Replacing mid-2010 13" MBP - MBA going to feel too slow?

[thekev]

ssd is ok. doesn't live up to the hype for me. i may purchase one for my mbp someday. but, no rush.


i love the small display. i won't complain about 13 or 15, of course, but neither of those will fit in my man bag
amazon has nice deals sometimes. it's good to check there frequently.


i don't know if it sucked, but it was an old processor even when they put it in the 2010. i agree about the price. that was ugly.

I was just trying to explain the hype with SSDs. For many things the difference isn't even noticeable. I run disk warrior on my drives, and that alone pretty much alleviates the spinning wheel issues with drive activity. This is why I've said Apple should have licensed that code from them years ago. Everyone likes features that improve smoothness/stability. SSDs would have been incredibly useful if they came a few years earlier. 32 bit applications really hit a wall on performance with large files. These days you can just go with a massive quantity of ram and the system will use it.

I get that the 11" is effortless to transport. It's just that it can feel limited on screen real estate. I have a 21" and 24" display in front of me here (1600x1200 and 1900x1200). I do like screen real estate.

The older macbook air was significantly more expensive and it definitely lacked the snappy feeling of the current one. It was listed for around $1100 in that link, and it's just simply not a good buy at that price. Laptops still aren't fast enough for me personally, and they don't really offer enough storage.

I'm waiting to see what the options look like for a new mac pro. I've used Airs owned by other people. It's not just an issue of speed. They lack enough storage and ram for me. I doubt at least the ram part would be an issue for the OP.

 

[brown.eyed.girl]

Just spent about 1.5 hours in the Apple store playing with the different MacBooks (and walking back and forth between the 11" MBA and the 13" Pro). I'd never considered my old MBP heavy until I really started playing with the Air. Oh man. What a beautiful little machine.

I think I'm about 99% sold on the 11" Air right now...

 

[palpatine]

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What is this about disk warrior? I don't understand how it would improve system performance.

Desktops with gobs of ram, memory, screens, and lots of cores are nice. But, I am too peripatetic to use them anymore. The Mbp is pretty nice for the size.

The 11" is beautiful. Personally, I don't see a huge difference btw the 13 MBA and Mbp in terms of size, but the 11" really stands out. I am so sad that the 2gb base model didn't work out for me

I'll give a plug here for the Mbp, which will give you the most bang for your buck and potential for future upgrades (ram and ssd). Just a thought.

 

[thekev]

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What is this about disk warrior? I don't understand how it would improve system performance.

It's not like it increases the throughput or anything. It's just that it's cleared up issues consistently across different machines where I previously encountered the spinning wheel launching applications or navigating the finder. It doesn't really do anything with the data. It just tidies up the directories. The file system used in OSX is pretty dated. Apple tried to come up with something new a while back. You can probably google it if you like. I can't remember the exact name. Anyway I probably just continue to use it because it's helped maintain drive performance in the past, as in it's alleviated problems with disks hanging. It's just made for a slightly smoother experience. Note that I said smoothness/stability, not speed.

 

[jterp7]

Oh, darn, ok that one's out. Thanks for the info!

I was playing with my friend's 11" MBA today. It's SO portable and light but the screen is so tiny.

My friend has the 13" MBA which looks awesome.

I think I may just get the 13" MBP though.

unless you really need it to be that light and portable I think the 13" MBA is more useful. More battery life, physically larger screen, plus more resolution ~ same resolution as the base 15.4" mbp

For me it's counter intuitive to have a smaller laptop with worse battery life. Oh and something else to think about, the 13" 2010 MBA's have absurdly good battery life. http://www.anandtech.com/show/3991/apples-2010-macbook-air-11-13inch-reviewed/9

 

[palpatine]

unless you really need it to be that light and portable I think the 13" MBA is more useful. More battery life, physically larger screen, plus more resolution ~ same resolution as the base 15.4" mbp

For me it's counter intuitive to have a smaller laptop with worse battery life. Oh and something else to think about, the 13" 2010 MBA's have absurdly good battery life. http://www.anandtech.com/show/3991/apples-2010-macbook-air-11-13inch-reviewed/9

The MBP and MBA battery life is the same.

The screens are the same size (as far as I know). Personally, I find the MBP to be a much better screen (no bezel, colors pop, etc.), but it does have much lower resolution.

I would strongly recommend not getting the 2010 MBAs because the processor is so outdated. I can't imagine battery life being worth the performance loss.

