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chewbacca390

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 19, 2008
41
0
I am getting a MAC for the first time. I know a lot about computers and so i want a macbook or macbook air. I would love to have a macbook air, i am starting to think that it's too small for what you get with it. MacBooks can have a bigger hard drive, memory, and better processors. I don't really care about usb ports or CD drives, but the MacBook can have better stuff for cheaper.

My question is, i like portability, so is it worth the extra money for the Air or is the 13.3 inch macbook easy enough to carry around?

Which Mac do you recommend?
 

elcid

macrumors 6502
May 5, 2007
427
0
Given the new MB, I cant imagine not getting one. The amount of improvements you are getting for an additional 2 pounds is great. I think my MB is plenty light enough, and with the speeds and all the upgrades, I would get the MB.
 

brn2ski00

macrumors 68020
Aug 16, 2007
2,239
12
MA
Macbooks are very easy to carry around and have a sleak form factor to boot. Power and overall productivity will be more with the MB.

The MBA gives you the WOW factor and ultimate portability, but also less bang for your buck. If you don't plan on getting the SSD model, then I would save the money and go with the MB (especially for your first ever Mac).

Good luck!
 

brn2ski00

macrumors 68020
Aug 16, 2007
2,239
12
MA
Did you also consider the refurbed ones? Those are a decent deal and I have had good luck with refurbed Apple products in the past.

Plus, you can use the saved $$$ to put towards 4GB RAM. Max it out BABY :D
 

aneftp

macrumors 601
Jul 28, 2007
4,362
546
While the MacBook Air is very tempting, I'll say just save yourself some money and get the new MacBooks that were just released 2 days ago.

5 pounds vs. 3 pounds. Multi-touch vs. regular touch (well, you do have the 2 finger sweep:)

Honestly I would avoid the MacBook Air because it's a first gen. product I'm eventually going to get one (maybe in one year) but I never trust first gen products (except the iPhone which is a killer device).

You get much better value with the current MacBooks (lastest Intel processor, more hard drive, CD/DVD).

The MacBook Air should not be a first or primary computer anyways and if this is your first Mac, start with either a MacBook or iMac.
 

brn2ski00

macrumors 68020
Aug 16, 2007
2,239
12
MA
While the MacBook Air is very tempting, I'll say just save yourself some money and get the new MacBooks that were just released 2 days ago.

5 pounds vs. 3 pounds. Multi-touch vs. regular touch (well, you do have the 2 finger sweep:)

Honestly I would avoid the MacBook Air because it's a first gen. product I'm eventually going to get one (maybe in one year) but I never trust first gen products (except the iPhone which is a killer device).

You get much better value with the current MacBooks (lastest Intel processor, more hard drive, CD/DVD).

The MacBook Air should not be a first or primary computer anyways and if this is your first Mac, start with either a MacBook or iMac.

YOU NEVER TRUST A 1ST GENERATION PRODUCT?!?!?!??!

Aluminum iMac -- HELLO!
 

SFStateStudent

macrumors 604
Aug 28, 2007
7,496
3
San Francisco California, USA
I feel your pain...

yesterday I chose the MB 2.4 250GB over the MBA on the basis of HD size and the fact that the MBA had an external "Superdrive" for about $99 plus tax. The "Superdrive" looks light, sleek and portable, but just another external device, of which I'm not a big fan. Hope this helps. :p
 

aneftp

macrumors 601
Jul 28, 2007
4,362
546
YOU NEVER TRUST A 1ST GENERATION PRODUCT?!?!?!??!

Aluminum iMac -- HELLO!

What I meant when I said "never trust a 1st generation product" was that the iMac line has ben around for a while, even longer when your consider that the original iMac G3..iMac G5 etc. (white iMac and than the transition over to the alum. iMac and that took around 3 years).

I heard about the display problems when the alum. iMac's were release in August 2007 but waited until Dec 2007 to purchase mine.

The MacBook Air is a fantastic design. I will eventually get one myself. But this is entirely new line of laptops apple has designed.

Kinda of like the BMW's. I waited until now to get myself a 2008 BMW 335i convertible. It's the second year of the model. I dare not get the first batch of BMW's that first come out.
 

angrygolfer

macrumors 6502
Jun 25, 2007
272
0
PA
I think the bottom line is that you need to decide if the specs of the Air will meet your requirements now AND down the road. My personal opinion is save the money and get a MacBook. It's more expandable and you can do more with it. Definately worth the extra 2 pounds
 

sculptor

macrumors newbie
Feb 23, 2008
12
0
I had the same choice, I picked the Macbook 2.4Gig white. The fact that the memory can be upgraded to 4gb and that the hard drive is not difficult to upgrade were the deciding factors for me. Also the new cpu's have SSE4 and I and doing computationally intensive work make the Macbook, at least or the Pro, a better choice for me.

What type of work will you be doing?

........Curtis
 
i would say the Mac Book, the Air is good, but if you wait, SSD technology wil become better and maybe Air will drop in price or the lower end one will get SSD.
as for now, i'd say Mac Book.

P.S. unless you like showing off, dont get the black one, you can get the white one with same specs but the black one will be $100 more.
 
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