Macbook air has made my iMac redundant!

[leemkule]

I have pretty much not used my iMac since I bought my full spec 13.3 inch air about a month ago. I have literally just printed one document via the iMac, the rest of the time it has just been gathering dust. I have found that everything that I wanted to do on the iMac the Air is completely capable of. Now it feels like I have a massive, i5 computer there just depreciating in value. So I'm considering selling it.

Has anyone else had something like this happen?

 

[DHagan4755]

This happens. Every now & then I consider what it would be like to have an iMac back but then think of how much I use my MacBook Pro & how I take it everywhere so an iMac would be a waste. Sell it!

 

[dmelgar]

Today's laptops are quite powerful. Unless you need additional power, there's little reason to have a desktop machine.

You can get a large display and hook it up to your MBA when you're in that spot. Otherwise the portability is awesome. Why be chained to one particular spot when you can have ultraportable computing power at your disposal.

 

[shootingstar64]

Welcome to the club

I was in a similar boat like you and even a little further,....

With the arrival of my base model MBA 11" to the day i sold my:

• Mac Pro & 30" ACD
• 27" iMac
• 17" uMBP
• iPad WiFi/3G 64GB

My keepers for now are:

• MBA & 27" ACD
• Mac mini Server
• iPhone 4

These three fit my needs just perfect,.... also consider i am working within the IT business,...

I would say if you not need it, go for it and sell it!
Simplify your computing life!

Just my 2cents

 

[Jezak]

Interesting thread. I am considering parting with my 22inch iMac as I find myself using my 13inch Air exclusively these days. I think the only thing holding me back is that the iMac holds my media empire.

I've been pretty pleased using the Air with a 24inch cinema display. I just wished it had a tad more graphics horsepower under the hood. Still, I am not complaining...really.

 

[HLdan]

Uh, I think the OP is just overly excited about his new Air and not really seeing the big picture. Now, granted if he just uses his iMac for web surfing and basic stuff then sure, the Air would work equally as well but depending on which iMac you have, only the iMac can do heavy number crunching, encoding and gaming at any decent speed. The Air is no powerhouse. Too many new Air owners are blinded by the SSD speeds when real number crunching comes from raw processor speed and the Air just doesn't cut it.
The Air is "OK" but don't make it out to be as fast an i5 or an i7 because it's not. I have the iMac i7 and no other Mac except for the Mac Pro can compete with it. Don't mistaken "Power" vs. "Speed", they are two different beasts.

 

[leemkule]

Uh, I think the OP is just overly excited about his new Air and not really seeing the big picture. Now, granted if he just uses his iMac for web surfing and basic stuff then sure, the Air would work equally as well but depending on which iMac you have, only the iMac can do heavy number crunching, encoding and gaming at any decent speed. The Air is no powerhouse. Too many new Air owners are blinded by the SSD speeds when real number crunching comes from raw processor speed and the Air just doesn't cut it.
The Air is "OK" but don't make it out to be as fast an i5 or an i7 because it's not. I have the iMac i7 and no other Mac except for the Mac Pro can compete with it. Don't mistaken "Power" vs. "Speed", they are two different beasts.

That's a tad condescending. Computers don't really excite me all that much - even if they did I wouldn't still be giddy after a month. All I said is that it does everything I want it to do. I did not made it out to be faster than an i5 or i7, in fact I didn't mention speed at all. Where did I 'mistaken' power vs speed?

 

[farmermac]

I'd love to be able to do that but my 24" holds a ton of pictures, tv shows, videos that are then available to every other Mac wirelessly. If the macair had 1tb I'd rock one

 

[HLdan]

That's a tad condescending. Computers don't really excite me all that much - even if they did I wouldn't still be giddy after a month. All I said is that it does everything I want it to do. I did not made it out to be faster than an i5 or i7, in fact I didn't mention speed at all. Where did I 'mistaken' power vs speed?

How was that condescending? You asked for people's opinion. Sorry if what I wrote doesn't patronize you, it wasn't meant to offend. Did I not mention in my post that if you were going to use your iMac for web surfing and basic tasks then yes, the Air would be on par with the iMac? Obviously you missed that while chastising me. Did you also miss the part where I said "Too Many New Air Owners Are Blinded By The SSD Speeds"?? I wasn't referring to you specifically but that is very true that many new Air owners are putting down their other more powerful Macs saying that the Air is just as capable and that's not true. Just a note, if you're going to ask for opinions and you're not open to people saying their peace then don't post on public forums.