The poor battery life of the 11" is a bit of a bummer, but frankly, I don't even know how such an incredibly small and thin computer even manages to have a battery at all!

 

[brown.eyed.girl]

So I went ahead and got the 11" MBA. With the holiday sales season, the Apple store told me I had until Jan. 9 to return it if I didn't like it and no restocking fee so I decided to go ahed and give it a try.

I've only had it for 24 hours so this is not a comprehensive review.

What I love:

How light it is! Wow, it's so tiny and portable, BUT the screen size doesn't bother me (since I have all my apps in full-screen mode and I'm getting used to Lion and all the gestures).
Form factor - what a beautiful little computer.
Super super fast, especially compared to my 2010 13" MBP.
Screen resolution - the colors are SO bright, especially compared to my 2007 Macbook, which is what I had been using the last couple weeks.

What I don't love:

Battery life. I'm really undecided on this. I want this computer with me everywhere because it's so small and the short(er) battery life is very possibly going to bug me.



I don't want to spend the extra cash on the 13" MBA but I also can't imagine going back to the MBP after using this computer. I wish the battery life was better - argh!

What to do, what to do? I'll need to decide in the next month or so.

If it wasn't for the battery issue, I'd be perfectly happy with this computer. It's really an amazing piece of tech.

 

[jterp7]

So I went ahead and got the 11" MBA. With the holiday sales season, the Apple store told me I had until Jan. 9 to return it if I didn't like it and no restocking fee so I decided to go ahed and give it a try.

I've only had it for 24 hours so this is not a comprehensive review.

What I love:

How light it is! Wow, it's so tiny and portable, BUT the screen size doesn't bother me (since I have all my apps in full-screen mode and I'm getting used to Lion and all the gestures).
Form factor - what a beautiful little computer.
Super super fast, especially compared to my 2010 13" MBP.
Screen resolution - the colors are SO bright, especially compared to my 2007 Macbook, which is what I had been using the last couple weeks.

What I don't love:

Battery life. I'm really undecided on this. I want this computer with me everywhere because it's so small and the short(er) battery life is very possibly going to bug me.



I don't want to spend the extra cash on the 13" MBA but I also can't imagine going back to the MBP after using this computer. I wish the battery life was better - argh!

What to do, what to do? I'll need to decide in the next month or so.

If it wasn't for the battery issue, I'd be perfectly happy with this computer. It's really an amazing piece of tech.

considering you have a long time to decide, simply use it as you would normally for a month to see if you are truly bothered by it. Oh and full screen mode in the 13" is even better

 

[jmgregory1]

Thanks all for the advice and weighing in! I'm still feeling a little torn. Went to the Apple store again today to play around with the different models. I think the 11" is just too small (screen size). I tend to have a few different things going at once, and I especially liked to have both a PDF and a Word doc up at once (dividing the screen) when I write papers that need to reference readings. The screen real estate just makes that tough on the 11".

Between the 13" MBA and the 13" MBP - I love the aesthetics and size of the MBA and you guys have me convinced that I won't be seeing a decrease in speed, etc. I guess I'm having a hard time paying an extra $100 for a LOT less storage if I got the 13" MBA. I have an external HD but I'm thinking 128 GB isn't going to be enough....

I had the same worry, but I too have an external drive and after taking the time to go through my old hd, I realized that there was a lot of stuff I just didn't need day to day access to that was taking up a lot of space. I cleared the drive and now have about 50 gb's of free space. The speed is dramatic - and for those that comment about the 2010 with 2gb or ram - you have to know that it's day and night between the 2010 and 2011 mba's. I've had no issues with my 13" base model (2011) and would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone. My wife just got a base 13" mbp from work to replace her 2006 15" mbp - I did the setup and it was a dog compared to my mba. Sure - it has 500 gb hd, but the thing was really slow in just about everything I did in setting it up.

 

[brown.eyed.girl]

Yes, definitely going to test this out. What I need to do is see how long it goes if I'm really just using Word and some light browsing, since that's when I mostly need a longer battery life (I'm a student and I have a ton of papers to write). I'm also curious to see how long it lasts when I'm playing videos on the plane/in the airport when I fly home in a couple weeks.

 

[johnhurley]

Yes, definitely going to test this out. What I need to do is see how long it goes if I'm really just using Word and some light browsing, since that's when I mostly need a longer battery life (I'm a student and I have a ton of papers to write). I'm also curious to see how long it lasts when I'm playing videos on the plane/in the airport when I fly home in a couple weeks.

