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Help convince me 4GB RAM & 128GB SSD is enough

R

Resqu2

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 23, 2011
870
306
I am really wanting a new MBA, I just want to order the base 13" model ($1099) and not add to the cost. I already have a MBP thats a few years old but loaded and a loaded IMac. The only uses for my new machine will be web, email, messaging, pages and numbers. It will be used at home, work and my Fire Dept so it will travel all the time with me basically.

Is the 128gb SSD drive enough? all my docs and spreadsheets stay in the cloud in either Skydrive or Dropbox. I'm not planning on pics, music or movies for this machine.

Is the 4gb ram enough? I have at most 2-3 tabs in Safari open or Pages and Numbers running at the same time.

I have no plans for Windows on this rig but may end up needing the Mac version of Word & Excel if switching to only Pages and Numbers doesn't work out to well.

Thanks for any advice, I realize you need to buy all the machine you can up front but if I don't have to have bigger then I don't wanna pay more as money is an issue on this purchase. Im also not concerned about future proofing this machine as once its set up as listed its going to stay that way.
 
1. I went through the same decision process you are about a week ago. I made the move from my MacBook Pro w/ 4GB and 256GB HD.

As for the storage, I literally had no space left, but storage is so cheap now that it's easy to skimp here. I have everything from my old comp on an external. How often am I really listening to iTunes anymore? I'm all spotify now anyway. On memory, I wasn't seeing any significant problems with my Pro at 4GB so I can't figure on needing to upgrade now just for the sake of doing it.

2. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/983421-REG/apple_md760ll_a_13_3_macbook_air_notebook.html

Why order the base model at $1,099 plus taxes for a total of almost 1200 instead of $974.99 with free shipping and no sales tax if you live outside NY! Mine is on the truck for delivery as we speak. I had no hesitation once I saw this deal. Also, that deal comes with a free copy of Parallels, pretty solid for sub-1000.
 
This is the exact setup that I have and it works just fine for me. I have not run into memory consumption problems. The only real difference between what you've stated and what I do is that I use Chrome instead of Safari.
 
All these "4GB enough?" posts make me chuckle as just over a year ago I was on a 512MB Celeron and yes it dragged big time.

Is fine.
 
Thanks for easing my mind guys, thought it would be ok but its always good to get some reassurance from ones that have the machine.
 
Resqu2 said:
I am really wanting a new MBA, I just want to order the base 13" model ($1099) and not add to the cost. I already have a MBP thats a few years old but loaded and a loaded IMac. The only uses for my new machine will be web, email, messaging, pages and numbers. It will be used at home, work and my Fire Dept so it will travel all the time with me basically.

Is the 128gb SSD drive enough? all my docs and spreadsheets stay in the cloud in either Skydrive or Dropbox. I'm not planning on pics, music or movies for this machine.

Is the 4gb ram enough? I have at most 2-3 tabs in Safari open or Pages and Numbers running at the same time.

I have no plans for Windows on this rig but may end up needing the Mac version of Word & Excel if switching to only Pages and Numbers doesn't work out to well.

Thanks for any advice, I realize you need to buy all the machine you can up front but if I don't have to have bigger then I don't wanna pay more as money is an issue on this purchase. Im also not concerned about future proofing this machine as once its set up as listed its going to stay that way.
Click to expand...

I bought the 128 4 gig and I'm thrilled with it. It's fast, robust and a joy to use. I do all the normal things and quite a bit of photo editing. No problems at all.
 
Sounds like you could easily get by. My first two Airs were set up similarly and I have no issues with similar usage.

Best Buy had a nice deal going on the base model. Not sure if it's still going. Refurb store, as mentioned, is an excellent way to save some cash. There is nothing wrong with a refurb what so ever. Same warranty and all. Many consider them to be 'better' due to the QC they go through before being sent out.

Used is also an option. CL is a good start.
 
Mrbobb said:
All these "4GB enough?" posts make me chuckle as just over a year ago I was on a 512MB Celeron and yes it dragged big time.

Is fine.
Click to expand...

I just recently upgraded my grandfather off of a Dell OptiPlex 740. When he got it, it had 128MB. I upgraded it to 2GB about two years ago. He likes Dell so I got him an OptiPlex 390 and he loves it.
 
It's probably ok, but I would strongly recommend getting the 8GB RAM upgrade, it's going to prolong the life of the machine considerably. 128GB SSD is fine, as you can use external drives. The RAM memory is non-expandable.
 
I have a 6 years old iMac with 2GB RAM, and i use it frequently for word processing, spreadsheet and web browsing. In fact it handles those adequately.

