Interested Buyer has Questions for the Knowledgable

[josie4284]

I'm sorry if this was answered in old threads but I'm sure some of you can easily help me out. I am interested in purchasing a 13" macbook air once the rumored upgrade happens in July. I've been operating on a regular macbook for the last few years and spend most of my time word documents, powerpoints, and safari. I do use imovie to edit some game film during basketball season. The questions I have that would give me more confidence in the purchase:

1) Since Macbook Air doesn't have a superdrive could I show the game film I make from a USB thumb drive? In the past when I've tried this it was hitchy from my school computer.

2) Will iMovie take forever to edit and do the finalizing of game films that are about 30 minutes to 1 hour in length? My macbook was already pretty slow.

3) The hard drive seems pretty small but I would be okay with that if I could have most of my files stored on an external harddrive that was accessed wirelessly when I'm at home. Does the time capsule do something like this?

4) I've spent the last few years on a 13" macbook. Will I miss the two inches if I go down to 11"?

Thanks all. I know these may be some pretty basic questions but I'm not particularly computer savvy and really appreciate the help.

 

[PraisiX-windows]

I'm sorry if this was answered in old threads but I'm sure some of you can easily help me out. I am interested in purchasing a 13" macbook air once the rumored upgrade happens in July. I've been operating on a regular macbook for the last few years and spend most of my time word documents, powerpoints, and safari. I do use imovie to edit some game film during basketball season. The questions I have that would give me more confidence in the purchase:

1) Since Macbook Air doesn't have a superdrive could I show the game film I make from a USB thumb drive? In the past when I've tried this it was hitchy from my school computer.

2) Will iMovie take forever to edit and do the finalizing of game films that are about 30 minutes to 1 hour in length? My macbook was already pretty slow.

3) The hard drive seems pretty small but I would be okay with that if I could have most of my files stored on an external harddrive that was accessed wirelessly when I'm at home. Does the time capsule do something like this?

4) I've spent the last few years on a 13" macbook. Will I miss the two inches if I go down to 11"?

Thanks all. I know these may be some pretty basic questions but I'm not particularly computer savvy and really appreciate the help.

1. I don't see why not. Also if you got another mac (or pc?) with a dvd drive you can just access that one over the network.

2. It would be faster than your macbook, that's for sure.

3. The time capsule is for backing up your system, whether or not you can use it as an external storage space I don't know. But otherwise you could just invest in a NAS server. It should do exactly what you want it to.

4. I wouldn't think so, but you never know. I don't actually have a macbook air, but I tried my stepfathers, and even though I'm used to a 15 inch it didn't seem too small to me.
- But I suppose this is solely a personal preference, so you'll just have to try it out.

 

[Variant]

To be honest, unless you REALLY want the smaller size, the MacBook Pro would be a much better fit for your uses.

 

[PraisiX-windows]

To be honest, unless you REALLY want the smaller size, the MacBook Pro would be a much better fit for your uses.

Not really, he does powerpoints and documents and surfs, right? - And then a bit of iMovie in the basketball season, no reason why the MBA with SNB shouldn't be able to do that properly.

 

[The Samurai]

I'm sorry if this was answered in old threads but I'm sure some of you can easily help me out. I am interested in purchasing a 13" macbook air once the rumored upgrade happens in July. I've been operating on a regular macbook for the last few years and spend most of my time word documents, powerpoints, and safari. I do use imovie to edit some game film during basketball season. The questions I have that would give me more confidence in the purchase:

1) Since Macbook Air doesn't have a superdrive could I show the game film I make from a USB thumb drive? In the past when I've tried this it was hitchy from my school computer.

2) Will iMovie take forever to edit and do the finalizing of game films that are about 30 minutes to 1 hour in length? My macbook was already pretty slow.

3) The hard drive seems pretty small but I would be okay with that if I could have most of my files stored on an external harddrive that was accessed wirelessly when I'm at home. Does the time capsule do something like this?