 

[leemkule]

How was that condescending? You asked for people's opinion. Sorry if what I wrote doesn't patronize you, it wasn't meant to offend. Did I not mention in my post that if you were going to use your iMac for web surfing and basic tasks then yes, the Air would be on par with the iMac? Obviously you missed that while chastising me. Did you also miss the part where I said "Too Many New Air Owners Are Blinded By The SSD Speeds"?? I wasn't referring to you specifically but that is very true that many new Air owners are putting down their other more powerful Macs saying that the Air is just as capable and that's not true. Just a note, if you're going to ask for opinions and you're not open to people saying their peace then don't post on public forums.

You claimed that I was blinded by the excitement of my 1 month old macbook air, that was condescending. Been a long time since I posted on tech forums, people like you are the reason why. I didn't ask for an opinion on iMac vs Air, if you read my post I asked if anyone else has experienced this same thing as me. You're just too busy firing up the flame fingers to read. Your reply was barely even relevant to the thread. I won't reply to you anymore, don't want to waste my time.

 

[fswmacguy]

My other Mac is a Mac Pro.

I haven't booted it up in days. Although, the MP is obviously noticeably faster in most tasks, but I've found that the MBA is superb for just about everything I need it to do. I want to pick up a big screen to use it on now, as sometimes I find this little screen a bit cramped (13-inch). But it's like that for any notebook so I can't complain.

 

[shootingstar64]

Uh, I think the OP is just overly excited about his new Air and not really seeing the big picture. Now, granted if he just uses his iMac for web surfing and basic stuff then sure, the Air would work equally as well but depending on which iMac you have, only the iMac can do heavy number crunching, encoding and gaming at any decent speed. The Air is no powerhouse. Too many new Air owners are blinded by the SSD speeds when real number crunching comes from raw processor speed and the Air just doesn't cut it.
The Air is "OK" but don't make it out to be as fast an i5 or an i7 because it's not. I have the iMac i7 and no other Mac except for the Mac Pro can compete with it. Don't mistaken "Power" vs. "Speed", they are two different beasts.

I think you are right in one way that the MBA is far apart from a so called "power house",... BUT didn´t it come to your mind that a majority of people simply do not need those hard core CPU's?

I bet you are hundred to one that most of the posters on forums like here, never ever will be in need for gigs of ram, processing speed and such!

Not offending anyone here but as an older guy (not necessarily wiser ) i see some similarities with car owners here,.... "hey,... my mac is faster, bigger, stronger than xxxxxx product - goes like, my car gonna beat yours in a flick of an eye,..... truth is, it´s like driving a premium european sports car within the US

Sure, if you make your living from Audio/Video post production, CAD and other hardcore tasks you better go by the fastest and strongest CPU you prolly can afford. But again,.... i highly doubt the majority is in real need for those "power horses",....

 

[HLdan]

I think you are right in one way that the MBA is far apart from a so called "power house",... BUT didn´t it come to your mind that a majority of people simply do not need those hard core CPU's?

I bet you are hundred to one that most of the posters on forums like here, never ever will be in need for gigs of ram, processing speed and such!

Not offending anyone here but as an older guy (not necessarily wiser ) i see some similarities with car owners here,.... "hey,... my mac is faster, bigger, stronger than xxxxxx product - goes like, my car gonna beat yours in a flick of an eye,..... truth is, it´s like driving a premium european sports car within the US

Sure, if you make your living from Audio/Video post production, CAD and other hardcore tasks you better go by the fastest and strongest CPU you prolly can afford. But again,.... i highly doubt the majority is in real need for those "power horses",....

In regards to the majority not needing those hard core CPU's, those people "bought" them, can't fault me for that. There are other iMacs that are capable but are low powered but I know this forum well, many want the latest and greatest and highest specced and hand over the credit card to Apple only to find out that they didn't need it.

 

[shootingstar64]

In regards to the majority not needing those hard core CPU's, those people "bought" them, can't fault me for that. There are other iMacs that are capable but are low powered but I know this forum well, many want the latest and greatest and highest specced and hand over the credit card to Apple only to find out that they didn't need it.

Agreed,..... and i do not blame you for that!

I also nearly always have been a "full-spec" type of guy but this time decided to go the other route,.... IMHO people should inform oneselves better and buy what really suits their needs,... imagine how many $ you save and go out to buy your girl a drink or two,....

 

[gwsat]

My 13 inch Ultimate MBA has replaced a 3 year old MBP as my everyday computer. I do occasionally still use the MBP for copying audiobook CDs to audio files and when I want the benefit if its higher resolution and bigger screen. Ninety percent of the time, though, I use the MBA.

The only desktop machine I have is a 6 year old HP that I was using only as a file server long before I got the MBA.

 

[gb1631]

Well, while I love my new MBA 11, I don't think I'm going to sell my iMac 27' i7 anytime soon!

