MBA Strength?

[Dween]

Hi,

I am thinking about getting an Ultrabook or a MBA (when they are refreshed) but am wondering how strong they are? For example what kind of damage can it take by being dropped?

I mainly want a lightweight laptop due to cycling to uni through London, I know they are lightweight enough for that. However, if I were to come off my bike would it be destroyed or would it hold up? It would obviously be in a laptop bag/case. Would I be right in thinking the unibody design would be stronger than an Ultrabook?

Thanks!

 

[Xikum]

They are strong, but not invincible. I have dropped my bag, which contains my MBA in its case, many times and it has sustained no damage whatsoever. Due to the nature of aluminium, if you do end up damaging it, it tends to dent/scratch rather than crack; this has its disadvantages and advantages. If you dent it in the wrong place you can end up with a laptop that doesnt shut properly, but on the other hand your laptop is never going to split.

Overall I dont think if you buy a MBA, you are going to need to worry about it 24/7. Due to the expense of it as well, I think that most people generally are pretty careful with them, too.

 

[w00t951]

You could buy a plastic Speck case for it. While it's not as thin as it used to be, you get the best of both worlds - the undentable protection of plastic and the structural stability of aluminum.

That being said, the laptop is pretty strong - except for the lid. In exchange for being razor thin, it's pretty fragile. Being in my flexible messenger bag was enough to slightly crease on of the corners of the screen. When the laptop is in there, the shoulder straps tend to bend the bag, which then puts pressure on the computer itself.

 

[soulston]

The 11" MBA is noticeably more rigid than the 13, obviously due to it's smaller size, so you might want to take that into consideration.

Go in to a store and try flexing a closed 11 compared to a 13.

 

[theSeb]

It really depends more on your bag. You can get hard sleeves to put the MBA into, which will protect if it's dropped. You can then slip the hard sleeve into your normal back pack.

When the lid is closed I would say it's no more or less stronger than a Macbook Pro. No computer is going to come unscathed from a drop without protection, unless you're using a Panasonic Toughbook or something similar.

 

[sarah11918]

There's a thread about "accidental drop tests" here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1048038/

 

[NutsNGum]

The 11" MBA is noticeably more rigid than the 13, obviously due to it's smaller size, so you might want to take that into consideration.

Go in to a store and try flexing a closed 11 compared to a 13.

I found this also, my 13" was a fair bit more creaky than the 11" I had.

 

[applerepairs]

MBA is a better choice light in weight with all the functions as other notebooks.

 

[Smartie]

Buy the best (in my mind) laptop rugsack money can by for a person like you, ie someone that use the bike every day. It is the boblbee rugsacks. You'll find their website on www.boblbee.com . They have rugsacks that act as both a laptop bag and a protection for your back should the unlucky event of an accident happen on the road.

PS. I'm not, in any form, associated with this company (more than being Swedish and this company is Swedish as well) so I'm just giving this advice from a person to a person.

 

[Dween]

I think i have decided on the 11" as it's probably a bit more solid and just a little bit lighter

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