Upgrade from M11X R1?

[jasphair]

Greetings,

I know the new MacBook Air is pretty close in specs to the M11X R1. My R1 has a SU4100 (1.3GHz) CPU (which overclocks to 1.7 in the BIOS), 7200 RPM drive, 2GB RAM, etc.

Is there enough of a performance boost (from SSD memory) to justify switching from the M11X to the Air, or would it be wiser to go with the R2 (i7, etc)? I believe other than going to SSD, there's not much difference in CPU, video, or memory speeds.

I've probably answered my own question, but can anyone chime in?

Thanks!

 

[justin216]

The M11x R1 (and R2) have a superior video card, but outside of that, the new Macbook Air is an upgrade over the R1.

The R2 edges it out in capability (that i7 is very capable they used), but you give up the form factor and Mac OS X. For me, it's a no-brainer to go with the MBA over either M11x, but for others with differing needs, that may tilt the other way.

 

[altecXP]

The M11x has faster CPU when OC'd, faster GPU, and better battery life(up to 7hrs). THe only thing the Air has over it is weight.

 

[jagger27]

If you want a notebook that's thinner than your finger, go for the MBA. If you want to play games on an 11" screen, keep your Alienware or upgrade to the i7 model.

 

[gman901]

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I am thinking about upgrading (or possibly downgrading) to the 11.6 Air from the m11x R1 basically for the size, weight and Mac OSX and Bootcamp. I want to do it because I know I will be traveling and I want to slow down my game playing. I think the Air's gpu can handle the same games that my R1 can, just at a lower resolution which is fine on that screen.

 

[Cat5e]

I sold my R1 so I could buy the new Air. I do all of my gaming now on my iMac; all I would want to do is be able to play COD5 on the Air for those nights when I'm stuck nursing a server back to life in my office and I think the Air's specs will handle COD5 just fine.

 

[justin216]

The nVidia 320 chip is pretty decent, all things considered. It probably won't run games at high/max settings, but I would expect a combination of medium/low would get reasonable framerates, depending on setup.

I plan to load World of Warcraft on my 11.6"/1.4/4GB when it gets here, and will report performance.

 

[jasphair]

I sold my R1 so I could buy the new Air. I do all of my gaming now on my iMac; all I would want to do is be able to play COD5 on the Air for those nights when I'm stuck nursing a server back to life in my office and I think the Air's specs will handle COD5 just fine.

How much did your R1 sell for, and through what means? Was that after the R2 came out? I'd love to sell the R1, but I have a feeling its resell value is crap nowadays...

If you want a notebook that's thinner than your finger, go for the MBA. If you want to play games on an 11" screen, keep your Alienware or upgrade to the i7 model.

I know as soon as I buy the R2, an R3 with a 400-series mobile GPU will come out. That's how it always works. 🙁

 

[CaoCao]

Greetings,

I know the new MacBook Air is pretty close in specs to the M11X R1. My R1 has a SU4100 (1.3GHz) CPU (which overclocks to 1.7 in the BIOS), 7200 RPM drive, 2GB RAM, etc.

Is there enough of a performance boost (from SSD memory) to justify switching from the M11X to the Air, or would it be wiser to go with the R2 (i7, etc)? I believe other than going to SSD, there's not much difference in CPU, video, or memory speeds.

I've probably answered my own question, but can anyone chime in?

Thanks!

Well the M11X is more powerful, but
It's 2x as heavy as the MBA
It's hella bulky (Quadruple the volume)
and IMO very ugly

 

[rittchard]

Greetings,

I know the new MacBook Air is pretty close in specs to the M11X R1. My R1 has a SU4100 (1.3GHz) CPU (which overclocks to 1.7 in the BIOS), 7200 RPM drive, 2GB RAM, etc.

Is there enough of a performance boost (from SSD memory) to justify switching from the M11X to the Air, or would it be wiser to go with the R2 (i7, etc)? I believe other than going to SSD, there's not much difference in CPU, video, or memory speeds.

Really depends on what you are ultimately looking for and how much you are willing to spend. If your primary interest is gaming on an 11" screen, the R2 is the way to go. The M11 has the best combo CPU and GPU for that size screen and for $1764 (comparable to the max 13" MBA price) you could get:

i7 640UM (4M Cache, 1.2 GHZ with 2.266 GHz Max Turbo Frequency)
4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 800MHz
256GB SSD - Samsung Solid State Drive
GT 335M graphics

If you care about form factor, weight, size, feel, trackpad, build quality, Mac OS, etc - all the other subtle things, you'll want to look at the MBA. Your other option (in the same weight class) is to look at the Sony Vaio Z series.

