Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Using Macbook Air as a desktop

P

powsucks

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 14, 2012
40
0
Hi everyone, I've been lurking on these forums for a little while leading up to the keyote this week. I'm currently using a 2008 white Macbook, which i've upgraded a little over the years whilst I've been at university. It's served me very well till now, with just a HDD burn over the 5 years.

I was waiting to hear about the update of the 15 inch Pro for months, sure it was going to be the right option. But since it's release, I have concerns about the fact it's a very new technology and think it'll be better to wait for a couple of years before going for the retina.

So I think I'm going to go for the 13 inch Air, with the i7 chip, 8gb ram and 258 SSD with education discount. Sounds like a beast of a machine compared to my current laptop.

How easy is it to set it up in clamshell mode, with the apple wireless keyboard and mouse with a decent IPS monitor? What is a good alternative to the Thunderbolt display Apple offer? Whats the best way to connect to said display?

I've been looking at the Dell u2410. Good option?

Sorry for the long post and thanks for any reply in advance.
 
I would think any new model TV with HDMI connections will work just fine for your MBA; I use my 2010 white macbook as a desktop most of the times, with an LG HDTV, and the apple wireless (bluetooth) keyboard and trackpad. Works perfect and I assume it will work just as well with the Air.
 
powsucks said:
How easy is it to set it up in clamshell mode, with the apple wireless keyboard and mouse with a decent IPS monitor? What is a good alternative to the Thunderbolt display Apple offer? Whats the best way to connect to said display?

I've been looking at the Dell u2410. Good option?
Click to expand...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/320857320377?_trksid=p5197.c0.m619#ht_5199wt_871

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5885/the-achieva-shimian-qh270-a-350-27inch-wqhd-sips-display

I have an old iPhone on ebay that I'm essentially flipping for one of these panels.
 
I use my 13" 2011 MBA primarily on a desktop, connected to an old 23" Apple Cinema display along with a wired keyboard and mouse. It works great. It replaced my 2008 15" MBP and is much, much faster at everything.

Personally, I stopped using it in clamshell mode because the fans seem to kick into high speed very often when the cover is closed. So I just leave it open with the built-in screen dimmed way down and the fans rarely run at high speed unless I'm doing something very processor intensive.
 
Thanks for the responses. I think I've decided to infact go for the 13 inch Macbook air i5 8GB with 128gb ssd. With the education discount it will be under £1000. I'll grab a USB3 HDD, U2410 monitor, apple wireless keyboard and mouse and it'll all come to around £1500, around the same as I would have spent on the Pro retina.

I know the 128 ssd is slower than the 256, would the difference be very aparent?

Thanks.
 
ZBoater said:
No.
Click to expand...

Thanks man. Apologies, I know I'm asking VERY simple questions. I've never had a SSD before! Seems like the proces difference is just too much to give up, considering I have all my films and RAW shots on external drives anyway.
 
powsucks said:
Thanks man. Apologies, I know I'm asking VERY simple questions. I've never had a SSD before! Seems like the proces difference is just too much to give up, considering I have all my films and RAW shots on external drives anyway.
Click to expand...

No worries, no apologies needed. Once you experience SSD you'll never want to go back. To handle all these large files be sure to get an external USB 3.0 drive ($100 for 1TB). It is worth it.
 
ZBoater said:
To handle all these large files be sure to get an external USB 3.0 drive ($100 for 1TB). It is worth it.
Click to expand...
Stupid question ahead: does it matter which ext drive we get if we want to be able to use the drive on both Mac AND Windows machines?
 
Sounds Good said:
Stupid question ahead: does it matter which ext drive we get if we want to be able to use the drive on both Mac AND Windows machines?
Click to expand...

No, that is all in the format of the drive. Just make sure it's USB 3.0 and not FireWire/Thunderbolt if you're using it on a Windows PC also. :)
 
Sounds Good said:
Stupid question ahead: does it matter which ext drive we get if we want to be able to use the drive on both Mac AND Windows machines?
Click to expand...

A USB 3.0 drive will give you great performance on the new MBAs. Format it using the exFAT format so both Windows 7 and Mac machines can read it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back