Newly Purchased MBA, Must Haves?

[mowbr4]

Hey Everyone,

I appreciate all the help that everyone provided me with. I just returned home from the Apple store with a new 13" MBA 120GB 4GB. I now wanted to know the must have "essentials" that I should put on my computer? Does anyone have any suggestions?

Also, I declined the Apple Care...now I am doubting if I made the correct decision. Should I go with Apple Care, or possibly Square Trade?

Thanks!

 

[abuleban]

don't worry

about apple care, you've got a year to get that, no worries.

As for other must haves, radtech makes an excellent cloth for protecting the screen from the keyboard, and there are a variety of shells and cases you can choose from. At a minimum, get a sleeve or case of some kind for when you are transporting it here and there. I use the Macvelope case and a speck shell, but the speck thing is kind of falling apart ;-( . neoprene sleeves are also available.

Also, I use a mini usb hub & a WD portable 1 TB HD for my storage needs, very handy & stores a bunch. Of course, a thumb drive is good, and I have the external DVD drive, as well as three mini connectors for VGA, DVI, and the USB to ethernet adapter.

enjoy!

 

[Fernandez21]

hyper dock if your coming from windows 7. Try to get it directly from the developer, as the one in the mac app store has some missing features because of apple's requirements for app store programs.

 

[PaulWog]

Hey Everyone,

I appreciate all the help that everyone provided me with. I just returned home from the Apple store with a new 13" MBA 120GB 4GB. I now wanted to know the must have "essentials" that I should put on my computer? Does anyone have any suggestions?

Also, I declined the Apple Care...now I am doubting if I made the correct decision. Should I go with Apple Care, or possibly Square Trade?

Thanks!

Yep, what post #2 said. You have a year to wait on AppleCare. Just make sure you get it before the year is up if you intend to purchase it. I don't plan to extend my AppleCare: I'd rather save the $$$ and take the risk. And besides, I intend to sell my 2011 Macbook Air within 1-2 years anyway so I can purchase the next one.

As for essentials for your computer:

apps
- If you're a student, look at iStudiez or iHomeWork (I think I ended up preferring iStudiez).
- Byword is a great app. Great for focussing and doing word processing.
- SuperCal is more useful than you'd think.
- Angry Birds is fun
- FrostWire is a useful app though I can't figure out how to get it to work with computer-to-computer filesharing as opposed to just bittorrent filesharing (it seems to only do torrents)

Get a case for that Macbook Air!

 

[elyrly]

1+ tb external drive
thumb drive
usb dvd-drive
mini display port to hdmi

 

[mowbr4]

Thanks everyone!

As for the case, does anyone have any specific suggestions? I want to make sure my screen and keyboard are protected at all times. But still enough that it doesn't bother me when using it.

 

[PaulWog]

Thanks everyone!

As for the case, does anyone have any specific suggestions? I want to make sure my screen and keyboard are protected at all times. But still enough that it doesn't bother me when using it.

Don't bother getting a skin case. Get a case you can carry the Air around in, but keep the Air naked (it was meant to be the way it is! don't make it uglier with skins! ).

Your keyboard will be fine unless if you have some kind of skin oil disorder

Cases really depend on your preference.

This is what I got for my 11-inch Macbook Air: http://store.apple.com/ca/product/H5168ZM/A?mco=MTY3ODQ5OTY

 

[blevins321]

If you plan on having a regular keyboard or mouse or heavy desk use, consider one of THESE. I use it to prop up my 11" when I'm using it with an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse. The MBA screen serves as a Mail and iTunes screen in this case, and I do my main work on the external.

 

[FieldingMellish]

A free empty shoebox makes a great riser. Skins are good for when you use your Air in areas other than your nice desk. Such as outdoors on steel or concrete tables, or in shop environments among sawdust or fine metal shavings. Then you can concentrate on the task at hand and not be all worried about keeping stuff off of the Air.

 

[Nioxic]

I've just bought a sleeve..

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tucano-Elem...Y782/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1313500363&sr=8-4

This one... Incase the table i'm using is slightly dusty etc (or its outside where there could be sand on the table etc) i'll just simply place my mac on top of the sleeve after i've taken it out..

i dont like cases.. My iphone 4 is naked too (and its a year old and has no scratches! ) i take care of my stuff

 

[mowbr4]

I've just bought a sleeve..

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tucano-Elem...Y782/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1313500363&sr=8-4

This one... Incase the table i'm using is slightly dusty etc (or its outside where there could be sand on the table etc) i'll just simply place my mac on top of the sleeve after i've taken it out..

i dont like cases.. My iphone 4 is naked too (and its a year old and has no scratches! ) i take care of my stuff

I like this. I have been looking through Amazon all morning. I found this:

http://www.amazon.com/CaseCrown-Lea...f=sr_1_18?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1313501141&sr=1-18

I think it looks rather professional and nice.

Sadly, my iPhone 3GS has a crack through the screen. I am patiently waiting to hear word on the new iPhone.

 

[Pipper99]

Here's a good thread for apps to get you started:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/796263/

 

[RobT]

Regarding AppleCare, someone gave me good advice about this years ago. Keep track of your one year warranty and if you decie to buy it, do so in month 11 (of 12). That way, if you lose the computer, it's stolen, or you dump a cup of coffee on it you don't end up wasting the cost of the AppleCare purchase. If, at month 11, you still feel like you want it (and IMO it's very worthwhile), take a look on eBay for AppleCare at a reduced cost.