Which of these two macbook air is better deal and why?

[passingapple]

Hi, first of all, I am not sure if this was ever discussed, but I can't find one and so I'm posting a new thread to find out. I'd like to know which of these two macbook airs you think is the better deal as they are about the same price:

1) 2011 macbook air 13" (MD226LL/A) $1,249.99
1.8GHz dual-core Intel Core i7 processor
4 GB DDR3 SDRAM
256GB flash storage
Intel HD Graphics 3000

2) 2012 macbook air 13" (MD231LL/A) $1,269.98
1.8GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor
8GB 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM
128GB flash storage
Intel HD Graphics 4000

Both these are from macmall and I tried real hard to compare benchmark scores, but there wasn't any featuring both -it seems all new benchmark focuses on 2012 models only have default 2011 model as a reference and not the 1.8 GHz i7 model.

The 2011 model has bigger hard drive, but personally even on my mac pro, I only use about 100 GB as I saved much of media files on external hard drives. Other differences are 2011 i7 vs 2012 i5, difference in rams and graphic chips, etc. What do you guys think? Lemme know~!

(UPDATE: as I noted, I have mac pro as the main computer. I'm thinking of getting mac air to use when I'm traveling or not at home. Not much of a gamer, so no graphic intensive games like Diablo III for me. I don't plan to do stuff like video edit and etc with the mac air, but who knows? Overall I'm just interested in which is better value and I'm sure people will have a difference in their opinions on why.)

 

[Gav2k]

The second! Ram can't be upgraded nor can gfx. Better to get the 8gb of ram and replace the ssd in the future!

 

[MacBird]

Could you say more what your use is: RAM or processing-intensive apps, external monitor, gaming or not, etc.?

 

[ixodes]

They're both good deals. There's not enough difference to be noticed in real world use unless you're pushing them with highly resource intense work. In that scenario you should be looking at a MBP instead.

For everyday personal computing, either is ideal.

 

[Wokis]

Depends on usage I'd say.

Personally, being somewhat of a light gamer on the go and already having terabytes upon terabytes of storage in my desktop, HTPC and external drives, I'd go with the second one. In fact that's the config I've ordered, even.

8GB RAM is nice for many productive uses such as multiple adobe programs and future-proofing as well

If you need more space, maybe the MBA will be more of a main office machine, or you have a killer music/video collection you want to bring with you att all times, perhaps simply going for more storage is worth it.

 

[AdrianK]

The Ivy Bridge i5 @ 1.8GHz is actually faster than the Sandy Bridge i7 @ 1.8GHz (geek bench of 6083 vs 5620).

 

[S.B.G]

The better value is dependent on what you personally value.

Based on what you said, I'd probably go with the first one which has the larger SSD. Just so long as you're sure that all you'll ever do with it is browse, email and other light work which doesn't require lot's of RAM.

 

[MacBird]

I would get the second one. If necessary, for storage you could get a small USB 3 external hard drive to avoid filling up the SSD entirely.

 

[MacDawg]

Looks like a matter of RAM v storage

RAM can't be upgraded, but you can add storage
Since it won't be your main computer, I would go with more RAM

 

[Knightimer]

Too Many Pluses in the 2012 Air

- Faster processor (Ivy Bridge)
- Faster SSD
- Faster Graphics by 60% ( 3000 vs 4000)
- 8 Gig Ram ( Plus faster On board Ram)

For close to the same price, it's a no brainer.
Btw, get an external for your media storage.