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Thinking of buying a MacBook Air
- Thread starter Sothos
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1. It really depends, but if it's your regular light vid editing work MBA can handle it.
2. So far, 2 gigs have been adequate for me. I do mainly text-editing though. Keep in mind that MBA has a 6MB L2 Cache, something only the 17inch MBP has (I think), so that compensates a little bit for the 2gb ram.
3. I use an external LG Drive (GPU80LU10?) It works perfectly with my MBA.
4. It's the same screen as the MBP without the glass facade. To me, it is a better-looking screen because it kind of has the advantages of both a matte and glossy screen. It doesn't reflect as badly as the MBP because it doesn't have the glass yet it retains the vibrant and bright colors of a glossy display. It's gorgeous to be honest.
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7. I find it difficult to use the MBA in bed only if you're watching movies. The vent is located essentially on the bottom and your comforter, sheets will cover over it--making it overheat quickly.
Also, you should consider 2 OneNote substitutes: Circus Ponies Notebook and OmniOutliner. I use the former and it is fantastic.
2. So far, 2 gigs have been adequate for me. I do mainly text-editing though. Keep in mind that MBA has a 6MB L2 Cache, something only the 17inch MBP has (I think), so that compensates a little bit for the 2gb ram.
3. I use an external LG Drive (GPU80LU10?) It works perfectly with my MBA.
4. It's the same screen as the MBP without the glass facade. To me, it is a better-looking screen because it kind of has the advantages of both a matte and glossy screen. It doesn't reflect as badly as the MBP because it doesn't have the glass yet it retains the vibrant and bright colors of a glossy display. It's gorgeous to be honest.
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7. I find it difficult to use the MBA in bed only if you're watching movies. The vent is located essentially on the bottom and your comforter, sheets will cover over it--making it overheat quickly.
Also, you should consider 2 OneNote substitutes: Circus Ponies Notebook and OmniOutliner. I use the former and it is fantastic.
Thanks! Best advice i've gotten so far.
i know it may seem a litle different for ME to personally compare, but my Mac mini runs a lot slower than my MacBook.
Obviously the .34 Ghz and 2GB of RAM + a better GFX card plays a big role in that, but why not go to the apple store and mess around with it for an hour or so.
who is to tell you that you can't try out some renders here and there.
just got mine yesterday rev A(low price) , and i tought will be slow , because this was the original from fev 08 ,i have to say WHAT A FUNTASTC machine.
downloads
skype
music
browsing
installing
transfering library from other macs
streaming
iphone conect and syncronizing
it makes everything, e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g at the same time, without a problem or slowing down.
ps: safari adblocker with simbl is f*** great
downloads
skype
music
browsing
installing
transfering library from other macs
streaming
iphone conect and syncronizing
it makes everything, e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g at the same time, without a problem or slowing down.
ps: safari adblocker with simbl is f*** great
Would likely be great but a few caviats
1) Light video editing is fine, particularly if using the MBA's camera (or something of similar resolution) and iLife tools to edit it.
2) 2mb of RAM is fine for most MAC apps and provides for good multitasking. When you start editing very large multimedia files or using Virtual machines 2gb starts to look a bit more cramped but usually still adequate if you limit what else you are doing at the same time.
3) Many non Apple usb optical drives can be used with the MBA but not all of them may be bootable. Its easy enough to make a disk image of your MBA boot DVD's on an 8gb memory stick that will be bootable though. Also for light occasional use the optical drive sharing utility works well to share another machines optical drive.
4) My RevA and now my RevC MBA have fantastic screens. Much better than my MB but probably very similar to the latest MBP. As good a screen as I've ever had on a laptop and I've owned a number of much more expensive laptops with much worse screens. Just great for all day use.
5) A powered USB hub at home and a portable hub or splitter while on the road can come in handy if you use the ethernet adapter a lot. The MBA port will not typically power more than one external drive or too many lighter devices unless you use a powered USB hub though.
6) The MBA is a terrific combination of mobility and usability. My only caveat here is the battery is slow to charge and you may only get 3-4 hours out of it so you need to be plugged in whenever you can.
7) Bad idea. Because of its thinness the MBA has heat challenges already and its main vent is basically on the bottom. Cover it even slightly and you get instant heat buildup. Sit it on a small laptop cooling pad or a clipboard or something so its vents stay open.
