New MBA or Refurb?

[mdgolom]

I'm thinking about replacing my MBP with a Macbook Air. I'm debating between the newly announced MPA or a refurbished one from Apple. The new one is $1,699 (with educational discount) and the refurbished was $1,349. Is the $350.00 difference worth the larger hard drive, new video connector and improved video chipset? I'm mostly going to use it for web surfing and downloading HD video while I'm traveling.

Thanks

 

[sfwalter]

I guess it depends on what your doing. If your just doing email and web surfing the old one would be fine. However if you do any photo mgmt either with iPhoto, Aperture, Lightroom, etc. I would get the new one. You will see a big performance jump.

scott.

 

[neiltc13]

I think you will be pleasantly surprised if you look at the new MacBook. It is much more powerful than the Air, has an optical drive and has MUCH better speakers than the Air. Remember, Air has just one speaker meaning that it cannot even do stereo sound.

The new MacBook is thinner than the old MacBook Pro.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

New MBA over refurb without question. The new MBA has a true Penryn chip and the new Nvidia chipset which kills the Intel Graphics in the old model. The new model is well worth the extra $350 and will be more useful in the long run.

 

[dwd3885]

i think for the purposes of the macbook air, the base one is fine. the machine is really only useful for a light-weight web browsing machine. so cheaper the better. although i'd highly recommend the SSD option refurb

 

[Scottsdale]

I had a MBA for awhile.

I really liked it. The speed was really OK most of the time. However, it was a noticeable difference. So, if you are going to do anything video or HD on the road, I think you would really enjoy the performance provided by the new video gpu the same as the MacBook gets. I think my next FULL-TIME ONE COMPUTER notebook will be the MBA in its NEXT generation. I plan to use the new MB for a year until the MBA really catches up this year. I think we will see full glass and even a 2.4 GHz Penryn chip within 12 months. Definitely the glass trackpad also. Probably all next year at WWDC. AND, Snow Leopard comes out at that time. So, I like the new Air better than the old, but I think the next Air will be a true MB performing portable light amazing thin MacBook Air.

Best wishes with your choice.