Is rev A for me?

[Volante]

I "need" a laptop for when I travel. I have a Mac Pro at home so I don't need a lot of power. Thinking of getting a Macbook Air Rev A. 1.6Ghz, 2 GB RAM, X3100 graphics.

A couple of questions:

Will it play 720p x264 mkv files?
Will it play youtube hd?
What kind of battery time do you get surfing the web, playing low-res avi-files?
I have a USB-powered samsung DVD-drive. Will I be able to use to reinstall OS X (if needed)?

 

[aleksandra.]

Yes (may be choppy).
Yes (may be choppy).
Just surfing - ~4.5 hours. Playing movies - ~2.5 hours.
No idea (some drives work, others don't).

 

[alansmallen]

I had the same question. Check this thread.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/802410/

 

[NC MacGuy]

If you're looking for a word proc./excel/surfing computer it's fine. Looking at your question, you are into video - which it's not.

Mkv stored files work okay but streaming has issues. Avoid Rev. A for YouTube or any Flash based content. Seriously.

 

[Scottsdale]

Do not buy an original MBA for ANY video as it's not capable. The original MBA is good for Word, Pages, and numbers. Internet is even a challenge for it as Flash kills it.

I recommend everyone get an Nvidia GPU MBA to use it like they would expect a Mac to operate. Also remember HD playback from apps like iTunes recommend 2 GHz CPU minimum. In reality the 1.6 GHz MBAs have trouble with HD, Quicktime, and Flash. It really requires a 1.86/2.13 for acceptable video playback performance. If you want to use as your primary Mac you should also get the SSD.

Good luck whichever route you go.

 

[coast1ja]

I am typing this on a Rev. A 1.8 SSD MBA.

I love mine. It does play 720p and youtube HD video perfectly, it just gets hot when doing so.

Moral of the story, a Rev. A can do what you want, but it probably has to be the 1.8 cpu. If you're worried about it working too hard, go with the Rev. B or C.

 

[aaquib]

I had a 1.6/SSD CTO Rev.A and it was pretty annoying playing 720p videos on it. I had my videos encoded in mkv and played them through VLC, yet suffered a tremendous amount of stuttering. The fans also turned up to an unacceptable amount.

I didn't even bother with HD Youtube video. Just plain old SD Youtube videos would get the fans up to 6200rpm.

 

[musicpenguy]

If you are going for the Rev A get the higher end 1.8GHZ/64GB SSD - I absolutely love mine - works great for video and have had no heat issues or anything - sure the Rev B is gobs better - and I may have decided to spend the extra 300 or so bucks for double the HD space and a true video card - but I am happy with my $1000 Rev A 1.8/64GB SSD.

Best of luck in your search

 

[pvmacguy]

My rev. A works just fine. I have no issue with choppy video and browsing the web works wonderful as well. I have experienced no issues some of the guys on here have with their past Rev.A's. It could be mine is late model rev A. closer towards B.

 

[fluffyx]

I'm typing this on a 1.8GHz, 128 GB MacBook Air (revision B). It's the only Mac I use.

I experience few to zero core shutdowns. YouTube runs great. While it is not a powerhouse, it is a very respectable computer. In my view, the Revision A MacBook Air was not so desirable because of the performance issues.

If you intend to frequently play video on your computer, whether high-res or YouTube, DO NOT GET A REVISION A MACBOOK AIR. It will not play without stuttering.

I play HD videos from iTunes on my MacBook Air (Revision B) with no trouble.