse in the long term, a
13" MBA or a 13" MBP? 

-- 
_____________________________
Ron, the humblest guy in town

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#58555

On 4/15/14, 12:40 PM, Ron wrote:
> Which would stand up the best to handling and abuse in the long term, a
> 13" MBA or a 13" MBP?
>

If you learned to treat your toys a little more carefully, yu could take 
your pick ;-)

-- 
Life is tough.....it's even tougher if you're stupid.
                            -- John Wayne

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#58559

Ron:
> Which would stand up the best to handling and abuse in the long term, a
> 13" MBA or a 13" MBP?

Seriously. What does "abuse" mean in reference to a laptop? Are you in
the habit of dropping them, spilling liquids on the keyboards, running
over them with a vehicle, immersing them in liquids, setting them
afire, pounding them with a hammer, driving nails through them? If any
of the above, or similar, forget about both the MBA and the MBP.

As for normal handling, I can only speak for 10 years of use of a
PowerBook, which is still working. But it hasn't been subjected to any
of the abuses that I mentioned above. I would expect that either the
MBA or the MBP would also be long lived with normal use. Most people
choose between them on the basis of their need for power. Video editing
and heavy-duty image processing? MBP. Web, e-mail, word processing, and
light-duty photo retouching? MBA.

-- 
I agree with almost everything that you have said and almost everything that
you will say in your entire life.

usenet *at* davidillig dawt cawm

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#58573

On 2014.04.16, 01:54 , Davoud wrote:
> Ron:
>> Which would stand up the best to handling and abuse in the long term, a
>> 13" MBA or a 13" MBP?
>
> Seriously. What does "abuse" mean in reference to a laptop? Are you in
> the habit of dropping them, spilling liquids on the keyboards, running
> over them with a vehicle, immersing them in liquids, setting them
> afire, pounding them with a hammer, driving nails through them? If any
> of the above, or similar, forget about both the MBA and the MBP.

Ridiculous list.


-- 
"Big data can reduce anything to a single number,
  but you shouldn’t be fooled by the appearance of exactitude."
      -Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis, NYT, 2014.04.07

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#58581

Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> writes:

> > Seriously. What does "abuse" mean in reference to a laptop? Are you in
> > the habit of dropping them, spilling liquids on the keyboards, running
> > over them with a vehicle, immersing them in liquids, setting them
> > afire, pounding them with a hammer, driving nails through them? If any
> > of the above, or similar, forget about both the MBA and the MBP.
> 
> Ridiculous list.

Here ya go -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl1ujzRidmU&t=6m21s

Billy Y..
-- 
        sub     #'9+1   ,r0             ; convert ascii byte
	add     #9.+1   ,r0             ; to an integer
	bcc     20$                     ; not a number

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#58588

In article <limudo$8r9$1@reader2.panix.com>, <billy@MIX.COM> wrote:
> Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> writes:
> > > 
> > > Seriously. What does "abuse" mean in reference to a laptop? Are you in
> > > the habit of dropping them, spilling liquids on the keyboards, running
> > > over them with a vehicle, immersing them in liquids, setting them
> > > afire, pounding them with a hammer, driving nails through them? If any
> > > of the above, or similar, forget about both the MBA and the MBP.
> > 
> > Ridiculous list.
> 
> Here ya go -
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl1ujzRidmU&t=6m21s

There was a Samsung tech guy on the radio the other day introducing the
new Samsung S5 and taking questions from callers. One person rang up
and aksed if it was "mower proof" because apparently he had bent over
while mowing the lawn and not noticed that his mobile phone had fallen
out of his pocket, and so he then ran over it with the lawn mower. The
Samsung guy said they would "look into it" for a future version.  :-)

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#58572

On 2014.04.15, 12:40 , Ron wrote:
> Which would stand up the best to handling and abuse in the long term, a
> 13" MBA or a 13" MBP?

My son has damaged the hinge on his MBP.

My SO has not damaged it on her MBA.

OTOH, the MBP travels in my son's backpack and travels all over by 
walking, bus, train, car and planes.  He's not esp. gentle with it - 
he's fallen asleep with it to have it crash to the floor - clamshell open.

My SO's MBA spends most of its time at her desk or on her lap in bed 
with occasional travel by car or plane and it's well protected when on 
the move.

In the end it's how you treat them.

They are reasonably rugged, they are not ruggedized.

-- 
"Big data can reduce anything to a single number,
  but you shouldn’t be fooled by the appearance of exactitude."
      -Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis, NYT, 2014.04.07

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#58590

In article <1lk51hb.i0mk25khm2peN%RonTheGuy@null.invalid>, Ron
<RonTheGuy@null.invalid> wrote:

> Which would stand up the best to handling and abuse in the long term, a
> 13" MBA or a 13" MBP?

