1.6 v 1.8

[bluedoggiant]

I'm tempted by the 1.8. most likely its just psychological - 1.8 is pretty close to the 2.0 of the base macbook, but 1.6 feels quite a lot further away.

but I don't want to shell out for the SSD immediately - I'll make do with the HDD until perhaps prices come down and see if I can upgrade then.

Am I right in thinking that only the 1.6/HDD and 1.8/SSD are instock items at apple retailers? So if I wanted 1.8/HDD thats a custom order which means online?

I need to wait to go to a store and see one in the flesh to decide if I want one instead of a macbook, but if I do, I don't know that I can then go online and wait a few more weeks rather than just walk out with a 1.6/HDD. As I'm in the UK it'll probably be a couple of weeks before I can even try one out in a store.

As I've said, the 1.6ghz was no different than the 2.2ghz macbook, from what i saw. I'm in <3 with the MBA.

 

[bidwalj]

i would say the same. for your basic tasks, you wont notice much of a difference. I would say the ssd option will make the biggest difference in terms of speed, but I am in the same boat as you in terms of price. $999 for 60 gigs does not seem like the best option. I understand the technology, but at the same time the size is still not big enough to justify the cost. if the 128 gb option is at the same price point, ill consider it then.

As I've said, the 1.6ghz was no different than the 2.2ghz macbook, from what i saw. I'm in <3 with the MBA.

 

[NC MacGuy]

i would say the same. for your basic tasks, you wont notice much of a difference. I would say the ssd option will make the biggest difference in terms of speed, but I am in the same boat as you in terms of price. $999 for 60 gigs does not seem like the best option. I understand the technology, but at the same time the size is still not big enough to justify the cost. if the 128 gb option is at the same price point, ill consider it then.

Having bought a 1.6 / 80 I didn't buy this necessarily for a sick fast machine. I bought it for travel and to run office app's, safari, mail - pretty mundane stuff but I travel a lot. I bought it for its form.

For $1,300 savings I got 15 more Gig on a pretty good HDD and a whole 200 less MHz processor. The extra 15G extra real estate is really more valuable to me than speed, too.

I've had it since Friday and it seems plenty fast for what I need. If I decide in a year or two to upgrade to a SSD or even buy another laptop because of newer stuff I won't be hindered by the initial cost like I would be had I paid $3100.

 

[bidwalj]

i bought the same model with the same reasoning. the ssd option is still the same if i feel i need it, so i do not loose anything. Even if i want the ssd now, i still can and have the 80 gig one as well.

Having bought a 1.6 / 80 I didn't buy this necessarily for a sick fast machine. I bought it for travel and to run office app's, safari, mail - pretty mundane stuff but I travel a lot. I bought it for its form.

For $1,300 savings I got 15 more Gig on a pretty good HDD and a whole 200 less MHz processor. The extra 15G extra real estate is really more valuable to me than speed, too.

I've had it since Friday and it seems plenty fast for what I need. If I decide in a year or two to upgrade to a SSD or even buy another laptop because of newer stuff I won't be hindered by the initial cost like I would be had I paid $3100.

 

[mrklaw]

would the 1.6 play 720p video (encoded for appleTV) ok? Most likely I'll just use it for browsing etc, but I would like to watch videos on it sometimes, and some of those are now being encoded for my appleTV. Not too worried about slingbox running as thats not so high resolution.