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Base 11 Macbook Air owners in the house (2GB/64)

S

seattlecard

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 14, 2007
97
48
Any base 11 Macbook Air 2011 owners in the house (2GB/64)? I just pulled the trigger on one from Macmall, should be here next week.

Yes, I fully understand the rationale for going to the next model up(4/128). I thought long and hard about it, but ultimately the air won't be my primary/only machine. I am looking for an excellent out and about companion to do web/writing/browsing on, and maybe a few games and garageband, and I think the base model should work well. I didn't feel I really needed to justify the greater cost, because I won't be carrying around my media with me (movies/music). Yeah, 4gb of ram would be nice, but I have heard good reports about running with 2gb as well.

Any other 2011 base model 11 inch owners out there?
 
Finally! I felt like I was the only one here that ordered the base model. I almost upgraded to the 4GB of ram but decided it was not worth the extra money for my needs. I already have a 27" iMac so it made no sense to me. You will love your computer! I use it for surfing the web, writing documents, youtube videos, etc. I usually have several word documents open and several tabs open in safari with music playing in the background and it is just as fast as my iMac. Enjoy!
 
I would love to read about your experiences with the base model. I've been thinking seriously about getting one myself. I know people recommend going with the 4GB model, but frankly the 2GB model is all I can justify right now.
 
sorry I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum. i got a 13" Ultimate BUT for your needs sounds like you got what fits you best. You'll love your MBA I promise! good for u to pull the trigger!:)
 
Let me know your experiences as well because I am interested in the MBA base as well. I'll use it for basic web/email/word processing
 
macbookpro45 said:
Let me know your experiences as well because I am interested in the MBA base as well. I'll use it for basic web/email/word processing
Click to expand...

FWIW - I spent quite a bit of time with the base model 11 at Best Buy. I had a ton of windows and different apps opened, nothing seemed to slow it down. I think the fact that the paging is done with the really fast SSD makes the machine scream. I think the base is going to be a great machine, but I'll post more after I get mine and spend more time. Hopefully others can share their thoughts.
 
This is interesting stuff to hear. I might be ordering an Air again soon, and I've been wondering how the machine would fair with 2GB of RAM. I think it's always best to go with 4, and I only need 64 or 128GB of storage. My uses are pretty basic too, other than writing (I'm a writer) and the web browsing and the like, I will just watch some HD video content from the iTunes store. I will probably end up going with 4/64 or 128, but good to hear anyway.
 
I miss my MBA

I've had a 13" MBA, 128GB for a month now. Love it. It has replaced my ipad2 and even my imac 21"

But I had an issue. the R hand USB port became disabled due to a 'draws too much power' message and mechanically prevents insertion of a USB device. When I called Apple, they seemed intrigued, esp. when I told I'd already reset the PRAM and SMC.

SO... they cheerfully offered to send me a new one, as soon as they receive the old one; they pay the shipping both ways.

Well... I only sent it out yesterday and I am missing it big time.

I'm a trial lawyer and far from knowledgeable about computers despite my first computer being a Mac 512Ke in about 1985
Besides web surfing and email my main needs are simply writing, scanning, and basic stuff for court I can do with iworks.

So [finally] here's my question. I don't want to wait for the return of my MBA 13 and am thinking of an 11". Trying to justify this on the basis that I can use the smaller machine when I don't want to lug ( :) ) the other to court.

So I probably don't need more than the base model. Going further, I can save another $120 or so by getting the older MBA 11" What am I giving up, considering I will eventually have the 13" with Thunderbolt back?

Talk me out of this. I know I should wait and if I spend the money, spend it on a 27" Thunderbolt display to dock the 13" to.
 
I had the same rational!

The base would be my secondary machine - i already have a a external HDD and CD Drive.

The machine is excellent - no speed issues, nor performace issues at present - apart from not understanding how to rectify a address book - no name issue (Arrrhhhh) rant over

Great machine!!!!
 
I bought the same one. 11" with 64gb/2gb

everyone i know rants "omg you can't run without 4gb ram!!!!" and "how are you going to store all your music / videos!"

and when i stop to think, They're rather silly questions.

First and foremost from 2 weeks experience now.

When using the 11" AIR, the primary use is mobile computing. some things on the train. Sitting around the house browsing the web, chatting on IRC, youtube, email, video watching.

with 2gb model. I have only on the rare occasion ever had the spinning "wait" icon for my mouse cursor. And thats only loading itunes / app store. Everything else I've tried starting, starts instantly. There's no big caching going on and no slow downs. This has truly blown me away with just how smooth everything seems to run on 2gb.

I can see 2gb being too little if you were looking for a powerhouse work machine while you're editing big photos, movies or databases. But for your couch browsing? it is very VERY smooth.

