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Just got my new MBA fully loaded! Questions?

tweaknmod

tweaknmod

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 13, 2012
605
2,200
Ottawa, Ontario
I just recieved my new 13" 2012 MBA, i7, 8gb RAM, 500 HDD.

Just wondering if anyone has any questions or tests that they'd like me to try. I had a million questions before I got mine; some were answered, some weren't. I just wanted to extend some help to the community.

Let me know what you're wondering, if you're considering getting the fully loaded model. I'll do my best to answer :):)
 
Last edited:
Hi there, I am waiting for my 13" i7, 8GB,256SDD to be built and arrives hopefully within 2 weeks. 2 questions:
From out of box state, are there any programs/folders that should be deleted due to being unused by the average person?

2nd question... what is the best way to view files from a macair onto a tv.. ie: watching downloaded movies
 
goldenwog said:
Hi there, I am waiting for my 13" i7, 8GB,256SDD to be built and arrives hopefully within 2 weeks. 2 questions:
From out of box state, are there any programs/folders that should be deleted due to being unused by the average person?

2nd question... what is the best way to view files from a macair onto a tv.. ie: watching downloaded movies
Click to expand...

1st answer: garage band. I am big on doing a "spring cleaning" whenever i get a new computer. Honestly, this is the only one that I deleted right away. I don't make music at all and garage band is a hefty app... other than that, it's all pretty golden :)

2nd answer: PLEX! just google it :) it's free and by FAR the best app for all of your media needs. It will scan your media folder and download posters and meta-data automatically. It has a great interface and works beautifully with the apple remote :)

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bbchick said:
Congrats.

How many available gbs do you have straight out of the box?
Click to expand...

How do i test this? I'm happy to do so, I simply don't know how....

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pandaguy said:
This is an amazing idea! I would be willing to answer some too when I get it.
Click to expand...

Thanks!

I love how helpful everyone is in this community, so I just wanted to see if I could contribute for once, instead of only asking questions, lol

You're gonna LOVE it when you get it... I've owned a LOT of gadgets in my many years, and this is - hands-down - the BEST one. I couldn't be happier with my purchase :)
 
tweaknmod said:
1st answer: garage band. I am big on doing a "spring cleaning" whenever i get a new computer. Honestly, this is the only one that I deleted right away. I don't make music at all and garage band is a hefty app... other than that, it's all pretty golden :)

2nd answer: PLEX! just google it :) it's free and by FAR the best app for all of your media needs. It will scan your media folder and download posters and meta-data automatically. It has a great interface and works beautifully with the apple remote :)

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Hey mate, thanks for the info
How do you delete a program so that it is completely removed?
Click to expand...
 
goldenwog said:
tweaknmod said:
1st answer: garage band. I am big on doing a "spring cleaning" whenever i get a new computer. Honestly, this is the only one that I deleted right away. I don't make music at all and garage band is a hefty app... other than that, it's all pretty golden :)

2nd answer: PLEX! just google it :) it's free and by FAR the best app for all of your media needs. It will scan your media folder and download posters and meta-data automatically. It has a great interface and works beautifully with the apple remote :)

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Hey mate, thanks for the info
How do you delete a program so that it is completely removed?
Click to expand...


http://smallbusiness.chron.com/delete-garageband-mac-29847.html

:)

P.S. let me know what you think of Plex!
Click to expand...
 
bbchick said:
Go to Finder>Application>Utilities>Activity Monitor>Disk Usage

Then see how much free space.


Thanks.
Click to expand...

OH! I thought it was GB per second, lol...

How may gigs free out of the box? Sorry, I don't know... I've already installed a few apps, etc. Wish I could have been a help...
 
goldenwog said:
Hi there, I am waiting for my 13" i7, 8GB,256SDD to be built and arrives hopefully within 2 weeks. 2 questions:
From out of box state, are there any programs/folders that should be deleted due to being unused by the average person?

2nd question... what is the best way to view files from a macair onto a tv.. ie: watching downloaded movies
Click to expand...

You can also save a few GB by removing languages you'll never use. I left all of the english variants and saved about 2 and a half gigs. Google Monolingual.
Supposedly you can remove a bunch of the printer drivers to save more space, but that seems a bit much IMO.
 
awesome!


I just got the same build two days ago at the apple store! I really love it, I had the retina for about a week and switched to the air! I like it a lot.
 
tweaknmod said:
I just recieved my new 2012 MBA, i7, 8gb RAM, 500 HDD.

Just wondering if anyone has any questions or tests that they'd like me to try. I had a million questions before I got mine; some were answered, some weren't. I just wanted to extend some help to the community.

Let me know what you're wondering, if you're considering getting the fully loaded model. I'll do my best to answer :):)
Click to expand...

Awesome.. I'm seriously considering getting one..I'm a big time road warrior and live on Excel Spreadsheets and Powerpoints.. My concern is how do these apps look on an 11"?? Enough real estate to work with?? How about in full screen?? Let me know your thoughts if possible..

TIA
 
slaphotk said:
Awesome.. I'm seriously considering getting one..I'm a big time road warrior and live on Excel Spreadsheets and Powerpoints.. My concern is how do these apps look on an 11"?? Enough real estate to work with?? How about in full screen?? Let me know your thoughts if possible..

TIA
Click to expand...

Sorry, I forgot to mention in the initial post (I'll edit it now), but I have the 13" not the 11". I found the 11" too small for my uses when I tinkered with it at the store.

