11" or 13"? i5 or i7? Back to School? Only i5 on Amazon & Best Buy?

[amitdoc2b]

I am interested in purchasing the 13" MBA and upgrade to i7, 8GB RAM, and 256HDD. That will cost me a total of $1479 after student discount, but $1602 after tax. Hopefully the new retina 13" MBP later this year won't come as close to the slimness as the MBA because that gives me buying jitters. Also am having a tough time picking between the 11 and 13" models... I currently have the 13" 1.8/4GB/128HDD but needed the extra hard drive and wanted the longer battery life (I always felt the need of an extra 2-3 hours battery when outside). I also wanted to justify the purchase a little further by getting a processor that's a little faster rather than the same thing all over again after respending the money.

Even more decisions...I've had a crush on the 11" but the 3 hours extra battery life and slimmer bezel on the 13" makes me want to pull the trigger for the 13" again. In the past, I didn't buy the 11" MBA because it would not reach 7 hours of battery, and now that it does I am awe'd by the 13-incher's 12 hour battery over 9 hours in the 11-incher. Also worried I may miss out on the back-to-school promo or a free printer promo or something. There's no promos at all right now! I also wanted to buy from Best Buy with their 18 month financing but they'll only have stock models and probably two weeks from now (so can't do 8GB RAM nor the i7, what a bummer?). I didn't qualify for Barclay on the Apple site so had to pay it up front.

...Anyone else in a similar situation that recently pulled or is about to pull the trigger?

 

[Sith Vol]

I'm in the same boat. I'm about to pull the trigger but can't decide between an 11in or a 13in. Going to upgrade to 8gb ram and 256 SSD either way.

 

[barrk]

I think apple will do their back to school promo within the next week because people say they usually do it soon after wwdc ends

I'm looking to get a 13" air as soon as the promo starts

 

[falllana1]

I am looking to pull the trigger on MBA 11 as a surprise for my wife. I am tired of hearing about her PC problems. I used Barclay and their promo to purchase my MBP in 2011. I called them last night and talked the rep into applying the interest free promo to my purchase even though I am not eligible. She said I have until the 12th to use the promo. The Barclay card has a ridiculous interest rate (22%) so interest free is the only way I will use it. Anyway, I am looking at the I7 and increasing the RAM to 8GB. That puts me at $1300. I want to increase the flash storage, but it is just getting to pricey for a machine that will see homework and social networking. Furthermore, I plan on getting a time capsule because an increase in flash still wont be sufficient. Is the I5 to I7 upgrade worth it? Will it help extend the life of the MBA? At 1300 bucks I don't plan on buying her anything else for a while.

 

[TC25]

Is the I5 to I7 upgrade worth it? Will it help extend the life of the MBA? At 1300 bucks I don't plan on buying her anything else for a while.

No.
No.
If she wants it, you'll be buying it.

 

[mj1108]

At 1300 bucks I don't plan on buying her anything else for a while.

Famous last words....

I also wanted to buy from Best Buy with their 18 month financing but they'll only have stock models and probably two weeks from now (so can't do 8GB RAM nor the i7, what a bummer?)

I was planning on holding off for Best Buy as I wanted to take advantage of the same offer. I ended up deciding on getting the i7 w/ 8 gigs of ram....so I grabbed a credit card I have with no balance and a very low interest rate (9%) to pay for it yesterday. I will still pay it off quick.

 

[falllana1]

Shots Fired!

I pulled the trigger. 1379.00 with my student discount. NC tax cracked me over the head 93 bucks on top of that. It is more than I wanted to spend, but once you go over 1000 bucks whats a few hundred more. If I get 5 yrs out of it I will be happy.

11-inch MacBook Air
Hardware
1.7GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz
8GB 1600MHz LPDDR3 SDRAM
256GB Flash Storage

 

[barrk]

I pulled the trigger. 1379.00 with my student discount. NC tax cracked me over the head 93 bucks on top of that. It is more than I wanted to spend, but once you go over 1000 bucks whats a few hundred more. If I get 5 yrs out of it I will be happy.

11-inch MacBook Air
Hardware
1.7GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz
8GB 1600MHz LPDDR3 SDRAM
256GB Flash Storage

Do you feel like the 11" screen is big enough if you're using it as a main computer? I'm trying to decide between a 13" and 11"

 

[amitdoc2b]

Do you feel like the 11" screen is big enough if you're using it as a main computer? I'm trying to decide between a 13" and 11"

This may sound odd, but I don't like how the 11" bezel is extra thick and its also one of the reasons that is deterring me from the 11" MBA (the 13" bezel is not as thick). I still think the small 11-incher is cute, but with 13" I get 3 extra hours of battery (even in times I don't need it, I can use my laptop in full brightness without a charger and still not worry about battery life). They are both Macbook Airs, so its not like portability should be an issue with either.

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Is the I5 to I7 upgrade worth it? Will it help extend the life of the MBA?

In this scenario, I think it is worth it... last year I did not think it's worth it. Considering in terms of speed its the only processor that's faster than last years models (with up to 3.3 GHZ turbo boost), I think its good to get. Not only that, but I read last year's i7 was only 15-25 mins less performance in battery than the i5 (anandtech.com) but this years supposedly has the same energy performance. Either way, both situations make the extra speed worth. It may not be noticeable right away (or maybe it will be), but it certainly can't hurt. The extra upgrade price isn't as steep as upgrading to 500GB HDD so I'll definitely be doing the i7 upgrade.

 

[TrollToddington]

If I get 5 yrs out of it I will be happy.

11-inch MacBook Air
Hardware
1.7GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz
8GB 1600MHz LPDDR3 SDRAM
256GB Flash Storage

Oh, that's just very easy to predict. Just take a look at the 2008's laptops and see how usable they are today. I say if you get 3 years before buying a new laptop you'll be a lucky person.