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MBA buying advice

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sanu23kumar

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 6, 2013
7
0
Finally I have decided to make the jump from pc to mac.
Had c++ as a subject in high school and further want to learn coding by myself for mobile app devlopment purposes. Some advice on that matter will be helpful too.
BTW Definitely don't want to do a college degree in cs.
Like to program in sleeping position (hope it's understandable) this is something I could not try in the store. So weight of the laptop is crucial.
Just read through a lot of threads here but still undecided on the which macbook air, 11 or 13 is right for me.
Moreover we dont have student discounts in India and I am on a tight budget so suggest only the necessary upgrades.
Suggest a case and an external monitor too.

Requirements being:
1. Learning computer languages. Maybe app development too.
2. Reading/Writing non-fiction novels. Another hobby of mine.
3. Playing War Commander(Facebook) and 8 Ball Pool.
4. Web browsing and youtube.

And I brush my teeth twice daily.
 
M

Mrbobb

macrumors 603
Aug 27, 2012
5,009
209
In the States, 13" is not that much more expensive than the 11"

11" is really for folks in which portability is paramount, otherwise 13" is the more popular and with better screen real estate for development.
 
M

motrek

macrumors 68030
Sep 14, 2012
2,613
305
Mrbobb said:
In the States, 13" is not that much more expensive than the 11"

11" is really for folks in which portability is paramount, otherwise 13" is the more popular and with better screen real estate for development.
Click to expand...

More screen real estate is nice but the 11" is still perfectly usable for development. It has essentially the same screen real estate as the default resolution for a 13" rMBP.
 
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motrek

macrumors 68030
Sep 14, 2012
2,613
305
dyt1983 said:
He may have been referring to aspect ratio... smaller and wider may be usable, but the 16:10 is a minimum for me because I like to see as much as I can vertically. Even makes me kind of want the Chromebook Pixel.
Click to expand...

If you move the dock to the side then you get as much vertical space as a MBP with the dock at the bottom.

Of course you can move the dock to the side with a MBP too and then the MBP still comes out ahead by a little. :)
 
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sanu23kumar

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 6, 2013
7
0
motrek said:
If you move the dock to the side then you get as much vertical space as a MBP with the dock at the bottom.

Of course you can move the dock to the side with a MBP too and then the MBP still comes out ahead by a little. :)
Click to expand...

Hey that's all well and good but is the text visible when the laptop is in your lap. Keep in consideration that I'm a tall guy 6'1''. Moreover does the battery difference of 3 hours matter in day-to-day usage.
 
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motrek

macrumors 68030
Sep 14, 2012
2,613
305
sanu23kumar said:
Hey that's all well and good but is the text visible when the laptop is in your lap. Keep in consideration that I'm a tall guy 6'1''. Moreover does the battery difference of 3 hours matter in day-to-day usage.
Click to expand...

Yes, I'm also 6'1 and I can clearly see the entire screen when the laptop is in my lap.

I have the 11" MBA and the battery life is between 5 hours (playing DVD rips with VLC) and 7-8 hours (doing some development work, web surfing, etc.).

The only times when I've come close to running low on battery power are on intercontinental trips when I wasn't able to get a full charge during a layover. Even then the laptop was able to power through the trips. (I don't use my laptop 100% of the time I'm on a flight.)

If the laptop had another 100 hours of battery life I don't think it would make a difference to me, let alone 3 hours.
 
A

AWgamer

macrumors newbie
Aug 11, 2010
18
0
These "air" computers are super fast at this point at lease to me. I looked at the 15" rMBP and just couldn't justify the price difference.
 
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sanu23kumar

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 6, 2013
7
0
motrek said:
Yes, I'm also 6'1 and I can clearly see the entire screen when the laptop is in my lap.

I have the 11" MBA and the battery life is between 5 hours (playing DVD rips with VLC) and 7-8 hours (doing some development work, web surfing, etc.).

The only times when I've come close to running low on battery power are on intercontinental trips when I wasn't able to get a full charge during a layover. Even then the laptop was able to power through the trips. (I don't use my laptop 100% of the time I'm on a flight.)

If the laptop had another 100 hours of battery life I don't think it would make a difference to me, let alone 3 hours.
Click to expand...

11in it is then. I am facing another dilemma here though.
the late 2014 one costs 57k rupees while the 2015 air costs 65k rupees.
Is the upgrade justified of the high price point or not.
 
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sum yung guy

macrumors newbie
Mar 9, 2015
21
2
Can you buy a used one? I'm still very happy with my 2012 model. I don't think there's really that much difference in the speed, not that I'd notice.

The only thing is I find the 128 GB hard drive too small. It's a bit annoying to hook up a USB drive if you're using it in bed...
 
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motrek

macrumors 68030
Sep 14, 2012
2,613
305
sanu23kumar said:
11in it is then. I am facing another dilemma here though.
the late 2014 one costs 57k rupees while the 2015 air costs 65k rupees.
Is the upgrade justified of the high price point or not.
Click to expand...

I believe the 2015 Air has better support for 4K if that's something you'd want in the future.

It will also give you much longer battery life if you are doing CPU-intensive things.

Battery life will be similar if you're doing basic things like email and basic web surfing.
 
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