<p>My daughter is getting ready to buy a new laptop to take with her as she begins her AU career. The debate is between a Macbook Pro and the Macbook Air. I am suggesting the Air because of weight and speed but I hear that wifi connections can sometimes be spotty on campus. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>I haven’t lived on campus for a number of years, so I may not be the best person to answer this, but I currently bring my Macbook Air to campus in the evening for classes and have not had much of a problem with the WiFi connection. Not sure if that changes in the residence halls (I spend most of the time with my computer in the Kogod building), and I also do most of my downloading/uploading/streaming off-campus so I can’t speak to anything that requires a lot of bandwidth. However, the weight and portability of the Air are absolutely incredible and a big advantage of that model, particularly when one is carrying around a lot of heavy textbooks as well. I remember I used to watch a lot of DVD’s in the residence halls (although these days it might be all online streaming), so just keep in mind that the Air requires an external disc drive to play those. Also in my experience the Pro has a slightly more comfortable keyboard if she will be doing a lot of typing, although I’ve written a number of papers with the Air and it’s never been UNcomfortable, just that when I’ve used a friend’s Pro I’ve noticed the difference. Finally, if your D is in SOC and will be doing heavy audio/video editing, then go for the Pro. The Air just doesn’t have the processor for that. Those are the pros/cons between the models in my book.</p>
<p>I can’t compare the Air to the Pro, but I can tell you my D is very happy with her Pro. She has had issues with the computer so do take out the extended warranty. Whether in NJ or DC she has gotten quick service from the Apple store. She visits the Bethesda store when in DC.</p>