Macbook Air, My questions and your commits...

[mayhone1]

I may be in the market for a Macbook Air soon and I just wanted to know what are some of the key things of both the 11 inch and 13 inch models. Beyond that I want to know the drawbacks of each, the issues that might be happening on both models, which one each of you guys have and do you regret getting that model, wishing instead that you could go back and get the other model.

 

[Zeov]

I have the 13" 2.13Ghz / 4GB RAM / 256SSD and i'm loving it. It's ultraportable, i can play games on it (decent, at least) and it's very fast.

I havent really missed anything that much really, even though i would like some more space, but for an ultraportable i'm pretty happy with 256GB.

 

[Hellhammer]

1. Will it be your main computer? If it won't, what other computer(s) do you have?

2. What is it going to be used for? What apps are you going to run? How much portability is needed (i.e. how often do you carry it with you)?

3. How much data do you have? Does it all need to be in the MBA?

4. Budget limitations?

Answering those questions would help us to recommend you the best MBA for your needs.

 

[aleni]

i bought a 11" mba with 1.4ghz, 4GB ram and 64GB SSD.

i regreted it because i bought it only beause i felt in love with the look, not because i needed it.

but it's still a beatiful machine though, fast and silent, now my wife makes the use of it instead of me.

my work includes photoshop with 300dpi images, so the air is not my option here, if my job doesn't need powerhorse computer, i'd defenitely get the 13" mba ultimate and will use it as my primary computer.

it's really hard to go back to my 17" unibody MBP after i lifted the MBA. but i jut had to.

 

[mayhone1]

1. Will it be your main computer? If it won't, what other computer(s) do you have?

2. What is it going to be used for? What apps are you going to run? How much portability is needed (i.e. how often do you carry it with you)?

3. How much data do you have? Does it all need to be in the MBA?

4. Budget limitations?

Answering those questions would help us to recommend you the best MBA for your needs.

1. I have an iMac however I am going to be using this more than the iMac.
2. Mainly for school and for the house with a few trips here and there.
3. Data doesn't matter they make external drives for that.
4. I could probably afford both, just trying to find deals...

 

[Hellhammer]

1. I have an iMac however I am going to be using this more than the iMac.
2. Mainly for school and for the house with a few trips here and there.
3. Data doesn't matter they make external drives for that.
4. I could probably afford both, just trying to find deals...

You still didn't tell what apps you will be using (this is kinda important). Anyway, it sounds like any MBA will be fine for you. You have an iMac where you can keep most of your files and then access them wirelessly when at home.

I also have a 24" iMac and went with base 13" MBA with 4GB of RAM. For me the reason was the screen size. I don't find 11.6" to be comfortable for my usage.

 

[christophermdia]

coming from a maxxed out 15" I was afraid of dropping specs too much so I went with the maxxed out 13". I have researched high and low and people are certainly happy with both the 11 and 13. If you are using it for nominal tasks then either model will be fine. I use a lot of remote desktop for my work computer so I went with the higher end, I am getting my wife the 13" 1.86 and 128gb more for the price, she performs most of the same tasks.

as other posters said, depends on your tasks, nothing thats bad about either....

 

[zub3qin]

Are people managing with 128GB SSD + ext HD for a primary computer or is that too difficult and 256GB is the way to go?

 

[bmat]

I'm using mine right now, even though my Mac Pro is sitting in the other room.

I use mine all the time for work, document creation, editing, web surfing, research, e-mail, etc. I use my Mac Pro for more cpu intensive tasks. But my 11-inch air works fine for minor photo editing, and its very fast with the ssd for the things I use it for.

I like the fact I can go anywhere in the house and just carry it around if I'm working on a document, and that I can throw it in my bag and it adds virtually no weight (and I usually carry both my air and my ipad).

 

[jamesryanbell]

Are people managing with 128GB SSD + ext HD for a primary computer or is that too difficult and 256GB is the way to go?

Honestly, it pretty much comes down to your media collection. If you absolutely HAVE to have a majority of it on your SSD, you need to pony-up the extra $400 and go 256GB. If you're content on storing media on a USB Flash Drive (I have a 64GB Patriot USB Flash Drive) or external hard drive on the go AND at home, 128GB will be just fine.

I just bought an 11.6" MBA (128GB SSD) last week, and I'm already trying to figure out the best solution to carrying around my 100+GB of music.

 

[entatlrg]

I'm using mine right now, even though my Mac Pro is sitting in the other room.

I use mine all the time for work, document creation, editing, web surfing, research, e-mail, etc. I use my Mac Pro for more cpu intensive tasks. But my 11-inch air works fine for minor photo editing, and its very fast with the ssd for the things I use it for.

I like the fact I can go anywhere in the house and just carry it around if I'm working on a document, and that I can throw it in my bag and it adds virtually no weight (and I usually carry both my air and my ipad).

My set up / usage is identical to yours.

The little Air is fun to use - anywhere.

Question - What bag do you carry your iPad and 11" MBA in?

 

[Scuba-EMT]

My usage is identical to yours. I have an iMac i7 as my main computer. And I bought an ultimate 13" MBA to use in my Doctorate, mainly for research at the library, and working on assignments at work or on the road. I have MobileMe, this allowed me to put my school work in "the cloud" and it keeps the folders synced on both the MBA and my iMac. Don't let the fact that the MBA is a C2D fool you, this a very powerful notebook. I am running parallels with Vista Business (I need it for MS Project) as will as a regressive statistics software package on the OsX side, it never even breathes hard. I have previous have had both the 17" and 15.6" MBPs, now that I have had an MBA, I can never see owning an MBP again.

 

[zakfox1986]

I've got the MBA 11 Base + 4GB RAM. I went to it from an older 2.0 GHz Dual Core MB with 3GB RAM.

I wasn't sure if I'd miss the [barely] better processor or not, but so far this has been a lot better than what I had. I haven't noticed any problems doing mild Photoshop or watching 1080p videos with it at all. The only time I recognize it being slow is if I'm converting video in Handbrake, which it handles fine it just takes forever (not that surprising or that big of a deal).

The way I've handled the smaller storage is just by keeping my SSD cleaned out as much as possible. I keep my music and photos on board and everything else on a networked drive, which is fine and dandy.

Basically it comes down to what you are using it for. I'm a student and I love it just because it's so easy to grab it with my books and not look back.

The three things I'd change are the SSD size, add an SD card slot, and double the battery life. 5 hours isn't bad and with the display on the dimmest setting it will last that or for a little longer, but the iPad spoiled me with the 10 hour battery life. I guess with something this portable it'd just be nice to not ever hardly have to drag the power cord along for the ride.

I wasn't sure if I'd be able to handle an 11 inch, but it's definitely not even a minor problem and I wouldn't think of going with the 13 if I had to buy another Air tomorrow. That said, the three problems I've listed are all cured by the 13 inch.

If you decide not to buy until a few months down the road, maybe the next revision will be out and those things will be upgraded on the 11.

Anyways, love the 11 even if it is my only computer.