Brand New 13" Prev. Gen MBA for $899

[w4rmk]

Micro Center just dropped their price on remaining stock of the previous generation 13" MBA from $999 to $899 this morning. I am very tempted to grab one at this price. With my tired old eyes I prefer the larger screen of the 13" over the 11" and the lower resolution of the previous generation LCD helps me as well. I would miss the new ports and better unibody design of the newer series but there is quite a hefty price difference!

Previous gen Micro Center deal is a 1.86Ghz, 2GB with 120GB hard drive for $899 (this model used to sell new for $1499)
Lowest priced new gen is a 1.86Ghz, 2GB with 128GB SSD for $1249 (education disc).

That's a savings of $350 dollars on this deal!

What do you think?

 

[KPOM]

You'd be missing out on the SSD which is a big part of the attraction of a MacBook Air. If you can find a 1.8" SSD they would run about $300 for a 128GB version. I'm not sure what kind of connection the Rev C used. I had a Rev B with the SSD that used a rare type of connection.

 

[w4rmk]

Agreed, but the 120GB hard drive wouldn't give up anything in space, just performance, which for my purposes isn't an issue, I will only be using it for traveling office work -> email, web, Word, Excel, etc.

 

[KPOM]

In that case, the older generation would be fine for that. I had a Rev B (Nov 2008) MacBook Air before my current version. The new version is a lot nicer but the older version did the job, too.

FWIW, I did fine some SSDs that claim to work in the Rev B and Rev C. They are more expensive than I thought (again, standard 1.8" drives don't work without soldering on a new connection).
http://www.runcorestore.com/ProductDetail.jsp?LISTID=800000BE-1249411461

You might also want to check to see what Apple is selling refurbished and clearance MacBook Airs for.

 

[foiden]

Take note, wouldn't this old MBA use the old graphics hardware?

 

[KPOM]

It would have the NVIDIA 9400m.

 

[deedas]

Traveling office work as in Airplanes? I've heard the 11.6" form factor is great for that.

Just my 2¢

 

[w4rmk]

I don't generally do work on airplanes, I'll be using it at home, Starbucks and remote offices. Can anyone who has used both the Rev. C. MBA and new 13" MBA comment on battery life differences? I am wondering how much better the battery life is on the newer 13" MBA versus the Rev. C MBA.

FYI, the lowest priced refurbished MBA currently on Apple's site is $1099, it's the previous "ultimate" version at 2.13Ghz and 128GB SSD, that's still $200 more than the Micro Center clearance deal and I don't have a particular need for the extra speed that I would be paying $200 more to obtain.

 

[bowlerman625]

I don't generally do work on airplanes, I'll be using it at home, Starbucks and remote offices. Can anyone who has used both the Rev. C. MBA and new 13" MBA comment on battery life differences? I am wondering how much better the battery life is on the newer 13" MBA versus the Rev. C MBA.

FYI, the lowest priced refurbished MBA currently on Apple's site is $1099, it's the previous "ultimate" version at 2.13Ghz and 128GB SSD, that's still $200 more than the Micro Center clearance deal and I don't have a particular need for the extra speed that I would be paying $200 more to obtain.

As an owner of the rev. C with the SSD, I suggest you consider the SSD model of the rev. C if you're going to get a rev. C. The SSD makes a big difference in performance. My rev. C boots up in 25 seconds and applications open quickly. I'm still deciding whether I'm going to part with mine now that I have the 11.6 model. I'm kind of hoping my wife would consider shelving her HP laptop and use the rev. C MBA. Not sure yet if I can convince her to try it out and see if she likes it. It's so light I figure she might like that feature.

 

[wirelessmacuser]

Excellent price for a very nice MBP. Buy it while they still have them in stock. If you miss this, you've missed a great deal.

 

[jmoore5196]

Great deal, if you're prepared to spend a bit of time waiting for boot-up and watching beach balls spin. Would that the same price been available two years ago when this machine was current!

 

[jenzjen]

OP, wait a minute - why go with MicroCenter over the refurbished Apple store? I picked up a rev C 1.86/120 for a gift at $849. I just checked, all they currently have are the rev C SSD versions for $1099, but the inventory changes daily.

 

[w4rmk]

I would take a new MBA from Micro Center over a refurbished MBA from Apple even for a $50 difference. I know Apple's refurbs are great and just like new but they are not new, if you got one with a small mark/scratch on it that would not be considered out of the ordinary. If the price difference was $100 that might sway me to the refurb.

 

[MiBook84]

I would not buy the older MBA because of a 350 dollar saving since it is much much slower. First of all the older MBA uses a very bad thermal solution and they slow down the cpu to cool down the computer, which effectively renders apps sluggish and unresponsive. It also has a loud fan.

