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What Can't the MBA do? (Except Gaming)

T

tech324

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 25, 2010
274
0
I am waiting on my new MBA 2011 13inch from Amazon. From what I can tell, the MBA can do anything a regular desktop can do except maybe for gaming. I am looking to use the AIR has my primary machine. Is there anything the MBA can not do? Why would someone need a more powerful desktop?

Also I am not talking about screen size either because you can hook up an AIR to a display just like a desktop.
 
Store 249GB of data?

based on your phrasing Im not sure if you're just trying to justify your purchase or what, but let's not pretend the Air is anything more than it is. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate how (I love this term) "impossibly thin" it is but it does have many restrictions that a desktop doesn't, and a desktop has many restrictions that an Air doesn't. Just like there are many classes of vehicles, there should also be many classes of computers. So what a computer can or can't do has more to do with the user than it does with the physical product.
 
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I've been using a Rev A MBA for years now, and I'm a heavy computer user for work. I'm on it for hours a day. No, there's nothing a new MBA wont do that a regular computer user might need, IMHO.

Actually thinking of getting the new 13" MBA now it has the backlit keyboard. But this one refuses to die... it's amazing how fast a SSD makes a computer!
 
Well, I think it's most important to look at what you're currently using and what you're doing with it. I know with my 3 year old MacBook Pro I'll get better performance in every way, except for graphics, when I get my MacBook Air. I don't care for gaming as I've got a PC desktop for that.

I hate reading these forums. I can't get my MBA until I receive my school grant. :(
 
miniConvert said:
But this one refuses to die... it's amazing how fast a SSD makes a computer!
Click to expand...

Well... with my Mac Mini... just installing more RAM dramatically improved performance. With more RAM, the Mac doesn't write to the hard drive as virtual memory, which speeds things up.

So, that's something I'm concerned about with the Mac Book Air. The new base model simply does not have enough RAM. And it's not like I can easily upgrade it later... unless I figure out how to solder new RAM to the motherboard. :p

tech324 said:
From what I can tell, the MBA can do anything a regular desktop can do except maybe for gaming.
Click to expand...

Wow... that statement makes me think of two things...

  • What games couldn't it run?
  • The Mac has games?! :p

About the Mac Game drought...

About a week ago, I tried Virtualization on my Mac Mini. I was running Fusion, Windows XP and Halo. It wasn't the best... pretty choppy actually... but almost close to playable. If the game was native, or if I boot up in Boot Camp, I'm thinking that it probably would have been OK... and I thought that the new Mac Book Air is much faster than my 2009 Mac Mini.

About existing Mac Games...

Why do you think it won't run games? I haven't tried it, but a lot of the Mac games have low system requirements. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and World of Warcraft are popular Mac games, but the system requirements are low.

I don't know... I have pokey Mac Mini, but it seems so much faster than my PC... the one with more RAM and a better GPU. I actually put my PC in storage because it felt so slow next to my Mac Mini.... A TWO YEAR OLD MAC MINI!

I use my Mac for 3D rendering, app development, desktop publishing, web publishing and basic computer stuff - Internet, Email, music.

My main issue with the new MacBook Air is that it's expensive. The base model seems fairly inexpensive, but 2 GB of RAM is ridiculously low. A big help is that I use Pixelmator. I thought about switching back to PC, but I think I would really miss that program if I did. (Version 2.0 is looking sweet!)

Why would someone need something more powerful? If they're really impatient about progress bars, need lots of storage space, or they're playing high-end video games, they might want more power. Me, I'm actually starting to like the Mac Book Air. It's the 2 GB RAM limit that I see as one of the big issues, not processing power.
 
tech324 said:
I am waiting on my new MBA 2011 13inch from Amazon. From what I can tell, the MBA can do anything a regular desktop can do except maybe for gaming. I am looking to use the AIR has my primary machine. Is there anything the MBA can not do? Why would someone need a more powerful desktop?

Also I am not talking about screen size either because you can hook up an AIR to a display just like a desktop.
Click to expand...

 It cant connect to firewire 400 and firewire 800 devices/ drives.
 It cant connect to an Ethernet network uness you want to sacrifice a USB port.
 It cant house another internal harddrive.
 It cant play CD's, DVD's or Bluray discs internally.
 
Here's something most people don't notice, mainly because it's a limitation only the MacBook Airs have... The audio port on MacBook Airs are only audio-out.

There's no audio-in. You'll have to buy something like a Griffin iMic for normal audio-in needs.
 
eljanitor said:
 It cant connect to firewire 400 and firewire 800 devices/ drives.
 It cant connect to an Ethernet network uness you want to sacrifice a USB port.
Click to expand...

http://holdan.eu/Sonnet/Accessories/Presto™ Gigabit Ethernet Thunderbolt™ Adapter#tab=description

Coming hopefully soon are Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet and FW800 adapters. Doesn't look like they are daisy-chainable though :( Hopefully someone will come out with a Thunderbolt Hub with a physical Bus topology for simple daisy chaining.

USB Dongle is limited to 100Mbit, be nice to have a Gig Adapter when at home or work.

Or there is the Thunderbolt Cinema display for the low price of $999 :eek:
 
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