I'm feeling guilty at the moment, and I need your help to assuage that guilt. I bought a new 15" MBP in March 2011 (2.2 i7, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, Hi-Res AG screen), and it's been lovely...
...except it just feels too damned big.* I'm an organic and fidgety laptop user, so you're just as likely to find me curled up in bed or on the sofa as you are at a desk. When I'm at the desk, in the expensive chair, with the perfect background light balance, and the feng shui is just right, the MBP is wonderful to work on: tactile keyboard, beautiful screen, quiet, powerful. But on the bed, or sofa: a cumbersome brute, that digs into your stomach, chafes your wrists, and gets hot enough to make you wonder about long-term infertility. I owned a 2008 unibody MB before this, and that was much more agreeable in 'unstructured mode.'
So, whilst fanning my nether regions furiously after the latest MBP episode, I've just ordered the new MBA (13", 1.7 i5, 4GB RAM, 256GB SSD). With this switch (some may call it a downgrade**), I have a few concerns:
1) The screen. On the MBP it's gorgeous, and anti-glare. I know the MBA is glossy, but not as glossy as the glossy+glass on the normal MBPs; does anyone has any experience of going from the anti-glare to the MBA-style glossy? I hate glare as a rule - will it upset me?
2) The power. I don't do any super-intensive stuff, but I might do some video editing occasionally, watch HD movies, etc. I also have lots of things open all the time. Will I notice the dip in processor power (2.2 i7 to 1.7 i5) and RAM (8GB to 4GB)?
3) Are those USB-to-ethernet adaptors any good? In my office at work, wifi is flaky, but I do have hi-speed ethernet piped in. I'm just about willing to lose a USB slot for this, as I can connect the MBA to my external monitor, which has extra USB slots.
4) Will anything else, that I haven't thought of, annoy me? Am I being an idiot? Why doesn't a penguin's feet freeze? And so on. Have at it.
* That's what she said.
** I'd have to rabbit-punch you in your special place if you did that.
...except it just feels too damned big.* I'm an organic and fidgety laptop user, so you're just as likely to find me curled up in bed or on the sofa as you are at a desk. When I'm at the desk, in the expensive chair, with the perfect background light balance, and the feng shui is just right, the MBP is wonderful to work on: tactile keyboard, beautiful screen, quiet, powerful. But on the bed, or sofa: a cumbersome brute, that digs into your stomach, chafes your wrists, and gets hot enough to make you wonder about long-term infertility. I owned a 2008 unibody MB before this, and that was much more agreeable in 'unstructured mode.'
So, whilst fanning my nether regions furiously after the latest MBP episode, I've just ordered the new MBA (13", 1.7 i5, 4GB RAM, 256GB SSD). With this switch (some may call it a downgrade**), I have a few concerns:
1) The screen. On the MBP it's gorgeous, and anti-glare. I know the MBA is glossy, but not as glossy as the glossy+glass on the normal MBPs; does anyone has any experience of going from the anti-glare to the MBA-style glossy? I hate glare as a rule - will it upset me?
2) The power. I don't do any super-intensive stuff, but I might do some video editing occasionally, watch HD movies, etc. I also have lots of things open all the time. Will I notice the dip in processor power (2.2 i7 to 1.7 i5) and RAM (8GB to 4GB)?
3) Are those USB-to-ethernet adaptors any good? In my office at work, wifi is flaky, but I do have hi-speed ethernet piped in. I'm just about willing to lose a USB slot for this, as I can connect the MBA to my external monitor, which has extra USB slots.
4) Will anything else, that I haven't thought of, annoy me? Am I being an idiot? Why doesn't a penguin's feet freeze? And so on. Have at it.
* That's what she said.
** I'd have to rabbit-punch you in your special place if you did that.
