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Do you have ANY regrets or second thoughts on your MBA purchase?

Well, we have 3

2010 11" C2D MBA,bought as refurbs,4/64 and 128 and upgraded to 4/ 480 using OWC's beautiful SSD drives.I have done the same to 24 addt'l MBA's for friends, everyone, including me are especially happy with the result, and wouldn't consider changing a thing! Super fast, with awesome graphics.
As far as I am concerned, the 2010 11" MBA with NVIDIA Graphics rock!:cool:
 
thejadedmonkey said:
I used to play games with just the touchpad. It's quite easy to do, especially with non-FPS's. A casual game of starcraft or any ARPG is easily playable with just a touchpad. No table needed.


Well, actually... it is. After playing Skyrim for a few hours, I took my computer off my table and put it on my lap, because someone else on this forum had asked me how warm it got while gaming. It was warm on the left side, but not hot.

I thought maybe it was just the superb heat dispersion, but last week my laptop didn't suspend properly and it ended up rebooting in my bag, and going into the bios. There's no thermal clocking, so I get home about 20 minutes later, pull my laptop out, and it's drained about 20% of its battery while running everything on max. And you know what? The bottom still wasn't hot. About 5 minutes later the fan stopped going full blast and it was back to its normal semi-warm temperatures.

I can't even begin to explain the difference between Apple's obsessive decissions to make everything slimmer and slimmer at the expense of heat disbursion, and a sane PC manufacturer that creates a laptop that's capable of disbursing heat without burning your lap.
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This guy has a right to his opinion, no matter how accurate it is. I disagree heavily on the price issue he brought up (recalling that from experience, I usually save money with all apple products that I use when their whole lifespan cost is taken into account between product lifetime, resell value, excellent customer service=priceless, better software for most things, I mean come on, Windows doesn't even come with a calendar software built-in out of the box = pathetic, no need for antivirus, etc...) and on other things, but I actually like it when some people prefer Windows. I actually miss the "pre-Intel CPU" days when only myself and about 1 other person in my entire class would have the Apple logo on our computers, it was like we were instant friends. Now plenty of people just jumped on the trendy bandwagon, not knowing the history of apple and their great products.
 
I got a 13" i5/256GB MBA last month to replace a dying 2008 15" c2d MBP and am completely satisfied. The MBA is almost twice as fast at CPU bound tasks and maybe 4x or 5x faster at disk access, so it's a big performance boost all around for me.

Have not found any software compatibility issues yet - using Final Cut Pro, VectorWorks, FileMaker Pro, GarageBand and other programs just fine. I use a 5 year old 23" Apple Cinema display with a mini displayport adaptor and it's great for apps that require extra screen space.

As far as what I would change... a bigger SSD would be nice. I could do a third party upgrade, but probably not worth the cost. Of course, faster is always better too.

But all things considered, it has completely met or exceeded my expectations.
 
I ca honestly say I have some regrets. I have both a maxed out 11 MBA and maxed 13 MBP and I am always on my MBP. Some of the MBA limitations that are annoying is the RAM is not user upgradable, and for me I am forever maxed at 4 the SSD just isn't large enough and I am forever transferring files off my MBA. The MBA is perfect for the casual user who just wants something for the internet and email and maybe word processing but anything more intensive like graphic work or coding the MBP is the way to go. In the end I am happy with my choice and I still use both depending on what I need to do.
 
There isn't another notebook I'd choose over the MBA, but I'd definitely buy 15-inch or a revamped MB Pro that drops the DVD drive and some weight.
 
Medic278 said:
or coding the MBP is the way to go.
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As a coder I have to say a MBP is overkill. Even a MBA goes beyond the requirements for coding. Coding doesn't require processing, storage or RAM.

Anything that requires heavy power for compiling is most likely written by a team and compiled by a build server and not an individual laptop.

Also the 13" MBP is barely different from the Air in terms of power.
 
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KittyKatta said:
Just wondering, but if you dont have money then why would you need a $1000 Apple Thunderbolt Display for spreadsheet work?
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Perhaps I didn't fully explain - but I have budgets for things like computers and printers. I budgeted enough for a new mba, but did not consider the external display (and keyboard and trackpad). I could get one now, but I'm torn whether it's what I really need. I could also, for about the same amount, get a 21" iMac and do the same thing with it, gaining some of the extra size I need and a whole extra processor to boot - but again given the expected update, I'm better off waiting until things play out here in the next 60 days or so.
 
MBA Regrets?