The old MBA has only one USB-port, one speaker (which is also very bad, the new ones are quite good). It also doesnt have the touchpad we are used too from the other Unibody-macs but an older version with a button below, the new ones have the newer version.

The new one has better battery life, a better screen, better thermal solution, faster cpu which is also cooler. Much better graphics, better battery, one more usb, one more speaker. SD-card slot. No fold-down port but easily accessible ports. Better touchpad. Much-much faster drive (flash).

All in all, I would NOT buy the older MBA and 350 dollars savings is not a 350 dollar savings, its an older Mac, and not a very good one compared to the new ones.

Take if from someone who knows.

 

[jenzjen]

I would take a new MBA from Micro Center over a refurbished MBA from Apple even for a $50 difference. I know Apple's refurbs are great and just like new but they are not new, if you got one with a small mark/scratch on it that would not be considered out of the ordinary. If the price difference was $100 that might sway me to the refurb.

To each his own, I'm not familiar with MC that's why I asked, i.e. do you still get the same 1 year warranty + ability to extend the warranty with AppleCare. Even though it is $50, you cannot under-estimate Apple's customer service, mine effectively cost $700, as there was an issue with my order, and Apple credited me $150 for my trouble and time.

 

[w4rmk]

Micro Center is a brick and mortar authorized reseller and yes you can still get Apple Care.

 

[neteng101]

It sounds like you're mostly already decided - given you want a lower resolution display, its not a bad idea, but the HDD is a real bad deal if you ask me. I couldn't even manage with the faster stock 5400 rpm drives that come on MacBook Pros... a 7200 rpm drive is the minimum that really gives decent enough response without the whole machine beachballing at times.

No its not fun when you're waiting for the writes to complete to the drive and your machine is about useless for a few seconds. A Rev C with SSD is probably your best bet.

http://www.macmall.com/p/Apple-MacBook-Air/product~dpno~7836990~pdp.ffebjic

It costs more and you'll be happier in the long run I suspect if you paid up for the SSD in the Rev C.

 

[w4rmk]

Looks like MacMall is charging $939 for the same model at Micro Center, so it would work out slighty cheaper since I have to pay sales tax locally. They are selling the higher end 2.13Ghz version with the SSD for $1,124. But it seems to me that once you reach that higher price point you might as well jump to the newer 13" models.

I know many of you are right regarding the slower speed of the 120GB 4200rpm hard drive but I was previously using a generation A MBA with a 1.6Ghz processor and 80GB hard drive and really didn't mind the speed even on that model so it seems to me that the Rev. C deal would be quite a step up with the bump in processor speed, graphics and DDR3 memory. The hard drive speed would be a wash since they are both basically the same but I would be gaining an extra 40GB of drive space.

I'm going to take a drive to Micro Center tomorrow and check out the 11" model and see how readable the smaller display is compared to the 13" version, maybe that will help me decide.

Given my available budget my only choice is either the $899 13" MBA or the $949 11" MBA. My biggest issues with the 11" version are the small display and small 64GB SSD.

 

[andrewsd]

Best of luck and also not sure if this matters at all but the REV C has a backlit keyboard and the new models don't.

 

[w4rmk]

Update: so after going back and forth with the different choices I ended up winning a used 13" previous gen MBA, 1.8Ghz, 2GB, 128GB SSD, nVidia graphics from eBay for $675. The deal was too good to pass up and I think it will definitely serve my needs.

After testing out the 11" model at the Apple store I decided the screen was too small and that I wanted the 13" version. But I was put off by the price of the new ones which i think are overpriced for the specs you get compared to every other computer on the market. I'm going to stick with used and let others take the huge value loss after driving it off the lot. I'll bet the seller paid more than double what he got on eBay. I can also add a 1 year warranty on my used MBA from Square Trade for about $70 for extra piece of mind.

Next year I'll look to grab a new gen 13" when they start hitting the used market because of Apple's undoubted upgrade to Core i CPU's.

 

[bowlerman625]

Update: so after going back and forth with the different choices I ended up wining a used 13" previous gen MBA, 1.8Ghz, 2GB, 128GB SSD, nVidia graphics from eBay for $675. The deal was too good to pass up and I think it will definiteley serve my needs.

After testing out the 11" model at the Apple store I decided the screen was too small and that I wanted the 13" version. But I was put off by the price of the new ones which i think are overpriced for the specs you get compared to every other computer on the market. I'm going to stick with used and let others take the huge value loss after driving it off the lot. I'll bet the guy paid more than double what he got on eBay. I can also add a 1 year warranty on my used MBA from Square Trade for about $70 for extra piece of mind.

Next year I'll look to grab a new gen 13" when they start hitting the used market because of Apple's undoubted upgrade to Core i CPU's.

Congrats! Enjoy your new toy! It will serve you well!

 

[Buck987]

Congrats! Enjoy your new toy! It will serve you well!

seconded