Is this for me ?? - MacBook Air 11-inch 64GB 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo

[bandofbrothers]

Hi ,

Be gentle with me as this is my first post regarding a MacBook Air.

Ive been a windows user for all my computer literate life and now after buying the iphone 4, Ive been drawn into the idevices world and currently loving it.

In the title thread Ive named a macbook air Ive seen which is within my price bracket.

One of my questions is about the 64gb flash storage ie: will it be large enough.

With windows we are forever being hit by updates.
What happens with the macbook air ?

I use my current notebook for;

General surfing of the internet.
Occasional utube viewing and watching films Ive downloaded.
itunes which is only currently at 1.25gb.

Will I be able to use utorrent.
See flash driven internet pages.
Use the external cd/dvd drive i currently use with my windows notebook.
I currently use outlook to sync with my iphone 4 so would this also work on the mac.

Could someone compile a pro's and con's between what im using now, windows 7 on a 128gb samsung n150 plus notebook to the macbook air im interested in.

Thank you for any help and advice.

 

[matbook101]

I think it will work pretty well for you but you should probably bump the drive to 128GB. Don't forget about student the discount if you are a student though.

EDIT: Oh, you were talking about the used/refurbished 2010 models. Nevermind.

 

[ZBoater]

I too am new to Macs, so I would definitely not recommend that one. If you are new to Macs, go with a new model with OS X Lion. It will be one less thing to worry about when you get hooked (like I did ) having to then learn a new OS. You can get a base 11" model for $999 or less with student discount, although I would recommend upgrading the disk space if you also plan on running Windows.

I run Windows in both dual boot mode and in a virtual machine inside OS X (using Parallels). The MBA runs Windows better than just about any laptop out there today. It works great. But I find myself booting less and less into Windows as I am growing very fond of OS X Lion.

Good luck and welcome to the Dark side!!!

 

[wrinkster22]

While I assume you where referring to this:
http://store.apple.com/ca/product/FC505LL/A?mco=MjA2NTk3NzA
I thought you would benefit off something like this more:http://store.apple.com/ca/product/FC207LL/A?mco=MTU5MjkwMjk

Allthough it is 100$ more, your HD is 4 times larger.

 

[ZBoater]

After tasting SSD, I will never ever ever ever recommend a spinning hard drive on a laptop or desktop EVER. The difference between a spinning hard drive and a SSD in terms of performance and user experience is like comparing a Prius with a Corvette. Or maybe an Expedition with a Corvette (being spinning hard drives do offer more space ). But the responsiveness of the system with a SSD is just amazing. Simply amazing. I'd give up space just to have my system drive be a SSD.

But that's me.

 

[bandofbrothers]

No im not a student so no discount for me !

Im in the uk.

So what operating system is on the one ive come across ?

The reviews ive read say its ok as a 2010 model.

 

[ZBoater]

No im not a student so no discount for me !

Im in the uk.

So what operating system is on the one ive come across ?

The reviews ive read say its ok as a 2010 model.

If its a C2D. it originally came with Snow Leopard, but I don't know if a refurb bought from Apple will be upgraded to Lion.

 

[bandofbrothers]

If its a C2D. it originally came with Snow Leopard, but I don't know if a refurb bought from Apple will be upgraded to Lion.

No its not a refurb from apple.

Its a brand new sealed one from an apple premuim reseller highstreet in the uk.

If it has snow leopard on it would I be able to put the os x lion onto it if I wanted to, or do I really need to ?

Im really wanting to make sure 64gb is large enough for my basic needs.

Thanks to everyone thus far for your help especially to ZBoater for the welcome to the dark side...lol

 

[ZBoater]

No its not a refurb from apple.

Its a brand new sealed one from an apple premuim reseller highstreet in the uk.

If it has snow leopard on it would I be able to put the os x lion onto it if I wanted to, or do I really need to ?

Im really wanting to make sure 64gb is large enough for my basic needs.

Thanks to everyone thus far for your help especially to ZBoater for the welcome to the dark side...lol

You are going to like it over here. Its a lot more fun!

If you plan to run Windows, 64GB might be a bit tight. It can be done, but it will be tight.

Yes, you can put OS X Lion on it, its about $30 I think at the Apple App Store. You don't NEED to, but its like running Windows Vista when Windows 7 is already out. Actually a lot of stuff is broken because Lion is so new, but if I were getting a new PC I'd rather get the new OS rather than the old one, especially if its a new OS I have no experience with. If I am going to learn something, I want to learn the latest. But a LOT of people are very happy with Snow Leopard, and Windows will run alongside it just fine.

 

[bandofbrothers]

Thanks for all the help.

well it looks like the 64gb will be ample for my light needs and at least I wont be bombarded by updates the windows platform is plagued with.

I think I'll be ok with the snow leopard to begin with and then move up if I feel the need.

Time to take a walk on the wild side and visit the shop in the morning {its 22:04 here in the uk !}, to have a play with a demo model.

 

[Brandon0448]

No its not a refurb from apple.

Its a brand new sealed one from an apple premuim reseller highstreet in the uk.

