Student notebook: 11" or 13" Air?

[3bs]

Dont you find it lacks screen real estate or storage? I find it hard to believe that 64gb, 128 or even 256gb of storage is enough.

Sometimes I feel like it would be nice to have more screen real estate but it's really not that bad. I use full screen apps when I need to and the gestures in Lion make it really easy to move between desktops and full screen apps. Storage, well I don't keep much on mine. My whole iTunes library including music, apps etc is about 14gb and my photos about 6gb. I've never had less than 40gb free space. I still would have gone with 256gb if I could but the 11" doesn't have that option. One thing I don't like about the 11" is that it's not very comfortable in your lap. I don't have it in my lap a lot so that's not a big deal. My main reason for getting it is portability cause I take it with me pretty much everywhere. I have a late 2010 ultimate 11" and skipped the ones that came out in July but will probably get the next 11" that comes out whenever that is.

 

[Sean Dempsey]

Out of all the apple laptops, the MBA 11" has the worst battery life. If you're going to be in school all day, go with a 13" mbp.

 

[eric/]

Out of all the apple laptops, the MBA 11" has the worst battery life. If you're going to be in school all day, go with a 13" mbp.

I have a 13 inch MBA, and the battery is MORE than sufficient. That being said, depending on how many hours you actually use the computer during the day, and whether or not you have opportunities to charge it. I have a one hour break between 11 am and noon, so that is perfect time to charge, not that I need to.

 

[Sean Dempsey]

I have a 13 inch MBA, and the battery is MORE than sufficient. That being said, depending on how many hours you actually use the computer during the day, and whether or not you have opportunities to charge it. I have a one hour break between 11 am and noon, so that is perfect time to charge, not that I need to.

Repeatedly, my MBA 11" can be used for around 3 hours of normal use. Wifi, browsing, no video, and no games/software that runs hard cpu cycles.

 

[3bs]

Repeatedly, my MBA 11" can be used for around 3 hours of normal use. Wifi, browsing, no video, and no games/software that runs hard cpu cycles.

I also get 3-4 hours with usage like that. Realistically speaking, I'm rarely in a place without an outlet for that long. It would be nice to have 5-7 hours like with the 13" but if portability is what's important for you then 3-4 hours will do. Maybe I'm ok with that because I came from a MacBook that gave me about 2 hours of battery life.

 

[VMMan]

Three hours of battery life for a 2011 MBA 11" for light usage is abysmal.

Are you using Flash? What's your screen brightness level? Bluetooth?

My six hours of battery time is consistent with Anandtech's tests.

 

[Stingray454]

Are you using Flash?

This. I never surfed on flash-only sites, but still had the addon "just in case", it displayed a few banners and such. I installed AdBlock (so I can still click to see any flash I need, but it hides most flash and animated banners by default). I gained _at least_ an hour of battery time on average, probably 1.5 or so.

 

[Sean Dempsey]

Three hours of battery life for a 2011 MBA 11" for light usage is abysmal.

Are you using Flash? What's your screen brightness level? Bluetooth?

My six hours of battery time is consistent with Anandtech's tests.

You're plain lying.

I turned my MBA 11" on, and had it sit idle at 50% screen, no wifi, no usage. Sleep and screensaver were set to never turn on.

It lasted 5 hours.

So you're saying you get 6 hours by using it more than sitting idle not doing anything? not likely.

 

[VMMan]

You're plain lying.

I turned my MBA 11" on, and had it sit idle at 50% screen, no wifi, no usage. Sleep and screensaver were set to never turn on.

It lasted 5 hours.

So you're saying you get 6 hours by using it more than sitting idle not doing anything? not likely.

I get 6 hours with text input in Xcode with 3 bars and no Bluetooth. This is not hard to believe. Anandtech's testing in their review also demonstrated 6 hours of light usage which was actually more intensive than my usage.

You should also reconsider calling anybody a liar without any evidence as it is you who will most likely end up looking poorly.

 

[Durious]

Law student here, with a very similar setup to OP. The 11 is perfect for when you only use it for school. The 13" is a must if it's to be your only computer.

Considering performance difference between the two is negligible I'd say get a monitor to plug into for non-portable times... That'd solve things a bit better IMO.

 

[Sean Dempsey]

I get 6 hours with text input in Xcode with 3 bars and no Bluetooth. This is not hard to believe. Anandtech's testing in their review also demonstrated 6 hours of light usage which was actually more intensive than my usage.

You should also reconsider calling anybody a liar without any evidence as it is you who will most likely end up looking poorly.

How about my real world test of letting my MBA 11" sit idle with not a single app running and it lasting 5 hours. Wifi turned off. Bluetooth turned off. I ran these tests for almost 2 full days.

So, I have at least 1 case study as evidence.

 

[eric/]

How about my real world test of letting my MBA 11" sit idle with not a single app running and it lasting 5 hours. Wifi turned off. Bluetooth turned off. I ran these tests for almost 2 full days.

So, I have at least 1 case study as evidence.

Where is your "case study"?

Where is the data? Video evidence? Proof?

 

[VMMan]

How about my real world test of letting my MBA 11" sit idle with not a single app running and it lasting 5 hours. Wifi turned off. Bluetooth turned off. I ran these tests for almost 2 full days.

So, I have at least 1 case study as evidence.

Establishing a data point that differs from another data point is not evidence that another person has intentionally and knowingly falsified their own data.