Assuming that both do what you want them to do, get the cheaper one. In
the long term, they'll both go obsolete. When the cheaper one becomes
obsolete and the other still has upgrade options that cost, you will
probably already have upgraded to a new computer. 
Neither will survive abuse. Handle both at will. 

leo

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#58591

In article <160420142129321800%leoblaisdell@sbcglobal.net>,
 Leonard Blaisdell <leoblaisdell@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> In article <1lk51hb.i0mk25khm2peN%RonTheGuy@null.invalid>, Ron
> <RonTheGuy@null.invalid> wrote:
> 
> > Which would stand up the best to handling and abuse in the long term, a
> > 13" MBA or a 13" MBP?
> 
> Assuming that both do what you want them to do, get the cheaper one.

You are right.

The P would be harder to bend as a whole... you know, when you want to 
use the thing as a shelf to put heavy stuff on. The A would be lighter 
and might make the difference between dropping carry-on luggage and 
not dropping it followed by a 200Kg man falling on the whole thing.

You know, there is a saying that there are no stupid questions, only 
stupid answers. It is a stupid saying.

-- 
dorayme

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#58592

macBook Air is all soldered, no upgrade options. This would make it more
resistant to vibration/shocks.

MacBook Pro, you can upgrade RAM and change the disk drive to have a
bigger one or a SSD one.

However, above and beyond, you want to look at features. The "Air" has
fewer ports, the Pro has ports like ethernet, SD Card. However, USB,
display port are older generation than the Air.

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#58593

JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> wrote:

> macBook Air is all soldered, no upgrade options. This would make it more
> resistant to vibration/shocks.

Wrong. The SSD module is socketed.

> MacBook Pro, you can upgrade RAM and change the disk drive to have a
> bigger one or a SSD one.

For current models, that description only applies to the 13" non-retina
MacBook Pro, which had its last update in mid 2012. I expect that model
will be discontinued rather than being updated again.

Apple no longer sells a 15" non-retina MacBook Pro, except possibly the
mid 2012 or older models via the refurbished store.

The MacBook Pro models with retina display (13" and 15") have soldered
memory and a socketed SSD module, like the MacBook Air.

> However, above and beyond, you want to look at features. The "Air" has
> fewer ports, the Pro has ports like ethernet, SD Card. However, USB,
> display port are older generation than the Air.

Almost all those details are wrong. You really need to pay attention
before trying to describe models you aren't familiar with.

The 13" MacBook Air has had an SD slot since the late 2010 model. The
current (Mid 2013) 13" model has an SDXC slot. The 11" MacBook Air has
never had an SD slot. All 13" and 15" MacBook Pros have had an SD slot
(or better) since mid 2009.

The only current MacBook Pro with a built-in Ethernet port is the 13"
non-retina model. The retina display models (from late 2012) have no
Ethernet port. You can use a Thunderbolt adapter or one of the various
"docking" stations if you need Ethernet.

The USB ports on the mid 2012 and later MacBook Pros and MacBook Airs
are all USB 3.0 (including both retina and non-retina MacBook Pro
models).

The "display port" on all MacBook Airs and Pros since Early 2011 (Pro)
or Mid 2011 (Air) is Thunderbolt. The MacBook Pro models with Retina
Display (from mid 2012) have two Thunderbolt ports and an HDMI output.

The Late 2013 MacBook Pros (all with retina display) have Thunderbolt 2,
so have the potential for higher resolutions (4K display) if the GPUs
are up to the task, once Apple updates the drivers.

-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz

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#58596

On 14-04-17 03:02, David Empson wrote:

> Wrong. The SSD module is socketed.

Sorry if I got all the details wrong. I just know that these things have
or are changing so one needs to compare whatever the current Pro models
have versus the Air models in terms of soldered memory, whether disk is
replaceable/upgradable, and what ports exist on the unit.

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#58614

In message <1lk9fmb.jswucj1cp4sa9N%dempson@actrix.gen.nz> 
  David Empson <dempson@actrix.gen.nz> wrote:
> JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> wrote:

>> macBook Air is all soldered, no upgrade options. This would make it more
>> resistant to vibration/shocks.

> Wrong. The SSD module is socketed.

Is it on the newer Airs? I know the PCIe one on the MBPr is, but I
wasn't positive about the Airs (which is why I didn't mention it)


-- 
Hey kids, shake it loose together the spotlight's hitting something
That's been known to change the weather we'll kill the fatted calf
tonight So stick around you're gonna hear electric music: Solid walls of
sound

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#58620

Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote:

> In message <1lk9fmb.jswucj1cp4sa9N%dempson@actrix.gen.nz> 
>   David Empson <dempson@actrix.gen.nz> wrote:
> > JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> wrote:
> 
> >> macBook Air is all soldered, no upgrade options. This would make it more
> >> resistant to vibration/shocks.
> 
> > Wrong. The SSD module is socketed.
> 
> Is it on the newer Airs? I know the PCIe one on the MBPr is, but I
> wasn't positive about the Airs (which is why I didn't mention it)

Yes. It is clearly socketed in the iFixit teardown of both the 13" and
11" Mid 2013 MacBook Air.

http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook+Air+13-Inch+Mid+2013+Teardown/15042
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook+Air+11-Inch+Mid+2013+Teardown/15078

-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz

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#58594

In message <534f6162$0$51557$c3e8da3$eb767761@news.astraweb.com> 
  JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> wrote:
> macBook Air is all soldered, no upgrade options. This would make it more
> resistant to vibration/shocks.