4) I've spent the last few years on a 13" macbook. Will I miss the two inches if I go down to 11"?

Thanks all. I know these may be some pretty basic questions but I'm not particularly computer savvy and really appreciate the help.

I've done an entire video series (see sig) that may be useful to you.

I've gone from a 15" to 13", didn't notice the size that much to be honest but deffo noticed the quality of screens on the Macbook Air's versus the Macbook Pro. The MBP has a glossy screen with loads of reflection but the MBA is just so gorgeous to look at.

 

[Hankster]

I'm sorry if this was answered in old threads but I'm sure some of you can easily help me out. I am interested in purchasing a 13" macbook air once the rumored upgrade happens in July. I've been operating on a regular macbook for the last few years and spend most of my time word documents, powerpoints, and safari. I do use imovie to edit some game film during basketball season. The questions I have that would give me more confidence in the purchase:

Thanks all. I know these may be some pretty basic questions but I'm not particularly computer savvy and really appreciate the help.

I have both machines so I'll give you my experience. We also have similar uses.

1) Since Macbook Air doesn't have a superdrive could I show the game film I make from a USB thumb drive? In the past when I've tried this it was hitchy from my school computer.

Yes, you can run game film off a flash drive. I'm a track coach and I use my MBA for film review. You can also buy the external optical drive, it comes in handy for CD/DVD.

2) Will iMovie take forever to edit and do the finalizing of game films that are about 30 minutes to 1 hour in length? My macbook was already pretty slow.

Here's where you will run into...slowness. The MBA can do iMovie editing, but I would strongly suggest against it. I keep all my iMovie editing for my MB because the MBA simply does not have the horsepower for this type of processing. iMovie runs slow and every edit is slower. I tried using iMovie a few times on my MBA and just gave up. This is not to say it's not impossible, it really depends on what type of editing you're doing and if you're in a rush.

3) The hard drive seems pretty small but I would be okay with that if I could have most of my files stored on an external harddrive that was accessed wirelessly when I'm at home. Does the time capsule do something like this?

If you're storing film the HD will be too small for you. I keep most of my media files on flash drives, but you'll be surprised how much the MBA can store. I do make a point to keep all "junk files" off my MBA though.

4) I've spent the last few years on a 13" macbook. Will I miss the two inches if I go down to 11"?

You will miss the screen space a little, particularly for large size programs like PhotoShop, iMovie, etc. It's very hard to see whole application and all the tools, etc. The nice thing about the MBA is the portability, it's really light and you can carry it with one hand like a folder. The MB I have to carry with two hands or have it cupped in one hand. The MBA is so light I carry it like a letter/folder. If you plan on using it for iMovie a lot I would go with the 13" instead of the 11". The weight is identical to the 11" but you get more screen space which is needed for iMovie.

One suggestion is, if you're near an Apple store, to try iMovie on the MBA and see if the editing is okay for you.

Hope this helps.

 

[PraisiX-windows]

Didn't know the MBA felt that slow in iMovie, however perhaps the Sandy Bridge one will help out a lot on that front.

 

[Sounds Good]

I would strongly suggest against it. I keep all my iMovie editing for my MB because the MBA simply does not have the horsepower for this type of processing.

Do you suppose this will be true for the new Sandy Bridge MBAs as well?

 

[Hankster]

Do you suppose this will be true for the new Sandy Bridge MBAs as well?

I have no clue, never used a MBA with Sandy Bridge But, my understanding is the MBA is not meant for heavy processing use such as programming, PhotoShop, iMovie, etc. That's just my understanding of the machine's use. I've had the MBA almost since launch and I use it everyday for work and a variety of other things. One thing I notice is that it's not meant for heavy use, but that's why Apple has the MBP

It would be great to have the power of a MBP in a MBA, but lets face it...there's only so much technology can do - for now - at a reasonable price.