Need ot upgrade to 1.8 what's the difference??

[appleman1974]

I am debating on a Macbook Air, am I going to see a difference between the 1.6 and 1.8 processors? except the $250.00

[ayeying]

I use a 1.6GHz, I find it fast enough for everything I need (Music/Aperture/VMWare). But if you are to keep the system for a long time (3+ years), I guess a 1.8GHz would be more prudent.

[appleman1974]

I use a 1.6GHz, I find it fast enough for everything I need (Music/Aperture/VMWare). But if you are to keep the system for a long time (3+ years), I guess a 1.8GHz would be more prudent.
What do you think about the drive? did you buy one?

[dibara2003]

quite frankly, my 1.6 is all i need. i compared the two models and figured i'd rather save money

[BryanLyle]

I went from a 2.4 MBP to a 1.6 MBA and don't notice any difference. Of course, I am not doing anything too intense either. Browsing, email, parallels, etc.

So far, it does everything I need for a laptop. I have a Mac Pro to do the heavy lifting.

[NC MacGuy]

The 1.6 is plenty fast enough. You wouldn't notice much of a difference in proc. performance upgrading to 1.8. The SSD is a different story. But in my real world use, I'm happier buying the 1.6 / 80 and holding on to the extra $1300 and adding to it for next revision. The extra storage space of the 80 vs. 55-64(?) is a plus too. It'd be hard for me to upgrade a $3100 lappy just because it's so expensive.

[Chad H]

I don't have the SSD but I plunged for the 1.8ghz processor myself. Its very quick and I won't need to upgrade anytime soon. I see myself keeping this laptop for several years. Therefore I got the 1.8ghz. The 1.6ghz will be just fine, but you always want to think about the future when buying electronics. Especially from Apple. ;)

[ayeying]

The drive, being single platter and smaller in size, makes accessing files pretty fast compared to normal 4200rpm drives... from what I observed. I hardly feel any difference in performance between this MacBook Air (1.6/80) and my old MacBook (2.0/4gb/250gb @ 5400)

[t4cgirl]

It's a 12% speed increase in the absolute best case, and you're looking at a few percent for most things. The difference between Photoshop launching in 30 seconds and 28. Microsoft Word repaginating in 7 seconds instead of 7.6.

If you only spend $2100 on a laptop every three years, that $250 you save by NOT getting the 1.8 means you might get your next laptop four months earlier.

So would you rather have that barely noticeable speed increase and use the laptop for an extra four months to get your money's worth? I wouldn't.

Love my MBA 1.6!

[imapfsr]

I also went with the 1.8, more than quick enough for my daily usage. I heard that if you have the 1.8 that you are able to switch out the normal HD for the SSHD when they become less expensive. Does anyone know if this is indeed true. Thanks in advance for your help.

[tuxtpenguin]

I vote for saving the money and going with the 1.6.

[Cybergypsy]

went from a 2.2 macbook with 4G of ram and the 1.6 kicks but :)

[iHerzeleid]

1.6Ghz is all I need. Works 100% for my needs.