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FullHD movies via AirPlay etc.

R

Rainalkar

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 1, 2013
41
0
Hello guys,

I am keen on buying a Macbook Air with the help of my friend who would bring it from the US (the price in Croatia, EU, is double), and I have a few questions.

I resolved that I need a laptop with the following specifics:
- thin and light to carry around in a over the shoulder purse
- as good a battery as possible
- quality keyboard
- probably a matte screen, I will work in the sun here and there
- must be able to wirelessly stream 1080p film to HDTV. I know that the screen can show it on the laptop, but can it stream it?
- not for modern games, some mail, surfing and watching high quality videos in browser streamed to TV

So the questions:
- I never worked in OS before. If I don't like it, can I install windows and how will it work (battery, WiDi streaming to HDTV, general feel)
- if I watch a high quality film (mkv), or stream through the browser, can I watch it on my HDTV with no lags?
- I obviously won't have Croatian latin letters on the keyboard. Is it a problem?
- Finally, what version of Macbook Air 2013 do you recommend, in terms of RAM, SSD etc.

Thank you very much in advance.
 
Your top problem will be the screen, the Macs have glossy screens. If that's a top priority, you will have problems finding any laptop that you can work outdoors.

Wireless Video: The Mac will "mirror" the laptop screen to the TV paired with a $99 Apple TV box attached to the TV. Mirror = whatever is on the laptop screen is send to the TV, that means you cannot stream video and surf at the same time, it will be dedicated, UNLESS you are playing a video through iTunes, but iTunes videos are kind of restricted, it wants those video to be in a certain, specific format. Another option: Google's ChromeCast, I will let you google that one to find its limitations.

The rest of your requirement is fine.
 
I did not know that about the screen. I thought Macs have some anti-glare option. This is a drawback, I don't even know what other top notch quality matte ultrabooks are there.

So, that means that it is not possible to mirror 1080p video in that resolution, considering it needs to be downscaled to Air's resolution?
This applies to AirPlay and WiDi as well?

Stream and surf at the same time is no biggie, I can live without.
 
Mrbobb said:
Wireless Video: The Mac will "mirror" the laptop screen to the TV paired with a $99 Apple TV box attached to the TV. Mirror = whatever is on the laptop screen is send to the TV, that means you cannot stream video and surf at the same time, it will be dedicated, UNLESS you are playing a video through iTunes, but iTunes videos are kind of restricted, it wants those video to be in a certain, specific format. Another option: Google's ChromeCast, I will let you google that one to find its limitations.

The rest of your requirement is fine.
Click to expand...

You know you can actually extend your desktop with the AppleTV now with Mavericks.

Rainalkar said:
I did not know that about the screen. I thought Macs have some anti-glare option. This is a drawback, I don't even know what other top notch quality matte ultrabooks are there.

So, that means that it is not possible to mirror 1080p video in that resolution, considering it needs to be downscaled to Air's resolution?
This applies to AirPlay and WiDi as well?

Stream and surf at the same time is no biggie, I can live without.
Click to expand...
Yes, the screen is more glossy than most other computers, though the MBA is not as glossy compared to other MacBooks though.

You may stream 1080p wireless using an AppleTV (3rd generation). You may also extend or mirror your display to 1080p as well with the use of a Thunderbolt to HDMI cord. I use an external monitor and my AppleTV to extend my display and have no issues. Though if you are wireless, you should just AirPlay video as it will be less choppy.
 

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Mrbobb said:
Cool.

That maybe the first Maverick must-have feature that compels me to update.
Click to expand...
Mavericks finally does external monitors right...so I upgraded like 5 days after my buddy did. No regrets and is pretty stable.
 
Yes you can install any other OS, i.e. Windows, Linux...Either on a partition of the internal drive or external, as well as via virtualization Parallels Desktop, VM Ware Fusion or Virtual Box (free), obviously you will be the license of the OS.
About the language and the keyboard you can enable them any time when you configure it, the actual psychical keys will be the US keys but you can buy a keyboard cover that can have the characters you want.

----------

http://kbcovers.com/
 
For the version that you want to buy go for the full specs as the Mac Book Airs are not user upgradable so you will stick with whatever you get for the rest of its life, unless there are some solutions offer in sites like this:
www.macsales.com

Depending on your price range an the kind of trade off you are willing to accept weight/power the retina Mac Book Pro could be another alternative.
 
I just wanted to clarify, so AirPlay is sufficient with Mavericks OS now in case I want to:
1. Open a HD video in Chrome and stream it on the TV
2. At the same time continue surfing in other tabs/windows?

Or do I need Chromecast for this?

Macbook Pro is probably a bit too big, and I prefer the battery to the screen better. The price is a factor too.
 
As I understand you can use the AppleTV to use the TV screen as another display for your Mac running mavericks. I just got my AppleTV installed and so far it is one of the best Apple things I have bought. I haven't tested it with my Mac yet as it is still running Lion. Once I upgrade I will let you know.
But I mean yes, go for the Apple TV instead of Chromecast, unless you want to get both and try them.
Chromecast is still under development and is not so smooth so far (I have one), but it is promising as an alternative.
 
Would you be so nice to test Apple TV in a way as to try to stream to the TV a single browser tab (Chrome if possible) containing Flash video while at the same surfing in other(s)? And let me know how it went?

Thanks
 
Rainalkar said:
Would you be so nice to test Apple TV in a way as to try to stream to the TV a single browser tab (Chrome if possible) containing Flash video while at the same surfing in other(s)? And let me know how it went?

Thanks
Click to expand...
Well it seems that I would not be able to make the trial as my late 2008 MBP is not capable of AirPlay mirroring, what a sad realization.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1603134/
 
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