MBA envy

[dwharris]

Okay, I bought a refurbished 2011 11" MBA a couple of months ago, and now that the new one is out , I feel bad -- for no good reason. The old one is perfectly adequate to my needs -- word processing, Internet, e-mail, instant messaging, the occasional Netflix streamed movie, and the like. But I feel as though something glamorous and consequential is happening with the new MBA -- the greater power and speed of which will make absolutely no discernible or practical difference to me. I KNOW this, and yet ...

So, the rational (need) and irrational (want) mind are in conflict here, and I wish that Apple wouldn't play so devilishly on the latter! (Apple detoxification is necessary. Alcoholics Anonymous should become Apple Anonymous.)

How do people on this forum console themselves when this (absurd yet powerful) feeling strikes, or better yet, protect themselves from it in the first place?

 

[Obioban]

I set time frames for when I'll be buying things. Currently I won't be buying another desktop or laptop (13" air laptop for me) till they're retina, perhaps second gen retina so all the bugs are worked out. Figure out what actually matters to how you use a computer and buy accordingly.

 

[zerotiu]

I usually set the target for each of my electronic devices , how long you plan to use it and try to have hobbies . I use apple, android, blackberry and Olympus camera. Currently I don't bother with my smartphones because I have enough (mine is the types that came 2 years ago ).

Currently I want to replace my MBP early 2008 and I focus to my camera gear. If you have the cash, it's up to you.

But if you like to save some of your cash, I say that you have to allocate your money to something else. Electronic products refresh very very very fast. There are always something better.

When you buy new MBA 2012, you will be haunted that this October they will release 15" MBA with retina display (maybe? maybe not ). Next year they will change all MBA display to be the retina one , who knows?

 

[bit density]

Sane and Insane ways to deal with it...

Sane, wait until next refresh and buy on day one. You will actually get a measurable difference in machines. Upgrade every two upgrades after machine is announced. Give your old machine to your dealer as a trade in for some skunk.

Insane. Upgrade your machine now, upgrade every year when announced. Each machine will be mostly like the last. And because your machine has too much value, go through the hassle of meeting some guy in the Kroger lot because he answered your Craigslist ad.

 

[justit]

How do people on this forum console themselves

Great question! You seem to be having withdrawal symptoms from the Apple distortion field drug.

Hang in there. What are you using your MBA for? For me laptop is work related. I usually set a 100X goal. The work that it produces must be 100 times the cost of what I paid for it. That usually takes me about three years.

 

[bumzo1]

I find for me that the initial refresh after I buy a product is the hardest, you start having those "if only I had waited" or "I could always sell and upgrade" feelings. However when you make it through those initials feelings and tell yourself that its not worth the hassle or the money for what you use it for and accept that your current product runs perfectly fine for what you need it for, then you should be able to easily make it through following refreshes. You basically just have to let the "ooh and ahh" wear off and then you won't be as tempted. I had the same envy with my 2009 iMac, which I kept for another 3 years, and with my iPad 2 when the 3rd gen came out. You have no idea how close I was to upgrading my iPad but now that the newness factor has worn off I'm perfectly happy with my 2. Also I upgraded on launch from an iPhone 4 to 4S and while I don't regret it, I do think it was unnecessary now and would've been happy had I just stuck with the 4.

 

[mattopotamus]

i am the type that always needs the latest and greatest....as i type this on my brand new 11" i7/8/256

 

[dgdosen]

Think of it as a cadence - you're on a cadence for the next air and you're wisely skipping this one. The next release will probably have a retina display, and hopefully a much smaller bezel, then we'll be the envious ones...

When it gets down to it, the sandy bridge and ivy bridge are very similar for most day to day tasks. If I had a 2011, I'd hang onto it. If I had a 2010 (I do, and that one drowned) - so, I'm re-upping now.

 

[Geekbabe]

I have the July 2011 MBA, 13 inch, 4GB / 128 GB SSD & I understand totally how you feel. It was killing me to not just go ahead & order a new retina pro despite the fact that my current system does everything I need & is only 6 months old.

My husband talked sense to me, reminded me that the reason I bought the Air is that I needed a light,easy to travel with notebook. Nice as the Retina Pro is it isn't as light as an Air. Plus with the rumors swirling about there perhaps being retina Airs or a 13 inch Retina Pro coming in a few months I would be really sorry I bought a 15 inch laptop that weighs close to 5 pounds.

I might still buy something, perhaps a thunderbolt display ( that I've wanted for months) perhaps a bigger iPad with more storage so I can gift my son, perhaps some accesories or maybe just wait to see what the new iPhone looks like. Something that satisfies the itch for something new without laying out 3k for yet another computer.

There will be new devices every year & unless we are wealthy we will have to learn to savor the anticipation of waiting, planning our next upgrades & lastly taking the time to be grateful for the computers we have.

Truly, we have a 1st world problem here.. we own Mac's.. Good ones! Think of all the people who would be thrilled to have our current computers!

 

[jeffgao]

I got my MBA in July last year in the first week when they came out. I only envied for 10 minutes for MBA 2012's USB3. But after that, I just bought a thunderbolt gigabit ethernet adaptor for my 2011 MBA and enjoy the greatly improved time machine backup speed.