13' to 11'

[luqtotheman]

Ok,

So I have a maxed out mac air 13', I really enjoy it but I don't think that I need this much power from a computer considering I am only using it for school and non-gaming stuff.

I thought I was going to use it more for gaming and what not. But I realized I am not.

I am considering selling my Mac Air I currently have and buying a 11' inch air with lower specs, using dropbox/skydrive/google drive and my external for my data and a iPad to supplement it. What do you guys think? does anyone have this similar setup? is the 11' too small?

[halledise]

Originally Posted by luqtotheman

Ok,

So I have a maxed out mac air 13', I really enjoy it but I don't think that I need this much power from a computer considering I am only using it for school and non-gaming stuff.

I thought I was going to use it more for gaming and what not. But I realized I am not.

I am considering selling my Mac Air I currently have and buying a 11' inch air with lower specs, using dropbox/skydrive/google drive and my external for my data and a iPad to supplement it. What do you guys think? does anyone have this similar setup? is the 11' too small?

depends on your eyesight/age.
my wife went from a 13" MB to an 11" Air (refurb) and loved it for the first few weeks until the eye strain and headaches kicked in.
she sold it and went to a 13" MBPro and the headaches disappeared.
if possible, I'd suggest a hands-on play at an Apple Store/Reseller

[luqtotheman]

Originally Posted by halledise

depends on your eyesight/age.
my wife went from a 13" MB to an 11" Air (refurb) and loved it for the first few weeks until the eye strain and headaches kicked in.
she sold it and went to a 13" MBPro and the headaches disappeared.
if possible, I'd suggest a hands-on play at an Apple Store/Reseller

Yes,

this is what I am afraid of, I am a bigger guy (6'4) too.

I might have to bite the bullet and keep this and pick up a ipad.

[Mrbobb]

Lower-spec 11"? What are we taking about? I7 to I5? 8gig to 4gig? All that stuff is not worth the effort to me.

However if you are looking for better portability, OK that's a genuine want.

[luqtotheman]

Originally Posted by Mrbobb

Lower-spec 11"? What are we taking about? I7 to I5? 8gig to 4gig? All that stuff is not worth the effort to me.

However if you are looking for better portability, OK that's a genuine want.

Sorry I left out those details, didn't want a post that no one would read because of length.

thinking of going from i7---i5
512----to 256
and staying 8gb
13----11'

My guilt would be if I spent all this money on a nice laptop and then end up using my ipad more or vice versa but I feel like if I got a lower spec air it would justify it or work together.

[jrasero]

Originally Posted by luqtotheman

Ok,

So I have a maxed out mac air 13', I really enjoy it but I don't think that I need this much power from a computer considering I am only using it for school and non-gaming stuff.

I thought I was going to use it more for gaming and what not. But I realized I am not.

I am considering selling my Mac Air I currently have and buying a 11' inch air with lower specs, using dropbox/skydrive/google drive and my external for my data and a iPad to supplement it. What do you guys think? does anyone have this similar setup? is the 11' too small?

The 11" truly is fun to play with. It's so portable and light. It makes my 13" MBA seem heavy. But there is one main reason why I wouldn't go back to a 11", that being battery. The 11" is stated to get 5 hours and maybe that's true if you have flash off and your just listening to music or surfing the web , but most of my computer usage has flash on and watching streaming videos. On my old 11" I got maybe 3 hours most. The 13" MBA is stated to get 7 but I realistically get 4-5 hours.

The lack of a card reader on the 11" isn't a huge deal but the 2 less hours of battery is.

----------

Originally Posted by luqtotheman

Sorry I left out those details, didn't want a post that no one would read because of length.

thinking of going from i7---i5
512----to 256
and staying 8gb
13----11'

My guilt would be if I spent all this money on a nice laptop and then end up using my ipad more or vice versa but I feel like if I got a lower spec air it would justify it or work together.

