Opinions on a purchase...

[JSENNY25]

First off, I know everyone has their own opinions and needs, but I guess I just would like a fresh perspective....

I am a teacher who uses his 2006 MacBook Pro 15 1.83 ghz everyday in my classroom. Things are starting to act up, but they are mere annoyances (WiFi takes 30-40 seconds to connects after sleep, connecting to an external projector blues out the screen for 10-20 seconds, little things etc.).

I also use my iPad (1st gen) for keynotes and some class actives that support display out.

I am afraid that my Pro's days are behind it, but I really like the computing power it still has if I choose to use it.


Anyhow, long story short, I have the opportunity to buy an old stock MacBook Air 13'' 1.86 C2D with the 256 SSD for $600 from Best Buy. It was old stock that had just been sitting around, no owner.

Should I take the plunge? What can I expect from the Air (other than the obvious no DVD drive)?

thanks!

 

[eric/]

I think the air will be fine. The computing power may be the same or worse, but the SSD and newness will fix the issues you appear to be having.

 

[KPOM]

Is it a Core Duo MacBook Pro you have? If so, it will be night and day with the 2010 MacBook Air. The CPU will be faster, and the SSD will be significantly faster. At $600, I'd go for it. The 256GB SSD alone is worth about $350-400.

The Core 2 Duo is old by today's standards, but it is still about the same as having 2 of the CPUs that are in your current Mac (plus it is 64-bit).

Do you know if the MacBook Air has 2GB or 4GB of RAM? Unfortunately it isn't upgradeable, but then again, the 2006 MacBook Pro topped out at 2GB.

Something else to consider is whether to stick with Snow Leopard or upgrade to Lion. If you are running any old PowerPC software (a good likelihood), then you'll need to either stick with Snow Leopard or find new software to replace it, since Lion won't support PowerPC applications.

 

[JSENNY25]

ok....

So I guess I need to be a bit more clear.

My MBP (2006) has the 1.83gHz Core Duo, but I have added a bit of stuff to it.

-320 7200rpm Scorpio HD
-2 GB DDR2 ram
2009 (new)apple replaced logic board
2011 (new) battery with 98 charge cycles

The Air (2010) has 1.86 gHz C2D
-256 SSD
-2 GB DDR3 ram

Will I miss any performance? Is the Pro so far past its prime that the Air will meet or exceed it in tasks?

And last but not least, what would the MacBook Pro be worth on the open market (craigslist, ebay, trade-in)?

thanks again, you guys rock

 

[mac26]

So I guess I need to be a bit more clear.

My MBP (2006) has the 1.83gHz Core Duo, but I have added a bit of stuff to it.

-320 7200rpm Scorpio HD
-2 GB DDR2 ram
2009 (new)apple replaced logic board
2011 (new) battery with 98 charge cycles

The Air (2010) has 1.86 gHz C2D
-256 SSD
-2 GB DDR3 ram

Will I miss any performance? Is the Pro so far past its prime that the Air will meet or exceed it in tasks?

And last but not least, what would the MacBook Pro be worth on the open market (craigslist, ebay, trade-in)?

thanks again, you guys rock

Even if the air isn't what you want jump on the deal, it's well worth over $900, that being said, this air is perfect for your needs, the air should smoke your pro in all task, and it will be a tremendous upgrade.
The best and easiest option is to have your pro traded in at Best Buy to get an even better deal on that air (expect an additional $100-200 of the Air), now run/drive to Best Buy and enjoy your new Mac!

 

[nickftw8686]

for 600 bucks I say go for it as well, could always sell it if you end up not liking it and be just fine.

 

[wineandcarbs]

I say go for it. I think it's worth it. I'm in education as well and am thinking of investing in an MBA for school. I carry my MBP back and forth right now but think an MBA would be so much more convenient.

 

[JSENNY25]

So I did it.

I purchased the Air from Best Buy for $599+tax. They installed Lion on it free of charge, and am now in the process of adding my stuff to it.

It is pretty crazy that a big box store was willing to sell at that price, but hey, a deal is a deal.

I think I am going to use this as an opportunity to do some housekeeping and install only the stuff I need and not use migration assistant to transfer all of my old Mac's things....Any suggestions for Air specific apps?

 

[JHUFrank]

nice!

 

[eric/]

I purchased the Air from Best Buy for $599+tax. They installed Lion on it free of charge, and am now in the process of adding my stuff to it.

It is pretty crazy that a big box store was willing to sell at that price, but hey, a deal is a deal.

I think I am going to use this as an opportunity to do some housekeeping and install only the stuff I need and not use migration assistant to transfer all of my old Mac's things....Any suggestions for Air specific apps?

I don't think there are any air-specific apps. But I would definitely integrate into iCloud.

 

[Jaro65]

You got a great deal there! Good luck with your MBA!

 

[Hawkeye16]

And make sure to tell us how you think it stacks up against your old MBP. With the same amount of RAM I am thinking the improvement in run should be fairly small. Bugs hopefully all fixed though.

 

[JSENNY25]

the story continues

So I had the Air at work today and ran it through the paces. So far, so good. everything I do in class will be just fine for the Air.

observations are;

1.this thing is crazy light
2.it is as fast if not faster at all tasks i.e.,no loss of computing power
3.I have come to realize I have totally bought into the Apple 'walled garden'
---most all of the apps I use routinely are Apple apps or App Store, which means that they are streamlined to work in a much more seamless approach, and I use iCloud

The biggest issue is that I use some polling software and clickers that have a receiver....the USB port is too close to the display out on the right and too close to the power adapter on the left so I need a high powered hub. Oh well.


And buy the way, I was not able to do too many tests comparing the Air to the Pro... I sold the Pro today for $515. The comparisons I did do were basic in running software like iPhoto, iWeb, iTunes, and some light Adobe stuff.

The Air never blew it away, but it was routinely a bit snappier.

 

[KPOM]

And buy the way, I was not able to do too many tests comparing the Air to the Pro... I sold the Pro today for $515. The comparisons I did do were basic in running software like iPhoto, iWeb, iTunes, and some light Adobe stuff.

The Air never blew it away, but it was routinely a bit snappier.

Nice. The 2010 MacBook Air will likely rank among the best net $85 you have spent.

 

[littlestephen]

So I had the Air at work today and ran it through the paces. So far, so good. everything I do in class will be just fine for the Air.

observations are;

1.this thing is crazy light
2.it is as fast if not faster at all tasks i.e.,no loss of computing power
3.I have come to realize I have totally bought into the Apple 'walled garden'
---most all of the apps I use routinely are Apple apps or App Store, which means that they are streamlined to work in a much more seamless approach, and I use iCloud

The biggest issue is that I use some polling software and clickers that have a receiver....the USB port is too close to the display out on the right and too close to the power adapter on the left so I need a high powered hub. Oh well.


And buy the way, I was not able to do too many tests comparing the Air to the Pro... I sold the Pro today for $515. The comparisons I did do were basic in running software like iPhoto, iWeb, iTunes, and some light Adobe stuff.

The Air never blew it away, but it was routinely a bit snappier.

wow that is a pretty good deal...

 

[jksu]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B179 Safari/7534.48.3)

great decision! huge upgrade in performance and ergonomics (you'll bring that MBA everywhere because it's so light). awesome price too! enjoy.