I have a second gen MBA and while I do love it I also have a 13inch MBP so it seems unneeded. I am thinking of selling it and buying a Toshiba netbook since it's so much more portable and the battery lasts almost 9hrs. Any thoughts? Any idea on what I could get for a mint 1.6Ghz MBA with external super drive?
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Keep MBA or sell and buy Netbook
- Thread starter GreggM3
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I love my netbook and definitely did not like the Air for the week that I had to play around with it. Portability is not comparable and the fact that I have a hackintosh makes it so much better.
Check Mac2Sell.
Check Mac2Sell.
you are definitely a prime candidate for selling the mba. i think its a good decision since you have the 13 mbp
I had a netbook. I really disliked that I couldn't watch HQ youtube videos. Not HD but just HQ. They are very portable but I don't think they are much more portable then an air since they weigh about the same. Even sometimes just normal youtube would stutter. Everything else seemed ok in speed. I overclocked the processor to 2Ghz, upgraded the ram to 2gigs. Tried every speed trick possible to speed up flash video and windows.
I am definitely considering selling the MBA. I do love it but I don't really see the justification of a MBA and a 13inch MBP when a netbook will last longer and be more portable (at least dimension-wise).
I figure I could probably get $800-$1000?
I figure I could probably get $800-$1000?
Why don't you sell your MBP and keep the MBA. That way you'll only have one laptop and will be save/get some extra money.
Is there anything that you can only use the MBP for that you can't use the MBA for?
Is there anything that you can only use the MBP for that you can't use the MBA for?
If your netbook is too underpowered and you don't have another more powerful PC to rely on, you will be disappointed. A netbook as a primary PC is a no-no.
At least I couldn't deal with it.
At least I couldn't deal with it.
Let me jump in before someone else does:
If you've got the SSD MBA, keep it and sell the MBP. You only THINK you need the extra performance on the MBP, but you actually don't. MBA is much more "fun"
If you've got the HDD MBA, get rid of it together with MBP, and use the money to get a SSD MBA. HDD makes the MBA useless and you may as well not have it. Again, what you really need is a SSD MBA.
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gosh that feels weird
If you've got the SSD MBA, keep it and sell the MBP. You only THINK you need the extra performance on the MBP, but you actually don't. MBA is much more "fun"
If you've got the HDD MBA, get rid of it together with MBP, and use the money to get a SSD MBA. HDD makes the MBA useless and you may as well not have it. Again, what you really need is a SSD MBA.
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gosh that feels weird
How good is the Toshiba netbook? Are you sure the computing experience will be just as good as the MBA? My friend's Samsung netbook shows grainy streaming video (youtube) and though battery life is longer than my blackbook and it is portable, it would never be enough to make me switch. Plus it's just an uglier laptop, which does matter to me.
If you really need two portables, I vote you keep the air. And if you really want a netbook, make sure the model you are looking at has equivalent performance and you can stand the look of it for hours at a time
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If you really need two portables, I vote you keep the air. And if you really want a netbook, make sure the model you are looking at has equivalent performance and you can stand the look of it for hours at a time
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Netbooks suck very badly.
I had a dell mini 9 and an hp mini. Both sucked and I felt ripped off completely. Both choked constantly even with windows xp. The dell shipped with ubuntu ,, some custom version, it ran pretty well but often sputtered when doing things even as simple as typing. I wouldnt install anything over office 03 on them as they will not perform properly. I did have 2 gb of ram in my dell mini 9. the ssd performed ok, after 2 weeks of use it developed bad sectors and completely failed. I than had to ship the dell out for 2 weeks to get them to replace it. Overall, the dell and the hp felt poorly constructed, nothing near a mac. If it were me I would wait until windows 7 is released. They will than have to put windows 7 in them and hopefully up the atom processor and the ram capacities. I would go for the lenovo model. My brother has one and it feels more solid than the others. When windows 7 releases I would get a lenovo s10 with windows 7 and 2 gb of ram. Trust me, they are not as cool or fun as they seem. My mini 9 felt hollow on top and I ebayed it a few months ago. I still have the hp. I never use it and use my macs mainly. Overall they are a gimick and are in the beginning stages of life. Wait until windows 7 comes out and until they make it a standard to have at least 2gb of ram. The only toshiba laptop I have ever owned was my last. It was a POS and died within the first year of ownership. Sorry to be so negative but trying to be honest.
