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Anybody else think the MBA 11" is a little too large?

V

VMMan

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 29, 2009
766
239
When I finally decided to place my order for the 2011 MBA 11", I was a little concerned that the 11" model would be just a little too small for my needs.

Now that I've had two days to use the 11", I'm starting to think that maybe the 11" is a little too large!

I feel that it could be much more mobile and still usable if the 11" model had 1.5" to 2" less on its width. I'm wondering if the 11" model is going to be small enough for me to want to bring it with me all the time. This means bringing the MBA 11" for all those occasions that I do not even think I will use a laptop, but "just in case" have it handy.

Don't get me wrong, it's a great machine, but I'm just surprised that I would even want a smaller laptop!
 
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wow, now that's something you don't hear everyday. Sounds like you want an iPad lol :eek:
 
A third for what Obscurelight said.

It's definitely not too large. It would be perfect with an edge-to-edge screen and a the 1680-by-1050 or 1440 by 900 resolution.
 
I totally agree with you VMMan after using Thinkpad X60 for 3 years. There's too much wasted width and I can do with a less deep palm rest.

When I travel I leave my personal computer in the hotel safe when I'm out at work. Usually they are small and the X60 barely fits in the safe. I'm concerned by the width of the 11".
 
I do somewhat agree. I think the Air 11-inch should remain as an 11.6-inch screen, but have a slightly reduced width. Only very slightly.

I feel as though it is only very slightly overly wide. By maybe 3-6 centimetres. If they reduced the width by this much, it would make a fair bit of a difference in terms of portability for some.

That said... it's not too big. I have to carry it around with a case because I value maintaining the integrity of my laptop in terms of its appearance (unscratched, unscathed, unruined body), and its functionality (don't want to break this thing). So I carry it around with a case which adds some size. And then that bag sometimes goes in one of two things: a larger bag which is a sling-over shoulder kind of bag, which I then use for carrying books and other things. Or it goes into my backpack.

I have yet to put my Air to the test though. I haven't carried it with me anywhere. Right now I have it with me on vacation, and I keep it in my room. When I get back to my next semester of university, then I'll know how useful it is.
 
MacRumorUser said:
Too big? Are you a Munshkin or an Oompa Lumpa ? ;)
Click to expand...

Well for the times that I KNOW I will need a laptop, I bring my MBP 17". I bought the MBA 11" to use as a mobile device to bring with me ALL the time, even when I DON'T think I will use a laptop.

If you carry your MBA 11" with you ALL the time, you start to wish it weren't so wide.

Oh, and I also have an iPad, but I need the MBA for X-code.
 
Fair enough :) One size doesn't necessarily suit all. Any smaller however and Apple would have to reduce the keyboard size and that would cause more protestations than anything else. :)
 
I like the size, but would like it if Apple could fit a 12" or even 12.5" 16x9 screen (perhaps at a higher resolution) into the same case by reducing the size of the bezel. I'd like a little more vertical room at times.
 
I don't think it's too small...though wouldn't mind if the bezel reduced.

To me the 11" MBA is pretty much what I've wanted in a laptop for years.
 
I find the 11' body too wide. Would be nicer if the body is narrower with less screen bezel. (thinking about my decade old VAIO N505.....)
 
I personally think the size is just right. To each their own.

Now the 11" Air is 11.8" x 7.56"

If you want to trim 1.5"-2" off the width, then they already make that :)

The iPad is 9.5" x 7.31"

I'm sure Apple will eventually make it smaller.
 
KPOM said:
I like the size, but would like it if Apple could fit a 12" or even 12.5" 16x9 screen (perhaps at a higher resolution) into the same case by reducing the size of the bezel. I'd like a little more vertical room at times.
Click to expand...

agreed.
 
In my quest to find the perfect small/light/decently-spec'd unit I previously owned an HP Mini 210 netbook that featured a 10.1" (1024 x 600) screen. I can tell you that for my eyes, it was OK for about an hour at a time. Any longer than that, and the strain set in. I think it was less to do with text size than it was just feeling cramped. By the time you added in the menu bar for a browser and the taskbar for Win7, there just wasn't a lot of real estate to get anything done. I don't seem to have that problem on iPad, but I believe that is because everything is full screen and you have a little more space (9.7" @ 1024 x 768)

Anyway, my point is that if you think 11.6" (1366 x 768) is too large then I guess that is a personal preference. If you are going to spend any time at all longer than a few hours at a time, the smaller screens of netbooks may be too small.
 
Use it for longer than that and you will understand how your statement bears surprise to all of us readers. It's as small as it gets. Besides, I don't believe using a 11 inch not-so-good resolution screen for extended hours of time will go easy on your eyes :rolleyes:
 
I'm having difficulty using the 2-finger contextual menu, due to the small size of the trackpad. I definitely wouldn't want a less-deep palm-rest, because then the tackpad would be even smaller.

I think the reason that the case extends by half an inch on each side of the keyboard is that Apple had no way of fitting the USB ports under the keys.

There does seem to be a lot of unused space around the screen. Would be nice to have a larger screen to make use of this space.
 
VMMan said:
Well for the times that I KNOW I will need a laptop, I bring my MBP 17". I bought the MBA 11" to use as a mobile device to bring with me ALL the time, even when I DON'T think I will use a laptop.

If you carry your MBA 11" with you ALL the time, you start to wish it weren't so wide.

Oh, and I also have an iPad, but I need the MBA for X-code.
Click to expand...


So you use X-Code and want an even smaller laptop than mba11 :eek:

I agree they could shave 1-2 centimers of the bezel, but come on - unless you are a tiny girl, you need a proper sized keyboard to code in X-Code :)
 
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