As for the 64gb. This device isn't meant to be your full blown desktop replacement. I don't need my entire media collection with me wherever I go. I can't watch 750gb worth of movies on the go. I can't listen to 35gb of music. Why do i need to have them stored on my laptop. They're alerady on my desktop computer, which has lots of space for a few TB hard drives. Plus I have my NAS storage with RAID1 for backups of them. If there's media i want to watch, I throw it on memory stick and watch it. Heck, even 64gb drive has enoughs pace on it for the entire 2nd season of Community right now :p

Yes, If you're planning on really pushing some computing power out of this. Need to do a lot of document manipulation and editting, And require to have a plethora of applications up and running, than you probably want to upgrade.

But for those of us who are just using it as a 2nd machine and portable device. its more than enough
 
LordVic said:
I bought the same one. 11" with 64gb/2gb

everyone i know rants "omg you can't run without 4gb ram!!!!" and "how are you going to store all your music / videos!"

and when i stop to think, They're rather silly questions.

First and foremost from 2 weeks experience now.

When using the 11" AIR, the primary use is mobile computing. some things on the train. Sitting around the house browsing the web, chatting on IRC, youtube, email, video watching.

with 2gb model. I have only on the rare occasion ever had the spinning "wait" icon for my mouse cursor. And thats only loading itunes / app store. Everything else I've tried starting, starts instantly. There's no big caching going on and no slow downs. This has truly blown me away with just how smooth everything seems to run on 2gb.

I can see 2gb being too little if you were looking for a powerhouse work machine while you're editing big photos, movies or databases. But for your couch browsing? it is very VERY smooth.

As for the 64gb. This device isn't meant to be your full blown desktop replacement. I don't need my entire media collection with me wherever I go. I can't watch 750gb worth of movies on the go. I can't listen to 35gb of music. Why do i need to have them stored on my laptop. They're alerady on my desktop computer, which has lots of space for a few TB hard drives. Plus I have my NAS storage with RAID1 for backups of them. If there's media i want to watch, I throw it on memory stick and watch it. Heck, even 64gb drive has enoughs pace on it for the entire 2nd season of Community right now :p

Yes, If you're planning on really pushing some computing power out of this. Need to do a lot of document manipulation and editting, And require to have a plethora of applications up and running, than you probably want to upgrade.

But for those of us who are just using it as a 2nd machine and portable device. its more than enough
Click to expand...


Well Said!!! everybody is slating the base model! but if you want this for a secondary machine, or even a machine with a fair sized media allowance - this is superb. This could be run as a full powerhouse as long as you had a external HDD! i say it is money well spent!!
 
I have the ultimate 11". But I have no problem advising others to get the basic version. I have a bit over 130gb of files, os and two xp sessions in parallels. I could put some stuff on a 32gb USB stick, but even the I would be left with about 10gb free SSD space, so that is a bit to little for my comfort.
And because the difference between i5 and i7 is rather large on the 11" and the price difference not so big, I choose the ultimate.
However, os-x is about 16, 17gb iirc. Ms office less than 1gb, adobe acrobat around 0,9gb, some other work stuff you use as a writer, 10gb of your favorite music for writing and you are even under 50gb!
If your use is email, word and Internet, why not go for the 999 model?!
If compared to the competition it's quite cheap. Sony and Samsung don't get there. ( I'm biased because I like osx a lot).

But otoh, people that buy this laptop for EDC, intend to use it for 4 years or more if possible, might do well in buying 4Gb as it will become handy for future heavier use and/or heavier os's.
 
seattlecard said:
FWIW - I spent quite a bit of time with the base model 11 at Best Buy. I had a ton of windows and different apps opened, nothing seemed to slow it down. I think the fact that the paging is done with the really fast SSD makes the machine scream. I think the base is going to be a great machine, but I'll post more after I get mine and spend more time. Hopefully others can share their thoughts.
Click to expand...


Yeah keep me posted. It sounds promising though
 
My 1st non-PC was a Macbook Air...

PDFierro said:
This is interesting stuff to hear. I might be ordering an Air again soon, and I've been wondering how the machine would fair with 2GB of RAM. I think it's always best to go with 4, and I only need 64 or 128GB of storage. My uses are pretty basic too, other than writing (I'm a writer) and the web browsing and the like, I will just watch some HD video content from the iTunes store. I will probably end up going with 4/64 or 128, but good to hear anyway.
Click to expand...

FWIW, I use to be a PC user that was well-trained in having to max out everything from memory to hard drives. My wife has a 15" Mac Pro (8Gb memory, I7) that I used occasionally, but it weighed about the same as my Vaio PC...about 6#.