My suggestion would be to go to your local Apple store or Futureshop and get your hands on one. Maybe even log in to your mail account and open up a spreadsheet and see what you think.

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pandaguy said:
I.will come back to this thread and answer the question as soonas I pick it up from FedEx today.
Click to expand...

It's gonna be a good day for you, my friend :)
 
slaphotk said:
Awesome.. I'm seriously considering getting one..I'm a big time road warrior and live on Excel Spreadsheets and Powerpoints.. My concern is how do these apps look on an 11"?? Enough real estate to work with?? How about in full screen?? Let me know your thoughts if possible..

TIA
Click to expand...

I have an 11" Air, and I use Excel from time to time. The screen is just barely adequate for Excel, which is surprising since my 15" work laptop has almost the same resolution. I think the culprit is the 16:9 screen rather than the 16:10 most laptops have. 1366x768 is great for watching movies, and fine for web surfing, but the 1200x800 on my 15" laptop is preferable for Excel (even though the blurriness hurts my eyes). Those 32 extra vertical pixels matter much more than I expected them to. I mitigate it as much as I can by having the dock on the side, and using as few toolbars as I can. If your spreadsheets aren't too long it might be ok - best to try before you buy. Put something on a USB stick and take it to an Apple store.

I can't help with Powerpoint, I don't have much use for it.
 
rbrian said:
I have an 11" Air, and I use Excel from time to time. The screen is just barely adequate for Excel, which is surprising since my 15" work laptop has almost the same resolution. I think the culprit is the 16:9 screen rather than the 16:10 most laptops have. 1366x768 is great for watching movies, and fine for web surfing, but the 1200x800 on my 15" laptop is preferable for Excel (even though the blurriness hurts my eyes). Those 32 extra vertical pixels matter much more than I expected them to. I mitigate it as much as I can by having the dock on the side, and using as few toolbars as I can. If your spreadsheets aren't too long it might be ok - best to try before you buy. Put something on a USB stick and take it to an Apple store.

I can't help with Powerpoint, I don't have much use for it.
Click to expand...

Great feedback..Would love to hear from other 11" Air users and their experience with Excel and Powerpoint.. My head says 13" my heart says 11"..Work requirements are a priority and portability (I travel every week) are a priority as well.. At least 50% of the time I'm on regional jets etc..
 
slaphotk said:
Great feedback..Would love to hear from other 11" Air users and their experience with Excel and Powerpoint.. My head says 13" my heart says 11"..Work requirements are a priority and portability (I travel every week) are a priority as well.. At least 50% of the time I'm on regional jets etc..
Click to expand...

13" is plenty of portability plus the resolution would benefit a ton if you're on the road a lot doing productivity for work. I think the 13" is the sweet spot.
 
Hakone said:
13" is plenty of portability plus the resolution would benefit a ton if you're on the road a lot doing productivity for work. I think the 13" is the sweet spot.
Click to expand...

I still love my 11", and for portability, it's practically perfect. Barely bigger than an iPad closed, and a real laptop open. If I had to use it for work though, I think I'd get the 13" just for the increased resolution. Now if they could find a way to shrink the bezel and fit a 12" or 13" screen in the 11" chassis, that would be perfect! It'll be interesting to see what happens in a year or two when retina displays make their way to the Air...
 
rbrian said:
I still love my 11", and for portability, it's practically perfect. Barely bigger than an iPad closed, and a real laptop open. If I had to use it for work though, I think I'd get the 13" just for the increased resolution. Now if they could find a way to shrink the bezel and fit a 12" or 13" screen in the 11" chassis, that would be perfect! It'll be interesting to see what happens in a year or two when retina displays make their way to the Air...
Click to expand...

Agreed. I wish the bezels could be black; I think it gives an illusion that the scren is bigger than it really is.
 
rbrian said:
It should be possible, look at all the new TVs! Samsung started it a year or so ago, now they're all at it. Any TV with a bezel as thick as that on an Air looks prehistoric next to one of the new LGs or Samsungs...
Click to expand...

The thinner the bezel the tighter spot to put the edge-LEDs. Usually the thinnest frame doesn't provide the panel with the least backlight-bleeding.

Putting the LEDs on the back would result in a thicker lid. Not sure if we want that.

Get used to the bezel! Embrace it and love it!

Edit: I'm sure with OLED panels in the future, the bezels will be able to shrink a whole lot.
 
Wokis said:
Get used to the bezel! Embrace it and love it!
Click to expand...

I am used to it, but I can't embrace it, and I don't love it. I was used to a CRT TV with a 4" bezel, I was used to a fat brick of a Nokia dumb phone, I'm used to the monstrous 4" thick Panasonic Toughbook I have to use for work.

I gladly swapped the CRT for an LCD with a (at the time) narrow 2" bezel, the fat Nokia for a slim iPhone, and I can't wait until I can heave that 5.5Kg boat anchor of a Toughbook to the bottom of the ocean!

The trouble with reading science fiction and tech blogs is that it makes me realise that even tough we're living in the future, the future just isn't quite ready yet.
 
At any point in your ownership of the 2012 ultimate 13" air, have you run across the spinning rainbow beachball? This normally occurs when the system is accessing something large or low memory.
 
SoIsays said:
At any point in your ownership of the 2012 ultimate 13" air, have you run across the spinning rainbow beachball? This normally occurs when the system is accessing something large or low memory.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've had it twice so far.. I had quite a few things going on so I'm not concerned.

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By the way: The battery life is awesome, but the really impressive thing for me is how fast it charges. 12% - 80% in ~20min (one episode of community, lol)
 
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