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memberako

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 17, 2008
38
0
I'm considering buying a Macbook Air and I'm not sure if it's worth it to get the 1.8 processor for 300 bucks. Would the speed difference be noticeable?
 
I certainly do not think that the 1.8 is worth the $300 extra. If you really need the extra power than you should not even be looking at the air and just get the pro.
The 1.6 is fast enough for most tasks though and assuming your not trying to do anything high end it should suit you well.
 
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Ok. Thanks.
 
yeah, I'd say it's nice for some bragging rights and that feeling that you have the fastest available, but really you will see very little difference. Unless you cough up for the SSD the hard drive is always going to be the bottle neck in this system anyway.
 
When I upgraded from a Rev. A 12" PowerBook to a Rev. D 12" PowerBook, the biggest noticeable difference was the jump in disk performance.

The Rev. A had a 4200rpm drive, the Rev. D a 5400rpm. If you're at all concerned about performance, I'd wait until you can get your hands on one and test it, as the MacBook Air has a 4200rpm drive. As edesignuk said, disk performance is typically the biggest bottleneck, depending on task (because the only mechanical device in the whole machine is the disk, and motors and arms are orders of magnitude slower than electrons). I also agree with the consensus here that upgrading by 0.2GHz is a waste of money - buy a nice neoprene sleeve or an external BT mouse instead, and save the change (for the next keynote...)

AppleMatt
 
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So 1.6 it is. SSD would really be awesome but the price is just too much for me.
 
None of Apple's processor upgrades are really worth it unless your workflow/usage involves alot of processing. Not that there is anything wrong with getting them anyway, but if you want the best value for your money go with the standard processor options.
 
200 Mhz doesnt make a HUGE diffrence,
but going from 2.2GHz to 3.6GHz definately does :D

if you overclock a 2.2GHz C2Duo to 3.6Ghz it will start out performing quad cores.
 
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