Looking for advise from current MBA owners

[cfd954]

As the title said I am looking for some input from current owners of the MBA. I am considering picking one up but I wanted to see if my needs would align with the MBA demographic.

I currently use my laptop for photo management with some very, very light post processing and an occasional photoshop, other than that I mainly use my computer for the internet, email, documents, presentation, iweb and creating ringtones in garage band. For those that have the MBA would the "speed" suffice for these items?

I appreciate the input.

 

[steve31]

it looks like a good fit to me! I have not tried it with garage band yet but I love to surf the net on it and do iphoto. It feels a LOT faster than I thought it would be.

 

[r00]

I use the 1.6/80GB MBA as my main machine. I surf, email, code, and game, yes game when it's hooked up to the 20" widescreen and it does all that perfectly. Don't listen to those who say it's not worth the money. It's the best $1700 I've ever spent.

 

[PDE]

I agree with the above posts. I don't know what people are talking about when they say it's over-priced and underpowered. Just two years ago everybody was excited about the latest G5 DESKTOPS and how super-fast they were. The MBA is quite a bit faster than that. It's not like the last two years has seen software hardware requirements double! So the machine is perfectly powerful enough to handle all the things you mentioned, with EASE.

I hate over-paying for things, but this is such a wonderful laptop that I don't regret it for a second: weight, screen, build and design, keyboard are all top-notch. There are some minuses, but if your usage is like mine (don't use DVD drive when away from home, seldom use wired ethernet and don't need firewire even though I'd like it), then this is the perfect mobile computer. I say go for it!

 

[ctt1wbw]

I use the 1.6/80GB MBA as my main machine. I surf, email, code, and game, yes game when it's hooked up to the 20" widescreen and it does all that perfectly. Don't listen to those who say it's not worth the money. It's the best $1700 I've ever spent.

Same here. I use this almost exclusively, even though I bought a new Dell Inspiron 1520 a few months back. They both run just as fast and they both do what I want. I think the Air weighs about 25 pounds less, it seems. They're both good machines, it's just that the Air is so much easier to use and carry around.

 

[Cybergypsy]

I use the air as my only mac.Sold my 2.2 macbook and have no regrets at all..

 

[teerexx52]

I use the air as my only mac.Sold my 2.2 macbook and have no regrets at all..

I still have my Macbook Pro. Can't quite bring myself to sell it. My son wants it but I think not I love the Air. I hooked a Verizon Wireless USB720 Modem to it and it works great in the car and anywhere.

 

[cfd954]

Thanks for all of the responses so far. I have been continuing to browse the forums and have been reading about the clicking 80gb hdd and the computer then freezing up. I really don't have the cash flow to go with a ssd model which would aleviate this so with this in mind would it be better to go with the more proven blackbook?

 

[ks-man]

Mine has been working for a week without any problems.

Whether you should get it or not comes down to why you would choose it vs. another computer. It will do all the tasks you mentioned just fine and will be great for portability but it will have the limitations that have been well documented (no external drive, small storage space etc).

The only reason you should consider the blackbook over the Air is if price is the predominant factor (figure on spending an extra $130+tax for the super drive and ethernet adapter). You'll probably want a USB drive or Time Capsule for both of these laptops.

The MBA is perfect as a second computer that you want to be able to use everywhere. I love the computer but I'm surprised at all the people who say it is there main computer. Perhaps if you connected it to an external monitor and had a bluetooth keyboard and mouse than I guess that is possible.

Personally I love having a desktop and the Air as a computer for my great room where we can unplug it and use from the couch.

 

[zippster]

OP

i pretty much do the same as you (+more vmware etc), i bought the 1.8/80gb thinking that it will last me until the SSD come down in price but its totally superb!! ok i have an imac aswell for home but for everything else on the move the Air totally fits the bill.

i also really have no idea what people are moaning about, these are GREAT machines and i honestly can say i notice no difference from the 2 month old MBP i sold after i bought this!

all IMHO of course.


Andy..

 

[Suncusser]

My MBA works well for usual needs

I too thought about the knocks on speed and capability of the MBA but I travel at least once a month and my old 12 inch PB had some issues with the disk drive and off/on switch that made it dicey to take to important presentations. So I bought it and its been great. Saw the benchmarks the other day and its at least 50% faster than my desktop G5 dual 1.8 Mac Pro and 5 times faster than my Powerbook. So its not the fastest on the market but it's still a big improvement from what I had and I found myself making figures in Photoshop last week. I bought the 1.6/80 because the extra $1000 for the SSD was hard to justify. I expect that within 2 years when the price comes down a bunch that I'll be able to replace the HDD with a SSD and I'll have had the use of a great machine in the meantime. I got the Superdrive and the ethernet dongle. I can pack the drive in my suitcase in case I need it and just carry my MBA in the briefcase. Haven't had a freezes but I did get a scare when the MBA locked up the evening before a trip. Turned out it just needed a reboot and haven't had a problem since but it was a stupid time to mess with it.

 

[slowbutspeeding]

Thanks for all of the responses so far. I have been continuing to browse the forums and have been reading about the clicking 80gb hdd and the computer then freezing up. I really don't have the cash flow to go with a ssd model which would aleviate this so with this in mind would it be better to go with the more proven blackbook?

Go for the HDD model now. Just get Applecare along with it, and they will take care of you should any problems arise. Personally, mine has been flawless so far and one of the best Apple products I have ever owned (and I have gone through quite a few!).

Plus, in a year or two when the price of SSD drives tumbles, you can always swap out your HDD, or just buy the newer model Air

 

[ks-man]

I think the key thing to notice from this thread and all the threads are the very positive responses from people who own the computer and the negative responses from people who saw it in the Apple store and didn't think it looked worth it.

Sure there will be cynics that say the buyers are trying to validate their purchase and are trying to make themselves feel better by glowing about it, but read the responses from people who actually own and use the computer and I then don't think there is any question on what the feelings about the computer are.

Again ask yourself whose opinion you value more, the person who has been using the computer for the past few weeks or the person who saw it in the Apple store and was expecting more for the price.

 

[ctt1wbw]

Thanks for all of the responses so far. I have been continuing to browse the forums and have been reading about the clicking 80gb hdd and the computer then freezing up. I really don't have the cash flow to go with a ssd model which would aleviate this so with this in mind would it be better to go with the more proven blackbook?

My new Dell laptop with Vista sounds like a train coming down a rickety track because Vista thrashse the hard drive so much. I had to turn it off the other night because I couldn't stand the noise while doing my term paper on my Macbook Air.