MBA (fully upgraded) vs. MBP 15" (+ hi-res, 128 GB SSD)

Hi All,
I'm trying to decide on my first computer (that I own, anyway.) I'm a junior electrical engineering student, and managed to get by on campus computers and my mom's work laptop (2009 MBP 13".) But it's nice having my own computer for obvious reasons. Here's what I would be doing on whichever MacBook I get:
-Schoolwork, obviously (papers, spreadsheets, some circuit designing/programming, surfing, etc.)
-Music listening/movie watching
-Some gaming. I'm not a hardcore gamer, but I will dual boot and play. On Steam I own The Orange Box, BioShock 1+2, GTA IV, Dead Space, Mirror's Edge, and Batman: Arkham Asylum.
-Some Pixelmator, GarageBand, Logic Express, iMovie, etc.
The obvious choice is a MacBook Pro, I know, but I have a few caveats. I love the size/portability of the MacBook Air, and the optimizations that give it great performance for its size. Also, the 256GB blade flash memory is very hard to match for its price. If I get the Air, I'll upgrade the processor, RAM, and storage to the fullest. Still, the C2D seems a bit old and less future proof.
But if I go with a Pro, I'm going to get the base 15" with a hi-res glossy screen and a 128GB SSD. I want an SSD for its durability and speed (although I read somewhere that the blade flash mem is faster than a standard 2.5" SSD.) The 256GB SSD would be ideal, but it's so expensive (from 3rd parties, as well.) Of course I'd get a Quad-core and Thunderbolt, AMD GPU, etc. Again, I'm only a casual gamer, but it's nice playing with a good discrete GPU, etc.
I like the new MBP update, but I just wish the SuperDrive were removed (I don't need it), flash storage became standard (and expanded), and the chassis was made Air-like thin. I see no point in getting the MBP 13", because I may as well get the MBA 13".
Compared to the Air, is the MBP 15" really that much less portable, and really that much more disproportionate in speed for its size, even with an SSD? And how does the Air perform with the games and apps I've mentioned? I just don't want a big heavy relatively slow (but still fast) slab, or an under-equipped under-powered less future-proof luxury item.
Either way, I'm going to wait until summer so I can get Lion pre-installed (as a college student, I'm rich enough to get a Mac, but poor enough to want to save.) I kind of already decided on the MBP 15", but the Air is just soo tempting.
Any advice?
Thanks,
Michael

I like the MBA 13 inch base model, and I think it is a great computer. However, if you have the money, I totally recommend the MBP 15 inch. It is blazing fast. I think you should get a 64 or 32 GB Flash and an optibay. If you don't use your optical drive a lot, it is a great replacement so you can have the OS on the SSD, and all your main files on the big drive. It works well for a lot of people that I know of. The Air is light, and its screen is great. If your 2009 MBP worked fine for whatever you do, then the Air will be perfect. If you have trouble accomplishing some tasks on that computer, get the 2011 Pro. Good luck, and keep in mind you can return it within two weeks

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I'm considering upgrading. I have a 2011 13 inch MBA, fully upgraded. So:
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I'd get the 2013 13 inch with 512 GB, 8 GB ram and 1.7 GHz i7. I don't need the battery life, I'd be upgrading because I've noticed a few choke points on my current machine:
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* Fan is loud
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* General slowness that happens sometimes.
Will any or all of those issues be reduced with the increase in RAM or other system wide increases?

It's hard to say just how much improvement it will make on the examples you gave, because there is no indicator of how much resources are being consumed by open and running apps.
Will you notice a difference... Probably. A HUGE difference, likely not, unless the memory resources are a limiting factor already on you machine.
I have a 2010, a 2011, and a 2012 MacBook Air. The difference between the 2010 and the 2013's speed is only slightly evident on 75% of my usage. The other 25%, the diffrence is more pronouced (when doing long duration tasks like video and photo editing).
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https://discussions.apple.com/message/16276201#16276201

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Correct and reliable Mac RAM can be purchased from online Mac RAM sources Crucial memory or OWC (macsales.com).
Here is OWC's link to your model iMac and the RAM modules you will need.macsales
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/8566DDR3S8GP/
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Regards
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god this must have been my 5th time posting the exact same thing. my dell takes forever to load this page!
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Message was edited by: OGELTHORPE

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http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Hardware-Upgrades-Replacements/Envy-17-SSD-compatibility/td-p/1251555
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This question was solved.
View Solution.

Hi,
Q1: Yes it is compatible.
Q2: I would suggest to create a minimized recovery dvd in HP Recovery Manager. Solid drives are not as big as the original hdd and it may cause troubles when restoring the system on an ssd.
Q3: An OEM Windows disk may be used to perform a fresh install and necessary drivers download from HP.
Q4: Yes, just install the hdd in the secondary bay and it will be worked as a slave drive so back up all data you need and then reformat it..
Dv6-7000 /Full HD/Core i5-3360M/GF 650M/Corsair 8GB/Intel 7260AC/Samsung Pro 256GB
Testing - HP 15-p000
HP Touchpad provided by HP
Currently on Debian Wheeze
*Please, help other users with the same issue by marking your solved topics as "Accept as Solution"*

MBA (fully upgraded) vs. MBP 15" (+ hi-res, 128 GB SSD)

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