which new computer/laptop

[Straighten Up]

I'm aware that many people have different opinions on this matter - part of the point of asking I guess so I'll try and be as specific as possible.

I currently have a macbook 2007, iPad 2 and iPhone 5. I'm not actually desperately loyal to Apple but liked what was available at the time I bought each of them and I do like the design of their products.

The macbook is heavy, slow and tired and I want to replace it. Mrs SU will use it as a Web surfer once I have my new toy.

I'm trying to weigh up the pros and cons of the following bearing in mind that whatever I get doesn't have to leave the house as the iPad caters for most of what I need to do out and about (the macbook hasn't been out in 5 years).

1. MacBook Pro 13inch or similar PC
2. Mac mini with standalone monitor (suggestions on this welcome too - dell I've heard good things about)
3. iMac 21inch or equivalent good looking PC.

Design is important to me and decent connectivity capability. I have a ps3 and decent tv for watching blueray so it doesn't need an optical drive.

I am in the process of setting up two companies so it will be a full time work/home computer.

Usage in order of time likely spent

1. Web surfing (honestly this is work related)
2. Ms office (large complicated excel spreadsheets with images embedded)
3. Music library and personal photo management
4. Basic photo and website editing.
5. Some gaming (xplane) and flight planning sky demon or similar

My old company computers were PC laptops running windows and would always become incredibly slow at doing most of the above (not gaming!) even with a vicious firewall in place and very little stored on the devices themselves (all on network).

Any suggestions always gratefully appreciated.

[crewmeal]

The macbook is heavy, slow and tired and I want to replace it.

Perhaps you should look at the Macbook Air. It has ssd storage which replaces the conventional storage methods. Although you say it doesn't have to leave the house its still a brilliant machine and you can do more on it than an ipad. I recommend the 13inch size screen and there are plenty available at reasonable prices if you shop around.

Good luck!

[Loose rivets]

The thing I find the most frustrating with the new breed of skinny laptops is the use of minute pluggery. Frail little things and the need to carry $100 worth of adapters.

[mixture]

currently have a macbook 2007, iPad 2 and iPhone 5. I'm not actually desperately loyal to Apple but liked what was available at the time I bought each of them and I do like the design of their products.

Go look at the both the MacBook Air and the current MacBook Pros. You say your location is London, there's a great Apple Store there in Regent Street (if memory serves).

You may be pleasantly surprised at what Apple have done since 2007. :E

Personally, because I prefer more options than less and I heavily use and abuse my laptops, I tend to favour the Pros, but the Airs are very popular in their own right.

[Straighten Up]

Thanks mixture. I did consider the air but wondered if the 1.3g processor would be good enough for games and multitasking. I don't really know enough about processor speeds but was drawn to the fact the pro had double the speed. The other advantage I saw in the pro is the retina screen but again not sure how much difference this makes. I can always hook it up to my hd tv when needed I guess.

I will head to the apple store when I'm back in the UK but that won't be until Xmas so just trying to get a head start on the research.

[mixture]

You are quite correct on the processor side ... If you compare like for like (ie the i5 based airs to i5 pros or i7 to i7) then the pros tend to have the faster processors. I suspect that is down to heat dissipation design restrictions, since Apples heat dissipation is primarily a passive design and hence dependent on the amount of chassis aluminium available of which there is a thicker amount on the pros.

Budget permitting i7 would be preferable to i5 processor, particularly if you have reasonably serious multitasking in mind. Might also want to consider upping the RAM to 8g.

From a gaming point of view, the other consideration is graphics .. I forgot to peek at that part of the specs, but I wouldn't be surprised if the pros have a better graphics chip with more memory. Admittedly I don't do much gaming though .....:cool:

In the end, you're an apple user, you've been using a MacBook since 2007, so you know how robust and well made they are. So you should really b looking at your new purchase as an investment with a 5 year lifespan .... If I were in your shoes I would buy the best I could afford...

But I digress you did express weight as a concern, so you do need to factor that into your decision making process and to what degree you want to trade weight for performance. I've seen people doing presentations with airs, comfortably holding then in one hand for the duration of their talk ... Couldn't really do that wth the pros.