The 11" Air weighing a hair under 2#, I finally bought as an "experiment", albeit about $1,000 refurbished. 2 Gb of Ram, 128 flash. Our "recharging" area is a corner of the living room, so I put the 11" Macbook Air next to my wife's Mac (which I routinely used every morning). To my surprise (more like shock), once I picked up the 11" (and found out it worked <chuckles>), I never put it down! If I had a choice of the 15" or 11", I'd walk all the way to the other end of the house for the 11" (& "only" 2GB memory)

With the cloud (Dropbox, but soon to be with Apple's "cloud"), there was no need for a big hard drive. And unlike Microsoft Windows, where ram is hugely important, it doesn't take much to run Safari. Routinely I have 6-8 windows open running everything from weather, email, igoogle, stocks, etc., and it runs amazingly well :>)

As a side note, not previously believing that the machine would work with 2 Gb memory, I "presold" it to my teenage daughter at 20% off <chuckles again>; she immediately bought Applecare warranty (smart kid) :>)

So I need a new machine....definitely a Macbook Air! Best deal right now may be to consider some of those 2010's refurbished ;>)

All the best!
 
I just received a base 11" MBA as a birthday gift that was bought from Amazon. Unfortunately this will be my main PC, so I think I will need at least a 4GB/128GB upgrade. I don't plan on storing too many things on the MBA, but I would like to use bootcamp or Parallels. This will be my first Mac, but I can't leave Win7 cold turkey. I haven't opened the box yet. I remember reading a thread about a person going to the apple store and exchanging their MBA (bought from Amazon with KSO) for a upgraded version and just paying the difference. Anyone else do something similar? I'm thinking of trying it too.
 
FJB said:
With the cloud (Dropbox, but soon to be with Apple's "cloud"), there was no need for a big hard drive.
Click to expand...

The cloud is still kind of pricey if you need to store a lot of data. Apple is going to charge $100/yr for 55GB and Dropbox wants $120/yr for 50GB. At those prices it only takes a couple years to break even getting the 128GB MBA from Apple.
 
alecgold said:
But otoh, people that buy this laptop for EDC, intend to use it for 4 years or more if possible, might do well in buying 4Gb as it will become handy for future heavier use and/or heavier os's.
Click to expand...

And there in lies the dilemma. Not pouring cold water on the 2/64 crowd but the additional $200 seems like it might buy a year or two of longevity down the road...esp. if you fall in love with the MBA (like most do) and want to use it for more stuff or your primary machine, Just sayin...;)
 
Apple loves the people who say "why not just get more ram and drive space?; the extra cost isn't that much".

Obviously, you could upgrade. However, all by itself, the base air is a great ultraportable. A friend of mine has the base 11" 2010, and she's still loving it. I have used it and it's pretty good. Of the things she uses it for are creating and editing MS Office docs, writing, web surfing, remote log in to her work, facebook, emails, and research (she loves animals-there's lots of info on the web). Even with the "really low" amount of ram and drive space, she has very few hiccups.

If you have heavy requirements, then maybe, the air isn't the best anyway.

Having the base saves money and is just a fantastic laptop. So, even though, according to some, you won't enjoy your air, enjoy it.
 
I think a nice consensus can be found that the base 11" is a great second machine and for some a decent main machine when using it lightly. For others like me, a bit more heavy machine might be a wise decision when it is in use as a primary machine for work/heavier tasks.

Btw iTunes also can case severe "beach balling" on my ultimate. I had hoped the new redesign of iTunes would stop this. But the beachball only applies to iTunes, when i go on in another program, i don't notice anything.

Just another question, how many people are using an external screen and/or awaiting the new thunderbolt display. ( I myself have preordered the 27" thunderbolt, making my 11" into some featherweight iMac!)
 
For a primary machine, I definitely wouldn't get the base 11" But I plan on buying a 27" iMac, and then buying the base 11" for any time I NEED a portable computer.

For now, I have a 2011 13" 256GB MBA.
 
Base Jump away!!!

I think that the base 11" is a perfect machine for 99% of the general public. It is a great design and weight. 2GB with the aid of the SSD means limited issues from paging and 64GB of storage is fine especially if you have a second machine for most of the random media we all collect.

I only purchased the 11" Ultimate because it has to last me 3 years and i do some heavy work when not necessarily in the office. Oh and my work bought it so that negates any cost issues :)
 
got the base 11" cause i'm cheap but it does the job....i only need it for travel. don't need a lot of storage....and have no problem carrying the portable HD if i do.

----------

oh btw, can i upgrade to 4GB ram?
 
Still have the base 2010 model. Was going to swap for the base 2011 model, but haven't found any compelling reason to do so. Ivy Bridge with inbuilt USB3 ports might make more sense, plus any improvement in battery running time from the dye shrink/battery technology advances.
One thing I would consider stepping up for is the 4GB RAM. Under SL this was not an issue, but under Lion the swapping is pretty severe. It doesn't cause any noticeable slowdown, but it is never a good idea to hammer the hard drive.
At the moment, I don't see the point of the Ultimate configurations and they add little, if anything, to resale value.
 
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