MB Air - is 1.86GHz enough?

[VaatiKaiba]

Hi all, a bit of advice needed here. I have a late 2007 MacBook (plastic) which is too heavy for me to carry around at the moment, and as the new MB Airs are very tempting, I think I might go for one of them. I'm wondering if 1.86GHz would be enough for me (I probably could afford the 2.13, but I'm going to save money where I can!), considering I would be doing the following things:

Internet browsing, Mail, iWork docs, streaming from another iTunes library, Adium, Skype, etc.

Nothing too intensive, just a bit of college work. My current 2.2GHz has been fine, and I think I'd upgrade to the 4GB RAM too (that's also what I have at the moment). Normally I'd have 4-5 of the above going at once - so is 1.86GHz enough?

Many thanks for all help, it is very much appreciated!

 

[miles01110]

It will be fine.

 

[Schtumple]

Even though the clock speed is effectively slower, the MBA will be faster than your MB. You'll be fine.

 

[VaatiKaiba]

Even though the clock speed is effectively slower, the MBA will be faster than your MB. You'll be fine.

Just out of curiosity more than anything - is that because of the graphics card? I know that the one in my MB (the Intel X3100 I think) is pretty appalling...

So, just to clarify, the MBA would be able to do iMovie editing and other higher end tasks as well as my MB too (if needs be)?

 

[Consultant]

SSD drive will make your read / write faster, benefits many tasks.

But why would you get an ultraportable for movie editing? Get a refurb MacBook Pro.

 

[bolsen78]

Just out of curiosity more than anything - is that because of the graphics card? I know that the one in my MB (the Intel X3100 I think) is pretty appalling...

So, just to clarify, the MBA would be able to do iMovie editing and other higher end tasks as well as my MB too (if needs be)?

I have the same MB that you do now. I am going to probably be purchasing the MBA stock this weekend. I also do the same stuff as you do on your MB college Itunes and whatnot. I have been told on here by several people that I will be fine with the 11.6 for what I do use my MB for now. I am not sure about the iMovie tho as I have never used it before. But I do want something lighter and an upgrade would be nice. I might keep my MB for the heavier things if I need it though.

 

[jetblk328i]

i imagine it should be fine. The flash storage is a much bigger improvement over HDD

 

[poot1234]

Even with the flash storage, you will feel it being a little bit more sluggish while multitasking than your current machine.

 

[zhenya]

Even with the flash storage, you will feel it being a little bit more sluggish while multitasking than your current machine.

I'm not so sure of that. I doubt he will be able to tell the difference in CPU speed at all, and the ssd will make the old MacBook feel like it was broken.

 

[Abstract]

SSD plus better graphics processor = better.

Sorry, but I had the same MB and it was slow.

 

[Schtumple]

Just out of curiosity more than anything - is that because of the graphics card? I know that the one in my MB (the Intel X3100 I think) is pretty appalling...

So, just to clarify, the MBA would be able to do iMovie editing and other higher end tasks as well as my MB too (if needs be)?

See this post:

SSD plus better graphics processor = better.

Sorry, but I had the same MB and it was slow.

It's a combo of upgrades really, it's not going to be a mega powerhouse for iMovie thats for sure, if you're after iMovie heavy intensive stuff then get a regular MB to be honest, it'll definitely run iMovie though.

 

[r0k]

I have the 2008 Penryn Macbook. I like the small size of the new MBA, but I'm not so sure I like the fact there is no firewire. I don't really like using my MB for iMovie editing b/c it fills up the hard drive so quickly. A 1 hour clip can easily grow to consume tens of gig of HDD space during editing. That's why I moved all my video editing files off to a firewire external drive. Why firewire? Remember the part I mentioned about 10s of gigs of data? I hate the thought of moving all that data around over usb.

If you plan to edit 1-3 minute "youtube" clips, then the new MBA should be fine. If you plan to edit longer movies, think about where you will store all the imovie files and exported movies, especially if you are burning anything to dvd as you'll have video_ts directories lying around worth up to 4.7 gig apiece.

As for the task of encoding the video, I think the new MBA could do well enough, I just wish it had more storage. I personally would prefer the 11 inch model as it's more portable, but I'd be hard pressed to live with anything less than the 256 gig offered on the 13 inch model.

As an iPad owner, I have a portable machine already so when it's time to refresh my MB in the coming couple of quarters, I'll probably opt for a unbody MBP. I do love that thin and light form factor, though. Apple has showed us time and again that the form factor of a computer (iMac, Mac Mini, Macbook Air, iPad...) is almost as important as the software it can run. I don't doubt the MBA will be astoundingly successful, especially at a $999 entry point. In fact, I've speculated that Apple would do away with the plastic Macbook in favor of making the MBA it's new entry level line. But I'd think twice about buying one for video editing until I understood how I would handle the large files involved.

 

[BornAgainMac]

I just learned you can get the CPU bumped up from the online store. I think 1.86 is enough but that extra $100 gives it that little extra boost in the 2Ghz Plus club.