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MacBook Air advise wanted!

I

iLoyal

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 18, 2010
175
1
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Hey people, I just had enough of using an iPad instead of a laptop and thinking about buying one. Now my only concern is which one to get.... Between the thinkpad x220 and the new MacBook air.

Would appreciates it if someone can give me some pros & cons and some opinions and reviews.
 
Well, its really up to you. The Thinkpad's are usually for business, but they are $100 cheaper than the lowest end Macbook Air. The Thinkpad also looks higher spec'd than the Macbook Air, but thats understandable, they're Windows based computers anyway.

I have a Macbook Air, and I totally love it, so of course I would recommend an Air :cool: , but to give you a realistic look...

What OS do you really want?
The Macbook will allow you to run both OS X and Windows (via Boot Camp), but if you need to use Windows and only Windows, get the Thinkpad.

Do you like style?
Macbook Air obviously wins here, but the Thinkpad's are pretty solid business machines, I see them a lot at school.

How much do specs really matter?
I think OS X's experience is much better than the Thinkpad, so while the Macbook Air's specs are lower than the thinkpad, it still runs very fast for what its meant to do (now pretty much everything with the Sandy Bridge chips) The thinkpad obviously has the higher specs, so that may be something you want to consider as well.

The thinkpad would make a great work machine for Windows, but after using a macbook air for about a month, its more than capable of doing work both in OS X and Windows. The only thing I'm worrying about is compatibility since I don't use Office in OS X. I am curious as to know what you will use the machine for. You said you had an iPad, a Macbook Air would be a natural upgrade, but do remember that OS X isn't very much of a gaming platform.

If your going to use Windows based applications for work, then its probably best to get that Thinkpad. They're pretty well known for being professional work machines, they also have that track pointer and fingerprint scanner. Those are cool features I think are nice to have, but I haven't really experienced those features myself.

So thats my take on it.
 
Well, I'm using MacBooks for 3 years now, and I have a dell desktop pc at work. There are not many compability issues anymore with Mac OS X and Office anymore, I even wrote my Bachelor Thesis on my Macbook with Microsoft Office for Mac OS X and it all workout out well.

If you do not plan to play new games on the highest settings get the Macbook Air because Mac OS X is way more than just an OS and MacBooks are way more than just notebooks.

I will never switch back to windows Laptops again and I will never ronny buy a windows desktop again. Apple is the future, start living it now. I own my Macbook Air 13" with 256 SSD and i7 for a week now and I totally love it, even more than my old white Macbook.

Nils
 
iLoyal said:
Hey people, I just had enough of using an iPad instead of a laptop and thinking about buying one. Now my only concern is which one to get.... Between the thinkpad x220 and the new MacBook air.

Would appreciates it if someone can give me some pros & cons and some opinions and reviews.
Click to expand...

The Air is thinner, the X220 can be more powerful but worse screen res, prices seem to be similar.

It would also depend on what you need to do with it.
 
The fact you are posting this question on a MacBook Air forum probably tells us where you're leaning anyway, or what you want to hear. Clearly, most people here are going to recommend the Air (just as I suspect on some Lenovo forum they would suggest their product).

Here's a dirty little secret: the only thing that matters is what you like. Both machines are going to do everything you need 'em to do.
 
The real question should be 11" or 13". The thread will then proceed with a reply from a forum member requesting that a forum search be done before you post.

Then there will be a string of 11" fan posts stating they love their MBA because it's fun and mobile, while the 13" crowd talk about how they need the larger screen and that it's still very portable. Then as the thread dies off, there will be some who say they're both great and it's your personal decision.
 
VMMan said:
The real question should be 11" or 13". The thread will then proceed with a reply from a forum member requesting that a forum search be done before you post.

Then there will be a string of 11" fan posts stating they love their MBA because it's fun and mobile, while the 13" crowd talk about how they need the larger screen and that it's still very portable. Then as the thread dies off, there will be some who say they're both great and it's your personal decision.
Click to expand...

It goes pretty much like this; I feel somewhat exhausted by the constant redundancy that occurs here.
 
iLoyal said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

Hey people, I just had enough of using an iPad instead of a laptop and thinking about buying one. Now my only concern is which one to get.... Between the thinkpad x220 and the new MacBook air.

Would appreciates it if someone can give me some pros & cons and some opinions and reviews.
Click to expand...

YEP, the iPad is the gateway drug to buy an AIR, best thing I ever did, get the one that fits your needs best.
 
Well, I'm a big Thinkpad fan. Over the years, I have had 5. All have been superb laptops.

But, my os preference is os x. So, the air fits my needs better.

Also, on the air, you can either bootcamp windows or virtual machine it with either parallels or vm fusion; not an option on the Thinkpad.