I had a dell mini 9 and an hp mini. Both sucked and I felt ripped off completely. Both choked constantly even with windows xp. The dell shipped with ubuntu ,, some custom version, it ran pretty well but often sputtered when doing things even as simple as typing. I wouldnt install anything over office 03 on them as they will not perform properly. I did have 2 gb of ram in my dell mini 9. the ssd performed ok, after 2 weeks of use it developed bad sectors and completely failed. I than had to ship the dell out for 2 weeks to get them to replace it. Overall, the dell and the hp felt poorly constructed, nothing near a mac. If it were me I would wait until windows 7 is released. They will than have to put windows 7 in them and hopefully up the atom processor and the ram capacities. I would go for the lenovo model. My brother has one and it feels more solid than the others. When windows 7 releases I would get a lenovo s10 with windows 7 and 2 gb of ram. Trust me, they are not as cool or fun as they seem. My mini 9 felt hollow on top and I ebayed it a few months ago. I still have the hp. I never use it and use my macs mainly. Overall they are a gimick and are in the beginning stages of life. Wait until windows 7 comes out and until they make it a standard to have at least 2gb of ram. The only toshiba laptop I have ever owned was my last. It was a POS and died within the first year of ownership. Sorry to be so negative but trying to be honest.
13 MBP + netbook
I don't have any experience with the air but fwiw I currently have a MBP and a asus 1000he. Its nice to have both. The mbp is my main machine for work and when I travel but can't really justify taking the mbp I take the netbook. Also some of the netbooks have insane battery life that makes them nice to use when you don't want to have to think about how you use your battery. That said I had the netbook before the mac and if I had the mac first I don't think I would have bought the netbook in addition.
Also don't listen to those saying netbooks are sucky email only machines. I used that netbook as my primary machine for 4 months and while not ideal it was definitely doable (and when I say primary machine I mean my work computer. I did light data analysis and image editing on that thing)
I don't have any experience with the air but fwiw I currently have a MBP and a asus 1000he. Its nice to have both. The mbp is my main machine for work and when I travel but can't really justify taking the mbp I take the netbook. Also some of the netbooks have insane battery life that makes them nice to use when you don't want to have to think about how you use your battery. That said I had the netbook before the mac and if I had the mac first I don't think I would have bought the netbook in addition.
Also don't listen to those saying netbooks are sucky email only machines. I used that netbook as my primary machine for 4 months and while not ideal it was definitely doable (and when I say primary machine I mean my work computer. I did light data analysis and image editing on that thing)
Why don't you sell the MBA and travel with the MBP and save the money that you are going to spend on a netbook for another Mac if you end up damaging your MBP
All netbooks suck no matter how cute some of them look. Performance wise, you would be purchasing some 6-year old tech in a cheap package.
BTW, you can get the Vaio P with SSD for almost the same amount of money you are going to get from selling your MBA. But I am NOT suggesting that you do this but at least it is better than those ugly netbooks.
All netbooks suck no matter how cute some of them look. Performance wise, you would be purchasing some 6-year old tech in a cheap package.
BTW, you can get the Vaio P with SSD for almost the same amount of money you are going to get from selling your MBA. But I am NOT suggesting that you do this but at least it is better than those ugly netbooks.
Assuming you are looking at the Toshiba NB-205 it's a great computer. I don't have an MBA but I do have the toshiba and enjoy it immensely. It's perfect for travel.
I bought a rebranded MSI Wind when they first came out (when I had my 15.2" MBP) as I have a motorbike and have a back problem, so can't lug heavy laptops on my back. The netbook was great and fit in my tank bag. The problem for me is two fold, performance and screen resolution (I'll ignore the crappy touch pad for now).
1024x600 may seem like a good resolution for browsing the web, yeah sure you don't have to do much horizontal scrolling, but you sure have to do a lot more vertical scrolling than I was expecting to have to do.