Those are definitely the 2 extremes in use case scenarios for an mba.

I have the 2011 mba 13 and it made it thru about 4 hours of playing video ( VLC ) on a flight out to SF this fall. Pretty good really was hoping for a little more but no complaints. ( Watched the new Thor first then most of something else ).

Guessing a 2011 mba 11 won't make it nearly as long on a plane but it will fit in somewhat easier in your average non first class airplane seat. Still the 13 is quite workable on an airplane ride.

Like you said more important for you is how long you can use word etc while not plugged in.

Now what I really want is a 15 inch mba for all my normal usage and an 11 inch for just airplane usage but the 11 inch has to get the battery life of the 13!

 

[palpatine]

I don't want to spend the extra cash on the 13" MBA but I also can't imagine going back to the MBP after using this computer. I wish the battery life was better - argh!

You are comparing apples and oranges. the 2011 mbp is far better than the 2010 mbp, and for the same amount of money as the 13" mba, you could put in an ssd if you'd like.

Anyhow, whatever you choose, the iPad is going to be better

I am not kidding. I do almost all of my work on it (graduate student / researcher / lecturer), and I never travel with my computer anymore. The iPad has double the battery life of the mba AND it can be supplemented with an external battery pack (about the size of an iPhone) that will give it a few more hours if needed. I regularly fly internationally and I actually haven't had to use the extra battery, but it is nice to know it is there.

At least consider an iPad + Bluetooth keyboard + incase origami workstation. Same size and weight as the mba, but less money, more battery, it can be used as an ereader, and you can take handwritten notes on it. It will not REPLACE a computer, but it could SUPPLEMENT your 2010 mbp.

 

[jbromer]

Yes, definitely going to test this out. What I need to do is see how long it goes if I'm really just using Word and some light browsing, since that's when I mostly need a longer battery life (I'm a student and I have a ton of papers to write). I'm also curious to see how long it lasts when I'm playing videos on the plane/in the airport when I fly home in a couple weeks.

If I read correctly, you got the 4/128 11" right? If so, going to 13" is just $100. I know money is money, but you seem really torn over the screen size and battery life. I love my 11" and think the screen size is fine, but FWIW, it seems to me like you would be happier with the 13. It's just one less nice dinner out right?

 

[akdj]

So I went ahead and got the 11" MBA. With the holiday sales season, the Apple store told me I had until Jan. 9 to return it if I didn't like it and no restocking fee so I decided to go ahed and give it a try.

I've only had it for 24 hours so this is not a comprehensive review.

What I love:

How light it is! Wow, it's so tiny and portable, BUT the screen size doesn't bother me (since I have all my apps in full-screen mode and I'm getting used to Lion and all the gestures).
Form factor - what a beautiful little computer.
Super super fast, especially compared to my 2010 13" MBP.
Screen resolution - the colors are SO bright, especially compared to my 2007 Macbook, which is what I had been using the last couple weeks.

What I don't love:

Battery life. I'm really undecided on this. I want this computer with me everywhere because it's so small and the short(er) battery life is very possibly going to bug me.



I don't want to spend the extra cash on the 13" MBA but I also can't imagine going back to the MBP after using this computer. I wish the battery life was better - argh!

What to do, what to do? I'll need to decide in the next month or so.

If it wasn't for the battery issue, I'd be perfectly happy with this computer. It's really an amazing piece of tech.

As far as battery life, I bought one of these (the "100" version, albeit the same type of external battery as I also use it for my iPad and iPhone while traveling) http://www.hypershop.com/HyperJuice-External-Battery-for-MacBook-iPad-60Wh-p/mbp-060.htm
Check it out...it's going to be a $169 investment, but a significant boost to battery performance and "peace of mind"

I'm with you on the screen size. I actually ended up with both of this year's Airs right after launch. Both are 4gigs of RAM and 256gig SSDs...but my 13" is the core i5 and the 11" is the core i7 ultimate. I've had them almost 6 months and I STILL can't decide which one I like more!!! LOL...regardless of battery life, the 11" is a work of art when it comes to computer manufacturing. Easily my favorite computing device I've EVER purchased. Even compared to the 13" Air and my iPad2...the 11" Air is an Awesome little machine!!!

I think you chose wisely...but as you mentioned yourself, you've got an extended "return" period. Take advantage of it...and check out the HyperJuice link. These guys (and Mophie if you're looking for something for your iPhone) are awesome...both their products and support!

