going to purchase a mba soon. just not sure if the $300.00 option for the 1.8gig processor is worth it? is it a lot faster or does the 1.8 only work well in conjunction with the ssd drive? getting the 64ssd is out of the question for me, so i just wanted to know if i should shell out the extra bucks for the upgraded processor? thanks in advance!
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
80gig hd with 1.6 or 1.8 processor?
- Thread starter mikecenizal
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Coming from a REV A macbook Pro 2.16 Core Duo, I got the 1.6 model and have no problems, I want to say that its even 'snappier'... I had this same question when I was buying and I was told everywhere that for an extra 300 bucks the speed bump is next to nothing in real world tests.... plus when you think down the road, when the new ones come out... it will be irrelevant if you have the 1.6 or the 1.8...
I say save you money and get the Apple care and the superdrive...
After chasing the (Whatever)hz brass ring with every Win box I had purchased for over 20 years I was skeptical when faced with the 1.6 vs 1.8 MBA. I received the same response from the Apple sales and experts when I took the plunge. Each advised me to save the $$$.
It has been good advice and I respect and appreciate their advice.
I'd get the 1.6, I did.
The 1.8 runs even hotter, and the 1.6 is plenty snappy unless a Core Shutdown occurs. I've had that only twice, under very heavy use ( i was trying to make it stuff up, by leaving it playing many movies, cpu test, parallels unstalling xp, time machine backing up, etc)
Coolbook, the program that lets you 'undervolt' the CPU so it generates less heat but runs at the same speed, has made my machine completely impossible to core shudown, and it's now almost silent, all the time.
BUT, everyone has reported better results with this app on the 1.6 than the 1.8.
Anyway, get the 1.6.
Can you get to a showroom to play with one?
This is plenty snappy... the only thing it can't do that i did on my old macbook pro is to play a game well whilst recording the video and audio of the machine to a video file with screenflow. BUt then i wouldn't expect it to. (it's a bit jumpy)
try warblade! www.warblade.as Excellent game for air
The 1.8 runs even hotter, and the 1.6 is plenty snappy unless a Core Shutdown occurs. I've had that only twice, under very heavy use ( i was trying to make it stuff up, by leaving it playing many movies, cpu test, parallels unstalling xp, time machine backing up, etc)
Coolbook, the program that lets you 'undervolt' the CPU so it generates less heat but runs at the same speed, has made my machine completely impossible to core shudown, and it's now almost silent, all the time.
BUT, everyone has reported better results with this app on the 1.6 than the 1.8.
Anyway, get the 1.6.
Can you get to a showroom to play with one?
This is plenty snappy... the only thing it can't do that i did on my old macbook pro is to play a game well whilst recording the video and audio of the machine to a video file with screenflow. BUt then i wouldn't expect it to. (it's a bit jumpy)
try warblade! www.warblade.as Excellent game for air
I dunno how relevant this is, but the sound of HDs spinning REALLY irritates me (especially when the comp gets older and crankier) - that's what made me get the 1.8+SSD.