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orfeas0

macrumors 6502a
Aug 21, 2010
971
1
Athens, Greece
If you are trying to find the best value for your money, then apple laptops aren't for you at all...

You can buy much better laptops at 999 dollars. Apple computers costs more because they have Mac OS, better build quality and you are definitely paying more for the brand. But, apple laptops also have good resale value in the future.

If you want to get newest intel processors, then MBA ain't going to fit your style or needs. MBA ain't designed to run latest games and softwares.

i disagree. it's not all about performance. with the MBA cost, you're paying for the thin/light/small case of aluminium.
BBB, go for it, get the 11,6 MBA (no need to upgrade , neither the ram or the cpu). with the built-in SSD, core 2 duo cpu and the awsome Nvidia 330m , it will do more than enough for your use. compared to the asus eee PC, i would say its 3-4 times faster, maybe more. Just think of the boot time, it requires 10 seconds for a full boot!! im not even talking about the instant-on from sleep. im talking for a boot from scratch.
it's a quality machine for a good price (imo). you won't regret it.
and since you also do some video converting, the gpu will help quite a lot :)
 

barebackbadger8

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 23, 2009
277
1
Wolverhampton, UK
i disagree. it's not all about performance. with the MBA cost, you're paying for the thin/light/small case of aluminium.
BBB, go for it, get the 11,6 MBA (no need to upgrade , neither the ram or the cpu). with the built-in SSD, core 2 duo cpu and the awsome Nvidia 330m , it will do more than enough for your use. compared to the asus eee PC, i would say its 3-4 times faster, maybe more. Just think of the boot time, it requires 10 seconds for a full boot!! im not even talking about the instant-on from sleep. im talking for a boot from scratch.
it's a quality machine for a good price (imo). you won't regret it.
and since you also do some video converting, the gpu will help quite a lot :)

hcho3: im not trying to find the best value for money, i have owned mac's before and i believe you get what you pay for...
if you want a ferrari don't expect to pay ford prices!

now i know there are many faster pc's/laptops compared to apple's selection but that doesn't bother me one iota!
by showing the lenovo i wasn't comparing the specs to price ratio, i just wanted to know how the MBA compared spec wise?
i know apart from the ssd on MBA and i3 core processor on lenovo are similar but processor power can be deceiving, the i3 lenovo is running W7 pro 64bit where as the MBA is a C2D but as sdd and is running mac osx.
so i wanted to know how much of a difference will that make?
i will still pay the extra £300-£500 for the mac

orfeas0: yea i have made my mind up, been down the MBP route and although i loved it and was gutted to see it go, i want something different from my laptop
so its defo the 11"MBA for me, think ill get the 128gb ssd, 1.6ghz and 4gb edition.
now it may be over kill for my needs, but money is tight for me.
so i would rather spend the extra £300 now than have to worry about specs in the future!
plus now i do my video converting (for iphone etc) on my shuttle pc so the MBA would be purely for fun things :D
 

Bierkameel

macrumors newbie
Jan 6, 2011
23
0
My 11" also has the max specs and I love it, it's amazing fast, I also run Parallels on it with a XP VM and installing that is no problem, running a VM an lots of other programs at the same is no problem for this machine.
It's even faster then the Dell E4310 I3 with Intel SSD I had before the macbook.
 
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barebackbadger8

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 23, 2009
277
1
Wolverhampton, UK
the more and more i read/hear about the MBA the more i want it NOW!
but got to save some pennies, then hopefully 2 months down the line ill get one!
that is unless i go to bestbuy and get it on buy now pay 12 months later :D
 

carreragt7

macrumors regular
Jun 15, 2010
128
3
I have this same version of the 11" and it is a terrific machine...couldn't be happier with my choice...you will love it...:D

Ditto. Went from using a 13" 2.26ghz 8gb RAM MBP to the maxed out 11" and I really do like the 11" more, I don't notice any real difference in terms of daily usage. Haven't tried any heavier programs on it yet (CS5, etc) but I didn't get this as my main machine so it is perfect for me.
 

Ronnoco

macrumors 68030
Oct 16, 2007
2,568
522
United States of America
Ditto. Went from using a 13" 2.26ghz 8gb RAM MBP to the maxed out 11" and I really do like the 11" more, I don't notice any real difference in terms of daily usage. Haven't tried any heavier programs on it yet (CS5, etc) but I didn't get this as my main machine so it is perfect for me.

