So I love my MacBook Air but after 19 months the battery has started to lose it’s ability to hold a charge and the disk is starting to show signs of ill heath.

Considering that it has travelled the globe with me and has spent much of it’s time operating in conditions that really aren’t conducive with humans let alone any type of computer I am amazed it has lasted this long, but it has, and it has become more of a travel companion to me than my iPhone.

So I started to look around at how much it would cost me to repair. I nearly dropped to the floor when my local Apple Authorised Reseller quoted me £125 + VAT for the labour plus the cost of the battery (which they couldn’t provide without the serial number of the MacBook Air itself?). I didn’t even bother to ask how much to swap out the hard drive, fearing my back manager would drop dead. To put it into perspective a new top of the line MacBook Air would cost £1,350, putting the repair easily over 10% of the price of a top of the line new replacement, let alone the entry level version.

So the thought of a new MacBook Air started to run through my mind. It was then I started to think about what I actually liked and didn’t like about the MacBook Air and started to look at the new MacBook Pro line. Now the main thing for the MacBook Air is it’s weight. At only 3 pounds you really don’t even know you are carrying it, whilst it still offers a full keyboard and a respectable 13″ screen. The major downside for me is the connectivity, whilst I have grown used to it a single USB port just isn’t enough. If I am brutally honest I would also have to say my first generation MacBook Air is under powered (1.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB RAM, 80GB HDD). Now whilst the latest MacBook Air (entry level) comes with a 1.86GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and a 120GB HDD, it is not really a significant leap in my book, especially for the £1,149 price tag.

So enter the MacBook Pro. Now my introduction to the Mac was a 17″ MacBook Pro and it served and still is serving me very well, but I wouldn’t want to be carrying it around with me after using the MacBook Air. The new line up however is much improved. The new entry level MacBook Pro comes with a 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB RAM, and a 160GB hard disk drive and a price tag of £899.00. Okay so it’s heavier right? Well yes, two and a half pounds heavier! It has the connectivity though? Yes, it comes with an gigabit ethernet port, a FireWire 800 port, a mini display port, and two USB ports. Add to that both Audio in and out, a superdrive, and an SD card slot, you have to ask yourself what else you could possibly want, except maybe a third USB port.

So an easy decision right? Well no, not quite. It’s that extra weight you see. Now I am not doing the international travel that I was but commuting to London each day I still like to travel as light as possible. Is the trade off worth it? Well at this point in time I am thinking yes but will be popping along to the Apple store in Regents Street to hold them both in my hand at the same time, something I will add my local Apple Reseller would not let me do. I also have to think about how I pay for for the transition. The MacBook Air isn’t a lost cause, it just needs some love, but if I pay for the work to be done will I see that in the resell value or am I better off selling it openly and honestly (like there is any other way) and taking a reduced price?