If it has snow leopard on it would I be able to put the os x lion onto it if I wanted to, or do I really need to ?

Im really wanting to make sure 64gb is large enough for my basic needs.

Thanks to everyone thus far for your help especially to ZBoater for the welcome to the dark side...lol

You can easily manage with 64 gigs if you don't store a lot of music, videos and games on it. I got the 256 gig because I love to have my entire iTunes library where ever I go. But I would still recommend at least the 128 gig drive just in case.

 

[johnadams2007]

i also recommend the 128gb model. the extra storage will come in handy with a windows 7 install. i'm loving my 2010 128gb air. compared to my m11x...the air is lighter, looks better, is higher quality, screen is better, and it games just as good. hope you enjoy yours!

 

[iphonsteve4ajob]

After tasting SSD, I will never ever ever ever recommend a spinning hard drive on a laptop or desktop EVER. The difference between a spinning hard drive and a SSD in terms of performance and user experience is like comparing a Prius with a Corvette. Or maybe an Expedition with a Corvette (being spinning hard drives do offer more space ). But the responsiveness of the system with a SSD is just amazing. Simply amazing. I'd give up space just to have my system drive be a SSD.

But that's me.

What he said! I would sacrifice space any day for an SSD.

 

[Cheffy Dave]

Welcome Zboater!

I too am new to Macs, so I would definitely not recommend that one. If you are new to Macs, go with a new model with OS X Lion. It will be one less thing to worry about when you get hooked (like I did ) having to then learn a new OS. You can get a base 11" model for $999 or less with student discount, although I would recommend upgrading the disk space if you also plan on running Windows.

I run Windows in both dual boot mode and in a virtual machine inside OS X (using Parallels). The MBA runs Windows better than just about any laptop out there today. It works great. But I find myself booting less and less into Windows as I am growing very fond of OS X Lion.

Good luck and welcome to the Dark side!!!

Been noticing your posts ,last week or so, never knew you were a "newbie".Welcome to the forums, and the wonderful world of Apple!

 

[barebackbadger8]

Thanks for all the help.

well it looks like the 64gb will be ample for my light needs and at least I wont be bombarded by updates the windows platform is plagued with.

I think I'll be ok with the snow leopard to begin with and then move up if I feel the need.

Time to take a walk on the wild side and visit the shop in the morning {its 22:04 here in the uk !}, to have a play with a demo model.

not sure on your budget buddy, but i recently got my MBP from bestbuy and got a good £100 off
here is the macbook air, with the 128gb ssd for £899
http://www.bestbuy.co.uk/product/10...-laptop---intel-core-i5-128gb-4gb-memory.aspx

 

[Dominus Mortem]

It's not the processor that I'd worry about so much as the lack of ram (I'm assuming this one comes with 2gb) and the 64gb SSD. You can't use the SD card trick to increase storage space on the 11" either. The basic APs, OS and the mandator scratch spaces takes up around 8gb or more. You start out with 50 some gb. The general rule of thumb is to calculate the maximum space you think you will ever need (I mean for the length of time you plan to own the laptop) and double that. So if you think you'll need 50gb max, get 100gb. You always tend to use more than you think you will.

What if your needs change even a little bit in the future? Are you going to sell this one and buy a more powerful one? If there's even a possibility that your needs may change it will be cheaper to get a more advanced one now. I feel that no matter how light you think your usage will be that you should strongly consider 4gb ram and 128gb SSD. The machine will use 1.2 to 1.4gb of memory before you load up a single problem so I think 2gb of ram is not enough.

 

[ZBoater]

I feel that no matter how light you think your usage will be that you should strongly consider 4gb ram and 128gb SSD. The machine will use 1.2 to 1.4gb of memory before you load up a single problem so I think 2gb of ram is not enough.

I think this is good advice.

 

[richpjr]

I guess it depends on how good of a deal you are getting, but as others mentioned, you are stuck with the RAM so I'd think long and hard about that.

 

[njsa04playa]

It's not the processor that I'd worry about so much as the lack of ram (I'm assuming this one comes with 2gb) and the 64gb SSD. You can't use the SD card trick to increase storage space on the 11" either. The basic APs, OS and the mandator scratch spaces takes up around 8gb or more. You start out with 50 some gb. The general rule of thumb is to calculate the maximum space you think you will ever need (I mean for the length of time you plan to own the laptop) and double that. So if you think you'll need 50gb max, get 100gb. You always tend to use more than you think you will.

What if your needs change even a little bit in the future? Are you going to sell this one and buy a more powerful one? If there's even a possibility that your needs may change it will be cheaper to get a more advanced one now. I feel that no matter how light you think your usage will be that you should strongly consider 4gb ram and 128gb SSD. The machine will use 1.2 to 1.4gb of memory before you load up a single problem so I think 2gb of ram is not enough.

this my sir is true!

 

[bandofbrothers]

So is there any programme I will not be able to use such as u torrent etc.

Will outlook download ok uing the external drive i already own.

Any compatability issues whatsoever ?