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11" Air as an only computer
- Thread starter Hellishness
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My BlackBook turns 4years old in 10 days (2.2 C2D, 4GB RAM, 64GB SSD).
I'm also considering moving to the 11" Air as although this machine is in good condition and runs very smoothly, it's a little to heavy to commute with and the 64GB SSD is a bit of a constraint with my iPhoto Library and iTunes.
I could upgrade the SSD I know, but in such an old machine, it seems to be a bit of a pointless investment..
I'm also considering moving to the 11" Air as although this machine is in good condition and runs very smoothly, it's a little to heavy to commute with and the 64GB SSD is a bit of a constraint with my iPhoto Library and iTunes.
I could upgrade the SSD I know, but in such an old machine, it seems to be a bit of a pointless investment..
All depends on your needs. If you get by with the blackbook nowthe Air will probably be more than enough. The 1.6Ghz processor and the 4 Gb ram are plenty enough for me now. I was concerned about disk space, so I paid a premium for the 256 SSD. Turns out I use only about 100 right now, but it's good to have some margin.
You can also get a cheap monitor, a keyboard and a mouse and use it as a desktop while on your desk. That's what I do.
You can also get a cheap monitor, a keyboard and a mouse and use it as a desktop while on your desk. That's what I do.
I use the 11" a lot. It's perfect for use on the bed, which is 80% of the time for me. The screen size doesn't bother me at all. I'd rather watch this screen all the time than the 13" Pro which I also have.
Okay sorry I haven't replied in a while. First of all, I've owned both a brand new pro (april 2010) and a brand new air (oct 2010), both 13", and no one can tell me there isn't a HUGE difference in the weight and thickness. If you've held a pro and an air, and used them for months, you'll know that the difference is huge. The .71C cm or whatever is from the fat part of the air. You mainly feel the part towards you, the thinner part.
I know I may be being 'cheap' by buying a used laptop, but I got my current macbook used and it's been great. I recently bought my first car and I owe 16XX on it...so I'm trying to get some of my christmas money and stuff I can earn to get a nicer laptop again.
The reason I have a blackbook instead of the air I had is because I made a huge mistake of buying an iPad 2 and I can go on for hours about how much they suck (this is my opinion lets not start anything).
Sure I could go another 9-10-indefinite months on my blackbook, but I don't want to. I had my pro for around 6 months and my air for like 5, I like to change things.
I know I may be being 'cheap' by buying a used laptop, but I got my current macbook used and it's been great. I recently bought my first car and I owe 16XX on it...so I'm trying to get some of my christmas money and stuff I can earn to get a nicer laptop again.
The reason I have a blackbook instead of the air I had is because I made a huge mistake of buying an iPad 2 and I can go on for hours about how much they suck (this is my opinion lets not start anything).
Sure I could go another 9-10-indefinite months on my blackbook, but I don't want to. I had my pro for around 6 months and my air for like 5, I like to change things.
this years macbook air blows away last years macbook pro. Do some research before making blind statements.
The new Air would, of course blow that away even more
Unless you need the GPU power I wouldn't get a Pro.
6 months with 2011 11" Ultimate
To be fair I also have a 2011 27" near-Ultimate (8GB) iMac so my views are slightly skewed.
But basically I have to say that the Air is so close to being a perfect complete replacement that it isn't funny. Until this week I had zero performance issues however with some small 1080P video work with video off my 4S on the TB display it struggled. Again being fair I think the key issue was iPhoto and RAM but since the Air's are capped at 4GB I'm screwed.
Now I mention the iMac solely to highlight that it barely gets used due to the near complete desktop replacement ability of the Air. But now that I'm stretching it beyond it's ability I'll be returning to the iMac for desktop work.
For what you have suggested you need it for I think you'll love the form factor. I'll be pushing my work for an upgraded Ivy-model when they come out if 8GB Ram is available. Not sure if I'd move away from the 11" form factor though as I have a TB display to use whenever at my desk.
But the biggest and best thing about the Pro's is the screen, they are very very nice! I'd beg to the powers that be that the next Air gets a retina display like the iPad3. If the rumours are true
To be fair I also have a 2011 27" near-Ultimate (8GB) iMac so my views are slightly skewed.
But basically I have to say that the Air is so close to being a perfect complete replacement that it isn't funny. Until this week I had zero performance issues however with some small 1080P video work with video off my 4S on the TB display it struggled. Again being fair I think the key issue was iPhoto and RAM but since the Air's are capped at 4GB I'm screwed.