Even the base MBA would blow it out of the water in terms of performance.
 
Resqu2 said:
I am really wanting a new MBA, I just want to order the base 13" model ($1099) and not add to the cost. I already have a MBP thats a few years old but loaded and a loaded IMac. The only uses for my new machine will be web, email, messaging, pages and numbers. It will be used at home, work and my Fire Dept so it will travel all the time with me basically.

Is the 128gb SSD drive enough? all my docs and spreadsheets stay in the cloud in either Skydrive or Dropbox. I'm not planning on pics, music or movies for this machine.

Is the 4gb ram enough? I have at most 2-3 tabs in Safari open or Pages and Numbers running at the same time.

I have no plans for Windows on this rig but may end up needing the Mac version of Word & Excel if switching to only Pages and Numbers doesn't work out to well.

Thanks for any advice, I realize you need to buy all the machine you can up front but if I don't have to have bigger then I don't wanna pay more as money is an issue on this purchase. Im also not concerned about future proofing this machine as once its set up as listed its going to stay that way.
Click to expand...

100% fine!!!!
 
is 128gb enough..???

orry I'm new here so I'm posting here cuz i dont know what to do srry

anyways, would 128gb flash be enough for everyday use, word documents (quite a lot) powerpoint (a fair bit) and probably excel (not too much)

but, i also play LOL and mine craft quite a bit (not too much) and some small games from the mac app store...

oh and it (the mbp) has 4gb ram and is 13 in...just saying

again, srry I'm really new here and really needed answers so i just had to post here sorry
lolmac14 is online now Report Post
 
lolmac14 said:
orry I'm new here so I'm posting here cuz i dont know what to do srry

anyways, would 128gb flash be enough for everyday use, word documents (quite a lot) powerpoint (a fair bit) and probably excel (not too much)

but, i also play LOL and mine craft quite a bit (not too much) and some small games from the mac app store...

oh and it (the mbp) has 4gb ram and is 13 in...just saying

again, srry I'm really new here and really needed answers so i just had to post here sorry
lolmac14 is online now Report Post
Click to expand...


yes...plenty of space for your needs
 
I'm using a older 2010 MacBook Pro right now with 4GB of RAM on Mavericks; I have a dozen tabs and windows open along with Photoshop and Lightroom running. It's running surprisingly well.
 
alphaod said:
I'm using a older 2010 MacBook Pro right now with 4GB of RAM on Mavericks; I have a dozen tabs and windows open along with Photoshop and Lightroom running. It's running surprisingly well.
Click to expand...

Do you know if 128gb is good enough for league of legends??? What if the file expands
 
I am a developer and needs heaps of power. My old MBA with 4Gb RAM and 250Gb SSD was fine. When i ran Virtual Machines it struggled a little but was still OK. I have just upgraded to a new MBA with 8Gb of RAM and 500Gb SSD only because my old MBA died from abuse (multiple spills and drops). So far I can not really see much difference in performances (I also opted for the faster CPU) but i have yet to load up Photoshop or Parallels. That is when i expect to see a difference.

From your description of use go with the basic unit. If you need more space later just buy some plugin USB drives.

Resqu2 said:
I am really wanting a new MBA, I just want to order the base 13" model ($1099) and not add to the cost. I already have a MBP thats a few years old but loaded and a loaded IMac. The only uses for my new machine will be web, email, messaging, pages and numbers. It will be used at home, work and my Fire Dept so it will travel all the time with me basically.

Is the 128gb SSD drive enough? all my docs and spreadsheets stay in the cloud in either Skydrive or Dropbox. I'm not planning on pics, music or movies for this machine.

Is the 4gb ram enough? I have at most 2-3 tabs in Safari open or Pages and Numbers running at the same time.

I have no plans for Windows on this rig but may end up needing the Mac version of Word & Excel if switching to only Pages and Numbers doesn't work out to well.

Thanks for any advice, I realize you need to buy all the machine you can up front but if I don't have to have bigger then I don't wanna pay more as money is an issue on this purchase. Im also not concerned about future proofing this machine as once its set up as listed its going to stay that way.
Click to expand...
 
socvis said:
I have just upgraded to a new MBA [...] So far I can not really see much difference in performances
Click to expand...

My experience is really very similar, going from a 2011 i5/4gb/256gb MBA to 2013 i7/8gb/512gb MBA. Rendering is noticably faster in Final Cut Pro and latency dropped from 13ms to 8ms in Logic Pro. But for the "normal" day to day stuff like the web, mail, iTunes, MS Office, etc. I see very little difference.
 
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