Should i buy a rev A macbook air ?

[frogsandsnails]

Hi there

I currently own a MBP penryn which is my only computer at the moment

I'm thinking of buying an Imac in the future in order to have a desktop computer

considering this fact, I am really thinking of selling my actual MBP to buy a Rev A MBA on the refurb applestore (about $400 below normal price)

the thing is, my MBP is quite heavy and big, and it's really hot sometimes

i never had the opportunity to test a Rev A MBA and i was wondering if:

1/ it's very slow because of its 4200rpm HD
2/ powerful enough to watch videos
3/ it's not too noisy when using a lot of resources
4/ it is as hot as a MBP which can burn my legs sometimes


please let me know your thoughts

thanks

 

[MikeDTyke]

1/ it's very slow because of its 4200rpm HD
2/ powerful enough to watch videos
3/ it's not too noisy when using a lot of resources
4/ it is as hot as a MBP which can burn my legs sometimes
thanks

1/ It is slow, not only because of the 4200rpm drive but also the older PATA interface.
2/ The Rev A struggled with youtube movies , high def stuff was a no no.
3/ It's as quiet as a mouse.
4/ Def cooler than the pro.

I would suggest wait until you buy the iMac as you'll struggle with a Rev A as a sole computer. Maybe by that time they'll have refurb'd Rev B's in the store for the same price or a little more.

M.

 

[frogsandsnails]

1/ It is slow, not only because of the 4200rpm drive but also the older PATA interface.
2/ The Rev A struggled with youtube movies , high def stuff was a no no.
3/ It's as quiet as a mouse.
4/ Def cooler than the pro.

I would suggest wait until you buy the iMac as you'll struggle with a Rev A as a sole computer. Maybe by that time they'll have refurb'd Rev B's in the store for the same price or a little more.

M.

hi

thanks a lot for your feedback

damn it ! no wonder why it was so cheap on refurb

maybe i'll go for the rev B

but in this case, i'll have to order it and wait at least 2-3 weeks

otherwise if i wait for the rev B to be offered on refurb, the value of my actual MBP will drop...

i'd rather to prefer to sell it now to sell it at a good price


in average, how long should we wait to get it ?? really 3 weeks like the store says ?


thanks

 

[HiFiGuy528]

For $999 from Apple online store, it's a no brainer.

 

[frogsandsnails]

it's a bit more here in Europe

$1,600

compared to retail price about $2,000

 

[darwinian]

With all the problems of the Rev. A MBA, I don't think it's worth almost any price, personally.

Disclaimer: I don't own one and am not an expert on it. I avoided it because of all the overheating, core shutdown, and basic operational reports out there. The B looks solid, however.

 

[frogsandsnails]

is the rev A so bad?

 

[6SSD4]

it's a bit more here in Europe

$1,600

compared to retail price about $2,000

Do they sell refurbs in Europe? Not here at Apple Store in Norway..

 

[NC MacGuy]

is the rev A so bad?

I've had one since Feb. In all honesty, it's been okay. No core shutdowns or any other nastys you hear about. It does get warm and the fans stay on longer but as long as rear blow/suck holes aren't covered it was quite adequate.

It was okay enough to get me to buy a rev. B.

 

[zer0tails]

not worth giving up your penryn MBP for a Rev A macbook air. You'll be disappointed with the sluggishness...

 

[frogsandsnails]

ok guys you all convinced me


now, i hope that apple will reduce the delivery time (3 weeks) otherwise i'll keep my MBP a bit longer

 

[descartes]

For $999 from Apple online store, it's a no brainer.

where is it $999? refurbs have it at 1149 which i think is a drop from 1199 if memory serves.

 

[h1d]

Eh? I owned rev A, both HDD and SSD. But I'll base it off the HDD one.

1) You may call it slow, once you know how fast a desktop or SSD machine is, but not too slow enough to make you upset really. I've used for 6 months as a main machine, didn't kill me, actually saved me alot.

2) To the poster who said youtube got screwed up. Did you even run CoolBook? I watched HD version at youtube, 150% cpu usage, no stuttering...

3) While it's not under any load, it's completely silent. When in heavy use, somewhat noisy, but definitely better than desktop machine fan whirling.

4) Never owned a pro. MBA can get quite hot but I put my MBA on desk and can't say how much cooler/hotter than pro.

Why don't you aim for SSD? It should be around $1500 and HDD slowness is fixed. (Although not as fast as rev B SSD.)

> With all the problems of the Rev. A MBA

What are you talking about? Did I just get the lucky one? Or you never installed CoolBook? All the core shutdown or kernel_task berserkness can be fixed... Right now getting rev B is a bit about luck when it comes to getting the proper display.

 

[dthree36]

I have a rev A. 1.8 SSD and I haven't had one problem with it. Coolbook does make everything a bit more pleasant. I already dropped my cash but if it were me an I have the cash to spend, I would always go for the best the time offers. Rev B. will not make you second guess the technology but It may make you second guess your spending. rev A. may work fine for you and you wallet will love you for it but you may second guess the technology and want a rev B. later. I am happy with my A, would I like a B... hell yeah but I already have what works for me so case closed.

