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Anybody using an MBA as their main rig?

Xikum said:
What makes you keep the MacBook? I mean, why don't you just use the MBA with the external storage instead?

Just wondering :p
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I like having 2 different machines! I don't know why i just do, like having a machine specifically for a purpose , also other people in the house constantly use the External storage so it would be a pain for them if it wasn't always plugged into the MacBook.
 
adamtj11 said:
I like having 2 different machines! I don't know why i just do, like having a machine specifically for a purpose , also other people in the house constantly use the External storage so it would be a pain for them if it wasn't always plugged into the MacBook.
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Same boat. I thought I would be giving my white MacBook away but I'm finding I'd rather have the two computers.
 
I replaced my MBP with the Air, and couldn't be happier. It is my only machine and is fast at everything I throw at it.

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It is for me now and I've only had my 13" base model for about 3 weeks. I turned my old Windows box into a fileserver.
 
jkim3691 said:
When you do that (full screen on external monitor) doesn't your MBA's fan get really loud?
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Even if I did have it full screen, it would be fine. The only time my fan ever gets really loud is when I play Portal 2 and such.

As a side note, the fact that this little guy can push Portal 2 with models and textures on high and still be smooth as butter is awesome. :)
 
Count me as another one who uses the Macbook Air (2011) as their primary machine. I went top-of-the-line with it, with all the options maxed out.

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mj1108 said:
It is for me now and I've only had my 13" base model for about 3 weeks. I turned my old Windows box into a fileserver.
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That's what I did too. The windows machine is used as a fileserver and for usenet downloads with Newsleecher, which is still my favorite Usenet client. The developer of Newsleecher is working on a Mac version which I look forward to seeing some day. I operate the Windows machine via Chicken VNC or Logmein.
 
For those of you with external monitors, does the image get grainy or pixelated when you connect your MBA? I'm considering a 27" monitor, and that's the only thing holding me back right now.
 
3dflyboy1 said:
For those of you with external monitors, does the image get grainy or pixelated when you connect your MBA? I'm considering a 27" monitor, and that's the only thing holding me back right now.
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It may if you get a crappy display. Its going to depend on the quality of the display you buy, and has nothing to do with the Air.
 
yes it is my main machine (11" 128 gb sad, 4gb ram). for my uses (internet, light photo edit, microsoft office, music) it is perfect.

i keep it hooked up to a 23" dell ultrasharp 80% of the time. most say that its useless if i keep it docked most the time and to get an iMac, but i saved money this way and now have the portable + desktop option. win win for me.

ill post a set up in the picture forum this week.
 
I use the 11" Air with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage as my main. I had a 21.5" 2011 iMac but realized the Air was all the computer I ever needed. Sold it, grabbed the Thunderbolt Display, and am completely sold on the setup.

I am thinking about grabbing an OWC SSD though... Just HATE keeping my iTunes library on an external.
 

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russelldirect said:
Even if I did have it full screen, it would be fine. The only time my fan ever gets really loud is when I play Portal 2 and such.

As a side note, the fact that this little guy can push Portal 2 with models and textures on high and still be smooth as butter is awesome. :)
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Full screening flash videos? Or movies that are saved on your harddrive?
 
I'm looking for a ACD 27 thunderbolt, would be perfect for the coding I've started doing...
Anyway, I got rid of my 21.5 iMac quad core, and 11 MBA and got a 13 i5 2011. The only limitation is the lack of options for the ssd... I plan on fixing that tomorrow. Just ordered a 480gb ssd can't wait... Bye bye space issues.

I'm happy being mobile. I use it for short movie editing, photos
, music, Xcode, word docs and I couldn't be happier...

I am think of replacing my ATV 1 with a mini... But that's a different story. ?
 
I now use my new 11" MBA 1.6 GHz/4GB/128GB as my main rig.

I bought a Mac Mini back in August, but decided that I wanted to go back to a laptop, so I bought my MBA on Black Friday, and sold my Mini (sold it today, actually).

I have a 500GB external HDD that I use for my music, movies, and photos. If that fills up, I have a 3TB External that I've partitioned into two- for Time Machine and as extra storage space. I don't need to have all my media with me at all times (iPhone takes care of enough of that), so I'm totally cool with that setup.

I also have a 24" external monitor that I hook the MBA up to when I want a bigger screen. I ordered a BookArc to hold my MBA that should arrive tomorrow.

Word.
 
Me. Do all my photos, movies, emails, browsing on the MBA.

Play 90% of my games on my PC unfortunately.
 
I got the 2011 11" MBA (4 GB RAM, 128 GB storage) about a week ago and I'm using it as my main computer. Previously, I had a 2010 13" MBP. So far, the only issue I'm having is shortened battery life. Otherwise, the screen size, keyboard size, etc. have been perfectly fine. I use my laptop for internet, e-mail, Word, Powerpoint presentations, photo editing and some very basic video editing. So far so good, but I'm still undecided on whether or not to return the 11" for the 13" MBA or the 13" MBP.
 
Ignore the mess.


This setup works alright for basic stuff but it cant handle anything too serious. A game send the fans crazy.
 

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I use my macbook air as a main computer. This is my first own personal mac. I am going from a 3gb ram, and athlon x2 64 bit, windows 7 pc which now seems like the slowest thing due to the fact I have my air.
 
I use my 11" i7 256/4GB MBA as my main computer now, but I have it hooked up to a 27" Thunderbolt display and I have a 2TB RAID 1 NAS that houses all my music, pics, movies etc.

The 11" screen is great for traveling and lugging around the office, but I would hate it if I only had the 11" display. It's just too small for certain things. Also, even with the 256GB SSD I find myself trying to keep as much media/large files off the MBA. I'm currently also running bootcamp since I need a Win 7 machine.

If I had only an MBA with a 128 or 256 SSD it would be pretty tough. The external accessories is what makes the setup work (NAS+Thunderbolt display)

Speed wise, it works great for just about everything. Definitely not a gaming rig though.
 
I use my 11" 128gb/4gb as my main computer. I bought a little hdmi connector thing off of ebay in case I ever wanted to hook it up to my 32" 1080p tv, but I tried it once and never really had any use for it. They keyboard is perfect for me and you adjust to the screen size in no time.

If I ever feel like the font is too small for reading I just pinch to zoom on the track pad. That said, I do also have a windows 7 machine I've rebuilt over the years and still use on occasion, but mainly just to watch movies I have stored on it (I have that machine hooked up to the tv), but if I really wanted to I could just hook the MBA up to it like I said.

I use my MBA for basic web browsing, school work, and also some music creation on GarageBand, and still have had no troubles with it. I have dabbled in some games and they run OK but the fans usually start blasting after a little while and thats what my xbox is for anyway!
 
My main one

I use the I5 128GB air for my main machine and it is all I need.

I might have liked a bigger SSD and 8GB RAM but it just does everything and so so well.

I would like a different File Explorer though .. coming from a PC I find this awkward.

:eek:
 
A MBA attached to a high-res external monitor is the perfect combo: top mobility while on the go + real state while at your desk.

Unless you play games or render videos (or some power-hungry stuff like that), this combo is probably the best there is in the market right now.
 
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I think lot of people did not buy MBA as their machine but finding themselves using it more than any others and becomes the main machine.
 
For my personnal use, the MBA is my main computer. Do everything on it and it's really great. I have a Windows PC that I barely use since I got the Air.
It's an awesome laptop.
 
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