Why are you down grading? I have a maxed out Air

Your getting less screen
less processor
less HD

oh and you forgo the 7hr battery over 5hr
and you loose the memory card reader

The 11" is really fun to use almost iPad esq, but your going from a $2200 laptop to a $1500

even if you were to supplement your MBA 11" with an iPad it wouldn't be worth it

[luqtotheman]

[/COLOR]

Why are you down grading? I have a maxed out Air

Your getting less screen
less processor
less HD

oh and you forgo the 7hr battery over 5hr
and you loose the memory card reader

The 11" is really fun to use almost iPad esq, but your going from a $2200 laptop to a $1500

even if you were to supplement your MBA 11" with an iPad it wouldn't be worth it[/QUOTE]

Thank you for your input. Helped a lot.

Yeah I was thinking the same thing. I wanted to see if anyone thought the same thing. Main reason I want an ipad is that taking my air around is kind of a hassle if I have to charge it. I still get pretty good battery time but if I am spending a lot of time I have to take out my charger and plug it in. I have heard great things about the ipad's battery life.

I think I will just grab and ipad and use it more as my portable/convient device. My Mac air will stay at home mainly but I will see have plenty of use for it.

[jojoba]

I have a maxed out 13" and an iPad - it's a good combo.

[MacPat333]

Originally Posted by jojoba

I have a maxed out 13" and an iPad - it's a good combo.

If combo, that should be the one, at least screen size wise.

The 11' MBA and the 9,7" iPad are too similar sized, the 13" is a good size working tool or content creation tool, the iPad content consumption tool.

[Scepticalscribe]

Originally Posted by luqtotheman

Sorry I left out those details, didn't want a post that no one would read because of length.

thinking of going from i7---i5
512----to 256
and staying 8gb
13----11'

My guilt would be if I spent all this money on a nice laptop and then end up using my ipad more or vice versa but I feel like if I got a lower spec air it would justify it or work together.

You have a great laptop there; to a large extent, it is future proofed for the next few years and the 13" is still a very portable machine. (I have a 13" MBA and love it - it is a fantastic combination of excellent screen, terrific speed and wonderful portability). I'd hold on to it.

Anyway, if you have an iPad, I doubt that you'll need the 11" as they are so similar in size. If you didn't have an iPad, I might advise you differently. But as MacPat333 puts is - very succinctly and very elegantly phrased - the MBA is an excellent working tool & content creation tool, whereas the iPad is a content consumption tool.

[DollaTwentyFive]

Whether it is 11 feet or 13 feet, it still seems like it would be difficult to carry around

Seriously, though, I would probably keep the 13" because you already have it and it will probably last longer with higher specs. Plus you will take a depreciation hit. I say stick with what you have.

[helveta]

I have a one year old 13" MBA, but I find I almost always use it connected to a TB display. I plan on my next MBA being an 11", but I'll wait a year or two until I'm ready to replace this one. By then I'm hoping for better battery life in the 11".

[mattopotamus]

Originally Posted by jrasero

The 11" truly is fun to play with. It's so portable and light. It makes my 13" MBA seem heavy. But there is one main reason why I wouldn't go back to a 11", that being battery. The 11" is stated to get 5 hours and maybe that's true if you have flash off and your just listening to music or surfing the web , but most of my computer usage has flash on and watching streaming videos. On my old 11" I got maybe 3 hours most. The 13" MBA is stated to get 7 but I realistically get 4-5 hours.

The lack of a card reader on the 11" isn't a huge deal but the 2 less hours of battery is.

----------



Why are you down grading? I have a maxed out Air

Your getting less screen
less processor
less HD

oh and you forgo the 7hr battery over 5hr
and you loose the memory card reader

The 11" is really fun to use almost iPad esq, but your going from a $2200 laptop to a $1500

even if you were to supplement your MBA 11" with an iPad it wouldn't be worth it

I could not agree more about the battery. I love the 11", but the battery is just so bad. It is insane the difference between that and the 13". Hopefully this next refresh with haswell chips brings much better battery life. It makes the 11" a lot less portable than you would think. You will in no way get a day out of it....whereas with the 13" you can leave the charger at home.

