Ok so who uses a 11.6 air as there only computer?

1rottenapple · Nov 29, 2010

Just as the thread says, I'm thinking of using an 11.6 air as my only machine, 4gb of ram and 128gigs of ssd space. Anyone here on the same boat as me?
I'd like to hear your take.
I used a 1.86 MBA ssd back in 08-09 and it was pretty good experience minus the flash stuttering issue that needed to be solved via undervolting. From the threads I've read, the new MBA do not have these issues minus not being able to play HD flash perfectly. Otherwise my needs are pretty modest now that I am out of school. To test I've split my iTunes library, music and podcast on my MacBook, and movies and tv on the external on the external and it'd been great. I really only use my laptop of webrowsing downloading and syncing podcast on the iPhone and iPad, photo storage. Some word and PDF usuage and the occasional DVD encoding, bit-torrent.

Anyway light MBA users chime in if u have only an 11.6 air!

Walter Bell · Nov 29, 2010

I am not a 'light user,' but i am definitely not a pro user (no heavy apps or cpu intensive stuff). I am a student and have an 11 ultimate as my main machine. I do tons of word processing and papers, will be conducting research, and pretty much anything else that is thrown at me in the next few years.

For me, the portability was so important because I am constantly on the go. I have a 13.3" MB that is on the way out the door. I always found it to be to big, hence the 11.6" purchase. So far I am loving it and it fits my needs.

Dammit Cubs · Nov 29, 2010

I have a mac mini i used for home and storage. I use my mac book air for work, travel and on the couch, bedroom and probably any place else you can think of.

iMav · Nov 29, 2010

My 11.6" MBA (ultimate) is my primary personal computer. I do have a beefy Dell laptop (linux) that I use for work (portable VM lab)...but all my leisure and personal "stuff" is handled just fine with my MBA.

(that includes, email, web, light photoshop'ing, various MS Office apps (2011). I VPN in to a few remote networks with VPN Tracker and also run a few Windows apps with Crossover)

Over Achiever · Nov 29, 2010

The Macbook Air is my only computer, I've previously used a 13" Blackbook and a 12" Dell XT Tablet. Works fine for me for developing photos in Lightroom, good battery life. No complaints so far.

To be fair, I've never used a new MBP so I don't have any experience with the new Core i5/i7 processors. Perhaps that's for the best.

jimboutilier · Nov 29, 2010

My 11.6" MBAu is my primary machine. I never planned for it to be my only machine but haven't used my uMB since I got the Air and may retire the uMB or just keep it as an emergency spare.

I have a large raid array for storage at home on my airport extreme so disk space is not really an issue. I may try an find a DVD drive that I can share on the airport and then I think I could use my Air as an only machine.

I never imagined a machine of this size and weight being this capable. Obviously not everyone would find the Air an acceptable only machine but in my case it works for everything I do as a traveling IT consultant.

BeyondtheTech · Nov 29, 2010

I let go of my iMac for my wife and kids, so I'm solely on my base model MBA as my primary computer. I have a Mac Mini as a media/file server, so I always have access to files that can't fit on the Air's small SSD drive.

I'm able to do iOS software development as well as photo and video editing, and was quite surprised on how well its running Windows XP in Parallels.

This really is a great machine and nearly as portable as my iPad. I really find myself computing in places that I was more reluctant to do with my previous MacBook.

jsobotor · Nov 29, 2010

I use a MacBookAir3,1 (barebones SSD and RAM) as my primary. The SSD is fair compensation for the weaker processor. Keep in mind, the MBA ships with the newest graphics hardware you can find in an :apple:

notebook. Based on my first month's experience, I believe the MBA is well-suited for you (based on your stated computing habits):

("I really only use my laptop of webrowsing downloading and syncing podcast on the iPhone and iPad, photo storage. Some word and PDF usuage and the occasional DVD encoding, bit-torrent.")

That said, consider the following extras:

a large external display for using the MBA in a fixed location;
a subscription to Dropbox or any other cloud-based storage service;
wireless peripherals (mouse, keyboard, printer)

Jobs wasn't kidding about the MBA being a harbinger of notebooks to come.

Halon X · Nov 29, 2010

My 11" is the only computer I use at work, 10+ hours a day. It's connected to a 27" Cinema Display with Bluetooth keyboard and mouse and replaced an early 2010 MBP. The screen, keyboard and mouse go a long way towards turning it into a workstation.

I use mine primarily for email, web and office with a Windows 7 VM that is always open. I notice little, if any difference between it and the MBP.

