Keep Mac book or get Air?

[blueribbonroy]

I have a Mac Book from the aluminum uni-body series, it runs great and I have no problem with it. However I am a grad student now, and I walk to school a lot, and last semester I was really bummed lugging it around in my bag everyday.
I am thinking about selling it and getting a Mac Book Air. The questions I have for the form are this. Am I going to notice/miss a change in performance, and will I be able to get by and do the same things I enjoy now, with the Air as my sole computer? Such as watching netflix youtube etc. And how much could I expect to get for the Mac Book on Craigslist? I have a large external hard drive that I already keep my music files on. Also I plan on upgrading to a wireless version soon.
Thanks for your opinions!

 

[Alaerian]

Am I going to notice/miss a change in performance, and will I be able to get by and do the same things I enjoy now, with the Air as my sole computer? Such as watching netflix youtube etc.

We need more information here in addition to "watching netflix youtube etc." What software do you run? How often and for how long? How often do you use your machine? Where do you use it?

And how much could I expect to get for the Mac Book on Craigslist?

$400? $3000? $700? $1600?
We can't make an estimate without knowing specific details of the machine. Do you mean an Aluminum MacBook, or a MacBook Pro?

 

[tmagman]

no you will not see a decrease in performance. You will see a substantial increase actually, if not for the reason alone that the processors is 3 years newer, but also the fact that the air has the SSD. Go check out the geekbench scores and see how high the airs rank. The i7 air from 2011 outdoes my mid 2010 macbook pro even. It'll be a great switch for you.

 

[Alaerian]

no you will not see a decrease in performance. You will see a substantial increase actually, if not for the reason alone that the processors is 3 years newer, but also the fact that the air has the SSD. Go check out the geekbench scores and see how high the airs rank. The i7 air from 2011 outdoes my mid 2010 macbook pro even. It'll be a great switch for you.

How, exactly, do you know, considering he has provided absolutely zero information about his machine?

If he's running netflix, youtube, and Pages, then I doubt he'll see any performance increase.

 

[tmagman]

How, exactly, do you know, considering he has provided absolutely zero information about his machine?

If he's running netflix, youtube, and Pages, then I doubt he'll see any performance increase.

a new machine will of course be zippier at even the most basic operations. Its that simple. Try opening a web browser on a 5 year old machine vs machine today.

 

[Alaerian]

So, you're advising him to buy a new machine, based on the fact that an internet browser is going to open one tenth of a second faster?

Sound logic to me.

OP, please don't listen to this guy. We need more information to actually assess whether or not an upgrade would be a sound idea.

 

[blueribbonroy]

I use my computer for tasks in office, spread sheets writing, and maybe photoshop once in a while. I watch a lot of videos on my mac as well netflix, youtube etc. and using the camera for web chatting. I like to tkae notes on my mac in class in, and use PDF to do notation, potentially a lot.

Hardware Overview:

Model Name: MacBook
Model Identifier: MacBook5,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version: MB51.007D.B03
SMC Version (system): 1.32f8
Serial Number (system): WQ84591R1AQ
Hardware UUID: F850754B-4B57-5B62-AFF2-BA5E2A6C67CD
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State: Enabled

 

[Alaerian]

If you're keen on spending the money on a new machine, then a MacBook Air sounds like it would be fine. With your light usage, it's not going to make that much of a difference.

As far as the value of your old machine, check Mac2Sell.

 

[Kungshi]

I went from a macbook to an air. For the purpose of weight and portability, it was the best move to make. For you, as long as you have a solution for your lack of hard drive space (such as an external drive) then the air should more than be sufficient for your needs.

 

[Michael383]

Based on your usage and not wanting to carry a heavier computer around, an MBA looks like a good choice.

 

[chrismacguy]

Id get a MacBook Air. I've had several as a student and I love them to death. Much better than the White MacBook I carted around for several years prior.

 

[blueribbonroy]

Ok!

I ended up getting the Air. I actually got one from best buy, and there was a sale, also the one I got had been returned, so I ended up saving quite a bit of money (plus no interest on my bestbuy card for 18mo) I am instantly glad I got it as I can tell it is infinitely, more portable than the macbook. Plus with the money I saved I think I am going to be able to keep it!
Thanks every one who weighed in!