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Orange Furball

macrumors 65816
Original poster
May 18, 2012
1,325
6
Scranton, PA, USA
I'm thinking of trying to trade my 13" MacBook aluminum unibody 2008 for an air. Not a new one of course. Is it worth it to try to trade? Should I go 13" or 11"?
 
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Orange Furball

macrumors 65816
Original poster
May 18, 2012
1,325
6
Scranton, PA, USA
Believe it or not I have never used a MacBook air.

Yeah probably should have included what I'm using it for. Mainly web browsing and word processing. Its basically an Intel companion to my powermac. I don't need much storage (mostly cloud based) and it will be an OS X only machine so 64gb should be fine.

What I'm really looking for is will I see better or worse performance from my '08 MacBook.
 
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3bs

macrumors 603
May 20, 2011
5,434
24
Dublin, Ireland
Believe it or not I have never used a MacBook air.

Yeah probably should have included what I'm using it for. Mainly web browsing and word processing. Its basically an Intel companion to my powermac. I don't need much storage (mostly cloud based) and it will be an OS X only machine so 64gb should be fine.

What I'm really looking for is will I see better or worse performance from my '08 MacBook.

The SSD will make a big difference.
 
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Orange Furball

macrumors 65816
Original poster
May 18, 2012
1,325
6
Scranton, PA, USA
The only reason I'm questioning the SSD us because I put one in my MacBook and didn't notice much difference. Granted it was a crappy one, but I suppose the MacBook air has a better one.
 

GKDAIR

macrumors regular
Oct 4, 2011
230
4
My 2011 Macbook Air has a 128 SSD and can shut down and reboot and get on the web in less than 20 seconds.
 

g808

macrumors regular
Oct 6, 2003
192
0
Bay Area, CA
The only reason I'm questioning the SSD us because I put one in my MacBook and didn't notice much difference. Granted it was a crappy one, but I suppose the MacBook air has a better one.

I added a 256GB G.Skill Titan SSD to my Macbook Aluminum and notice a huge difference. It starts up much faster, apps open almost instantly, etc.
 

currahee2100

macrumors regular
Feb 9, 2009
184
74
The only reason I'm questioning the SSD us because I put one in my MacBook and didn't notice much difference. Granted it was a crappy one, but I suppose the MacBook air has a better one.

Hehe :D

Anand of Anandtech.com also said the same thing when he reviewed a consumer grade SSD when it was first becoming affordable to buy. Affordable in the sense of it cost $300 for 120 gigs. He said "I didn't realize how fast my system was with the SSD... until I sent the unit back"

It's not something you'll notice when you use it but when you start using other systems with hard drives.... you'll notice.
 

dcorban

macrumors 6502a
Oct 29, 2007
914
30
I'm thinking of trying to trade my 13" MacBook aluminum unibody 2008 for an air. Not a new one of course. Is it worth it to try to trade? Should I go 13" or 11"?

I did exactly this. I have the 2008 aluminum and bought a new 13" Air. I am still not fully convinced it is worth it. The 2008 is a great model. It is still fast enough for today's needs, has decent battery capacity, fast graphics (thanks to Nvidia), runs reasonable cool, and has quiet fans during heavy processing.

I upgraded for a couple reasons:
1) The LCD quality on that 2008 is rather poor. Contrast in particular is bad.
2) My battery is about to die. I'd have to buy a new one.
3) I was starting to grow tired of the weight and heat. I have my laptop in my lap 99% of the time, so this matters to me.
4) Increased video resolution
5) SD slot
6) SSD

The thing that pushed me over the edge in my decision to purchase was the educational discount along with the $100 gift card. Also, the aluminum MacBooks have held their value very well. This Air will also hold its value well, so I can resell in the future.
 

Orange Furball

macrumors 65816
Original poster
May 18, 2012
1,325
6
Scranton, PA, USA
I did exactly this. I have the 2008 aluminum and bought a new 13" Air. I am still not fully convinced it is worth it. The 2008 is a great model. It is still fast enough for today's needs, has decent battery capacity, fast graphics (thanks to Nvidia), runs reasonable cool, and has quiet fans during heavy processing.

I upgraded for a couple reasons:
1) The LCD quality on that 2008 is rather poor. Contrast in particular is bad.
2) My battery is about to die. I'd have to buy a new one.
3) I was starting to grow tired of the weight and heat. I have my laptop in my lap 99% of the time, so this matters to me.
4) Increased video resolution
5) SD slot
6) SSD

The thing that pushed me over the edge in my decision to purchase was the educational discount along with the $100 gift card. Also, the aluminum MacBooks have held their value very well. This Air will also hold its value well, so I can resell in the future.

If you don't mind me asking, how much did you sell your MacBook for? (If you sold it) also, how much did you have to put on top for the air?
 
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