None, purchased 13" last Oct, 2011, and very happy with it. Yes, I would prefer Ethernet but hopefully, before I die, I will be able to select and afford a Thunderbolt hub with offers Ethernet, Firewire 400/800 and USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt thru. I already connect my ASUS light weight 21.5" HD (1080) monitor via Thunderbolt when in home office. I did buy the overpriced Apple external drive which MUST be plugged into either of the two built-in ports. It does not function when plugged into Belkin hub.
 
Sk8-Rat said:
I completely regret my purchase when I bought a 13" i7 MBA last august the day it was announced. It lasted me until December 18th and Apple tried to tell me they wanted $800 after tax to fix the unknown "damages" that were "caused" by me. It makes me sick that I paid around $1700 for a machine to last me only four months :confused:

Apple is lucky that I love them so much, but I have completely lost all faith in their laptops :(
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same here. 11 months old - told cracked screen my fault and want ~ $650!
 
JadedMonkey has almost got me talked into regretting my purchase. Almost...
NOT!
The only thing I would like is a USB 3 port. Other than that, totally happy. This from an IT guy.
 
Darklandman said:
If you don't mind me asking, how could a cracked screen not be your fault :confused:
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a spontaneous crack yes from use but for 11 months all i did was open and close the top. This porcelain doll sat on my desk, never got a passport to travel and then CRACKED!!

Other than a polite 'FU it's your fault' from applecare . . . are there other avenues of appeal?

just a quick aside- Fl now has no fault windshield replacement - all windshield cases were being denied as it was the drivers fault: driving the car!
 
kooskoos1814 said:
Same here...
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I wanted the 11". It's smaller and lighter. I just maxed it out. And when the new one comes out I plan to do it all over again. I have the prior to the one out now. The Core2Duo 1.6 GHz, 4 mb / 128 GB. For my next one I want core i7 and 256 or better if they offer a 512 I'll get that.

Hoping for Retina Display too.
 
I am happy with my MBA for the most part. (late 2011, 13")
Build Quality is not what I expected for a $1400 or so laptop though.

Im gonna make an appt to have a Genius see if they can tighten things up for me. (unfortunately they are all about 30 miles away)

The trackpad started to inset in some places into the frame and lots of creaks that I believe is the bottom tray not being set correctly in the frame.
It wouldnt be a huge ordeal if it was a cheap laptop, but I expect a little less creaks and cracks while laying my hands on it or working in my lap and feeling it flex.
Im sure they will take care of it in some fashion, but sucks I need to drive soo far to get it addressed
 
Have had a 2010 13" MBA refurb for about 15 months now, absolutely flawless. I try to avoid stress on the unit by using a Radtech screen protector when it's closed, and a clipboard in my backpack to avoid any pressure on the screen.

I wish Apple had made the TBDisplay backward compatible with Display port, because I picked up one from a friend in a good deal. Will probably get the new 15" MBP/MBA as a desktop hybrid for the TBD, if the specs are decent, and keep the 2010 MBA for the couch/road-trips.
 
zero regrets.
and if apple can provide the thunderbolt display with 22 to 24 inches, it's perfect.
27 inches is too large...
 
oginome said:
zero regrets.
and if apple can provide the thunderbolt display with 22 to 24 inches, it's perfect.
27 inches is too large...
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I completely agree. As a student, I don't want/need something too big. I would really like for them to introduce another option similar to the older 24" one they used to sell but updated to match the 27" TBD specs for a more affordable price point than the larger one. I would buy one in a heartbeat :cool:
 
bogatyr said:
As a coder I have to say a MBP is overkill. Even a MBA goes beyond the requirements for coding. Coding doesn't require processing, storage or RAM.

Anything that requires heavy power for compiling is most likely written by a team and compiled by a build server and not an individual laptop.

Also the 13" MBP is barely different from the Air in terms of power.
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I would differ, but we all have different requirements. Not all coding is the same. :)

Also, even if you have a build server and working with a team, you would compile the code first on your machine and (hopefully) run some tests before checking it in. Breaking the build on the build server is not good.

Back on topic. I do sometimes think that a 15" MBP would have been more suitable for my needs, but damn, I love the form factor and weight.
 
i have the 11" mba 4gb ram 128 gb ssd.

my only regret (sort of) is not getting the 256 gb ssd. i mean i still have half of the space free and i have a portable hdd to use. i feel that there will come a time to download windows and will need extra space but for now, its all mac.

keep in mind, my uses are internet, iTunes, movies, minor photo edits. anything such as heavy photo/video/audio editing would probably be a slight problem on this.

i love this little machine. i have not even considered an iPad because of this thing and its capabilities have not yet been matched by a tablet.

for now, this machine, paired with my dell 23" ips display makes the ultimate laptop/desktop combo. i plan to have this for a long time, until of course apple catches my eye with the revamped line of mba's or universal devices as just "MacBooks"
 
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