Planning on getting a MBA....

[hockey16]

so I'm new to mac's and I am thinking about getting a 2011 macbook air (most likely 13")... it would be mostly for web browsing, social networking, school work, a bit of editing (photos, videos, garageband) and possibly some games (not anything too big though)...

my budget would be $1500 at the very most...
I like the portability of the air but anything could work...

do you think the MBA would be a good fit? or would there be a better option?

Thanks in advance!

 

[hereyago]

yes the mba 13 inch is definitely a good fit. it'll do everything that you described. portable. fits your budget.

on the other hand, there are plenty of other portable laptops that do exactly what you just described and also fit your budget.

so basically it's your choice.

 

[eckthroi]

I got mine for the same thing and it works great. I got the 11" i5/4GB/128 for 1149.00 I also got a 500GB Seagate External, a Knomo Sleeve and an Atlas Backpack - Bought it all from Apple and still paid less than 1500.00 plus got the 100 App Store gift card which made it possible to get iwork plus some extras and no cost. So yes I think if an MBA is what you want then it can definitely be had for under 1500.00

 

[hockey16]

yes the mba 13 inch is definitely a good fit. it'll do everything that you described. portable. fits your budget.

on the other hand, there are plenty of other portable laptops that do exactly what you just described and also fit your budget.

so basically it's your choice.

thanks! my current laptop is a 17" compaq wich is about 4-5 years old so its starting to run slower... plus i really like the mac operating system...

I got mine for the same thing and it works great. I got the 11" i5/4GB/128 for 1149.00 I also got a 500GB Seagate External, a Knomo Sleeve and an Atlas Backpack - Bought it all from Apple and still paid less than 1500.00 plus got the 100 App Store gift card which made it possible to get iwork plus some extras and no cost. So yes I think if an MBA is what you want then it can definitely be had for under 1500.00

thanks... i was looking at the 11" at first but then got thinking about the lack of the sd card slot... but the education discount helps out too with the $50 off the actual laptop and the gift card

 

[eckthroi]

thanks... i was looking at the 11" at first but then got thinking about the lack of the sd card slot... but the education discount helps out too with the $50 off the actual laptop and the gift card

I actually just use a sd card reader when needed. It came with an sd I bought awhile back. Works fine and does not take up alot of space. I liked the slot aspect of the 13" but it wasnt worth giving up the 11" form factor in my opinion

 

[hockey16]

I actually just use a sd card reader when needed. It came with an sd I bought awhile back. Works fine and does not take up alot of space. I liked the slot aspect of the 13" but it wasnt worth giving up the 11" form factor in my opinion

ohh thats an idea too! i never thought of that... i was thinking if i got the 11" i could import pictures on my old computer then transfer them to a memory stick and then on the air....

 

[eckthroi]

ohh thats an idea too! i never thought of that... i was thinking if i got the 11" i could import pictures on my old computer then transfer them to a memory stick and then on the air....

I know some people want the ease of use with the extras that the 13" offers over the 11" but to me if I cared about those things I would just get a pro. I got the Air because I wanted an ultra portable that was powerful enough to do all that I want with ease. I have found this with the 11" - Don't get me wrong the 13" is nice and looks great, but for me if I wanted something that big I would just get a 13" Pro with a BTO SSD. THen I would also have "All" the pretty extras. I love the 11" so I hope my posts are not too biased.

 

[freds]

I know some people want the ease of use with the extras that the 13" offers over the 11" but to me if I cared about those things I would just get a pro. I got the Air because I wanted an ultra portable that was powerful enough to do all that I want with ease. I have found this with the 11" - Don't get me wrong the 13" is nice and looks great, but for me if I wanted something that big I would just get a 13" Pro with a BTO SSD. THen I would also have "All" the pretty extras. I love the 11" so I hope my posts are not too biased.

Is your 11" MBA your only laptop? Or do you use another computer as your main machine?

 

[Brandon0448]

I got the 13" ultimate Air for school and absolutely love it. Coming from a 24" desktop and a 17" laptop I thought i would be cramped by the 13" screen. But to my surprise the 13" screen feels just right on the Air. Was never a big fan of the 11" netbooks, just not big enough for me.

 

[Yumunum]

I got a 2011 13" MBA 256GB for the same purposes as you, OP.

I love it, BUT... Once I bought what I needed it was $2,000.

-computer
-external HDD
-carrying case
-body case
-SuperDrive
-printer
-free stuff

If you don't need 256GB of storage, get the smaller one, so you can use the rest of your money towards much-needed accessories.