 

[czeluff]

See, I'm the exact opposite of the OP. Had the 1st-gen MBA, then bought a 24" iMac, and realized that I never actually used my computer unless I was at home (my iPhone handles everything I need on the road). So I sold the MBA and I just use my iMac.

And I'm not a power user by any means: mostly surfing the web, running Windows for work-related stuff, torrents, netflix, etc.

Even the iPad is useless to me. Luckily the gf is in love with it.

 

[Beanoir]

Uh, I think the OP is just overly excited about his new Air and not really seeing the big picture. Now, granted if he just uses his iMac for web surfing and basic stuff then sure, the Air would work equally as well but depending on which iMac you have, only the iMac can do heavy number crunching, encoding and gaming at any decent speed. The Air is no powerhouse. Too many new Air owners are blinded by the SSD speeds when real number crunching comes from raw processor speed and the Air just doesn't cut it.
The Air is "OK" but don't make it out to be as fast an i5 or an i7 because it's not. I have the iMac i7 and no other Mac except for the Mac Pro can compete with it. Don't mistaken "Power" vs. "Speed", they are two different beasts.

For what it's worth, I agree completely, there a lot of people that think the MBA does everything, it doesn't. I actually had people on anther thread claiming it ran PS5 as quick as their MacPro....I mean please, come back to planet Earth people!

MBA is great, and it will do the everyday simple tasks like web surfing, email, etc as well as anybody would need, but it does NOT run processor hungry applications like a prosumer type desktop like a MacPro will, if it did, then why would anybody ever bother buying them!

 

[JoeG4]

lol, I know the MBA has a nice screen, but even at 1440x900 I could never use it as my primary machine. Sometimes when studying or doing web design work, I need to have a lot of stuff on my screen that spaces and expose can't help a ton with.

That, and a ULV Core 2 isn't exactly my idea of a powerhouse - my last Macbook, which I retired for being too slow had a faster processor.. and that's just my toy laptop! XD I now carry around an i7 laptop that is.. quite large, but the power is more than adequate.

I'd love a MacBook Air, and for a lot of things I could see it being a great laptop - in fact for I think it's probably a more than capable machine for USING/PLAYING but I don't think it's a very good machine for creating.

 

[gwsat]

For what it's worth, I agree completely, there a lot of people that think the MBA does everything, it doesn't. I actually had people on anther thread claiming it ran PS5 as quick as their MacPro....I mean please, come back to planet Earth people!

MBA is great, and it will do the everyday simple tasks like web surfing, email, etc as well as anybody would need, but it does NOT run processor hungry applications like a prosumer type desktop like a MacPro will, if it did, then why would anybody ever bother buying them!

I agree that buyers of new Apple products often become unduly optimistic about what the product can do. I recall that when the iPad was introduced, some posters were claiming that it was going to be an Apple laptop killer. Ha! Although the new MBA is exponentially more capable that the iPad and will handle many heavy duty tasks with commendable speed, its performance on processor intensive tasks is going to be significantly slower than that of an i7 equipped machine.

 

[torbjoern]

I agree that buyers of new Apple products often become unduly optimistic about what the product can do.

Yeah - like when they expected the 1st gen iPhone to be able to send MMS. Come on - it was a FIRST GEN!

 

[Corax]

I've sold my iMac 21,5" after buying my 13" MBA.
This thing is really sweet! Still love every bit of it.

 

[JoeG4]

lol, I dunno about too optimistic .. the MBA is probably perfectly fine for lots of people as their primary computer, especially the 13".. just not me XD

 

[edwardbdrecht]

It's quite understandable you would like to sell your iMac. I bought a Macbook Pro 13" in april 2010 because I knew this machine would fit my personal needs. I needed a laptop with a small, but high-quality screen, a battery which could power the machine long enough, not too expensive and it had to be solid enough to minimize travel damage. So the 13" 2,4 Ghz MBP fills this need. When I'm at college, I use the Macbook to do a little programming, taking notes etc - when I'm at home, I hook it up on a 22" screen to be more productive on a bigger screen (more screensize == better overview of code) and when I'm not doing any college related stuff, I enjoy my iPad Perfect set, carefully thought of.

 

[Corax]

It's quite understandable you would like to sell your iMac. I bought a Macbook Pro 13" in april 2010 because I knew this machine would fit my personal needs. I needed a laptop with a small, but high-quality screen, a battery which could power the machine long enough, not too expensive and it had to be solid enough to minimize travel damage. So the 13" 2,4 Ghz MBP fills this need. When I'm at college, I use the Macbook to do a little programming, taking notes etc - when I'm at home, I hook it up on a 22" screen to be more productive on a bigger screen (more screensize == better overview of code) and when I'm not doing any college related stuff, I enjoy my iPad Perfect set, carefully thought of.

Comparable set like mine!