11" MacBook Air a viable replacement for 2008 white plastic MacBook?

[chris.c]

I have a 2008 13" white, plastic MacBook. Its a bit slow, but adequate. Thinking of selling it and paying the difference to get the 11" MacBook Air. I've heard it is similar in speed and has the same processor.
The main problem I have with my current MacBook is that its heavy - I need something lightweight to easily carry to school and class for note-taking and such.

How is the Air better or worse, and would I be losing anything significantly by replacing the 08 plastic MB with a MBA?

macbook '08 specs: http://support.apple.com/kb/sp5

 

[KPOM]

You'd have a 1.4GHz or 1.6GHz processor vs. a 2.1GHz and would lose the following features:

Gigabit Ethernet port
FireWire 400 port (up to 400 Mbps)
Audio line in
Audio line out
Kensington cable lock slot

That said, you'd pick up a much better graphics adapter, a significantly faster hard drive (SSD), and lose more than half the weight. Which model are you going for?

 

[chris.c]

I'm looking at the cheaper $999 11" model. I rarely use the Ethernet port, and have never used anything else listed except for the headphone jack. Still not sure, and don't know how much I'd get for the '08 MB.

don't want to play the ridiculous game of forever catching up to technology, but there probably will be a better model at that price next year. anybody predict what the upgrades the 2011 air will have?

 

[Appleind]

I'm looking at the cheaper 11" model. I rarely use the Ethernet port, and have never used anything else listed except for the headphone jack. Still not sure, and don't know how much I'd get for the '08 MB.

don't want to play the ridiculous game of forever catching up to technology, but there probably will be a better model at that price next year. anybody predict what the upgrades the 2011 air will have?

Not sure if the Airs will be updated, but we can hopefully expect something for MBPs

 

[KPOM]

To clarify, the MacBook Air does have a combo headphone/microphone jack, but it isn't "line out" signal, meaning you can't hook it up directly to a receiver.

It's difficult to prognosticate, but given that the Core 2 Duo is going "end of life" at the end of the year (after being in production for 4 years), and with the next major revision to the Core i-series (Sandy Bridge) coming out early next year, it's likely that the 2011 MacBook Air will get a CPU upgrade. Unless the graphics prove a lot faster than early tests, though, or unless Apple figures out a way to cram a dedicated GPU, it is possible that the next Air would actually have slower graphics than the current version.

 

[flottenheimer]

You'll also loose some storage space.

Your MacBook should have at least a 120 GB harddisk. The entry level 11" Air has a 64 GB SSD.

 

[HLdan]

I'm looking at the cheaper $999 11" model. I rarely use the Ethernet port, and have never used anything else listed except for the headphone jack. Still not sure, and don't know how much I'd get for the '08 MB.

don't want to play the ridiculous game of forever catching up to technology, but there probably will be a better model at that price next year. anybody predict what the upgrades the 2011 air will have?

While Macs generally have a good resale value you may not get even half of what you paid for your white Macbook. Apple has been doing significant upgrades to the notebooks that bring down the value of the older ones.
The 2008 white Macbook has a poor screen and relatively poor build quality compared to the new Unibody white Macbook. The new white Unibody Macbook has a multitouch glass trackpad and high contrast screen with double the battery life of the previous Macbooks.

If you get the 11" Air you will get significant performance over your current white Macbook. The SSD and the better GPU along with a high contrast screen and aluminum unibody enclosure will more than compensate for some of the existing features of your white Macbook. For certain software that's not available for download you'll need to get an external optical drive (Apple Superdrive not required) or use Remote install from another computer.
The latest Air's just came out about a month ago, don't even start thinking about the next generations, go ahead a buy now. It took Apple over a year before they updated the Air.

 

[chris.c]

Great, now I saw the Dell INSPIRON M101z. Isn't this one technically better?

Recycling through Apple will get me $321.75. Another recycling website told me it was worth $100-200. Couldn't I get a better price selling it?

 

[KPOM]

Great, now I saw the Dell INSPIRON M101z. Isn't this one technically better?

Recycling through Apple will get me $321.75. Another recycling website told me it was worth $100-200. Couldn't I get a better price selling it?

The Dell is thicker and heavier and doesn't have an SSD. The closest Dell to the Air is the Adamo, which is being discontinued (but is still available in a single 1.4GHz, 2GB, 128GB SSD setup for $999). Powermax is selling used 13" MacBooks with the 2.13GHz Core 2 Duo for about $769 right now. You might see what they, Small Dog, or another retailer would give you for your system in a trade.

 

[qawes]

Great, now I saw the Dell INSPIRON M101z. Isn't this one technically better?

Recycling through Apple will get me $321.75. Another recycling website told me it was worth $100-200. Couldn't I get a better price selling it?

Ebay it now and see if you get some good offers. If it's in good condition it's worth about 500 $ minimum.

 

[bcaslis]

Great, now I saw the Dell INSPIRON M101z. Isn't this one technically better?

Recycling through Apple will get me $321.75. Another recycling website told me it was worth $100-200. Couldn't I get a better price selling it?

Dell? Seriously?

Anyways, results are better than specs. The 11" beats the Dell, see here:

http://www.macworld.com/article/155354/2010/11/macbookair_versus_winnetbooks.html

 

[alflavor]

Yeah avoid Dell, used to have to use one for work - awful! The Lenovo's they force upon us now aren't much better. Never take it out of the office, brick tht it is!


MBA no question!

 

[Dias]

I have a 2008 13" white, plastic MacBook. Its a bit slow, but adequate. Thinking of selling it and paying the difference to get the 11" MacBook Air. I've heard it is similar in speed and has the same processor.
The main problem I have with my current MacBook is that its heavy - I need something lightweight to easily carry to school and class for note-taking and such.

How is the Air better or worse, and would I be losing anything significantly by replacing the 08 plastic MB with a MBA?

macbook '08 specs: http://support.apple.com/kb/sp5

The new Air will be much quicker than you old Macbook, and it's not because of cpu, but due to ssd drive. I have X25 on my MBP and I cannot stand using other notebooks/pc with hhd.

 

[rnb2]

Powermax is selling used 13" MacBooks with the 2.13GHz Core 2 Duo for about $769 right now. You might see what they, Small Dog, or another retailer would give you for your system in a trade.

Definitely check powermax.com and get a quote for a trade-in - I traded a couple older Macs to them earlier this year, and their offer was pretty reasonable.