Is there anyone else still using the original MBA?

[WoodNUFC]

I bought my Rev A MBA back in April 2009 from the Refurb store. Excluding the battery, everything has been replaced at least once since I've owned it. (Yay AppleCare ) Even with so many things needing replaced, it has been a great machine and I love it dearly!

Is there anyone else on the forum still using their Rev A machines on a daily basis?

 

[luisjoujr]

Shortly after the 12" Powerbook was discontinued I decided to switch to mac. I definitely wanted a small computer, so I waited until apple released something light that I could carry anywhere.

I've been using the RevA MBA since Feb'08, taking it to and from the university everyday, virtualizing Windows XP to run simulation software for electronics, traveling with it along the world and using it as my only computer.

During this 4.5 years I had to replace the following parts: power adaptor, upper lid (monitor & hinge), audio flex cable and hard drive (upgraded to a SSD!). All of them I did by myself except the upper lid because it was a defect acknowledged by Apple.

For the last year or so, the computer has been running considerably warmer and slower (due to core shutdown). It's not a problem with an additional cooling fan underneath the laptop, but these days the summer has set in (specially here in Spain) and it's a real pain to work in such a sluggish machine. So when the revamped MBA appeared I decided it was time to update it.

I ordered a 11"/8GB/128GB within 24h after the keynote, and I'm still waiting for it, it's supposed to arrive on the 28th (yeah, we Europeans are second class clients for Apple ). When it arrives, and after leaving it ready to work, I'll open one more time the old MBA in order to try to repair it so I can sell it for a couple of hundred €. As I've read in other posts, it's "just" a matter of cleaning the fan and replacing the thermal paste .

Overall, I've been quite happy with the basic RevA MBA. Maybe not a perfect product but it definitely gave me more than any other computer brand at that time could offer me: a laptop with a 100% keyboard at a light weight with a great OS.

 

[riveting]

The rev. A MBA is both remarkable and faulty. Remarkable in design (way ahead on 2008) but faulty in heat management. I am still using it till a few month ago, for which I was ready to upgrade the SSD, but ultimately decide to sell it and upgrade to a brand new 2011 MBA. I don't want it to become a paper weight later when nobody want it. At least I got $600 out of it even though the resell value is not as good as 13 pros. I believe the MBA would be still quite serviceble if I upgraded it to SSD, but again, it is an investment in old tech and I keep reading third party SSD problems so I decide to upgrade.

I think if Apple went with ultra low voltage processor instead of low voltage processor, it will be much better.

 

[bananafranco]

I can relate to your love. The 1st gen 13" served me well. I got it when my boss dropped it hard and shattered the screen. An official repair was too costly so I took it home, bought a cheap screen and repaired it.

At first I was underwhelmed because of heat issues and the resulting core shutdown but after reapplying thermal paste and using coolbook this was less of an issue. Half a year ago I replaced the 80Gig hard drive with an after marked SSD and upgraded to lion. Heatwise it's still A-OK.

I mainly use it for listening to audiobooks / web browsing at home and it's my laptop of choice when traveling / visiting my parents. This easter holiday I filmed my niece with my iPhone 4 and together we edited the movie in Adobe Premiere. Of course it wasn't the best experience but I was still impressed what this machine is capable of.

Yesterday I ordered a mid 2012 / 13" / i5 / 8GB / 256GB Air but the 1st gen is far from retired.

The new one is replacing my current work laptop which is a 15" late 2008 MacBook Pro with 250Gig SSD and 500GIG HD as Superdrive replacement.