> MacBook Pro, you can upgrade RAM and change the disk drive to have a
> bigger one or a SSD one.

Depends on the Mac Book Pro. The retinas are soldered RAM too.

The 13" MBP non-retina is a foolish purchase, in my opinion.

For $100 more you get a retina screen, a PCIe SSD, and a much better
battery. You lose 370GB of spinning disk and 0.1Ghz of processor. I
think the non-retina may still have an optical drive and it does still
have a RJ-45, though if you really need to hard-connect to the Internet,
you can get a TB->RJ-45 dongle for those occasions.

The sweet spot is the $1500 MBPr which gives you 8GB of RAM and doubles
the PCIe SSD to 256GB.


If I were buying a laptop with my own money, that's the one I would buy.
I would BTO that machine with 16GB of RAM though since you can't do it
later. 8GB is 'enough' right now, but not in the future, I'm sure.  If I
was spending someone else's I would at least consider the 15" models,
but I think they are too big for what I use my laptop for.

> However, above and beyond, you want to look at features. The "Air" has
> fewer ports, the Pro has ports like ethernet, SD Card. However, USB,
> display port are older generation than the Air.

The Air is also really really light and the battery on the 13" lasts
forever and a day.

-- 
Never trust a man who, when left alone in a room with a tea cosy,
doesn't try it on -- Billy Connolly

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#58597

On 2014-04-17 05:06:41 +0000, JF Mezei said:

> macBook Air is all soldered, no upgrade options. This would make it more
> resistant to vibration/shocks.
> 
> MacBook Pro, you can upgrade RAM and change the disk drive to have a
> bigger one or a SSD one.

Depends on which MBP you get.  Mine isn't upgradeable at all.

> 
> However, above and beyond, you want to look at features. The "Air" has
> fewer ports, the Pro has ports like ethernet, SD Card. However, USB,
> display port are older generation than the Air.


-- 
Lloyd

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#58617

In message <liomj6$nef$1@dont-email.me> 
  Lloyd E Parsons <lloydp21@live.com> wrote:
> On 2014-04-17 05:06:41 +0000, JF Mezei said:

>> macBook Air is all soldered, no upgrade options. This would make it more
>> resistant to vibration/shocks.
>> 
>> MacBook Pro, you can upgrade RAM and change the disk drive to have a
>> bigger one or a SSD one.

> Depends on which MBP you get.  Mine isn't upgradeable at all.

That's not true. ALL the MBPs can have their HDs updated. It's not EASY,
but it is possible.


-- 
Today the road all runners come/Shoulder high we bring you home.  And
set you at your threshold down/Townsman of a stiller town.

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#58595

In article <1lk51hb.i0mk25khm2peN%RonTheGuy@null.invalid>, Ron
<RonTheGuy@null.invalid> wrote:
> 
> Which would stand up the best to handling and abuse in the long term, a
> 13" MBA or a 13" MBP?

The early MacBook Air models did reportedly have issues with the case
bending / breaking around the top and bottom of the bigger ports due to
being very little metal there.

I don't know if current models still have that issue or if the new
DVD-less thinner MacBook Pro models suffer from the same thing.

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#58598

On 2014-04-17 07:28:53 +0000, Your Name said:

> In article <1lk51hb.i0mk25khm2peN%RonTheGuy@null.invalid>, Ron
> <RonTheGuy@null.invalid> wrote:
>> 
>> Which would stand up the best to handling and abuse in the long term, a
>> 13" MBA or a 13" MBP?
> 
> The early MacBook Air models did reportedly have issues with the case
> bending / breaking around the top and bottom of the bigger ports due to
> being very little metal there.
> 
> I don't know if current models still have that issue or if the new
> DVD-less thinner MacBook Pro models suffer from the same thing.

My MBP 13" Retina is a late 2012 model and doesn't seem to flex much at 
all.  Very solid feel.

-- 
Lloyd

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#58623

On Tue, 15 Apr 2014 12:40:55 -0400, Ron wrote
(in article <1lk51hb.i0mk25khm2peN%RonTheGuy@null.invalid>):

> Which would stand up the best to handling and abuse in the long term, a
> 13" MBA or a 13" MBP? 

It would depend on where he got the MBA.  One from say Wharton would 
probably stand up better than one from Alabama.  Then again, it's hard 
to see how that diminutive stature would not attract abuse no matter 
what the school,

-- 
Nelson

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