Resolved Buying my MBA tonight !

[JCL]

[edit: can't delete thread or move it to the buying advice section, sorry]

Ok, decision is made, funds are in place, I am buying my MBA 13 tonight.

I originally was convinced all I needed was the 13 128gb 8gb air, but im making last minute decisions.

Why would I need/want to upgrade to the 256gb and/or the i7 cpu?





I plan to use the MBA as a portable workstation for web design/development, web browsing, music, movies (maybe), and hooking it up to a proper ips monitor when at home.

 

[darcyjames]

My 2cents are...have to get 256gb if planning to, uh, have any storage for movies, tv, video. If the budget is an issue, look at refurb.

Alternatively, maybe spend the money on processor (for sure max ram) as ssd is possible upgrade but not cpu...

 

[JCL]

money isn't a limiting factor, but at the same time I don't want to throw it out the window.

My thinking is the i7 sounds nice, but unless I am gaming (which I don't plan to, I have a proper gaming desktop to do this) or doing something really intensive like video editing or advanced graphic programs, I won't need it.

The programs I will be using are adobe photoshop, adobe dreamweaver, coda 2, perhaps a virtual machine or two for testing (but nothing too intensive, and truthfully I might just use my desktop for this type of testing), and MS office programs.

In the near future I might want to learn more about graphic design and attend an arts school, but I am sure they will have labs for me to do any intensive work in and I can still use the MBA as a portable.

I'm sure I will be tempted to install some game like WoW or LoL on it, but I know even a maxed out MBA is NOT a gaming machine.

My music library is very small and I will stream most of it anyway.

 

[Nova Sensei]

Sounds to me like you've answered your own questions.

Stick with your original instincts I say (8gb RAM, 128SSD).

 

[Dark Void]

I would go for the base processor. 128GB is fine depending on your usage and if you don't mind using external storage if you begin to exceed the internal.

 

[JCL]

Went for the 128/8gb ram.

Figure if I need the space in a year, I will either sell it and buy a new one, or buy an OWC 3rd party.

$300 for an extra 128gb was too expensive (too bad you can't upgrade the processor with the 128 model).

 

[xxcysxx]

good choice, you don't loose so much on the resale on the lower end models, vs the higher end models. there are not many enthusiast out there that care what the specs are like, they just want an apple logo laptop for what they can afford for a sense of brag rights, they could careless what's in it.