Decision Time

[Scuba629]

Ok while I don't have a MBA I do have the 13 inch 256 HD i7 1.8 CPU on order. I got it as I wanted the most powerful machine apple made in terms of MBA. This machine will be arriving on Tuesday or Wednesday from China.

I called my Apple store and they have the 13 inch 256 i7 and i5 configurations in stock but would not be able to give me an education discount without showing my ID. This sucks as my ID was washed and I can't get a new one till I go back to school.

So I have kinda three options. What is what most would do? Please keep in mind I hate HEAT and have returned a MBP because of it. And also I have one machine coming soon.

Reason for MBA: School, Programming(Java, C++), VMware(Windows Guest, Linux Guest, Photo and Video editing(new hobby), iChat, Skype, Web

 

[Scuba629]

I'd like to add can I keep this gift card they sent me already if I return it? Do you think that would help the Apple Store give me the same discount?

 

[Scuba629]

Lots suggesting to just wait and keep the one thats coming to me. Wish I had some insight to why.

 

[Alexmo123]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_4 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8K2 Safari/6533.18.5)

If you print out a class schedule or something from your school site they will give you the discount

 

[reputationZed]

Insight - it's hard to give you any insight when you didn't give us any insight on why you want to switch from the i7 to the i5. My guess, and again it's a guess since you didn't give us much to go on is that the temptation of the instant gratification of running down to the Apple store rather than waiting for the MBA you ordered is eating away at you. If this is the case then wait for the i7. The second insight is that you may be questioning if the performance difference between the i5 and the i7 is worth the extra cost. My opinion is that I'd rather spend the extra $100 than to regret the performance delta later on. That being said I wouldn't fault anyone for going with the i5 as it is clearly the more sensible option.

• if the $100 difference has become important than go for the i5, though you may need to deduct the cost of returning the i7
  
• if it comes down to instant gratification then man up and wait for the i7

 

[Scuba629]

Insight - it's hard to give you any insight when you didn't give us any insight on why you want to switch from the i7 to the i5. My guess, and again it's a guess since you didn't give us much to go on is that the temptation of the instant gratification of running down to the Apple store rather than waiting for the MBA you ordered is eating away at you. If this is the case then wait for the i7. The second insight is that you may be questioning if the performance difference between the i5 and the i7 is worth the extra cost. My opinion is that I'd rather spend the extra $100 than to regret the performance delta later on. That being said I wouldn't fault anyone for going with the i5 as it is clearly the more sensible option.

• if the $100 difference has become important than go for the i5, though you may need to deduct the cost of returning the i7
  
• if it comes down to instant gratification then man up and wait for the i7

Its two things. The first being instant gratification and the next being heat.

Sure I can get it now but I lose the $100 dollar gift card and a 50 dollar discount.

Also the i5 I have read is less hot compared to the i7. So I dont know.

 

[Annerz]

You could give someone who has a school ID the money and have them go pick it up for you.

 

[Liquinn]

Insight - it's hard to give you any insight when you didn't give us any insight on why you want to switch from the i7 to the i5. My guess, and again it's a guess since you didn't give us much to go on is that the temptation of the instant gratification of running down to the Apple store rather than waiting for the MBA you ordered is eating away at you. If this is the case then wait for the i7. The second insight is that you may be questioning if the performance difference between the i5 and the i7 is worth the extra cost. My opinion is that I'd rather spend the extra $100 than to regret the performance delta later on. That being said I wouldn't fault anyone for going with the i5 as it is clearly the more sensible option.

• if the $100 difference has become important than go for the i5, though you may need to deduct the cost of returning the i7
  
• if it comes down to instant gratification then man up and wait for the i7

Instant gratification?

 

[reputationZed]

Its two things. The first being instant gratification and the next being heat.

Sure I can get it now but I lose the $100 dollar gift card and a 50 dollar discount.

Also the i5 I have read is less hot compared to the i7. So I dont know.

So money wise it's pretty much a wash. I'm not convinced that the heat issue is as dramatic as some on the forum are making it out to be. Forums tend to go overboard with pointing out perceived defects. Haven't received my MBA (i7) yet so my opinion is based solely on the fact that both processors are 17w TDP, and I don't buy half of what I read on the web. I believe there is a 15 day return period. Why not get both, try them out for a week, and then decide.

 

[reputationZed]

Instant gratification?

it means settling for something less than you really want just because you can get it more quickly.

 

[Scuba629]

Thanks for all the votes! My MBA should be here Tuesday and I cant wait.

 

[Apple Expert]

I have the i7 and it was hot at first. Mainly because spotlight had to index. Now that's over, the CPU fan run at 2k rpm most if not all of the time.

 

[Scuba629]

I have the i7 and it was hot at first. Mainly because spotlight had to index. Now that's over, the CPU fan run at 2k rpm most if not all of the time.

How long did it take to finish the spotloght index? Is there anyway to tell what its doing?

 

[Apple Expert]

How long did it take to finish the spotloght index? Is there anyway to tell what its doing?

Honestly I don't know how long it took since the machine would be off and on. What I did was leave the machine on. Changed the power settings so the hard drive doesn't turn off. So in the background it would index during the day. After all of it was done, a lot faster! It pretty much had to index about 185gb of data so I'd imagine it would take a while. Now I'm multi tasking and the fan hasn't gone over 2k rpm. Very good sign! But very stable now. Fast, silent and running very cool.

 

[Scuba629]

Honestly I don't know how long it took since the machine would be off and on. What I did was leave the machine on. Changed the power settings so the hard drive doesn't turn off. So in the background it would index during the day. After all of it was done, a lot faster! It pretty much had to index about 185gb of data so I'd imagine it would take a while. Now I'm multi tasking and the fan hasn't gone over 2k rpm. Very good sign! But very stable now. Fast, silent and running very cool.

Well I'm glad I waited then! I was following yours an a few others reviews and im happy that yours is doing well now.

 

[Apple Expert]

Well I'm glad I waited then! I was following yours an a few others reviews and im happy that yours is doing well now.

Glad I could help. Sorry if I mislead you down the wrong path, just didn't know what was going on. This MBA is all so new to all of us. I guess part of the price of being first in line.