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AppleDApp

macrumors 68020
Jun 21, 2011
2,413
45
I Prefer using an ipad for most of my note taking needs. How do use your computer in class? Why did you scrap the idea of the iPad?

In my case, I am using an iPad for school and an iMac at home.

If you're looking for a single computer I recommend the 13" MBA.
 

53x12

macrumors 68000
Feb 16, 2009
1,544
4
I Prefer using an ipad for most of my note taking needs. How do use your computer in class? Why did you scrap the idea of the iPad?

In my case, I am using an iPad for school and an iMac at home.

If you're looking for a single computer I recommend the 13" MBA.

Some people don't like typing on an iPad except for short email. Taking notes on a glass screen + smallish screen is not ideal for some. While it is fine for some, others prefer larger screen and full size keyboard of a laptop. In the end whatever works for you is all that matters.
 

octatonic

macrumors 6502
Mar 23, 2010
260
52
London
My 2012 13" arrived today.

I've upgraded from an 11" 2010 model.
I am much preferring the 13" to the 11" at the moment.
It feels roomier, isn't that much heavier and has brilliant battery life.

Make sure you go for 8GB RAM.
 

yourtoys7

macrumors 6502a
Sep 3, 2007
572
35
I'm very happy with 11", can't say about 13", but on the go the 11" is amazing, almost feels like you carying iPad.
 

Dominus Mortem

macrumors regular
Aug 3, 2011
233
62
I Prefer using an ipad for most of my note taking needs. How do use your computer in class? Why did you scrap the idea of the iPad?

In my case, I am using an iPad for school and an iMac at home.

How do you type fast enough on an IPAD? I could never keep up with the lectures using an IPAD. I sometimes have to type very fast to capture the lecture information even on a full sized tactile keyboard.

A 11" Air fits on even the stingiest fold-down desktop. I had one class where the top was barely as big as a dinner plate and the Air fit on that just fine, anything bigger would have made me nervous about it falling off.
 

AppleDApp

macrumors 68020
Jun 21, 2011
2,413
45
How do you type fast enough on an IPAD? I could never keep up with the lectures using an IPAD. I sometimes have to type very fast to capture the lecture information even on a full sized tactile keyboard.

A 11" Air fits on even the stingiest fold-down desktop. I had one class where the top was barely as big as a dinner plate and the Air fit on that just fine, anything bigger would have made me nervous about it falling off.

Most of my classes have the notes online so I download those before hand and add my notes either by typing or using my stylus. It isn't for everyone put it works for me.
 

theSeb

macrumors 604
Aug 10, 2010
7,466
1,893
none
I would suggest going old school.

Moleskin note pad + Graf von Faber Castell pencil

You can also change the screen size easily by just getting a small, large and extra large pad. Sorted.
 

mattopotamus

macrumors G5
Jun 12, 2012
14,665
5,879
My 2012 13" arrived today.

I've upgraded from an 11" 2010 model.
I am much preferring the 13" to the 11" at the moment.
It feels roomier, isn't that much heavier and has brilliant battery life.

Make sure you go for 8GB RAM.

I feel like the forums make that seem much more important that it really is for 90% of users. Unless you are doing a lot of photoshop or video editing 4gb will be plenty. I have done a side by side and really noticed zero difference between 8gb and 4gb. Until 8 becomes the minimum requirement you will be fine, and I see 4gb lasting easily 4 years.
 

Hexley

Suspended
Jun 10, 2009
1,641
504
I feel like the forums make that seem much more important that it really is for 90% of users. Unless you are doing a lot of photoshop or video editing 4gb will be plenty. I have done a side by side and really noticed zero difference between 8gb and 4gb. Until 8 becomes the minimum requirement you will be fine, and I see 4gb lasting easily 4 years.

We say that because you cannot upgrade the memory after you accept the MBAir even if you wanted to.
 

