Is 11" big enough?

Is 11" big enough?!

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For what!!

Oh, wait...

Never mind...

andyjcheal said:

Hi all, I'm about to replace my old MBP and as I travel a lot and fancy a treat, I'm planning on a MBA as the replacement.

My question is whether the 11" MBA is big enough for someone who does fair amount of word processing, film watching and web surfing. The benefits being that it's more compact (obviously) and I can load it up with more of the extras.

If the opinion is that I should definitely get the 13", I'll do so, but it may be the basic MBA.

Thanks for any advice!

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I would say no. Word processing will be cramped and same with movie watching. If you get the 128 GB version, as I strongly suggest you should, the 13" is only $100 more but has an SD card, better battery life, better screen, and you only lose around 1/2 pound of portability. Well worth it, in my opinion.

@Shrink, really?

B... said:

@Shrink, really?

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I know...disgusting...mind in the gutter...

andyjcheal said:

Hi all, I'm about to replace my old MBP and as I travel a lot and fancy a treat, I'm planning on a MBA as the replacement.

My question is whether the 11" MBA is big enough for someone who does fair amount of word processing, film watching and web surfing. The benefits being that it's more compact (obviously) and I can load it up with more of the extras.

If the opinion is that I should definitely get the 13", I'll do so, but it may be the basic MBA.

Thanks for any advice!

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Sounds like an iPad is good enough for what you want.

I can only say for my usage, programming/graphics work is a PITA on a 13" MBA. So my next Mac will definitely will be 15" retina.

B... said:

I would say no. Word processing will be cramped and same with movie watching. If you get the 128 GB version, as I strongly suggest you should, the 13" is only $100 more but has an SD card, better battery life, better screen, and you only lose around 1/2 pound of portability. Well worth it, in my opinion.

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I second that. While you can live off external HDs or USB drives, 64GB is really not much space - and once you add that, there's only little price difference to the 13", which offers so much more. Unless one absolutely needs (or fancies) the smaller frame of the 11", I believe the 13" is the sensible way to go.

The 13" screen isn't better only due to being bigger - colors are noticeably better, too.

Compile 'em all said:

Sounds like an iPad is good enough for what you want.

I can only say for my usage, programming/graphics work is a PITA on a 13" MBA. So my next Mac will definitely will be 15" retina.

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Programming/graphics work will be just a much a PITA on a 15". Most people doing this kind of work will be hooking it up to an external display anyway...

I would go with 13"

If you keep typing for a while in the 11" it will feel cramped. Mostly if you are tall (or have big hands). I know the keyboard is the same. I'm 6'1" and it feels (felt, sent it back to get a 13") a bit uncomfortable for me.

take it with 128 sad. is like you have an ipad with a operation system.

id say yes, but up the memory and storage. just grab an external monitor for home use when you fancy a bigger screen. ive got a 13 and an 11, 11" screen doesnt look small at all, but the reduced footprint helps it fit in practically any bag

I find the mba11 AWESOME for on the go stuff

I've done so much on this machine, my desktop is getting sassy with me

consider the screen size, but whatever you decide, go for at least 128gb ssd

KimHansenDK said:

Programming/graphics work will be just a much a PITA on a 15". Most people doing this kind of work will be hooking it up to an external display anyway...

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Sure. When at home I use my ACD. But on the road or sitting on the couch, it is incredibly cumbersome to do anything. Having a bigger retina display would help substantially.

I've done this dance three times now. I find that the 13 is the all around better machine. The screen size and battery life are well worth the trade off.

No, it is not big enough for your stated purposes, in my opinion. That is why I replaced my 11" with a 13".

andyjcheal said:

Hi all, I'm about to replace my old MBP and as I travel a lot and fancy a treat, I'm planning on a MBA as the replacement.

My question is whether the 11" MBA is big enough for someone who does fair amount of word processing, film watching and web surfing. The benefits being that it's more compact (obviously) and I can load it up with more of the extras.

If the opinion is that I should definitely get the 13", I'll do so, but it may be the basic MBA.

Thanks for any advice!

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lots of great advice in here from other people so all i have to add is that you definitely want to go to the fruitstand and play with them before you decide. i was all set to get the 13 before trying them out and after that my decision moved to a choice between the 11" (ultraportable) and a 15" (power computer)...

if youre gonna go 13", go pro and get a more powerful computer imo. the 13" air is no more portable than the pro, its the 11 for portability!

I've got an MBA 11" which I bought for school and coupled it with an iPad mini - the two together are the bee's knees, I couldn't be happier. I'm hugely into portability, so if this is you, the 11" is a great machine - if you aren't so much into portability then perhaps the smaller screen will bother you, but only you can answer that.

For me the point of having a (portable) machine is always having it with you - if you hesitate for even one moment because you don't want to "haul" that device along, then what good is having a portable device? That's how I look at it. Others don't mind carrying heavier/bigger around so they can enjoy the larger screen and/or better resolution - that's their preference, and I don't fault them for that at all, I simply prefer to have these devices take up as little space as possible, and the smaller and lighter they keep making them, the more I'll keep buying and using (and that's the crux of it) them.

It's a great machine.

LeeM said:

if youre gonna go 13", go pro and get a more powerful computer imo. the 13" air is no more portable than the pro, its the 11 for portability!

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Are we talking about the 13" Retina or regular? The 13" Air is much more portable than the regular 13" Pro. Also the Air is (almost) as fast as the Pro - and lets not forget that the Air has SSD as standard and a better resolution than the regular 13" Pro.

You are not going to notice the difference in power if you choose the 13" Pro over the Air. You can upgrade the regular Pro with 16GB ram but most people will not be using more than 4/8GB...

I'll be getting the 11" and plugging it into an external for home use. For couch (toilet) use the 11" should be fine as well.

I have an 11" and use it for everything you stated. Perfect size. Previously had a 13" and decided to get an 11" and try it out. Battery life is a little less than the 13", but overall it is more comfortable to use. I'm on it 10+ hours a day for school and browsing.

Shrink said:

For what!!

Oh, wait...

Never mind...

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Well I just lost weight I just LMAO

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Serious now, if you like the screen on your iPad, you will like the 11"

Mlrollin91 said:

I have an 11" and use it for everything you stated. Perfect size. Previously had a 13" and decided to get an 11" and try it out. Battery life is a little less than the 13", but overall it is more comfortable to use. I'm on it 10+ hours a day for school and browsing.

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agreed.

the 13" MBA is a fine computer and I doubt many people who buy it regret it, but to me, as someone who has been using a 13" MBP for several years, it was just an amazingly light and stylish laptop...not an ultraportable. the 11" blew me away in that regard which made the choice easier.

the 13" MBA is only about half a pound lighter than the 13" rMBP and actually has a larger footprint.

I think the 13" MBA is a great deal - probably one of the best deals in their entire lineup but to me it's not really any more portable than the MBP - especially one with a SSD.

That's what she....oh, wait.

Nevermind.

The 11" is amazing and zippy for every task. Fullscreen mode is your friend.

The only thing I don't like about the 11" is the short battery life compared to the rest of the Macbook lineup.

KimHansenDK said:

The 13" Air is much more portable than the regular 13" Pro.

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apart from being a bit lighter its no more portable at all, it fits nowhere the pro won't. and lets face it neither are particularly heavy.

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DisplacedMic said:

agreed.
I think the 13" MBA is a great deal - probably one of the best deals in their entire lineup but to me it's not really any more portable than the MBP - especially one with a SSD.

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put an ssd and optibay hdd in a pro, and its more portable than the air because you dont need to carry external storage