Purchase Question

[sfxx]

I am purchasing a MBA to replace my crappy laptop for school next year. I have two options..

1) My friend is willing to sell me his Late 2010 MBA (high-end model) for $650. The laptop has 2.13 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 256GB SSD, and 4GB RAM.

2) I can purchase the new MBA for $1200 (upgraded to 8GB RAM with student discount).

I am currently leaning towards buying my friends laptop.. do you guys think it will be too slow after being two years old? He has not used it much since he had a 17" MBP that he used most of the time.

 

[Barna Biro]

Of course go for the updated new model. Why buy something second hand when you have the possibility and money to buy something brand new and faster?

 

[sfxx]

Well the reasoning is to simply save money.. I am asking if the performance between the two models will be that much of a difference, aka $600 of difference.

 

[Barna Biro]

There is of course quite a difference... the question in fact is: "Do you really need the performance?" Since money seemingly is an issue and I have a hunch you don't really need the performance, then go for your friend's notebook.

 

[sfxx]

There is of course quite a difference... the question in fact is: "Do you really need the performance?" Since money seemingly is an issue and I have a hunch you don't really need the performance, then go for your friend's notebook.

I am using it for surfing the web, coding, watching the occasional movie, and maybe (but probably not) playing video games once in a while. Money isn't an issue.. I just wanted to know if its worth spending almost twice the amount for just the performance boost.

 

[Barna Biro]

Games of course can benefit of the better integrated GPU and faster CPU of the newer model... but it also depends on the type of games you play. Either way, the MBA is not a "gaming notebook", although it can handle games quite decently on low-medium settings ( especially the newer model ).

So in the end, it only comes down to games ( the other things you have mentioned can be handled by both models without any problems )... If you want the most out of a game on a MBA then go for the newer version, else if you're happy / fine with playing games on lower settings ( but still quite decently ), then go for your friend's 2010 model.

 

[ramkla007]

I am using it for surfing the web, coding, watching the occasional movie, and maybe (but probably not) playing video games once in a while. Money isn't an issue.. I just wanted to know if its worth spending almost twice the amount for just the performance boost.

Go for the 2012 model. The 2011 and 2012 models are closer in performance, but are way better than the 2010 model.

 

[mattopotamus]

i guess the real question to consider is....do you buy a 2 year old laptop and feel like you need to upgrade in 2 years which will cost you more. Or Do you spend the $600 now and have 4 years of worry free?

 

[Barna Biro]

i guess the real question to consider is....do you buy a 2 year old laptop and feel like you need to upgrade in 2 years which will cost you more. Or Do you spend the $600 now and have 4 years of worry free?

I had a Toshiba Satellite M70 for around 6+ years and was never "worried". Only problem it had was that it couldn't run OSX when I eventually wanted to play around with it ( smartphone / tablet app development )... not even hackintosh cause that poor old Centrino M processor had no virtualization feature.

It did not handle modern games too well either, but it was still a good notbeook.

 

[mattopotamus]

I had a Toshiba Satellite M70 for around 6+ years and was never "worried". Only problem it had was that it couldn't run OSX when I eventually wanted to play around with it ( smartphone / tablet app development )... not even hackintosh cause that poor old Centrino M processor had no virtualization feature.

It did not handling modern games too well either, but otherwise, it was a good notbeook.

The life of a laptop is really different to everyone. I know for me, after 4 years, I would start to notice a difference in the speed simply b.c OS requirements and also the speed of what would be available at that time. Yes, a 4 year old laptop will still be fast, but the equipment 4 years from now will be even faster and make me feel like mine is slow. Just like phones....yes a 4s is fast, but the 5 will make it feel slow to me.

 

[Barna Biro]

The life of a laptop is really different to everyone.

Exactly my point... that's why "worrying" what will be in 2 or 4 years is pointless. Things can change so much or so little in that time frame... As long as people satisfy their current needs ( + a bit of future proofing if possible ), then they should be fine. If one is not a "I always want the newest and fastest" kind of maniac, then even a quite slower notebook than most of today's notebooks can keep him happy for a really nice period of time...

 

[sfxx]

I think I am going to buy my friend's laptop and at least test it out to see if it is powerful enough for me. Hopefully it lasts 2-3 years and then I'll be a real person so purchasing a laptop won't be too big of a deal.

 

[mattopotamus]

I think I am going to buy my friend's laptop and at least test it out to see if it is powerful enough for me. Hopefully it lasts 2-3 years and then I'll be a real person so purchasing a laptop won't be too big of a deal.

Pinocchio?