I was in my local apple store on Thursday and had the chance to do a side by side comparison of a MBA11 and MBP13.
The reason I wanted to do this comparison is because I am thinking of buying the MBA11 to replace my 2010 uMB and Ipad. However I am concerned that the 11.6" screen and high resolution will not be good for me.
I used the MBA11 for around 20 mins going to websites such as BBC news, macumors, Groupon, Anandtech and Bloomberg. I found that the text was too small in the base case and I had to view every webpage zoomed in (after 1 press of zoom it was fine). I then used a MBP13 for around 10 minutes and the resolution felt huge for that screen. Although the text was larger and easier to read I had adjusted to the small MBA11.
I then put both side by side to compare the size of text. The MBA had 1 press of zoom and the MBP and none. I was shocked to find that in this setup the text size was in fact comparable. Looking at the same website and text I could not tell the difference. Also since the MBA has a wider screen, when zoomed in it filled the empty space at the sides whilst not extending the webpage out - which meant all I had to do was vertical scroll.
I was little surprised by this. To me there was no compromise in web browsing as webpages were the same size on both machines. Obviously, with the MBA i had to scroll a little bit more but the text was very readable. I was pleased I found some use for that extra wide real estate.
With the MBA I also launched the IWork equivalent of MS word and Excel and I found I could zoom in no problem.
However, thats not the complete picture. There are some programs where the text cannot be altered so easily. Itunes is a perfect example where all the text on the left hand side was very small and when browsing music/apps the text was very very small. I think staring at this for a long time will give me a headache make my eyes sore.
I hope this helps anyone thinking of going from the MBP13 to the MBA11. I am still in two minds as to what to do and clearly not convinced the 11 inch screen would cut it as my primary machine. Finally, I dont NEED portability. I travel with my MB once every 3-4 weeks and its fine. A lot of people say keep the 13" as your primary machine but Im not using my ipad anymore and my 13" MB just feels too big. The MBA would replace my ipad as a sofa surfing buddy and full fledged laptop. Is this silly? Have I been hypnotised by the MBA11 and now im itching like a crackhead for one?
Any thoughts?
The reason I wanted to do this comparison is because I am thinking of buying the MBA11 to replace my 2010 uMB and Ipad. However I am concerned that the 11.6" screen and high resolution will not be good for me.
I used the MBA11 for around 20 mins going to websites such as BBC news, macumors, Groupon, Anandtech and Bloomberg. I found that the text was too small in the base case and I had to view every webpage zoomed in (after 1 press of zoom it was fine). I then used a MBP13 for around 10 minutes and the resolution felt huge for that screen. Although the text was larger and easier to read I had adjusted to the small MBA11.
I then put both side by side to compare the size of text. The MBA had 1 press of zoom and the MBP and none. I was shocked to find that in this setup the text size was in fact comparable. Looking at the same website and text I could not tell the difference. Also since the MBA has a wider screen, when zoomed in it filled the empty space at the sides whilst not extending the webpage out - which meant all I had to do was vertical scroll.
I was little surprised by this. To me there was no compromise in web browsing as webpages were the same size on both machines. Obviously, with the MBA i had to scroll a little bit more but the text was very readable. I was pleased I found some use for that extra wide real estate.
With the MBA I also launched the IWork equivalent of MS word and Excel and I found I could zoom in no problem.
However, thats not the complete picture. There are some programs where the text cannot be altered so easily. Itunes is a perfect example where all the text on the left hand side was very small and when browsing music/apps the text was very very small. I think staring at this for a long time will give me a headache make my eyes sore.
I hope this helps anyone thinking of going from the MBP13 to the MBA11. I am still in two minds as to what to do and clearly not convinced the 11 inch screen would cut it as my primary machine. Finally, I dont NEED portability. I travel with my MB once every 3-4 weeks and its fine. A lot of people say keep the 13" as your primary machine but Im not using my ipad anymore and my 13" MB just feels too big. The MBA would replace my ipad as a sofa surfing buddy and full fledged laptop. Is this silly? Have I been hypnotised by the MBA11 and now im itching like a crackhead for one?
Any thoughts?
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