Buying a MBA, will 64gb be enough?

[natalie1981]

I'm planning on buying the 64GB 11 inch MBA though I'm waiting for the latest models to be available. I'm just wondering if 64GB will be enough storage if I'm planning on:

1) dual boot with windows 7, plug in a blu-ray player and watch
Movies either via the laptop screen or output via hdmi (will this be possible or can I do this by just using VMware/Parallels? I know I won't enjoy blu-ray on an 11 inch screen or I could just buy a bd player buy still, I want to have the option to do so.
2) install VMware/Parallels
3) install ms office

That's it. Any pictures/songs/movies/files I download I can save to my 500GB external hdd. So, will 64GB be enough for my needs? TIA.

 

[Moof1904]

I'm planning on buying the 64GB 11 inch MBA though I'm waiting for the latest models to be available. I'm just wondering if 64GB will be enough storage if I'm planning on:

1) dual boot with windows 7, plug in a blu-ray player and watch
Movies either via the laptop screen or output via hdmi (will this be possible or can I do this by just using VMware/Parallels? I know I won't enjoy blu-ray on an 11 inch screen or I could just buy a bd player buy still, I want to have the option to do so.
2) install VMware/Parallels
3) install ms office

That's it. Any pictures/songs/movies/files I download I can save to my 500GB external hdd. So, will 64GB be enough for my needs? TIA.

I would think that it's not going to be enough. Considering that it's essentially impossible to upgrade the air to have more storage, I would be fearful of limiting myself to 64 gigs, especially if you want to run two OS's on it. I think stretching a bit to afford the larger capacity would be worth it.

 

[AppleDApp]

64gb of storage will not be enough if you want to dual boot. My windows partition is 30gb. A MBA would be ideal if you had an iMac, MP or mini as well unless you get the 256gb model it serves as a complimentary device to the lather.

 

[Paulywauly]

I would think that it's not going to be enough. Considering that it's essentially impossible to upgrade the air to have more storage, I would be fearful of limiting myself to 64 gigs, especially if you want to run two OS's on it. I think stretching a bit to afford the larger capacity would be worth it.

I agree. As your media is on an external it would be feasable as a boot/apps only drive, but if you have a bootcamp partition AND virtualised OS's your not gonna have much if any space left!

 

[Panch0]

I'm planning on buying the 64GB 11 inch MBA though I'm waiting for the latest models to be available. I'm just wondering if 64GB will be enough storage if I'm planning on:

1) dual boot with windows 7, plug in a blu-ray player and watch
Movies either via the laptop screen or output via hdmi (will this be possible or can I do this by just using VMware/Parallels? I know I won't enjoy blu-ray on an 11 inch screen or I could just buy a bd player buy still, I want to have the option to do so.
2) install VMware/Parallels
3) install ms office

That's it. Any pictures/songs/movies/files I download I can save to my 500GB external hdd. So, will 64GB be enough for my needs? TIA.

If you are trying to retain your options, the Air is not for you. It is all about portability. If portability is important to you, then you will sacrifice some options to get it, and be happy to do so. If you want your options, then portability is not important and you should look at other laptops.

64GB will be very tight with either a bootcamp partition OR a Virtual Machine. I could just barely fit OS X, apps and a 25GB Windows VM in 64GB, but I don't keep ANY media on my laptop at all.

With Virtualization, the bigger constraint will be RAM - you would definitely want to step up to 4GB.

 

[LeakedDave]

I'm planning on buying the 64GB 11 inch MBA though I'm waiting for the latest models to be available. I'm just wondering if 64GB will be enough storage if I'm planning on:

1) dual boot with windows 7, plug in a blu-ray player and watch
Movies either via the laptop screen or output via hdmi (will this be possible or can I do this by just using VMware/Parallels? I know I won't enjoy blu-ray on an 11 inch screen or I could just buy a bd player buy still, I want to have the option to do so.
2) install VMware/Parallels
3) install ms office

That's it. Any pictures/songs/movies/files I download I can save to my 500GB external hdd. So, will 64GB be enough for my needs? TIA.

First off, you're gonna end up with about 59gb in reality. Second off, consider 10gb already gone for OS X. 20gb for a Windows partition, etc.

Then if you're using iTunes for backing up any iOS devices that will take 16gb+ depending on the number of backups and devices.

Get a 128. I can barely live with the 256 here.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

No, it won't be enough. My iTouch has 64 GB and that is barely enough.

While the MBA is about portability (and is superb for that), the minimum I'd suggest is 128 GB. I have a MBA (Rev C 128 SSD) which I bought last September; it's a terrific machine, and I love it, but I'll be honest: if a MBA with 256 SSD had been available last September, that is what I would have bought.

Cheers