The performance was a bit naff, and yeah yeah, I know, its a 1.6GHz HT Atom, but it really wasn't what I was expecting. Slugish, choppy (playing back DivX and Xvid movies plus HD stuff on YouTube - which are only 480p)
I decided for a laugh to install OS X on it thinking it would be the ultimate Mac, small, light weight and supremely portable. OS X should NEVER be used with such a small resolution. 600 vertical pixels just sucks! I don't like the Dock to be hidden or on the side, but I just had to.
Personally, I'd keep the MPA.
pac
1024x600 may seem like a good resolution for browsing the web, yeah sure you don't have to do much horizontal scrolling, but you sure have to do a lot more vertical scrolling than I was expecting to have to do.
The performance was a bit naff, and yeah yeah, I know, its a 1.6GHz HT Atom, but it really wasn't what I was expecting. Slugish, choppy (playing back DivX and Xvid movies plus HD stuff on YouTube - which are only 480p)
I decided for a laugh to install OS X on it thinking it would be the ultimate Mac, small, light weight and supremely portable. OS X should NEVER be used with such a small resolution. 600 vertical pixels just sucks! I don't like the Dock to be hidden or on the side, but I just had to.
Personally, I'd keep the MPA.
pac
FYI
Netbook
performance = 4 year old G4 laptop.
screen = small
keyboard = tiny, cannot touch type
Netbook
performance = 4 year old G4 laptop.
screen = small
keyboard = tiny, cannot touch type
To be fair, the performance is comparable to the 1GHz G4s. These machines are quite cheap.
Sell the MBA. Obviously you don't need it. get some money for it while you can. If they drastically change the MBA, the early version will be worth nothing.
I have a rev A MBA and am severely disappointed. It is my first Mac and it has had so many problems - all of which are well documented on this board. It's going back for a third time to the genius bar tomorrow, now with random kernel panics.
Recently, I bought an Acer 1410, which is the first of a new generation netbooks with a processor more powerful than the Atom while retaining a long battery life. I couldn't be happier with the 11.6" screen with 1366 x 768 resolution or it's computing "power". Take a look but at less than half the cost of an MBA ($400), it should at least enter into your thinking.
Recently, I bought an Acer 1410, which is the first of a new generation netbooks with a processor more powerful than the Atom while retaining a long battery life. I couldn't be happier with the 11.6" screen with 1366 x 768 resolution or it's computing "power". Take a look but at less than half the cost of an MBA ($400), it should at least enter into your thinking.
NetBook vs Anything that is a full fledged Laptop (Including the MBP/A)
Why is anyone even looking at a NetBook here? And I'm talking about any OS: Windows, Linux, or Hackintosh.
I mean Photoshop, 480P DIVX, YouTube? PHOTOSHOP???!! Are you kidding? I'm surprised no one is gaming on these too while we're at it. Lets put Crysis on it and complain when you get 1FPS!
The purpose of a NetBook is light web surfing and light typing. Notice I said light. That means no streaming video, Java games, nothing that requires heavy processing on your side. If your needs go beyond clicking on links and reading web pages or M$ Word, then you should not have a NetBook.
Yes there are some people that use a NetBook for their primary computer- it's because they have no other choice! They either have to or cannot afford a better solution for their needs at the time of the purchase.
Everyone wants a small machine with horsepower up the wazoo and can do everything... for $300 or less. Good luck, LOL. Maybe in a few years (if lucky), but definitely not today.
Why is anyone even looking at a NetBook here? And I'm talking about any OS: Windows, Linux, or Hackintosh.
I mean Photoshop, 480P DIVX, YouTube? PHOTOSHOP???!! Are you kidding? I'm surprised no one is gaming on these too while we're at it. Lets put Crysis on it and complain when you get 1FPS!
The purpose of a NetBook is light web surfing and light typing. Notice I said light. That means no streaming video, Java games, nothing that requires heavy processing on your side. If your needs go beyond clicking on links and reading web pages or M$ Word, then you should not have a NetBook.
Yes there are some people that use a NetBook for their primary computer- it's because they have no other choice! They either have to or cannot afford a better solution for their needs at the time of the purchase.
Everyone wants a small machine with horsepower up the wazoo and can do everything... for $300 or less. Good luck, LOL. Maybe in a few years (if lucky), but definitely not today.