Tips to take care of my new MBA?

[Nikomanz]

Just purchased a MBA, being still a student, this was a real blow to my budget, and I can not afford a new purchase of the air.


So do you guys have any tips to make this air last a very long time? Possibly well Into my college life ahead?

[iKIKO]

great to hear. i know you will love it. just take it with care, use a sleeve, don't drop it and she'll be fine :D

[mfuchs88]

I always use a sleeve if I bring it anywhere. I just use a caselogic sleeve because it was cheaper and high quality for the price. Also if you bring it to school every day, you might want to try a computer backpack because the extra padding will help keep it safe from bumps and jolts when you put it down or pick it up. Overall just he careful and try hard not to drink around it because liquids easily kill computers. Enjoy your new purchase and congrats!

[Epic Xbox Revie]

Being a student, get a backpack specifically for laptops if you plan to take it to any of your classes, which you will likely want to do.

[Feed Me]

A good friend of mine says that not dropping the laptop helps with the longevity of the device although I'm not sure let me know how this works out for you

[cvan44]

I am not a student but carry mine around in my backpack. I also use the Acme Made sleeve made for the MBA, which protects it when it is in my backpack. I also have a Radtech keyboard protector.

[Bigredhawkeye]

I'm in the same situation as you, college student, recently bought an Air.

Here are a few things that I do:

1. Use a sleeve (extra padding while in backpack or in transit)
2. Buy a laptop backpack
3. Buy a hardshell case for it (If you want to protect it from scratches, dings)
4. DO NOT drink around it or have it out on the weekends when you're drinking/with drunk people. Spilled alcoholic drinks has killed more people's laptops than I'd care to admit in just my first year of college.

If you're careful with it then it should last you for a long time, it seems like mine will!

[thestickman]

Don't trip over a guitar cable & spill tea into it like I did my 2010 Macbook last weekend. It's why I am typing this from a 3 day old MBA 11" that I am enjoying very much.

[KylePowers]

I use this black incipio hard case:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31ZKQJT1HYL.jpg

Inside this Incase sleeve:
http://store.storeimages.cdn-apple.com/2498/as-images.apple.com/is/image/AppleInc/H7093?wid=326&hei=326&fmt=jpeg&qlt=95&op_sharpen=0&resMode=bicub&op_usm=0.5,0.5,0,0&iccEmbed=0&layer=comp
http://store.storeimages.cdn-apple.com/2498/as-images.apple.com/is/image/AppleInc/H7093_AV5?wid=326&hei=326&fmt=jpeg&qlt=95&op_sharpen=0&resMode=bicub&op_usm=0.5,0.5,0,0&iccEmbed=0&layer=comp

Which itself is carried in this Belkin laptop backpack:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/411Dg54ZpIL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51fxcubAwYL._AA300_.jpg

//3rd year electrical engineering student

[Nikomanz]

I'm in the same situation as you, college student, recently bought an Air.

Here are a few things that I do:

1. Use a sleeve (extra padding while in backpack or in transit)
2. Buy a laptop backpack
3. Buy a hardshell case for it (If you want to protect it from scratches, dings)
4. DO NOT drink around it or have it out on the weekends when you're drinking/with drunk people. Spilled alcoholic drinks has killed more people's laptops than I'd care to admit in just my first year of college.

If you're careful with it then it should last you for a long time, it seems like mine will!



All in all very good advice on protecting my air, thanks guys!

But i have read in some forums, that the screen is very sensitive (up to the point in which it damages, or having the apple mark in the back bleed through to the screen) any points to take care of my MBA screen wise?

[Bigredhawkeye]

All in all very good advice on protecting my air, thanks guys!

But i have read in some forums, that the screen is very sensitive (up to the point in which it damages, or having the apple mark in the back bleed through to the screen) any points to take care of my MBA screen wise?

If you have a hardshell case on it and a sleeve over that I don't think you'll need to worry about the weight of books or whatnot hurting your screen.