 

[mcpryon2]

I guess I was one of the lucky ones, too. I had a week 39 build previous generation Air and never had any of the problems people talk about here. I never had core shutdown problems and my temps never got out of hand.

I thought it ran just fine for what I was doing, which was pretty much everyday use. I never had Youtube problems, and I could run 720p h.264 video with no problems. I could play WoW and get playable frame rates, nothing great of course, but it was playable.

Though, if you're considering the Air as an only computer you may want to get the new generation Air...if you can use an Air as your only machine.

Or, you could buy the previous gen Air, use it for a while, then sell it when the new iMacs come out. Heck, you may even want to keep it by then, I really like the iMac/Air combo. It's like having the Enterprise, then being able to take a shuttle for an away mission....god, that's a horribly nerdy analogy.

So, basically I'm saying I don't think the previous Air is totally worthless like some people will say. Call me a fanboi, but I'm just speaking from my experience with it, just like some people only had bad experiences with it.

 

[darwinian]

You guys know 10x better than I do! However, there's something that would be fundamentally frustrating to me about having to run a $10 program (CoolBook) in order to prevent core shutdowns and everything associated with that. It's just my opinion as a potential buyer that Rev B is a better value at 1799 than almost any Rev A price currently available.

 

[frogsandsnails]

Eh? I owned rev A, both HDD and SSD. But I'll base it off the HDD one.

1) You may call it slow, once you know how fast a desktop or SSD machine is, but not too slow enough to make you upset really. I've used for 6 months as a main machine, didn't kill me, actually saved me alot.

2) To the poster who said youtube got screwed up. Did you even run CoolBook? I watched HD version at youtube, 150% cpu usage, no stuttering...

3) While it's not under any load, it's completely silent. When in heavy use, somewhat noisy, but definitely better than desktop machine fan whirling.

4) Never owned a pro. MBA can get quite hot but I put my MBA on desk and can't say how much cooler/hotter than pro.

Why don't you aim for SSD? It should be around $1500 and HDD slowness is fixed. (Although not as fast as rev B SSD.)

> With all the problems of the Rev. A MBA

What are you talking about? Did I just get the lucky one? Or you never installed CoolBook? All the core shutdown or kernel_task berserkness can be fixed... Right now getting rev B is a bit about luck when it comes to getting the proper display.

thx for your testimonial

but MBA here in Europe are more expensive than in the US

so the price range that you guys are paying is much cheaper than what we pay here

MBA on refurb is very affordable but only with the 4200rpm drive

my only chance is to take the risk of ordering the new MBA rev B, wait for a week, call Apple and complain about the delay (3 weeks) to try having a gesture (SSD instead of HD for the same price)

but anyways, i cannot afford to stay without a computer for so long

 

[Ironic]

I say wait for the B, my A was a total nightmare and I sold it very quick the B is so much better. I dare to say Perfect.

 

[h1d]

there's something that would be fundamentally frustrating to me about having to run a $10 program (CoolBook) in order to prevent core shutdowns and everything associated with that.

Totally, but what's better is that a simple $10 actually fixes the problem (I'm not smiling at Apple here obviously, when one man can fix it and they can't for a year...)

By the way, the price I placed was a bit of a guess in the USA market of an used rev A SSD. I bought rev A HDD at $1800 new in April, got SSD used at $1600 in December in Japan, sorry if it was off base.

 

[Evolesque]

I have a rev.A air.

My opinion, I agree with the others, you cannot get rid of your macbook pro, at least until you get the imac. I've been using my air for writing, web browsing, and light task. It's fine for that and yeah carrying it around is a breeze, however anything else will make it choke. I own a mbp and a air, I do find myself having to switch around for different tasks. If your getting an Imac and will definitely or possibly be doing power tasks i.e. multimedia etc on the imac then that will be fine. But having to rely on the macbook air as the sole computer might kinda suck.

your questions:

1) it's very slow because of its 4200rpm HD
you won't really notice it with light tasks. Which is all you should be doing on the rev.A anyway.

2) powerful enough to watch videos
depends, hulu type flash stuff will choke sometimes but definitely watchable. mkv hd is a no go.
divx std def will be fine. 720p h.264 should be smooth also.

3) it's not too noisy when using a lot of resources
yeah, the fans are not too bad when its hot.

4) it is as hot as a MBP which can burn my legs sometimes
Yeah, its definitely not as hot as the mbp under load.

 

[ob81]

I say wait for the B, my A was a total nightmare and I sold it very quick the B is so much better. I dare to say Perfect.

Weird how macrumors users who bought the Air screamed it was perfect. Now after a new one comes out the old one was not that good at all.

 

[Ironic]

Weird how macrumors users who bought the Air screamed it was perfect. Now after a new one comes out the old one was not that good at all.

Mine from day one was bad, I never ever said it was good, the B blows it out of the water, enough said.