Now I mention the iMac solely to highlight that it barely gets used due to the near complete desktop replacement ability of the Air. But now that I'm stretching it beyond it's ability I'll be returning to the iMac for desktop work.
For what you have suggested you need it for I think you'll love the form factor. I'll be pushing my work for an upgraded Ivy-model when they come out if 8GB Ram is available. Not sure if I'd move away from the 11" form factor though as I have a TB display to use whenever at my desk.
But the biggest and best thing about the Pro's is the screen, they are very very nice! I'd beg to the powers that be that the next Air gets a retina display like the iPad3. If the rumours are true
The new Air would, of course blow that away even more
Unless you need the GPU power I wouldn't get a Pro.
Exactly...that was a failure to make a point.
I saw the 11" in the Apple store and it was nice, it looked cool if you travel a lot (either mass transit, trains, planes) because of seating, etc. However, I could never use it as a main/primary machine.
IMHO, 13" is the sweet spot. The screen will also be a higher resolution than the 1280x800 of the old Macbooks. 13" form factor + Higher res screen makes it a winner, IMHO.
I agonized over this for a long time, do I get the 13" pro or air? In the end, I felt the most comfortable with the 15" MBP as my main computer, because I don't travel often, maybe 1-2x a year, I don't sit at Starbucks with a laptop and the only thing I may do is bring it to a relatives house. So the 15" with a dedicated GPU is what I went for.
IMHO, 13" is the sweet spot. The screen will also be a higher resolution than the 1280x800 of the old Macbooks. 13" form factor + Higher res screen makes it a winner, IMHO.
I agonized over this for a long time, do I get the 13" pro or air? In the end, I felt the most comfortable with the 15" MBP as my main computer, because I don't travel often, maybe 1-2x a year, I don't sit at Starbucks with a laptop and the only thing I may do is bring it to a relatives house. So the 15" with a dedicated GPU is what I went for.
I bought a 13" MBA this time around to replace the 11" 2010 version. I went for the 13" so for battery life alone. And I regret it pretty much every day. The portability of the 11" is almost iPad-like. You can certainly swivel it in one hand if you are sharing stuff. And with the Ivy bridge processor boosting the CPU, the 11" is no longer significantly inferior to the 13" MBA on processing power.
Finally, since I have had my MBAs, our 15" MBP (2007) became a desktop and started gathering dust because we were barely using it even for video editing. So I sold it 2-3 months ago and haven't missed it at all.
Finally, since I have had my MBAs, our 15" MBP (2007) became a desktop and started gathering dust because we were barely using it even for video editing. So I sold it 2-3 months ago and haven't missed it at all.
These days, with at least dual Intel processors and ample RAM, you can pretty much get everything you need (or for the vast majority of us) with the MBA and that's why the other machines just sit there.
I use my 11" air as my main computer. Use it for web browsing, scheduling, e-mail, studying, word processing, watching tv shows/movies, and playing a little bit of games on boot camp.
I have a desktop pc at home, which I play graphically demanding games and watch my movies on. It is connected to a hdtv so it's pretty good for entertainment.
I'd say I use the Air about 95% of the time spent on a computer and the other 5% on my desktop pc.
I have a desktop pc at home, which I play graphically demanding games and watch my movies on. It is connected to a hdtv so it's pretty good for entertainment.
I'd say I use the Air about 95% of the time spent on a computer and the other 5% on my desktop pc.
i use my 11" Ultimate as my main. i have a g4 MDD and 17" ACD for my media server, got it for 150. i would say 11" can definitely be used for a everyday computer. 95% of people will not need anymore than that Air can put out. i praise the 11" greatly, by far the best computer i have ever owned. and IMO the only computer out of Apple's line worth buying at the moment.
I had the 13 for well over a year. I definitely miss the 11's extra portability. The 13 was good in its own right, but I'm looking forward to the lighter weight and smaller footprint asap.
Both have no equals in the market.
I do use a docked Dell machine attached to a 27" widescreen for daily work. The MS Office experience on Win7 is superior to anything on the Mac OS.
Everything else like surfing, iTunes, YouTube, I do on the MBA or couch surfing. I love it. There is no equal like the 11 for this type of stuff. I travel with it, too. Lots of flight time.
Both have no equals in the market.
I do use a docked Dell machine attached to a 27" widescreen for daily work. The MS Office experience on Win7 is superior to anything on the Mac OS.
Everything else like surfing, iTunes, YouTube, I do on the MBA or couch surfing. I love it. There is no equal like the 11 for this type of stuff. I travel with it, too. Lots of flight time.