But if you are really worried about it, put your MBA on the outside of all of your books in your backpack, that way the books won't be leaning against the screen and putting any pressure on it at all.

[Kayan]

I use this black incipio hard case:

Inside this Incase sleeve:

Which itself is carried in this Belkin laptop backpack:

//3rd year electrical engineering student

Oh thats crazy overkill! Its definitely protected there. As a 5th year chemical engineering student, I am not even able to carry mine around due to 1) its a 17" MPB, so not very portable and 2) all my engineering programs are sadly only on Windows, which I removed from my MBP a while ago.

My two cents to the OP is to 1) get the nice thin Moshi keyboard cover. 2) Somehow protect the exterior. I got the Moshi keyboard cover from day 1 with my computer, and it keeps it very clean. On the occasional time that I am eating at my computer with greasy fingers, it keeps my computer nice, then I can just go and wash of the cover in 1 minute and all is new again. The cover is so thin your typing is not affected AT ALL

[KylePowers]

Oh thats crazy overkill! Its definitely protected there. As a 5th year chemical engineering student, I am not even able to carry mine around due to 1) its a 17" MPB, so not very portable and 2) all my engineering programs are sadly only on Windows, which I removed from my MBP a while ago.
Yeah, you're right, it's totally overkill haha. I actually usually skip the sleeve and just throw the MBA into my backpack in the padded laptop compartment, but I just included it in the post to give some ideas. Sometimes I just carry it in the sleeve though if I don't need to take my backpack somewhere; but nonetheless, you can never be too cautious lol

All my engineering programs (aside from Matlab) require Windows too, but I just virtualize Windows 7 Ultimate using Virtualbox (2 cores, 1.5GB of RAM, 20GB of space) and it works beautifully- LTSpice, PCSpim, SMOK, Mathcad, etc. For more of my current classes though, I have to use NX Client to tap into my schools servers to remotely run a unix distro so that I can use Cadence and FPGA Advantage. Still works quite nicely though.

[Kayan]

Yeah, you're right, it's totally overkill haha. I actually usually skip the sleeve and just throw the MBA into my backpack in the padded laptop compartment, but I just included it in the post to give some ideas. Sometimes I just carry it in the sleeve though if I don't need to take my backpack somewhere; but nonetheless, you can never be too cautious lol

All my engineering programs (aside from Matlab) require Windows too, but I just virtualize Windows 7 Ultimate using Virtualbox (2 cores, 1.5GB of RAM, 20GB of space) and it works beautifully- LTSpice, PCSpim, SMOK, Mathcad, etc. For more of my current classes though, I have to use NX Client to tap into my schools servers to remotely run a unix distro so that I can use Cadence and FPGA Advantage. Still works quite nicely though.

Ya, even from home on my Apple, I use a Citrix server to run MathCAD, the main one I use, on my Mac. Sometimes I'll need VBA in Excel, so I usually use Citrix for that too since the VBA implementation in the latest Mac Office Excel sucks. You'll definitely keep your laptop nice for a long time with that setup. Since my MBP just sits on my desk at home, it's in perfect shape, and I've never even typed on the real keyboard keys since it's always had the cover on it. Computers are so much more enjoyable if they stay nice longer. I'm planning on getting an Air when I begin my graduate studies.

[ann713]

Get a sleeve, keyboard cover, wrist pad protector and you're set!

[No-Me]

Stay away from the speck/incipio style hard cases, those do NOT compliment your MacBook Air. And do not get a wrist pad protector and a keyboard cover, not necessary at all! :-)

Get a sleeve, and a good bag, I can suggest http://shop.jolioriginals.com for sleeves and http://crumpler.com for a good bag, have been using a couple of different crumplers, and even after a lot of years they are still really good! And get an extra power adapter if you're on the road a lot.

And best, don't worry too much if it gets some usage signs, it's made to be used! :)