If you can live within the MBA's capacity limitations - RAM, Storage, and Battery life its a fantastic machine. If your school has places to plug in in class or you have breaks between classes where you can plug in, or you only have 3 hours or so classes a day it would be a fine machine. Otherwise a 13" MBP with faster charging and close to 7 hour battery life might be better.
Good luck!
1) Light video editing is fine, particularly if using the MBA's camera (or something of similar resolution) and iLife tools to edit it.
2) 2mb of RAM is fine for most MAC apps and provides for good multitasking. When you start editing very large multimedia files or using Virtual machines 2gb starts to look a bit more cramped but usually still adequate if you limit what else you are doing at the same time.
3) Many non Apple usb optical drives can be used with the MBA but not all of them may be bootable. Its easy enough to make a disk image of your MBA boot DVD's on an 8gb memory stick that will be bootable though. Also for light occasional use the optical drive sharing utility works well to share another machines optical drive.
4) My RevA and now my RevC MBA have fantastic screens. Much better than my MB but probably very similar to the latest MBP. As good a screen as I've ever had on a laptop and I've owned a number of much more expensive laptops with much worse screens. Just great for all day use.
5) A powered USB hub at home and a portable hub or splitter while on the road can come in handy if you use the ethernet adapter a lot. The MBA port will not typically power more than one external drive or too many lighter devices unless you use a powered USB hub though.
6) The MBA is a terrific combination of mobility and usability. My only caveat here is the battery is slow to charge and you may only get 3-4 hours out of it so you need to be plugged in whenever you can.
7) Bad idea. Because of its thinness the MBA has heat challenges already and its main vent is basically on the bottom. Cover it even slightly and you get instant heat buildup. Sit it on a small laptop cooling pad or a clipboard or something so its vents stay open.
If you can live within the MBA's capacity limitations - RAM, Storage, and Battery life its a fantastic machine. If your school has places to plug in in class or you have breaks between classes where you can plug in, or you only have 3 hours or so classes a day it would be a fine machine. Otherwise a 13" MBP with faster charging and close to 7 hour battery life might be better.
Good luck!
Wow, thanks. My school is quite large and modern so charging during classes will not be a problem.
Another vote for the air...
seriously...who compares dell mini with air?
Lol. I'd be wary of advice from anyone who makes that comparison without mentioning the processor.
Thats always an option and makes a lot of sense if what's offered currently does not meet your needs. But if a current MAC meets your needs the Apple release cycle is much more evolutionary than revolutionary and MACs typically age very well so you are just punishing yourself by waiting.
I've been hoping Apple would release a 4gb/256gb MBA for almost a year now when 2gb/128gb would have been ok. As a result I've missed a year or Airey goodness!
So even though its likely apple will release a 4gb/256gb Air next year I just got a new 2gb/128 RevC and don't regret it a bit.
I got the same MBA w/SSD in July. My wife has been lusting after it... so if a 4GB/256GB SSD model is released next year... I will:
1) Tell my wife: "OK you win... you can have the Air
2) Head to the Apple store for the upgraded model.
/Jim
Given this list of priorities, i.e. portability, get the Macbook Air. I have a new 13" unibody Macbook Pro. It is a portable machine. But nowhere near as portable as the Macbook Air. Air is considerably lighter and thinner than a full unibody Pro.
Only reason I did not get the Air is I need the open access to the ports that come with the Pro, including Firewire 800, DisplayPort, and the minicard.
If you don't need the ports, and your video editing will be light, I think the Air is a no-brainer for you. And you'll love it -- it is one of the best ultraportables on the market, period.
I have an early 2008 15" MBP and I've thought for a while now that my next laptop will probably be an Air. A lot of it IS to do with aesthetics; I just hope they put in the glass trackpad at least next revision (glass cover screen would be nice but probably add weight ).
I also have a half-hour walk with the MBP to work, and the same back, and it wouldn't be bad to have a kilo less to carry. The 15" MBP isn't really that heavy in the scheme of things, but it is unwieldy, and being a pre-unibody model it also feels quite delicate pulling it out of a sleeve.
I think the next rev Air could be really interesting. Depending of course on what happens with any potential tablet device.
).I also have a half-hour walk with the MBP to work, and the same back, and it wouldn't be bad to have a kilo less to carry. The 15" MBP isn't really that heavy in the scheme of things, but it is unwieldy, and being a pre-unibody model it also feels quite delicate pulling it out of a sleeve.
I think the next rev Air could be really interesting. Depending of course on what happens with any potential tablet device
.