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maddawg46

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 28, 2008
7
1
Central California
I have a 2006 Mac Book Pro. Its just gotten too old and slow and is not compatible with certain functions. I never used it at its potential. The battery is dead if you take it off the charger. I was thinking of an Air. All I foo is serf web, store photos from Camera and do online bill paying and banking. I did have microsoft Office for Mac installed on my pro. I don't need a Pro. Is the air what I need. I am not anal about the display. I want to keep it for sometime. I will be traveling in our motorhome with it.
So whats your opinion. I also have an iPad Mini, and an iPad Air.

Sometimes you need a computer for the online bill paying that an iPad won't work.
 
Do you really need (or want) macOS/OS X? If the answer is yes then definitely get an Air. The display is fine, you can get one for cheap, battery life for 2013 version and later is amazing, and the Macbook Air has just enough ports to be flexible. I use my Macbook Air as a full desktop now hooked up to 2 external displays, keyboard and a mouse (this took some hubs and adapters but it works).

Try to find a refurb or a good deal from Best Buy though. I wouldn't buy an Air full price right now but they are still great machines. I used my 2013 13" Macbook Air all through grad school (Biomedical PhD) and it handled everything I needed including adobe illustrator/photoshop, VMs for windows only programs, very large excel files, and scientific image analysis software (imageJ). I'm still using it now to learn web development and no issues there either.
 
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Do you really need (or want) macOS/OS X? If the answer is yes then definitely get an Air. The display is fine, you can get one for cheap, battery life for 2013 version and later is amazing, and the Macbook Air has just enough ports to be flexible. I use my Macbook Air as a full desktop now hooked up to 2 external displays, keyboard and a mouse (this took some hubs and adapters but it works).

Try to find a refurb or a good deal from Best Buy though. I wouldn't buy an Air full price right now but they are still great machines. I used my 2013 13" Macbook Air all through grad school (Biomedical PhD) and it handled everything I needed including adobe illustrator/photoshop, VMs for windows only programs, very large excel files, and scientific image analysis software (imageJ). I'm still using it now to learn web development and no issues there either.

Thanks for the reply. My wife upgraded her Mac Book Pro with a lot newer operating system. Its very slow now. Barely can get by with minor tasks. Guess I could buy a new battery for it. I saw a web site "Mac of all trades" Is that a good place to get a refurbished one? I don't know a lot about this sort of thing. I did buy a refurbed iPad Air from Apple. Saaved some, but the real reason was that i figured they get tested a lot before sale. The new ones aren't tested at all.
 
Aside from battery, first thing I would swap is the hard-drive. Most computers within the last 10 years can feel like new with a simple SSD. I remembered swapping the hard drive in my old plastic MacBook, and it felt like a new computer. Hard-drives are usually the primary bottleneck.
 
I saw a web site "Mac of all trades" Is that a good place to get a refurbished one?

I know that they call their Macs "refurbished" but don't think that has the same meaning as an Apple refurbished Mac. And they certainly don't have Apple standing behind them with a one year warranty. The only refurbs I would buy are from Apple. http://www.apple.com/shop/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/macbook_air

The only problem with them can be the price. Since Apple has a "physical presence" in my state, I have to pay sales tax on all purchases. It depends on the specific product, but with something as expensive as a computer, that usually wipes out any cost advantage to purchasing a refurb. Was just looking at this the other day, and it was actually cheaper to buy a new MBA from B&H Photo than the same refurb from Apple. I wouldn't have to pay sales tax with B&H and they also have free next day shipping to my location.

So, like anything else, you need to shop around and compare...
 
I've used Mac of all Trades. I haven't had a problem with their computers, but the physical appearance wasn't perfect. They are also a bit on the pricey side for a used Mac. You do get a 90 day warranty, which is okay for peace of mind.

They are nowhere near the quality of Apple refurbished. Apple refurbished is my main method of buying Macs.
 
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