I've owned many many Macs (several PowerBooks, iBooks, MacBooks and currently I own a 15" i5 MacBook Pro), and I've loved them all but I must admit that this 11" Air is by far my favorite Mac of all time...it is just so much fun to use and it is just a piece of art to look at...The gang at Cupertino hit this one out of the park IMO...destined to be a classic...
 

wisty

macrumors regular
Feb 18, 2009
219
0
no the screen size is more than enough, ive put up with this 10" asus for about 18months now so the 11.6" will be a godsend :D

bit freaky this, went to work and was presented with a new laptop.
its a lenovo edge 11.
its got:
intel i3 1.33ghz cpu
4gb ram
320gb HDD
W7 Pro
same as this one, but mine as 4gb http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=500691&CatId=3589

now got to say this machine is proper quick, now i want to know how does the MBA compare to these specs?
does the i3 make that much difference?
i aint bothered about HDD space and the 4gb ram is what i would put in the MBA.

anyway if the MBA is anything like the lenovo (speed wise) i will be well chuffed
I think the CPU is about 30% faster than the slowest MBA. If you are still CPU bound on a regular basis, you should use a desktop PC. $500-$1000 should get you a nice system that can utterly destroy anything portable.

Intel HD is fast - about half as fast as the MBA's 320M, but can't do OpenCL. So you can't get speed boosts in Photoshop etc.

The HDD is not SSD, so I wouldn't want it. Deathly slow, and prone to failure. Mechanical HDD is not for primary drives anymore (IMO) unless you are talking about a server or something else really specialized.

Overall, it's about as good as the MBA (better CPU, much worse GPU), but needs the HDD upgraded.
 

Cerano

macrumors 6502
Oct 28, 2010
268
1
I think the CPU is about 30% faster than the slowest MBA. If you are still CPU bound on a regular basis, you should use a desktop PC. $500-$1000 should get you a nice system that can utterly destroy anything portable.

Intel HD is fast - about half as fast as the MBA's 320M, but can't do OpenCL. So you can't get speed boosts in Photoshop etc.

The HDD is not SSD, so I wouldn't want it. Deathly slow, and prone to failure. Mechanical HDD is not for primary drives anymore (IMO) unless you are talking about a server or something else really specialized.

Overall, it's about as good as the MBA (better CPU, much worse GPU), but needs the HDD upgraded.

intel hd graphics isnt half as fast.... far from it
 

barebackbadger8

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 23, 2009
277
1
Wolverhampton, UK
I think the CPU is about 30% faster than the slowest MBA. If you are still CPU bound on a regular basis, you should use a desktop PC. $500-$1000 should get you a nice system that can utterly destroy anything portable.

Intel HD is fast - about half as fast as the MBA's 320M, but can't do OpenCL. So you can't get speed boosts in Photoshop etc.

The HDD is not SSD, so I wouldn't want it. Deathly slow, and prone to failure. Mechanical HDD is not for primary drives anymore (IMO) unless you are talking about a server or something else really specialized.

Overall, it's about as good as the MBA (better CPU, much worse GPU), but needs the HDD upgraded.

intel hd graphics isnt half as fast.... far from it

nah desktop is completely out the question and i have a shuttle dual core pc by my tv anyway.

ive set my heart on the MBA now anyway, just need to raise the cash not sure i can wait till my wedding for it as my present lol
on the other hand i can guarantee as soon as i buy it, something will change on it.
i remember the mac mini i brought 2 weeks later they changed the processor in it, then when i sold that to buy the white macbook (on the saturday), they changed the processor in the macbook to a core duo from the solo if my memory serves me right the following week
 

C64

macrumors 65816
Sep 3, 2008
1,236
222
on the other hand i can guarantee as soon as i buy it, something will change on it.
i remember the mac mini i brought 2 weeks later they changed the processor in it, then when i sold that to buy the white macbook (on the saturday), they changed the processor in the macbook to a core duo from the solo if my memory serves me right the following week
It's a pretty safe bet that the MBA will not change until late this year.
 

C64

macrumors 65816
Sep 3, 2008
1,236
222
well my wedding is in November, so i either wait till then which im a sure a new revision will be out! or get it in the next 2 months.... not sure what to do??
Easy! Sell your fiancé's engagement ring and enjoy the MBA for the rest of 2011 :D
 
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