 

[bloodycape]

i7 640UM (4M Cache, 1.2 GHZ with 2.266 GHz Max Turbo Frequency)
4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 800MHz
256GB SSD - Samsung Solid State Drive
GT 335M graphics

If you care about form factor, weight, size, feel, trackpad, build quality, Mac OS, etc - all the other subtle things, you'll want to look at the MBA. Your other option (in the same weight class) is to look at the Sony Vaio Z series.

From what I hear the M11x is barely smaller than the Vaio Z. If the M11x had a footprint that is a bit smaller, I could see why one would get it over the Z, but since both are about the same size, I'd rather take the gpu hit and get the Z. Plus, with all the deals they have going for it at the MS store you can get it for under $1500 new, with a free xbox 360(if that deal is still going on).

 

[gman901]

I just bought the 11.6" Air maxed out! This is going to be a sweet machine compared to my bulky R1!😀

 

[falconeight]

I don't think that they compare at all. I had a M11 and it was very powerful but big. The MBA is not as powerful but appeals because of its form factor and portability.

 

[jagger27]

What do you want to do with this potential notebook? Would you not be better off with something bigger with more oumph? It's hard to give you suggestions without knowing what you do with your computer.

I could be completely off with this (since I don't know what you want) but here's my screen analysis.

Things an 11" screen is poor for:
-document manipulation. You want as much vertical space as you can get. If you do a lot of writing, having to pan around the page trying to find a specific paragraph or line is inconvenient. Having it sitting right in front of you with the text you're working on makes it much easier. One could argue that having a higher resolution screen can improve your writing. 😀

-general internet browsing. Spend some time with a 15" CRT then move to a 20+" LCD. I'm guessing you know the difference already. Think about how much you would need to scroll to see the contents of a forum or blog like engadget or Gizmodo. Sure, you'd be able to see the white edges of the page on the sides, but not the vertical content. The web stretches better than it did just a few years ago, however. (smartphone explosion, mobile designs)

-iLife work/Logic/FC. I found GarageBand somewhat gimped with 1280x800 on my 13" MBP. Although 1366x768 ends up being more pixels, the problem was with the vertical pixels, not so much the horizontal.

-programming. I'm not sure if you're that type of person, but it's exactly the same situation as document manipulation.

-multitasking. Try opening more than one than one window on that thing. You will absolutely need to make heavy use of Exposé and Spaces. That's what they're there for. The trouble is that you have no other options without the addition of a secondary (and far less portable) monitor.
-gaming. Real-time strategy games like StarCraft and Civilization are hurt by the lower resolution far more than any other games. You'll find yourself scrolling around more than you would with a larger screen with a greater resolution. Remember, games run better on Windows. PERIOD. There is no fighting this simple fact. OpenGL simply isn't up to par with DirectX in terms of gaming performance yet.

Things an 11" screen is tolerable for:
-multimedia absorption. Movies will be great on it assuming you can stream content to it fast enough.

-gaming. Think flash games or typical iPad games. FPS games can be played well to a certain degree because they are largely resolution independent.

Remember that this applies to both the Air and the M11x.

I'm willing to elaborate more on any of these points or anything else if you wish.

 

[Kavik]

The nVidia 320 chip is pretty decent, all things considered. It probably won't run games at high/max settings, but I would expect a combination of medium/low would get reasonable framerates, depending on setup.

I plan to load World of Warcraft on my 11.6"/1.4/4GB when it gets here, and will report performance.

I'm also interested to find out how Warcraft plays on the 11.6. Using a base 13" 2010 MBP now which works great, but it gets a little heavy to haul around if I've got some free time over lunch for a few daily quests or pvp.

 

[UniPro]

I have an R2 myself (see sig) for my primary computer and I ordered an 11.6 air as a secondary for classes. I love my R2 but it is kind of bulky to be lugging around campus. I'm keeping it to be my gaming machine, at least till the next version comes out. 😀

 

[Cat5e]

How much did your R1 sell for, and through what means? Was that after the R2 came out? I'd love to sell the R1, but I have a feeling its resell value is crap nowadays...



I know as soon as I buy the R2, an R3 with a 400-series mobile GPU will come out. That's how it always works. 🙁

I sold it for $850 on Craig's List.

 

[Parrotlet]

It all comes down to, do you want mac os x or not.

If no, go with alienware if yes go with a mac