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bowadoyle

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 17, 2012
21
0
Philadelphia
Hello,

I am considering a MBA to use as a desktop replacement. The one i would get is the 2gB 64SSD HD, which I would use for the remaining MBA classes as well as excel files, read email and browse the net.

Would this be suitable? I play no games, but I do spend a lot of time in Excel for work and my baseball league.

Does this laptop work well hooked up to a monitor and leaving on an extended period of time? I kind of like the SSD, because I could also turn it off and have quick turn around. I hate having to turn off the computer at night only to turn it back on in the morning.

Right now I am thinking about the Mac Mini, this MBA and the MBP.

Thank you,

Patrick
 

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,539
941
Would this be suitable?
For the needs you described, it would be more than sufficient.
Does this laptop work well hooked up to a monitor and leaving on an extended period of time?
Yes, but for the sake of battery health, you should unplug and run on battery for a while every few days. This should answer most, if not all, of your battery questions:
I kind of like the SSD, because I could also turn it off and have quick turn around. I hate having to turn off the computer at night only to turn it back on in the morning.
You don't have to turn any Mac model off at night. You can use sleep mode instead.
 

scottness

macrumors 65816
Mar 18, 2009
1,368
5
Room 101
You're fine if that's all you need it for. I might consider a bigger SSD though. Don't know what kind of iTunes library you have, but you might be surprised at how quickly you use 64GB.
 

bowadoyle

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 17, 2012
21
0
Philadelphia
You're fine if that's all you need it for. I might consider a bigger SSD though. Don't know what kind of iTunes library you have, but you might be surprised at how quickly you use 64GB.

LOL - I don't listen to music. I'm into sports and much rather listen to sports talk or the game than music.
 

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,539
941
I hear yeah and to make matters worse; I work for a company that makes guitars and drums. Go Figure. (I'm a bean counter)
What you need is some good bean-countin' music, like:
"Beans, Beans, Beans" by Lightnin' Hopkins!
"Red Beans And Rice" by Booker T & The MGs
"Bean Bag" by Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass
"Sprout And The Bean" by Joanna Newsom
"Beanfields" by Penguin Cafe Orchestra
"Beans And Cornbread" by Louis Jordan & His Orchestra
or "I Wanna Love Him So Bad" by The Jelly Beans!​
:D
 

bowadoyle

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 17, 2012
21
0
Philadelphia
For the needs you described, it would be more than sufficient.

Yes, but for the sake of battery health, you should unplug and run on battery for a while every few days. This should answer most, if not all, of your battery questions:

You don't have to turn any Mac model off at night. You can use sleep mode instead.

Thanks -

How are the refurb macs? I see I can save some money there. I might even do the MB Pro.
 

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,539
941
Thanks -

How are the refurb macs? I see I can save some money there. I might even do the MB Pro.
Apple Certified Refurbished Products are only available from the Apple Refurb Store. They're a great buy! It's just like buying new, except it comes in a plan box, rather than the original. There are a kazillion threads on buying refurbs, with the overwhelming majority recommending them. Here's a small sample:

Would you buy a refurbished Mac from Apple
Refurbished MBP or New?
Refurbished vs New: your experiences, thoughts?
Macbook Pro Refurbished questions
has anyone ever had a bad refurbished MBP?
Refurbished MacBook pro
Refurbished buy...Good idea or not?
leaning towards imac, or a macbook, and should i buy new or refurbished
Refurbished MacBook Pro?
Considering refurbished MBP however...
macbook refurbished?
Refurbished???
 

mac26

macrumors 6502
Dec 27, 2011
387
0
Ok thanks for your time, I am going to get a refurbished MBA from Apple. Let me go study now. Have a nice day,

Pat

Congrats on your new Mac, man I think I have congratulated over 4 people just today and yesterday for buying new macs
 

KPOM

macrumors P6
Oct 23, 2010
18,019
7,862
I agree that refurbished Macs are a great buy. The only thing you miss out on are the fancy boxes (they ship in ordinary shipping boxes with padding). If a 4GB model is available I'd suggest getting one of them. The SSD can be upgraded later if it turns out it is not enough (albeit only through third parties and only by voiding the warranty), but the RAM is soldered on. 2GB is OK for now, but 4GB will be better for the future.
 

zarzar555

macrumors newbie
May 7, 2011
6
0
I have a mac book air and I enjoy it very much. If you are going to use it for buisiness, I highly reccomend it. It is actually very lightweght.

