My next computer will (eventually) be a laptop of some kind. Now when it comes to computer usage, I'm a minimalist. I browse the web, YouTube, I use itunes, download simple pictures...and that's pretty much it. I pretty much never use my optical drive, but I'll get the external one anyway. I want the simplicity and speed of the SSD drive, and in all the years I've had a computer, I've used less then 33 gigs. I also only use 1 USB port, yada yada... So what do you think?
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Is the Air right for me?
- Thread starter circa81
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Sounds like your set for the macbook air. The things you listed , the MBA could do perfectly. The only thing is, is the screen size right for you?
People with Revision C MBA's don't have problems with YouTube videos, or at least do not complain about such issue.
I too would like an air. I use a laptop only for watching movies in bed lol. (Well, aside from the laptop in my sig but thats a different story).
I went from a Rev B to a Rev C(free replacement) and have no issues with youtube or any other videos. Matter of fact I can't find a single thing to complain about. Highly recommend.
JTMav
fixed for you
Seriously speaking, the Mac OSX's implementation of Flash is poorly written, so the Air performs similarly to the other mac
The plot thickens...
Ok guys; my mom just bought a netbook, and as far as a I can tell, it kicks a$$! Netbooks use SSD's, and that is a deal breaker for me. And really, I only use a few programs, not the dozens that all full blown computers have. Even buying a Air would be over kill for me. And as much as I love macs, they DO glitch. infact I had to switch from Safari to Firefox cause Safari just didn't want to get fixed, and I tried everything I could. While using youtube, the netbook did NOT heat up or slow down, and it's speakers are better then the air; as in it's actually useful. I'm trying to be responsible here, so I wish to have any and all feedback. Thanks for your time.
Ok guys; my mom just bought a netbook, and as far as a I can tell, it kicks a$$! Netbooks use SSD's, and that is a deal breaker for me. And really, I only use a few programs, not the dozens that all full blown computers have. Even buying a Air would be over kill for me. And as much as I love macs, they DO glitch. infact I had to switch from Safari to Firefox cause Safari just didn't want to get fixed, and I tried everything I could. While using youtube, the netbook did NOT heat up or slow down, and it's speakers are better then the air; as in it's actually useful. I'm trying to be responsible here, so I wish to have any and all feedback. Thanks for your time.
The difference between the Air (with full-blown CPU and GPU) and a netbook (usually severely undepowered) is that it can perform relatively well as a primary computer or it has some extra muscle to do heavy tasks. The netbook can't do that. Plus, the Air looks a hell of a lot more sexy.
My friend's netbook cannot play HD videos off of Hulu... not sure why though, I'd thought the Atom has enough power to play 480p videos?
The HP Mini 311 can play hi-def streaming. Anyone here believe that a well chosen netbook can be used as a primary computer? There's a whole thread about this here: http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?pid=469626 People there seam to get along fine with just a netbook. I know I'm getting off topic here, so sorry about that.
With minimal use, it can be a primary computer. However, you are restricted and can't expand if you want to.
if you are very light in your requirements (basically email, web surfing and youtube watching), and you use an external monitor and keyboard at home, why not ?
But I can assure you that using a MacBook Air is a totally different experience
Netbooks can be great machines for light and/or occasional use. I know people saddled with locked down corporate laptops that use Netbooks as their primary personal computer while traveling.
But a lot of netbooks are limited in screen size/resolution, graphics performance, keyboard size and feel, and of course low powered, single core processors. Choose your AV tools, OS, Programs etc very carefully and you can get away with a lot, but Netbooks were simply never designed to be all day, full use machines.
I had a top-of-the-line HP 2133 mini note for about six months (before netbooks were a dime a dozen). It cost about the same as a used Air on ebay at the time. I was hoping to use it as a primary computer. I even upgraded the ram and that thing was still way too slow for me to use as my primary machine. I then upgraded to a Rev. A 1.8 80gb and that was sooo much better. Now I have a Rev. B SSD and it is much more useable than the Rev. A.
Bottom line: I would not recommend even the best netbook as a primary machine, but i would highly recommend even a low-end MacBook Air.
Bottom line: I would not recommend even the best netbook as a primary machine, but i would highly recommend even a low-end MacBook Air.
It all depends on the user's needs and requirements.
Completely agree.
I've been trying a few Netbooks out. Everyone has some limitation that bugs me, bit the small display, slow processor, small keyboard, etc. For me, there are simply too many compromises with a Netbook at this time. In the future that may change. For now, I would opt for an MBA.
480 is not HD. We haven't tried HD videos on our HP Mini, don't know why you would bother with the extra download time with a screen that isn't even 720 HD resolution. But I would think the 1.6GHz Atoms would be right on the edge, should be capable of at least 720p. Just don't have it doing something else in the background.
Netbooks CAN use SSDs, but most of them do not have this as a base configuration, or even offer it as a standard option.
Safari has improved a lot - I used to have major problems on the BBC website with certain scripts taking forever to execute and that seems to have gone away.
The heating problem with Youtube can be solved by click2flash which allows you to stream high definition H.264 video instead of flash and play that through quicktime not the POS adobe Flash player which is garbage on OSX but works fine on Windows.
If you enjoy streaming video such as Youtube, Hulu or Netflix, the MBA is NOT FOR YOU. I don't care what the fan boys say the MBA is NOT built for streaming video. The fans will kick to max RPM to try to keep it cool, so if you enjoy the hum of a power tool running and your video stuttering as it struggles to keep up with any flash based site avoid the MBA.
Any of of the MBP line will do this job many, many times better and never even stress the system. MBA is cool to look at, and works perfect for the traveling business person that needs a light computer. I have tried three differnt MBA's over the course of a couple of years and they all fail to be an all around work/home entertainment system (mostly streaming video).
Save yourself the frustration and just get a MBP, you will save money, save time not having to return the MBA and you will enjoy the MBP experience from start to finish. If your not traveling for work all the time, the 1.5 lbs is really not that big of a deal. Hell the glass track pad imo makes all the difference as well. MBA is a specialized machine, the cool factor draws people in (did me) but it is not ready for mainstream computer use when it comes to a great online experience with streaming video or any type of gaming.
I love the idea of the MBA, and will always follow it's development, but it's just not the computer for my taste yet. Good Luck with your decision.