Intel (GMA) X3100 performance

[WiscoNicky]

I'm looking at buying a used first-gen MacBook Air for my Dad to replace the Powerbook G3 Pismo he's been using. Obviously, it will perform much better than the old G3. Yet, I would like to hear first hand users' experiences with the video performance.

The Pismo can't stream much of anything from the web, so if the first-gen MBA can stream HD from the web, or even 480p smoothly, I will be satisfied and will probably pick one of these machine up on eBay for 500 bucks or so.

Thank you for sharing!

 

[KPOM]

It would work reasonably OK (I had a Rev A) and be a big boost from the G3, but I would try to find a Rev B. The NVIDIA 9400m can handle streaming quite a bit better. Plus the Rev B fixed some of the heat issues that created issues when streaming on the Rev A. I recall Jason Snell of Macworld (a huge Air fan from the start, like me) complaining about the Rev A's tendency to overheat when streaming video. CoolBook solved it for him, but the Rev B reduced those issues significantly.

 

[MultiFinder17]

I'll throw in another vote for the Revision B or C. They have far fewer issues than the Revision A.

 

[WiscoNicky]

good to know

thanks for your words. I do recall the MBA crowd commenting on overheating in the past. This might have been what they were referring to.

I will definitely look for a Rev B model or better. At a glance it looks like the price difference is fairly significant. I was initially surprised to see MBAs selling for 500-600 dollars but with issues/performance like this it doesn't seem so odd.

Cheers!

 

[hfg]

Although I currently have the new MacBook Air, I have owned both the SSD Rev-A and Rev-B Airs in the past. The Rev-A seemed to generate lots of complaints and problems, although I didn't experience any problems with my unit, possibly because mine had ssd instead of a hot hard disk. The Rev-B Air was noticeably faster and I really liked it, much better operation than the first one. I had absolutely no problems with the Rev-B Air either, and there seemed to be fewer complaints on the forums about them as well.

If you are looking to get an older Air, I would avoid the 1st generation and look for a clean Rev-B or C Air to purchase. I would also recommend one with the SSD rather than the slow, hot, hard disk units.

-howard