2012 13" 128GB Air vs 2011 11" 256GB Air

[plucky duck]

Reason for choosing the 2012 13" Base model were:

Larger display
HD4000 for casual gaming
Faster SSD (or so I thought)
Better battery
SD card slot
10% off retail price (Staples Customer Appreciation Sale)
$1106Cdn before tax


Reason for choosing 2011 11" i7 1.8Ghz 256GB Air were:

Smaller form factor (portability)
Larger SSD (more comfortably be able to house OSX and Windows 7)
Samsung display and Samsung SSD
Clearance price $1086Cdn before tax


The 13" comes with a Samsung display and a Toshiba SSD. Black Magic benched 460mb/read and 180mb-210mb/write.

The 11" comes with a Samsung display and a Samsung SSD. Black Magic benched mid 200s read and write.

I thought the larger 13" form factor wouldn't bother me, as having used my sister's much bulkier 13" MacBook Pro, as it was lighter. But the 11" form factor is much more appealing to me than I initially thought. The 11" having both the Samsung display and ssd is definitely pulling me in that direction. I can live without the SD card slot, provided the ssd is large enough. USB 3.0 is not that important to me since I have a portable external Thunderbolt SSD with me. If anything I'll just get a USB card reader if and when I do need to transfer files from my camcorder, no big deal.

The only question remaining is how capable the HD3000 is at the games that do matter to me: SF4:AE and NFS:HP. Those are the only two games that I truly care about.

Can't believe I am actually leaning towards an older 2011 model than a newer 2012 model. But the older one does seem to fit my needs more. It's just that much more portable for me and that is an important factor. And the pricing is just right.

 

[pilotkid]

Try reading this review. He shows benchmarks comparing the 2011 model to the 2012. He also explains some of the differences in layman's terms. http://www.anandtech.com/show/6063/macbook-air-13inch-mid-2012-review

 

[asting]

Not that you lised it as a pro, but it's worth noting that the ivy bridge i5 is roughly equal to the sandy bridge i7.

 

[plucky duck]

The more I use the 11" the more I fall in love with it. Now my only gripe is the GPU performance. I definitely prefer the HD4000, but to move up to the 2012 model I would have to give up half the storage and be back to being cramped while dual booting. Given current pricing, it doesn't make sense for me to move up to the 256gb version on the 2012 model. 2011 11" 256GB or 2012 11" 128GB is what it really comes down to now.

2012 offers the gaming performance I want, at the cost of giving up half the storage and the incredibly value priced 2011 machine with ideal Samsung screen and ssd.

 

[Fernandez21]

I just configured the 2012 11" air to match the 13" air you described and it comes out to $1,399. So if you can swing the extra $300 you could get exactly what you want. If not, then you must decide if the gaming hit is worth it to you.

 

[plucky duck]

I just configured the 2012 11" air to match the 13" air you described and it comes out to $1,399. So if you can swing the extra $300 you could get exactly what you want. If not, then you must decide if the gaming hit is worth it to you.

Well, considering I only paid $1140 after tax on the 2011 11" i7 256GB, it's a bigger price gap if I custom order a new 2012 11" Air with 256GB SSD. At that point if I am going to custom order I might as well get another 4GB ram. After tax, we're talking about a $465 difference. I'm looking for value, and getting the latest and greatest is not where value is. So in the end I will just have to suck it up and take the hit on gaming performance, definitely not worth the money I would have to spend. Thanks.

 

[msullivanxi]

The more I use the 11" the more I fall in love with it. Now my only gripe is the GPU performance. I definitely prefer the HD4000, but to move up to the 2012 model I would have to give up half the storage and be back to being cramped while dual booting. Given current pricing, it doesn't make sense for me to move up to the 256gb version on the 2012 model. 2011 11" 256GB or 2012 11" 128GB is what it really comes down to now.

2012 offers the gaming performance I want, at the cost of giving up half the storage and the incredibly value priced 2011 machine with ideal Samsung screen and ssd.

Why is it such a bonus to you to have the samsung/samsung of the 11 in if the drive performance is slower than that of the 13 with its samsung/toshiba

personally the screen should be the only thing that matters as for idk 99.99999% of the time you are at your computer you will be looking at it