And, about my experience... I love the computer. I couldn't have gone with the 11", or a 13" Pro, because they have too low of a screen resolution. I can pretty comfortably have a Pages doc open and a web page for studying, side-by-side. The computer boots up fast and I can shake it like a madman and I don't have to worry about damaging a hard disk drive. The CPU isn't weak either. I mean, it doesn't match a full-fledged SB i7 or anything, but for fun GarageBand and iMovie projects, I've had no long waiting periods. It's pretty great. If you really have the money to do it, buy the computer soon, before the shool year begins!

 

[Fernandez21]

I know some people want the ease of use with the extras that the 13" offers over the 11" but to me if I cared about those things I would just get a pro. I got the Air because I wanted an ultra portable that was powerful enough to do all that I want with ease. I have found this with the 11" - Don't get me wrong the 13" is nice and looks great, but for me if I wanted something that big I would just get a 13" Pro with a BTO SSD. THen I would also have "All" the pretty extras. I love the 11" so I hope my posts are not too biased.

I share the same opinion as you. The 11" is great, I can carry this thing anywhere I go and is so comfortable to use anywhere. And the screen doesn't seem small at all. Of course I've always been a fan or more portable laptops.

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Is your 11" MBA your only laptop? Or do you use another computer as your main machine?

I use the 11" as my main and only computer. Other than hard drive space, I have no complaints nor do i feel I compromised on usability for portability. I have the i7, 256gb ultimate.

 

[hockey16]

I got the 13" ultimate Air for school and absolutely love it. Coming from a 24" desktop and a 17" laptop I thought i would be cramped by the 13" screen. But to my surprise the 13" screen feels just right on the Air. Was never a big fan of the 11" netbooks, just not big enough for me.

i feel the same thing about the sizes.... but whenever i test the 11" and the 13" the 13" always feels more comfortable... my friend and i compared them the other day and felt the same thing!

****

I got a 2011 13" MBA 256GB for the same purposes as you, OP.

I love it, BUT... Once I bought what I needed it was $2,000.

-computer
-external HDD
-carrying case
-body case
-SuperDrive
-printer
-free stuff

If you don't need 256GB of storage, get the smaller one, so you can use the rest of your money towards much-needed accessories.

And, about my experience... I love the computer. I couldn't have gone with the 11", or a 13" Pro, because they have too low of a screen resolution. I can pretty comfortably have a Pages doc open and a web page for studying, side-by-side. The computer boots up fast and I can shake it like a madman and I don't have to worry about damaging a hard disk drive. The CPU isn't weak either. I mean, it doesn't match a full-fledged SB i7 or anything, but for fun GarageBand and iMovie projects, I've had no long waiting periods. It's pretty great. If you really have the money to do it, buy the computer soon, before the shool year begins!

aha yeee i wont need that much storage aha i'm probably going with the base 13" .... altogether the stuff im looking at right now comes to about $1500.... i agree about the screen and stuff for the 11" and 13" pro, i also find that the big thing with my current laptop is it isn't really that portable so i would like something smaller and lighter.... and yes i will hopefully be buying it within the next few weeks (luckily i still have just under 3 weeks and the first week of classes can sometimes be a write off )

 

[Eggtastic]

i went with an 11" mba with 128 gb ssd. its my main machine and works perfect for my uses. i got 15% from a friend who was an apple employee so i think everything came together for under $1,100 (i bought the $99 printer to get the rebate, to turn around and sell it for close that price for more money).

i also bought a dell u2311h, incase sleeve, and a 500gb external. i justified this comparing it to a 27"iMac which i considered. this setup works as both a desktop and i can have the portability for cheaper.

not looking back!

 

[alecgold]

I went 11" ultimate as well.

for a SD-card reader I have this:

Came with a Sandisk SD. just a little bit larger than an SD and about twice as thick. I don't understand why people give the SD-card reader as an argument for not picking the 11". Yes, you can loose the reader, but you can loose your SD-cards as well. Or the spare camera battery, or filters, or anything that isn't bolted to my head

I use the 11" as a primary business machine. Emailing, word, parallels with XP, excel-sheets, when you're two or three days a week out of the office, the 11" is really nice.
If there is one thing I regret about the 11", it is the 5 hour battery time. And that I have solved with a hypermac battery and a hypermac car charger. I was able to push the 13" 2010 ultimate to well over 9 hours with the lowest brightness, sometimes even over 10 hours without any wifi.
the 11" ultimate 2011 has given a maximum of 5,5 hours. That is almost half and quite a big hit.

 

[freds]

I share the same opinion as you. The 11" is great, I can carry this thing anywhere I go and is so comfortable to use anywhere. And the screen doesn't seem small at all. Of course I've always been a fan or more portable laptops.

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I use the 11" as my main and only computer. Other than hard drive space, I have no complaints nor do i feel I compromised on usability for portability. I have the i7, 256gb ultimate.

I was planning on getting the 13" MBA, but I'm still hesitant because it'll be my main and only machine. Hesitating between that and the 13" pro... Will decide on Monday when I get to the Apple store