For sure, the Thinkpad will have the superior keyboard. All Thinkpads have fantastic keyboards; it's a Thinkpad trait.

For a few weeks, I had both the 11" 2011 air and the 13" 2011 13" air. Both are exceptional. Since the battery lasts a good 2 hrs longer, I chose the 13" over the 11". If the 11" battery lasted a little longer, it would have been a tougher decision. With the Thinkpad, you have more battery options.

Good luck with your decision.
 
The Thinkpad is superior if you are focused on productivity. Perfect display with the IPS option, perfect keyboard, larger screen on the same footprint of the 11 MBA, superb battery life with an option to be extended enormously, trackpoint, better priced.

iLoyal said:
I just had enough of using an iPad instead of a laptop and thinking about buying one.
Click to expand...
But since you have been using an Ipad instead of a laptop, the answer to your question is pretty simple - get the MBA. You will surely regret it if you go for the thinkpad, it's not for you.
 
VMMan said:
The real question should be 11" or 13". The thread will then proceed with a reply from a forum member requesting that a forum search be done before you post.

Then there will be a string of 11" fan posts stating they love their MBA because it's fun and mobile, while the 13" crowd talk about how they need the larger screen and that it's still very portable. Then as the thread dies off, there will be some who say they're both great and it's your personal decision.
Click to expand...
Add to this the inevitable undying threads on the desirability of Samsung/Toshiba SSD's and LG/Samsung displays. It would be interesting to see what similarly inane topics are taking place on the Thinkpad forum.

If I ever decided to go back to a Windows laptop a Thinkpad would be at the top of the list. I just cant find any compelling reasons to want to go back to a Windows only world. That being said its hard to argue against the Thinkpad if you dont have an attachment to OSX.
 
Well, I love iPhones and iPads.. At work, I have a T420 and I totally love it. Recently they shove me a Macbook Pro because i think they are trying to make all of the employee start getting used to Mac stuff.

I like something in both of them.. Especially the look of the MBA because I really don't like that plastic look on them Thinkpads. I don't think I want a work laptop but a personal laptop that still allows me to check emails and keep in touch with everyone. Something that fits me personal. I don't really play games; most of the time, I fly around and go to places and I really want a laptop with me that does not take up that much space. But at the same time, I want my laptop to survive.. Not dead all the time.

I only have few more concerns that I heard from other people.
-Do they still overheats alot?? Because that Macbook Pro that I got from work, **** burns.
-What are the differences between a 11'' and a 13''?? Except one has a bigger screen.
-Will there be a 2012 MBA??

Thanks forum members! ;]

PS. I like Macrumors more than any other forums.. because I always get my answers.
 
Last edited:
iLoyal said:
I don't think I want a work laptop but a personal laptop that still allows me to check emails and keep in touch with everyone. Something that fits me personal. I don't really play games
Click to expand...
If that's true all you NEED is a 400$ netbook from the Asus line.
Why do you look to the high end machines?
The x220 is an awesome mobile pc in every way you can think of, but you "love iPhones and iPads and you really don't like that plastic look on the Thinkpads"... so what's here to think about?
In your shoes I would run to Apple store and grab an MBA and would not even think of a ThinkPad.
It's so simple.
 
Take X220 if you need USB3.0 (i7 only), express card slot, built in VGA port without carrying separated converter, LAN port.

Apart from those, there isn't much difference between the 2 really, all down to what you preferred:

- Better keyboard on X220, better trackpad on MBA (backlit keyboard is a plus!)
- Better viewing angle on X220, higher resolution on MBA
- Bulkier but better impact resistant on the X220's chassis, thinner but can't take as much impact for the aluminum chassis on MBA
- Hyperjuice for MBA, or 9cell extended battery (or even slice battery) for X220.
 
Few more last thing before I go get it. Does it still overheats and get hot??!! 2nd is what's the different between 11" and 13" except bigger screen? Because Im leaning toward the 11" so I can fly around with it.
 
iLoyal said:
Few more last thing before I go get it. Does it still overheats and get hot??!! 2nd is what's the different between 11" and 13" except bigger screen? Because Im leaning toward the 11" so I can fly around with it.
Click to expand...

They never "overheated" as such as they are safe up to 105C, they do get mildly warm when watching flash videos and playing games. I have used my Air in the car before and watched flash content and my lap got warm but not too warm.
 
Chipg said:
YEP, the iPad is the gateway drug to buy an AIR, best thing I ever did, get the one that fits your needs best.
Click to expand...

I could not agree more, lol. iPad lead to the iPhone lead to the MBA.. and soon, a Mac Mini as an HTPC..

Apple addiction sucks :p
 
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