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Great review. a little lengthy but good. I heard you say the webcam was not as good even compared to other macbooks? do we know what the resolution is on the webcam?
 
Awesome. thanks :)
I'm kinda torn on which one to get. I have a 13" mbp right now, do you think I'd miss the space? I only really do some web browsing, facebook, this forum, short presentations, word processing, etc.
 
Thanks for the video! Are you planning on keeping the MBP? What have been your experiences with the new MBA with some common apps?

I have the 15" 2.8 C2D MBPro but I wonder how much SSD and the updated graphics actually help out.

Mike
 
Great review. a little lengthy but good. I heard you say the webcam was not as good even compared to other macbooks? do we know what the resolution is on the webcam?

Thanks! It appears to have the same resolution as my MBP. Using Quicktime, both recorded video at 640*480, even at the high quality settings. On my iMac (27") Quicktime records video at 1280*1024 at the high quality setting. Resolutions aside, the video seems to be lacking detail in the MB Air, slightly better on the MBP, with the iMac easily having the best iSight of the 3.
 
Awesome. thanks :)
I'm kinda torn on which one to get. I have a 13" mbp right now, do you think I'd miss the space? I only really do some web browsing, facebook, this forum, short presentations, word processing, etc.

Most likely you would not miss the extra 2", especially considering the 11" MB Air has more screen real estate (in terms of pixels) than the 13" MBP. Go check it out. You'll be impressed. Just make sure you can live without a disc drive, SD card slot, firewire, etc.
 
Nice review! I guess you didn't have a problem justifying price of the extra storage space.
 
Thanks for the video! Are you planning on keeping the MBP? What have been your experiences with the new MBA with some common apps?

I have the 15" 2.8 C2D MBPro but I wonder how much SSD and the updated graphics actually help out.

Mike

You're welcome! I haven't quite decided if I will keep the MBP. On one hand it would be nice to have something that still is portable, but has a disc drive and the extra power and connectivity. On the other hand, I already have an iMac, plus iPad and iPhone. Do I really need 5 devices? I think not. In reality I should only have 2 or 3.
 
Most likely you would not miss the extra 2", especially considering the 11" MB Air has more screen real estate (in terms of pixels) than the 13" MBP. Go check it out. You'll be impressed. Just make sure you can live without a disc drive, SD card slot, firewire, etc.

I checked it out yesterday, and I just felt that while you could fit a lot more on the screen and stuff, everything was just kinda too small for me. I was also looking at the cost, and I need a 128GB (at least) so the 13" would be a hundred bucks more, and I would have a better processor. I think I'll buy the 13". Time to sell this MBP...:D
 
Nice review! I guess you didn't have a problem justifying price of the extra storage space.

Thanks! I didn't have a problem at all! Between CPU, RAM, and HDD, if I could only pick 1 to upgrade it would have been the HDD. Truthfully I had a BTO on order with all 3 upgrades but when I saw this at the store last night I changed my mind. I've still got 14 days to make a final decision but at this point I'm very happy and I don't see myself taking it back.

Even though it won't be my primary computer, I just don't think I can get by with 64GB. I don't plan to store a lot of video or pictures, but what if I want to install Windows? Adobe suite? Office? Things add up.
 
I checked it out yesterday, and I just felt that while you could fit a lot more on the screen and stuff, everything was just kinda too small for me. I was also looking at the cost, and I need a 128GB (at least) so the 13" would be a hundred bucks more, and I would have a better processor. I think I'll buy the 13". Time to sell this MBP...:D

You won't regret it. Good luck!
 
On the Apple web site there is a link to Laptop Magazine's review of the 11.6" MB Air.

They mention the hinge being very loose. So loose in fact that the screen changed viewing angles when the MB Air was picked up or when it was being used in a car going over bumps.

This is a bit concerning but my opinion is that they have a 'bad' review unit. My fingers are crossed because mine just shipped from China.

To the OP, how is the hinge on yours?
 
On the Apple web site there is a link to Laptop Magazine's review of the 11.6" MB Air.

They mention the hinge being very loose. So loose in fact that the screen changed viewing angles when the MB Air was picked up or when it was being used in a car going over bumps.

This is a bit concerning but my opinion is that they have a 'bad' review unit. My fingers are crossed because mine just shipped from China.

To the OP, how is the hinge on yours?

Hello. I don't know if loose is the right way to describe it. If I close the laptop to the point where the top of the screen is only about 1 inch from the front of the palm rest (in other words, almost closed), the screen does not fall under its own weight and close the laptop. So I wouldn't say it's loose, at least not mine. However, as I noted in the video, the screen does seem to have less of an ability to resist movement (compared to other recent MacBooks I have used), be it from your touch, gravity, acceleration, etc. I saw this as being a good thing, but maybe others will find it annoying. I can definitely see that the screen angle would change if you picked it up with a certain force or were trying to use it in a bumpy car. My guess is this will be a non-issue for the vast majority of users in most situations, especially considering the maximum angle of the screen seems to be ideal for an average person to have a head on view of the screen while it is in their lap.
 
Thanks! I didn't have a problem at all! Between CPU, RAM, and HDD, if I could only pick 1 to upgrade it would have been the HDD. Truthfully I had a BTO on order with all 3 upgrades but when I saw this at the store last night I changed my mind. I've still got 14 days to make a final decision but at this point I'm very happy and I don't see myself taking it back.

Even though it won't be my primary computer, I just don't think I can get by with 64GB. I don't plan to store a lot of video or pictures, but what if I want to install Windows? Adobe suite? Office? Things add up.
I think you've convinced me which option to get. I was leaning toward more RAM but now think I'll go for more storage. I wasn't going to do both, no matter what. Thanks.
 
Op, thanks again, not for the great review only, but for taking the time to respond here. May I ask about max screen opening angle? How many degs. app. is it?
 
I think you've convinced me which option to get. I was leaning toward more RAM but now think I'll go for more storage. I wasn't going to do both, no matter what. Thanks.

Just my 2 c's. Buy more ram too, you are definitely going to miss it in the future, take my word for it, and then you won't have the capacity to add it.
 
Just my 2 c's. Buy more ram too, you are definitely going to miss it in the future, take my word for it, and then you won't have the capacity to add it.
I usually replace computers every year or two and I don't do any heavy lifting with my portables. Having just 2 GB of RAM might decrease resale value but I think that's the only way it will really affect me.
 
Hello. I don't know if loose is the right way to describe it. If I close the laptop to the point where the top of the screen is only about 1 inch from the front of the palm rest (in other words, almost closed), the screen does not fall under its own weight and close the laptop. So I wouldn't say it's loose, at least not mine. However, as I noted in the video, the screen does seem to have less of an ability to resist movement (compared to other recent MacBooks I have used), be it from your touch, gravity, acceleration, etc. I saw this as being a good thing, but maybe others will find it annoying. I can definitely see that the screen angle would change if you picked it up with a certain force or were trying to use it in a bumpy car. My guess is this will be a non-issue for the vast majority of users in most situations, especially considering the maximum angle of the screen seems to be ideal for an average person to have a head on view of the screen while it is in their lap.

Great! Thanks for the review! :)
 
Op, thanks again, not for the great review only, but for taking the time to respond here. May I ask about max screen opening angle? How many degs. app. is it?

You're welcome, glad to help answer questions. I'm not exactly in grade school anymore, but thankfully I do have a protractor handy! Max angle seems to be about 135°.
 
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