Air as a primary computer?

[bigwig]

Anybody with experience doing this? Now that the Rev B can drive a 30" ACD the Air (+real keyboard) is looking more attractive for this purpose. 99% of the time I just email, web surf, and run biz apps (NeoOffice, Things, Skype). I don't do video editing. I do rip and/or watch a CD or DVD on rare occasions.

[jackiecanev2]

In short, yes.

The revB is a full-featured computer, moreso than the revA which was more of a light usage / netbook machine.

[pstoehr]

Hi,

I bought last saturday a MBA togehter with a 23" Cinema Display.
I use this computer as my primary computer. Being a lecturer for computer science I do a lot of programming, creating lecture note for my students and writing scientific papers.

The computer I've used before was a PowerBook G4 (17", 133GHz). Upgrading to the MBA gives me a decende performance boost.

From my point of view: Go and buy a MBA. For your needs this computer is more than sufficient.

Best regards
Peter

[EmperorDarius]

I guess that Air is fine for your needs.

[hodgeheg]

I use an Air as my only computer, having previously had a (faster) macbook. I have no problems, besides that I dropped it so just now it's at the Apple Store being repaired for an awful lot of money. I am so insuring it for accidental damage when it gets back!

My usage is Word Processing, Excel, EndNote X2, browsing, lots of flash video, iTunes, syncing with iPod touch, iphoto, mobile me type stuff, gimp, light imovie (not HD stuff). I have a Rev B 1.6Ghz and it's lovely. None of the core shutdowns or over heating that various people complained about with the Rev A, at least not yet :)

I know word processing is only light usage, but it's not uncommon for me to have 10 word documents open, some large, and several PDFs, often image based, and ical and itunes etc all at the same time, without issue.

It *is* slower than my Macbook, but then my Macbook had a 7200rpm HD. Generally things are a bit slower to start and open, though never a problem at all, and I notice no speed difference other than app loading, and thumbnailing of albums in itunes (oddly I notice no slowdown in iPhoto, only iTunes - guessing iTunes 8's album thumbnailing is not that optimised yet, as coverflow is far smoother which logically should be much harder work for it. It's still vastly faster than that feature under windows ime.

[coupdetat]

I'm a college student and I use mine as my primary computer. I also came from a G4, so the MBA is a huge performance increase. The one USB port can be a hassle if you don't have an AirPort Express, I'd recommend getting one if you are willing to spend a little extra. AirDisk and printer sharing means that I don't have to plug anything into my MBA.. just walk into my dorm, flip open my computer, and start working :D

[andreab35]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5G77 Safari/525.20)

I use my MBA as a primary computer. It's great and meets all my needs. If I ever have the need to use a desktop, there's a Windows box in the office.

[marcip3]

i also use the mba as my only computer with hp l2275w display. it is perfect and as good as my previous macbook.

marcip3

[fredf]

I'm a physician and this is my only home computer. I use it to log into my office remotely (with an rVPN) to do work, I use MS Office to do writing, I surf and i've made a small Windows partition so I can have MS Publisher for the odd things I write.
No problem at all.

[kvasir]

Do you guys have a Rev. A or B airs?

[gamer2502]

for your needs the mba rev.2 would meet your needs well as long as you don't cover the vents so a core doesn't shut down:apple:

[kloan]

I had a Rev A, and it was too slow to serve as a primary computer. It went back to the store.

Recently bought a Rev B and it's my only machine. Totally sufficient for my needs.

[twoodcc]

i have rev A. i do not use it as my main computer, b/c of the hard drive size. but i use it more like i would use a netbook i guess.

[bigwig]

i have rev A. i do not use it as my main computer, b/c of the hard drive size. but i use it more like i would use a netbook i guess.
I'm thinking about putting together a home server running Solaris+RAIDZ2 for main storage to solve that problem. Local backup, iTunes server, and DVD server for storing VIDEO_TS.

[AirUser]

I got the Rev A and i use this computer for all things in my office. There is no need for Rev B!
I do Photoshop Elements - Word - Pages - iPhoto - Webdesign - Adobe Illustrator - and i watch a lot of Movies with VLC in Fullscreen, there is no stuttering, everything is easy!

