Decided to swap my MBP for a MBA

[PedsNeuro]

I got my first Mac in 2004, an iBook G4 after admiring a friend's Powerbook. Two years ago I went all Mac, selling my desktop PC and getting a new 17" iMac. Then this spring, I replaced the iBook with a new 15" MacBook Pro for my portable needs and gave my daughter the iBook. Now I have begun to lust after the Air. I carry the MBP with me every day and use it extensively in my work as a Pediatric Neurology resident. I use it for clinical notes, viewing imaging studies, research, etc. and have to have it with me constantly. In evaluating my usage I think I can easily do without the optical disk and multiple ports. The form factor and weight of the Air would be great for me. I have just bought a MacBook Air 1.8 / SSD on eBay brand new for $2150. It is due to be delivered day after tomorrow. My plan is to evaluate it for a week or so to be sure I am happy and if so to sell the MBP to help pay for it as I cannot justify having both of them. It will pain me to sell the MBP though as it is simply a great machine. I have never sold one of my Macs and it will hurt to part with it, but if I like the Air as much as I think I will, it will be worth it. A couple of questions ...

1. I am concerned about the overheating, core shutdown, and fan issues that are widely reported. Does anybody have a feel for what percentage of the MBAs out there in the wild are affected? What are my chances of dodging this problem. What should I do on the Air to put it through its paces and check for problems that may arise? I plan on installing istat and running some flash videos. Any other suggestions?

2. If I decide to keep the Air and sell the MBP, what is the best way to restore the hard drive to its factory condition so that the new owner will be greeted with the welcome screen? I know how to do a clean install of OS X but have never tried to stop the process at the point where the new user is asked to pick his language and set up his User Account.

Quite anxiously,

 

[King t.]

all u have to do is turn of the MAC after the clean install

 

[NC MacGuy]

You may want to do a security erase & reformat before your clean install. Your data can still be gotten unless overwritten or zeroed.

I have a week one Air and while it gets hot, haven't had core shutdowns. Even ran handbrake repeatedly and while getting super hot and fans cranking, never had a core shutdown. Maybe I'm just lucky....

 

[SFStateStudent]

I had my first MBA in Feb '08, and it had some heating issues, but "0" core shutdown issues. My current MBA, purchased on Monday, August 18, '08, and it seems that even the heating issues and core issues are non-existent. I also came from a MBP to the MBA. Fingers crossed...

 

[PedsNeuro]

I got the Air yesterday and am now up and running. Quite happy so far. I installed the new Air specific update that Apple released last night. While running some simple non-CPU intensive apps (Safari, Mail, Launchbar, NetNewsWire) my CPU temp is running in the mid 50s and fan is staying in the 2500 rpm range.

I ran some YouTube videos for about 5 minutes with temps climbing to low 70s and fan cranking up to over 6000. After closing YouTube temps gradually came back down with fan speed taking longer to come down. I see in some other threads that the update Apple has released seems to have stopped shutdowns for a lot of you at the cost of dropping each core down to 800 Mhz. What software shows the CPU speeds? I am using the iStat Pro widget and seeing the CPU usage bars / graph but I can't find a way to display clock speed.

The recorded enclosure temps are staying 36-38 degrees but the Air is fairly hot in my lap and gets uncomfortable without some frequent shifting of position. Is this the common experience?

 

[SFStateStudent]

The recorded enclosure temps are staying 36-38 degrees but the Air is fairly hot in my lap and gets uncomfortable without some frequent shifting of position. Is this the common experience?

You're talking C v. F? B/C mine runs between 73-124 degrees "F" and that seems pretty normal for me. I've noticed it does get warm, but not quite as hot as my first MBA in February '08. Yep, it can get uncomfortable, but I try to get it elevated like in a stand or on my LapTrap Backpack which has 4 1" thick rubber pads to keep a gap between my MBA and my LapTrap. That's probably the reason I don't notice it as much. The heat is generally in the top left area of the bottom of my MBA.

 

[mattniles007]

I am also thinking of changing from a Blackbook and it seems like your experience has been a good one thanks for the update.

 

[SFStateStudent]

I had the BlackBook 2.4 Penryn 250GB, then sold it in June '08 and picked up a MBP for $1200. Sold my BlackBook for $1350 and about 30 days later the Refurbs were going for $1299! Sold it at the right time. I needed the 250GB hard drive for some work I was doing for school, but when the projects were complete I bought the MBA, and I'm in "Hog Heaven!"

 

[King t.]

did the same thing and could not be happier.

I traded my MBP 2,16ghz core duo for a MBA 1.8ghz

 

[stiphone]

Lucky fellow you guys. I can never justify for a MBA. My wife would kill me for it!!