I have reviewed scientific literature in my career and when I read another investigator's data to be different than what I have produced in a lab, I have never accused another investigator of being a "liar".

In fact in my entire career I have never personally ever accused anybody or have been accused of "lying". You will need to be very certain that you have evidence that shows an individual of intentionally and knowingly falsifying data, otherwise you are engaging in libel.

 

[PeterSmith]

Getting back to the topic

Something to consider: if like a lot of students (not just hardcore scientists either) you use LaTeX for document processing -- which knocks the socks off anything else for academic purposes -- then you will want two windows open side-by-side, editor and PDF preview. Works a dream on a 13" MBA but you wouldn't be happy be a smaller screen.

 

[Fastball32]

I am Medical Resident with a Mac Pro + 27" ACD, plus iPad so I can relate.

MBA 11" positives:
- 16x9 widescreen aspect ratio - currently the only Apple Macbook with this dimension. Ideal for movie/youtube watching
- VERY light and compact
- This year is just as fast and powerful as the 13"
- Cheaper

MBA 13" positives:
- Larger screen with slightly more real estate
- Longer battery life
- SD card slot

I had the 2009 MacBook Air 2.13 GHz, 128 GB SSD, with 2 GB Ram. This was a fantastic machine, however the 2 GB of Ram finally caught up with me and would start to freeze during some multimedia rich powerpoints (a disaster during Grand Rounds).

Last summer I bought the 2011 11" MBA i7. For someone who lugs their computer around all the time, the difference in weight and space is very noticeable to me.
The biggest con with my 11", is that I usually have iTunes, Pages, Keynote, and Safari open when I put together presentations. Any extra screen real estate is a big plus for me. Although Lion's Full screen mode/Launchpad makes it easy to navigate, larger screens increase productivity for me.

With that being said, I would still rather have the 11" over the 13" due to the portability.
However I would be tempted to trade it in for a MBA-like high resolution 15 MBP (if it is around 3 lbs).

If your Air was your only computer, yes, you should definitely get the 13", but since you already have a 27" iMac, and carry your laptop with you everyday, I think you made the right choice.

 

[doktordoris]

You're plain lying.

I turned my MBA 11" on, and had it sit idle at 50% screen, no wifi, no usage. Sleep and screensaver were set to never turn on.

It lasted 5 hours.

So you're saying you get 6 hours by using it more than sitting idle not doing anything? not likely.

Wow. 50% screen brightness? That is way more than I use, I normally have mine set to 3, or maybe 4 of the little units. Having said that using it for naught but looking at web pages, and I never look at flash I have my machine set to not display it unless I tell it to. I get 4 hours on a good day, even four and a half if I am really lucky. So 6 hours seems pretty remarkable.

 

[sysiphus]

- 16x9 widescreen aspect ratio - currently the only Apple Macbook with this dimension. Ideal for movie/youtube watching

I will never understand this philosophy. I hate hate hate how screens keep getting shorter! I used to have a 4:3 aspect ratio ThinkPad with a 1400x1050 resolution, 14" screen--and it was perfect. I'd pay a huge premium to be able to buy a current machine like that. The PPI wasn't so high that there was absurd eyestrain, but you actually got a everyday-usable workspace big enough for darned near anything, in a very portable footprint. You can never have enough vertical pixels for getting work done--try writing code on a 4:3 monitor, then jump over to a 16:9 machine--you'll drive yourself crazy scrolling. Same story with CAD work...I'd hate to go with anything less than 16:10, bare minimum. Heck, the high-res 13" 16:10 was part of the draw for my MBA--all the workspace of my old 15" MBP 1,1 in a much smaller package.

I'm just worried that Apple's going to jump on the ZOMG SHORTSCREEN!1! bandwagon for all their portables now that they started it on the 11" MBA...they're one of the last companies still hanging on to 16:10 as it is...good thing all the panels are LED-backlit now, so at least they should last a while.

A 14" 4:3 SXGA+ (1400x1050) MBA would be absolutely droolworthy...bonus drool if it's an IPS panel...

/end rant

 

[lc25]

Could go for top spec 11 like i did or just grab the 11 with 4gb of ram should be plenty as you still have the iMac at home.

 

[doctorandrew]

I am in the same situation you are and I went with the 11" macbook air. It really is the finest laptop I have ever had as a student. Countless hours of listening to iTunesU podcasts, taking notes, and studying notes have been tallied on this little baby. Being able to do that anywhere is a huge plus, due to the ultra-portability of this device. I even bring it with me into clinic, because its so easy to conceal. Bringing it out and putting it away is so quick. I love to study on my bed/couch, wherever I could just lay down and set the air on me like reading a book. You'll be in for a real treat if you decide to get the 11".

As far as drawbacks go, being a health profession student, sometimes you'll have to pull 12+ hours a day in clinic mixed with classes where you won't be able plug your laptop in, so I do wish I had better battery life for this. Also when it comes to doing projects and research, it gets a little cumbersome with the tiny screen real-estate. You don't have much space to work with if you want to have a word processor open along side a pdf file. Although lion makes it easy to just swipe across when you keep things in full screen mode. I just wish microsoft office uses this feature as well.

These 2 things are true setbacks, but I've learned to work around them. It does make things more difficult, but really doesn't take away from this device being an excellent companion as a Med student.

P.S. I haven't tried the i5 yet, but i7 has no problems playing 1080p HD videos.
Also I play lots of Counter-strike: Source and Dota 2/HoN and other games on this laptop too. VERY VERSATILE

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