Air v Pro?

This is bound to be discussed in some depth eventually-here or elsewhere. So here goes. The new Macbook Airs were released yesterday. And the second level model is priced at £999 (or the same cost as the entry level Macbook Pro-so we don't worry about currency differences).

I'm going to university this September and will be getting a Macbook to take with me. When the Pros were released I considered the £999 model. Now I'm trying to stack that up against the £999 Air. They both have 4GB of RAM, Intel Graphics 3000 and i5 processors. The processor speeds are different. The hard drive sizes are different. The Air uses flash storage, which is supposedly quicker. They both have various connectivity options with USB and Thunderbolt. The Air is 11.6 inches but the Pro is 13.3.

In terms of apps, I currently use (and will want to continue using) stuff like Final Cut Pro X, Motion 5, Dreamweaver CS5, Flash Pro CS5, Office 2011, games like Civilization 5 and X Plane.

Now bearing that in mind, which should I buy (assuming there are no new entrants to the Macbook family in the next few weeks)?

Do you really think you will have an easy time editing video on an 11" screen? Or care to commit to using that for the next 4 years?

If you're doing any video work or even heavy graphics work, I would say go with the larger MBP, I would even say 13" may be too small if that's your main machine.

Well, I did think 11.6 inches is a bit on the small side. But then, if we're going down that route so is 13 inch. So is 15 inch. 17 inch is kind of too expensive for me.

As you can see from my Specs out there to the left <-- I'm using a 24 inch screen at the moment. But I'll be wanting a faster processor in a laptop for Uni. My work with professional creative apps is purely as a hobbyist-I'm not going on a film production course or whatever and I don't make websites as a job.

I was thinking a Macbook Pro would be best, but I like multiple opinions-sure you understand and humour me. Thanks for the advice.

You didn't say what you're majoring in - but I agree with schweb, you may find even the 13 incher constraining. For an all around uni machine - I'd recommend the 15" MBP.

It'll be Biomedical science. I'm not doing a degree for the purpose of a computer related career. But you can't get away from technology whatever path you choose (not that I object to that at all).

I always found having a small laptop for portability is great. When editing photos or videos I'd hook it up to an external screen.

Even 13.3" is small to get any real work done, even in a coffeehouse.

How much hard drive space are you using now? The Air has limited storage. I bet the stuff you have now won't even fit on the Air's internal storage.

That points towards a MacBook Pro and a bigger screen. But watch the weight! 2.5 kilos is the tops for something you'll carry around; 2 kilos is better.