Greetings:)

[dukebound85]

if you value the size then yea you can use it.

if size isnt an issue, id really have to reccomend a mb over the mba as its cheaper among other things

[travis64]

sorry macbooks screens suck

[dukebound85]

sorry macbooks screens suck

and the air has one usb port, no optical drive, etc.

whats your point?

each one has tradeoffs.what i said in previous post is still valid

[aleni]

the rev A air can't be used as my primary computer, it's overheating so bad. sold it. and bought the rev B with SSD, now safari feels snappier and it's my only computer.

[pstoehr]

Hi folks,

mine is a Rev B, 186GHz with SSD.

Peter

[shootingstar64]

You absolutely CAN use it as your primary computer!

As you may see in my signature, i besides do own a Mac Pro which i solely use in the office for "hardcore" video editing. All other computer based work is done on my MBA (a Rev. B 1,86 GHz/128 SSD btw).

I used to have a 20" iMac for my photo editing (Photoshop, Aperture, OpticsPro and other); it also served as a media server to my various ATVs but this now is all done by the Air,.... also i have to be honest,... i am a kind of lazy and did not want to take care of 3 Macs to keep them all synced, neat and clean!

Consider a 24" LED Display and this is all you need,....

Just my 2Cents,....

:apple:

[aleni]

You absolutely CAN use it as your primary computer!

As you may see in my signature, i besides do own a Mac Pro which i solely use in the office for "hardcore" video editing. All other computer based work is done on my MBA (a Rev. B 1,86 GHz/128 SSD btw).

I used to have a 20" iMac for my photo editing (Photoshop, Aperture, OpticsPro and other); it also served as a media server to my various ATVs but this now is all done by the Air,.... also i have to be honest,... i am a kind of lazy and did not want to take care of 3 Macs to keep them all synced, neat and clean!

Consider a 24" LED Display and this is all you need,....

Just my 2Cents,....

:apple:

Yeah. I have 3 computers as well, but too lazy to make all together synced, so all works being done with only the macbook air.

[HasanDaddy]

my MBA is my PRIMARY computer and has been for about 6 weeks now

I love it

I will say --- there are times when I deeply yearn for my old 17", but not too often

it will be fine as a primary computer

[HasanDaddy]

btw -

I deeply recommend purchasing the SuperDrive for $100

otherwise - it's a terrific laptop!

[shootingstar64]

btw -

I deeply recommend purchasing the SuperDrive for $100

otherwise - it's a terrific laptop!

2nd that!!!! also you may find the SuperDrive cheaper on Ebay or Craigslist,....

[dlblarg]

2nd that!!!! also you may find the SuperDrive cheaper on Ebay or Craigslist,....


I've got a MBP Unibody and a MBA for travel and find myself using the MBA more often. I've blogged about it (http://bikehugger.com/2008/12/travel_mac_more_on_macbook_air.htm) and it'll def work as a primary computer with a note that the fans will blow on any processor intensive tasks. In my setup, I render movies with the MBP and write with the MBA.

[nph]

Problem is that if I get a rev A with a beautiful screen that I cant use to watch hidef video from CBS for instance it would be wasted and I'd be frustrated...
I tried it at Best Buy that still have Rev A it is not doable...

[Scottsdale]

I got the Rev A and i use this computer for all things in my office. There is no need for Rev B!
I do Photoshop Elements - Word - Pages - iPhoto - Webdesign - Adobe Illustrator - and i watch a lot of Movies with VLC in Fullscreen, there is no stuttering, everything is easy!

Greetings:)

I completely disagree. The first version of the MBA was barely more than a netbook. I owned one. The second version is an amazingly powerful lightweight machine capable of being nearly any standard user's primary Mac.

I personally am hopeful for a glass trackpad and a few more updates in the next revision. I do intend to move into a new MBA on its next revision, but only because I think it will come fairly soon (within four to six months). I can hold out, and I am most hopeful for a 4 GB RAM upgrade. I am willing to pay $2999 for a new MBA with 256 GB SSD, glass trackpad, 2 GHz CPU, and 4 GB RAM. Now if Apple would just take advantage and offer it, I will gladly pay the extra money for it.

[bigwig]

My bet is that the next revision will be a Nehalem Air, but mobile Nehalem looks to be 9-12 months late. Originally scheduled 1Q09, we probably won't see it until 4Q09 or 1Q10, unless Apple have a deal with Intel to get a special early release like they did with the Rev A Air. With 4G RAM, a fix for the screen problems, and one of the zippy new Intel SSDs, that would be one sweet machine.