Features:

Pros:
• 4 gigs of memory
• 2 usb slots
• Hd camera
• Hd video playback
• Facetime
• Lion
• Multi-touch trackpad
• 250 gigs of storage

Cons:
• No disc drive


Hope this helps!

For further info go to:
http://www.apple.com/macbookair/features.html
 
Last edited:

adddictedtomac

macrumors regular
Mar 8, 2012
126
0
Hello,

I am considering a MBA to use as a desktop replacement. The one i would get is the 2gB 64SSD HD, which I would use for the remaining MBA classes as well as excel files, read email and browse the net.

Would this be suitable? I play no games, but I do spend a lot of time in Excel for work and my baseball league.

Does this laptop work well hooked up to a monitor and leaving on an extended period of time? I kind of like the SSD, because I could also turn it off and have quick turn around. I hate having to turn off the computer at night only to turn it back on in the morning.

Right now I am thinking about the Mac Mini, this MBA and the MBP.

Thank you,

Patrick

The MBA should not be confused as a Notebook, you will be surprised how fast this machine is! It looks small and thin, and on paper you may think that it will hardly run anything, but its actually very fast. I bought an 11 inch last year and since then I have not touched my MacBook, and feels even faster than my iMac 2.5GHz i5!

YOU WILL LOVE IT!
 

bowadoyle

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 17, 2012
21
0
Philadelphia
Well guys, I ended up ordering a 11" refurbished 2010 model from apple for $699 and it comes tomorrow. Speed it not a real big concern for me as I mainly use the laptop for Microsoft Office related work.

One question -

Should I upgrade the OS? I'm asking because I thought I read where Office is buggy using it with the latest OS?

I've had problems with Microsoft Office with 10.7 on my Mac Mini. Although it has seemed to get much better with the updates. I think.

Have a great day!

Patrick
 

GearDriven

macrumors newbie
Feb 22, 2012
24
0
Well guys, I ended up ordering a 11" refurbished 2010 model from apple for $699 and it comes tomorrow. Speed it not a real big concern for me as I mainly use the laptop for Microsoft Office related work.

One question -

Should I upgrade the OS? I'm asking because I thought I read where Office is buggy using it with the latest OS?

I've had problems with Microsoft Office with 10.7 on my Mac Mini. Although it has seemed to get much better with the updates. I think.

Have a great day!

Patrick

Mountain lion is supposed to pop out this summer, so while it is only a $30 upgrade it might be worth waiting. I don't know what you are using Excel for, but if you have some statistics/simulation/etc.. add-ins I would check those for compatibility as well. For my uses 2GB of RAM would be woefully inadequate but I have huge workbooks.
 

bowadoyle

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 17, 2012
21
0
Philadelphia
Mountain lion is supposed to pop out this summer, so while it is only a $30 upgrade it might be worth waiting. I don't know what you are using Excel for, but if you have some statistics/simulation/etc.. add-ins I would check those for compatibility as well. For my uses 2GB of RAM would be woefully inadequate but I have huge workbooks.

I'm an accountant, so they are not too involved. This laptop though will be used mainly for school. Writing papers / homework, etc....I need it for the last two classes I am taking to finish up my MBA degree.
 

Scepticalscribe

macrumors Ivy Bridge
Jul 29, 2008
63,832
46,277
In a coffee shop.
Congrats on your refurb MBA - I hope you enjoy it. It should certainly easily suffice for the tasks you have outlined in your original post.

I used to have a MBP but, at the moment, my only computer is a MBA and I find it excellent for what I do.

Best of luck with it.
 

GfPQqmcRKUvP

macrumors 68040
Sep 29, 2005
3,272
514
Terminus
I'm an accountant, so they are not too involved. This laptop though will be used mainly for school. Writing papers / homework, etc....I need it for the last two classes I am taking to finish up my MBA degree.

I'd just load Windows with Microsoft Office. Office for Mac is awful if you're used to Office for Windows. Mac got everything else right, though...
 

bowadoyle

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 17, 2012
21
0
Philadelphia
Hee-Hee, he has an MBA to finish his MBA, jokes ;):D

Last week, I was finishing up my take home final for a class and I spent the day at the library. It was nice not having to lug around my 14" Dell laptop and instead took the 11" MBA. What a sweet machine.

Class done! Yeah!!

3 left
 
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