MB and MBP feel so.. heavy :(

[colourfastt]

The 4.5 pound 13 inch MBP is not in the MBA's category because it is 50 percent heavier than the 3 pound MBA. Even carrying a 6.6 pound 17 inch MBP isn't going to hurt anybody. That's why this "go to the gym" talk has been so exasperating to me and some others. The appeal of the MBA isn't the avoidance of physical injury. Instead, it's a matter of mobility and ease of use in mobile situations. It's in a class by itself where that is concerned. That said, the 13 inch MBP is a vastly more practical computer than the MBA, for a lot of reasons. That's why I won't be buying an MBA until and unless Apple redesigns it in a way that provides a lot more power and flexibility than it has now.

The MBA is more than practical for the AVERAGE consumer. If one were to try to edit audio or video, then, yes, the MBP is a better choice (actually, an iMac or Mac Pro is the best choice); but for email, surfing, word processing (the daily tasks of a computer user) the MBA is more than capable.

 

[gwsat]

The MBA is more than practical for the AVERAGE consumer. If one were to try to edit audio or video, then, yes, the MBP is a better choice (actually, an iMac or Mac Pro is the best choice); but for email, surfing, word processing (the daily tasks of a computer user) the MBA is more than capable.

You are preaching to the choir. If I didn't need a computer that would run Windows apps and OS X apps simultaneously from the OS X dock, I would already have an MB. Unfortunately, both virtualization programs necessary to do that, VMware Fusion and Parallels, require far more than 2Gb of RAM. I think it would be vital for every prospective MBA purchaser to be very sure that 2Gb of RAM would be sufficient both and now and for the foreseeable future before buying the current model. I am just sorry that I don't pass that test.

 

[Scottsdale]

You are preaching to the choir. If I didn't need a computer that would run Windows apps and OS X apps simultaneously from the OS X dock, I would already have an MB. Unfortunately, both virtualization programs necessary to do that, VMware Fusion and Parallels, require far more than 2Gb of RAM. I think it would be vital for every prospective MBA purchaser to be very sure that 2Gb of RAM would be sufficient both and now and for the foreseeable future before buying the current model. I am just sorry that I don't pass that test.

In all honesty, I don't see your Windows Apps as demanding as to need more RAM than the MBA does provide??? I also have thought about your desire for "6" GB of RAM in the next MBA, and I really think 4 GB will provide everything you need and more. I don't actually believe you would benefit all that much from having 6 over 4 GB. Always thought that, just finally said it. Ready, set, disprove me.

 

[thinkdesign]

If U can only juggle 2 or 3 thoughts at once...

... and a discussion in which 5 or 6 variables are being juggled at once makes you cry "I can't do it. Too much heavy work for my mind"... well, perhaps some advice we've been reading in this thread can be returned in kind: if you'd go to the mental equivalent of a gym, and do the mental equivalent of some exercize... then you would be able to discuss more than one aspect of the MBp vs. Air quandry, at a time.

1. weight, 2. screen size, 3. keyboard size, 4. connectivity, 5. RAM, 6. memory, 7. prospects/timing of any upgrade, 8. hinges, 9. battery life, 10. cost/value.

The Air forum regularly has intelligent discussions juggling those ten balls in the air at once. Think. If the best you can do is a single-factor post with the snarky word or idea of "gym" in it... how do you think this makes you look in the eyes of the others on the forum? Like a novice juggler who's got one ball in the air, and isn't even trying to someday move it up to 2.

 

[flynz4]

... and a discussion in which 5 or 6 variables are being juggled at once makes you cry "I can't do it. Too much heavy work for my mind"... well, perhaps some advice we've been reading in this thread can be returned in kind: if you'd go to the mental equivalent of a gym, and do the mental equivalent of some exercize... then you would be able to discuss more than one aspect of the MBp vs. Air quandry, at a time.

1. weight, 2. screen size, 3. keyboard size, 4. connectivity, 5. RAM, 6. memory, 7. prospects/timing of any upgrade, 8. hinges, 9. battery life, 10. cost/value.

The Air forum regularly has intelligent discussions juggling those ten balls in the air at once. Think. If the best you can do is a single-factor post with the snarky word or idea of "gym" in it... how do you think this makes you look in the eyes of the others on the forum? Like a novice juggler who's got one ball in the air, and isn't even trying to someday move it up to 2.

This post deserves to be framed. I was thinking (but not responding) in terms of neanderthal, knuckles dragging on the ground, etc, as descriptors for the "gym rats"... but you said it much more elegantly. Great post!

/Jim

 

[gwsat]

In all honesty, I don't see your Windows Apps as demanding as to need more RAM than the MBA does provide??? I also have thought about your desire for "6" GB of RAM in the next MBA, and I really think 4 GB will provide everything you need and more. I don't actually believe you would benefit all that much from having 6 over 4 GB. Always thought that, just finally said it. Ready, set, disprove me.

You may be right about 4Gb being enough for my purposes, I hope so. Personal experience, though, taught me that 2Gb of RAM is woefully insufficient to run windows apps in a VMware Fusion virtual machine. Indeed, that's why I upgraded my MBP's RAM to 6Gb. Obviously, I would have upgraded to 8Gb, had it been possible to do so on my Santa Rosa MBP. Alas, 6Gb was the max it could handle.

I am still waiting to hear someone tell me definitively that they run several Windows apps and several more OS X apps from the OS X dock with Fusion in Unity mode. As noted, I don't know that 4Gb would be inadequate for the purpose but I also don't know that 4Gb would be enough. I seem to recall that you run Windows on your MBA with Boot Camp. I am satisfied that 2Gb would be sufficient to do that but am unwilling to have to undertake the hassle entailed by Boot Camp. With Boot Camp it would be necessary to boot into Windows every time I wanted to run a Windows app and then boot back into OS X when I wanted to return to the OS X desktop. No thanks.

 

[warrena]

I am still waiting to hear someone tell me definitively that they run several Windows apps and several more OS X apps from the OS X dock with Fusion in Unity mode.

I run XP in Unity mode with Outlook, Excel, Word, and IE at a minimum most of the time along with (OSx apps) Chrome, Mail, Powerpoint, Firefox, several IM apps, iTunes, and other apps most of the time. I have 8GB with 2GB assigned to that VM for performance. After a couple of days of use I am down to very little free memory but things still run pretty quick. I typically watch page outs and when the start getting high, close a few things down.

I have bootcamp (Win 7 64bit) on another mac and it is much faster than Fusion, but I need to access all the apps without rebooting.