53x12

macrumors 68000
Feb 16, 2009
1,544
4
Seems (despite my hopes) that the 13' is the way to go. I was hoping to save the $100 and get 8GB of ram but if i'm being true to myself the 13' probably is my best bet

Thanks


Not sure if you finally got your MBA yet, but I will have to agree. 13" is probably the best route to go. Just this past Wednesday I finally received the 11" and 13" MBAs that I ordered. Did that partly because I wanted to spend time using them during a typical day so that I would know which one I would be happier with. I really liked the form factor of the 11". It is small and a real nice size to carry around with. However, I have an iPad mini myself. So if I need something more mobile and smaller form factor, I have the iPad mini. I realize that they are completely different devices, but the iPad can do just about everything that I would need it to do if I was worried about size (i.e. watching a movie on an airplane, going over some documents, reading pdf's, sending a quick email...etc.). The other thing about the 11" that is sorta a deal breaker for me was the lack of the SD slot. Really is a big help in this day and age with cameras and camcorders to be able to throw the data on the MBA and email to family and friends to just do a quick iMovie. Maybe the biggest deal breaker of all is the battery life. On the 11" I think I got around 4.5-5hrs for average use. While I have access to outlets most of the day, the 13" is just more livable I feel. On the 13" I have been getting around 7-7.5hrs from what I have seen. More than enough for a full day if you don't want to bring a charger with.

So in summary:

11: + cost, small size
- no SD, small battery, less screen to get work done easily

Btw: I am coming from a 15" MBP. Don't think I will ever go back to a MBP at this point after having the MBA.
 

kage207

macrumors 6502a
Jul 23, 2008
971
56
My friend and I had the debate between the 13" vs. 11". He ended up getting the 11" and for myself I got the 13".

He went for the 11" cause he liked the screen better was what it came down for him. He also opted for an i7 upgrade and kept the memory the at 4GB. The screen actually has more room for programs as it actually has a higher DPI than the 13".

I went for the 13" because it is a bigger screen. I also decided that the battery life was better and more important in my decision. I opted for 8GB of memory instead of 4GB as it was a $90 BTO instead of the i7 which gives you at most a 17% performance gain in some tasks. I sometimes run memory intensive applications at once.

I usually run either a programming app (Xcode, Netbeans, Coda), browser (Chrome or Safari), media player (either inside browser via Pandora, or Plex or iTunes), Evernote (or another some kind of word processing), Rulers (so I can work with pixels a bit easier when coding), Mail (it is an app I always have running and begins at login), System Pal (for monitoring, again starts at login), DropBox (again starts at login), Caffeine (again starts at login) and Reminders (again starts at login).

Running all that I don't hit 4GB of memory but come very close to it and I rather not have paging waste valuable SSD space or having waste SSD cycles.

It's up to you, if you can get your hands on both to try them out then you should do it because you don't have to satisfy us here at MacRumors. The only persons opinion you need to justify your opinion to is yourself because if you aren't happy with it, then why buy it?
 

jbonet

macrumors newbie
Mar 7, 2011
2
0
Spain
My choice: MacBook Air 11"

I have a mid-2010 iMac, a mid-2011 MacBook Air 11", and an iPad 3.

I purchased the basic model of MacBook Air in January 2012, with 2 GB of RAM and 64 GB of SSD. It was very frustrating to have only 64GB of storage, so I replaced the original 64GB SSD with a 240GB SSD which I purchased from OWC <www.macsales.com>. That made all the difference. My MacBook Air changed from being little more than a toy to being a real computer.

The 13" has a larger display, a SD slot and a battery charge lasts a bit longer. But it is MUCH LESS portable.

My recommendation: get the 11" MacBook Air with 64GB SSD and 8GB of RAM. Than buy a replacement 240GB or 480GB SSD from OWC. And get a monitor (not the Apple Thunderbolt Display) for use at home.

Note that RAM CANNOT be upgraded after purchase, as it is soldered to the motherboard.

Surprisingly, I don't notice the lack of more RAM, even though my MacBook Air has only 2GB of RAM. My guess is that it is using virtual memory, but that doesn't slow it down much because the SSD is very fast.
 
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