Jer

 

[brown.eyed.girl]

You know, battery life isn't that bad.

It lasted quite a while (ugh, I wasn't keeping close track so sorry for the lack of quantitative data!) while I was primarily using it for papers (Word, e-mail, not very much web browsing) and I was pleasantly surprised by how long it lasted just playing videos. I'm going to keep the 11". It's SO portable, so light, and the screen doesn't bother me at all.

Thanks all for weighing in on this thread! You guys gave me a lot to think about, and if it hadn't been for this thread and multiple visits to the Apple store, I doubt I would've gone for the MBA at all. I'm very pleased with it though! Now to find the perfect case!

 

[ethics101]

If you are doing actual work, the iPad cannot be a replacement for a laptop. Sure if you're taking quick notes or reading PDFs, but when it comes down to writing reports or working on presentations you better have a laptop. Please don't take that guys's advice. The iPad is a complement, not a replacement.

 

[palpatine]

If you are doing actual work, the iPad cannot be a replacement for a laptop. Sure if you're taking quick notes or reading PDFs, but when it comes down to writing reports or working on presentations you better have a laptop. Please don't take that guys's advice. The iPad is a complement, not a replacement.

op got an mba. it's a great computer. i'm sure she'll love it.

as i often say (in this thread as well!), the ipad should be thought of as a supplement or complement to a computer, but not a replacement. that said, i wouldn't underestimate its potential.

i've written several things on my ipad (essays, reports, and published material). i've made presentations. and, i've given presentations with the ipad.

 

[jojoba]

op got an mba. it's a great computer. i'm sure she'll love it.

as i often say (in this thread as well!), the ipad should be thought of as a supplement or complement to a computer, but not a replacement. that said, i wouldn't underestimate its potential.

i've written several things on my ipad (essays, reports, and published material). i've made presentations. and, i've given presentations with the ipad.

I'm using the iPad quite extensively for work, too, and it was the main reason why I got a 13" mba rather than the 11" because it covers my portability issues on a day to day basis and most of my work needs if I only travel for a few days (I bring an additional laptop for longer work trips). It's great for academic work with pdf-s, and I love the long battery life and the easy internet access with 3G. If I had unlimited amounts of money, I'd get a mba 11" too, though. It's a truly beautiful machine and SO light. Very, very nice.

 

[austinguy23]

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You know, battery life isn't that bad.

It lasted quite a while (ugh, I wasn't keeping close track so sorry for the lack of quantitative data!) while I was primarily using it for papers (Word, e-mail, not very much web browsing) and I was pleasantly surprised by how long it lasted just playing videos. I'm going to keep the 11". It's SO portable, so light, and the screen doesn't bother me at all.

Thanks all for weighing in on this thread! You guys gave me a lot to think about, and if it hadn't been for this thread and multiple visits to the Apple store, I doubt I would've gone for the MBA at all. I'm very pleased with it though! Now to find the perfect case!

Turn down the screen brightness and your battery will last quite a bit longer but you probably know that.

 

[bigkevracer]

I'm in the same boat looking at either at MBA or MBP 13".

I currently have an i5 iMac and run an external monitor, giving me 2 x 22" monitors. This is my biggest concern, which of these will be able to still give me two external monitors.

I believe I can run one via Thunderbolt on MBA and I could do one via a USB adaptor (no idea how slow these are, but I'm guessing they're fine for web/email, etc).

Does the MBP support anything better? I'm leaning towards the MBA unless the MBP can give me some benefit in multiple monitors.

All of this is a compromise really, but both of these should be ok for what I need to do, as long as I can get the monitors sorted out.

I work for an NGO so they're unlikely to buy me two Thunderbolt monitors when I can get near enough.

 

[GfPQqmcRKUvP]

What to do, what to do? I'll need to decide in the next month or so.

You should return it and get your old computer. Why are you even buying a new computer if you can't afford the $200 difference between a 13" and 11" MBA? You had/have a perfectly functioning one.

 

[brown.eyed.girl]

You should return it and get your old computer. Why are you even buying a new computer if you can't afford the $200 difference between a 13" and 11" MBA? You had/have a perfectly functioning one.

Judge much?

Actually, old computer was not functioning (fried logic board, water, you can imagine) so didn't have a choice. Of course, the question wasn't "Should I replace?" it was "Which one?"