Back to your post. Buying base models is a really good idea if you basically use your laptop to browse the internet and other light task. It makes upgrading a lot cheaper and you lose a lot less in resale value

[luqtotheman]

Originally Posted by jojoba

I have a maxed out 13" and an iPad - it's a good combo.

Thank you for replying, I think I am going to keep my Air.

How do you use your air and ipad together?

I was thinking keep my air at home mainly while using my ipad for portable/travel consumption. While have my air for the big downloads, word processing, transfer data etc.

Do you think a 16gb is fine since you have a maxed out air? that was a bonus in thinking about keeping my maxed out air as well.

[wolfpuppies3]

Stay with the 13". I have both and the 13" is much easier to use, has better battery life, and, of course, more powerful. The power of the machine may be more important to you tomorrow than today but it will be important.

[jojoba]

Originally Posted by luqtotheman

Thank you for replying, I think I am going to keep my Air.

How do you use your air and ipad together?

I was thinking keep my air at home mainly while using my ipad for portable/travel consumption. While have my air for the big downloads, word processing, transfer data etc.

Do you think a 16gb is fine since you have a maxed out air? that was a bonus in thinking about keeping my maxed out air as well.

I use my iPad for marking up documents, note taking, and emailing and web browsing on the go. If I go away for two days or less, I only take my iPad, and then my Air comes along on longer trips. I've written more about how I use the iPad here.

If you don't plan on putting music and films on your iPad, I think you'll be fine with 16gb, especially if you also use cloud based services. My first iPad was 16gb and it lasted me a long while even though I kept my entire research library on it. When I upgraded to the 3gen I got a 64gb, but that's because I wanted to put all my music and photos on it, in addition to my research article which are a couple of thousand. I also have lots of apps, and have about 15 gb left at the moment.

[syd430]

Honestly not worth the effort. Also the 900 vertical pixels in the 13" should be the bare minimum for productivity. 16:9 sucks for most things. Even the 800 vertical pixels in the cMBP is too low IMO.

[Crosby]

I would stick with the 13". I have an 11" MBA, and I love it. When I first saw the screen, I thought I might regret the decision, but I quickly adapted. Still, it's really a little too small. It doesn't bother me enough to change right now, but if I had the choice, I'd go larger. And I agree with others on the battery life. Mine started well but has gotten increasingly disappointing. If the 13" battery is better (which I can't speak to), that would sell it for me alone.

[bubbleboyjones]

Originally Posted by Crosby

I would stick with the 13". I have an 11" MBA, and I love it. When I first saw the screen, I thought I might regret the decision, but I quickly adapted. Still, it's really a little too small. It doesn't bother me enough to change right now, but if I had the choice, I'd go larger. And I agree with others on the battery life. Mine started well but has gotten increasingly disappointing. If the 13" battery is better (which I can't speak to), that would sell it for me alone.

Im kinda in the same boat. I have an 11"....i adapated pretty well. Ever since I put the dock on the left i've been pretty happy. Still I would go with a 13" i think if I had to do over.

----------

Originally Posted by luqtotheman

I am considering selling my Mac Air I currently have and buying a 11' inch air with lower specs, using dropbox/skydrive/google drive and my external for my data and a iPad to supplement it. What do you guys think? does anyone have this similar setup? is the 11' too small?

The biggest issue is how much can you resell it for? Are you going to end up saving that much money for what you are getting?

[53x12]

Originally Posted by bubbleboyjones

Im kinda in the same boat. I have an 11"....i adapated pretty well. Ever since I put the dock on the left i've been pretty happy. Still I would go with a 13" i think if I had to do over.

I agree. I bought an 11" to hold me over until Haswell next year. Then I will get a 13" MBA to keep longer. However lower entry point of the 11" also means when I resell I should do a bit better in regards to amount lost. We shall see.