I have a 27" iMac at home for heavy lifting and would have no problem using the 11" as my sole computer if I needed to!

hcho3 · Nov 29, 2010

MBA is a wonderful choice to be used as primary machine for me. My secondary is my iPad.

crisito · Nov 30, 2010

Whatever space you use on dropbox is also used on the SSD, so what's the point in having dropbox to save space on the Air?

engram · Nov 30, 2010

crisito said:
Whatever space you use on dropbox is also used on the SSD, so what's the point in having dropbox to save space on the Air?

You don't have to keep a local copy of the files in Dropbox. Folders can be set to be mirrors of those at Dropbox or you can just use Dropbox as remote storage.

jsobotor · Nov 30, 2010

crisito said:
Whatever space you use on dropbox is also used on the SSD, so what's the point in having dropbox to save space on the Air?

That is inaccurate. The beta build of Dropbox has a "Selective Sync" feature eliminating this problem completely. I sync my school files (>1 GB) and leave my non-essential files on the Dropbox server only. Provided I have an internet connection, Dropbox adds > 100 GB to my MBA.

From https://www.dropbox.com/help/142:

What happens if my hard drive can't fit my entire Dropbox? Can I select which files to sync?
Dropbox will sync files to your computer in order of size. Unfortunately, there's no way Dropbox can tell which files or folders are most important to you, so it compensates by trying to sync as many files as possible.

Dropbox starts syncing the smallest files in your Dropbox first and continues syncing until there are no more files to sync or it runs out of hard drive space.

For Our Advanced Users
Good news for the adventurous. You can download an early version of the next desktop application for an early peek at a feature we call Selective Sync. It will allow you to exclude folders you don't want to sync on a per-computer basis. For example, you can exclude your MP3s from syncing to your work computer, or all your HD videos from syncing to your netbook. To get these new features, download the pre-release version of the Dropbox desktop application from the Dropbox forums.

Last updated 04/11/10 12:24PM

Mr. Thompson · Nov 30, 2010

Me, but I cheat. We have a 4tb network drive for photos & music. My old 13" MacBook is our music server, and Windoze workstation at the office. Since I brought the 11.6 Air home it has been my only machine. When the DSL gets flakey, it's back to 3G and the iPad. In over 30 years of computing, the 11.6 Ultimate is my dream machine.

shootingstar64 · Dec 1, 2010

The new 11 MBA is by far the very best Mac i have owned in years! Period.

I have sold all my "personal" bloopers and my iPad,.... just down to one sleek and nice computer and lovin' it!

But i also cheat a little,...

cause i recently switched job and simply do not have to deal with A/V post production anymore,... "draft horses" got retired

I also always felt, it is too hard to keep all my tech gear in sync and using only one dedicated device is a real pain relief.

Philalbe · Dec 1, 2010

I just received my 11" base model today. So far I'm very impressed, but I have the feeling it will assume the role of a secondary computer to my iMac. I'm a freelance graphic designer and I feel I'll still need the imac's vast screen real-estate for my layouts. The MBA should make a very cool traveling device though. I can probably take it with me to see clients or do some light work on the go.

mike.t · Dec 1, 2010

yep, 11" ultimate is my only computer for work (office docs / email / skype)

I switched from a 13" MBP and am enjoying the Air.

I will get a new 15/17" MBP in the spring (after update) for photoshop but lightroom on the Air seems pretty OK.

Mars478 · Dec 1, 2010

I have the lowest end MBA that I use for 3/4 of the day and at home I have a 20" iMac. It is perfectly adequate and then some for a main daily computer. And keep in mind I'm using the slowest one

Just tried the 1080P avatar trailer, and was surprised to see that it actually worked nicely! It was pretty silky smooth but once in a while it would drop a frame(just looks just a LITTLE choppier than normal)... but it's perfectly fine for watching! I am in love with this computer!

Search

Search

Ok so who uses a 11.6 air as there only computer?

1rottenapple

macrumors 601

Walter Bell

macrumors regular

Dammit Cubs

macrumors 68020

iMav

macrumors 6502

Over Achiever

macrumors 68000

jimboutilier

macrumors 6502a

BeyondtheTech

macrumors 68020

jsobotor

macrumors newbie

Halon X

macrumors regular

hcho3

macrumors 68030

crisito

macrumors regular

engram

macrumors newbie

jsobotor

macrumors newbie

Mr. Thompson

macrumors member

shootingstar64

macrumors regular

Philalbe

macrumors 6502

mike.t

macrumors newbie

Mars478

macrumors 6502a

Our Staff