MBA 13" as the only laptop?

[Samsumac]

How is it a hijack? Take it easy. The thread is about using a MBA as your only computer. If someone wants to ask about the 11-inch, then so be it.

It is a hijack. The OP stated "MBA 13" as the only laptop"

iZeeshan, I would wait to take a look at the new MB air before deciding on getting one.
The MBpro 13 has a lot going for it despite Apple's despicable choice of not upgrading its screen resolution at the latest refresh.

 

[Young Spade]

I don't feel like this merits an entirely new thread, but thoughts on the 11" SB MBA as an only computer? I'm a college student, and here's how it would look:

-The only cpu-intensive task I really do is music mixing, which the new 11" airs should be able to handle
-In my dorm room, I'll have an external monitor
-I'll be storing all of my music and videos back home on an external hard drive connected to our Time Machine
-My usage will consist of iTunes, YouTube, internet browsing, word processing, light coding (compsci minor), and the occasional hulu or netflix streaming video.
-I'll keep my old '06 blackbook and use it as a secondary backup disk/optical drive/whatever else it can help me with in the dorm room

Thoughts?

Sounds like you want to get a laptop to handle the tasks it was made to do Seriously though, the Air should be great for doing all of that and more. The harddrive will help in storing files (I have two myself) and the external monitor will allow you to watch videos or surf the web without staring at the 11 inch screen all day.

So it merits a hijack instead?

Get over yourself. It's a change in 2 inches.

 

[jvmxtra]

Think 27 imac and 13 mba is the dream combination for anyone.

 

[satchx]

Concur with the yea sayers. 13" MBA fully loaded plugged into Dell U3011 when at home is more than satisfactory. Everything I've thrown at it has been handled w/ aplomb ... qualifier, I am not a bit video guy, so if that's your need you may want to try one out first.

 

[KnightWRX]

Think 27 imac and 13 mba is the dream combination for anyone.

Having 2 computers to keep in sync is a nightmare for me. A single 13" MBA does wonders.

 

[iZeeshan]

It is a hijack. The OP stated "MBA 13" as the only laptop"

iZeeshan, I would wait to take a look at the new MB air before deciding on getting one.
The MBpro 13 has a lot going for it despite Apple's despicable choice of not upgrading its screen resolution at the latest refresh.

yeah that's what I'm going to do. What should I look at though when it comes out though?

It'd be a total letdown though to get the MBP because I'm completely settled on getting an MBA because, let's be honest, it's just so much downright sexier than it's elder sibling. MBP is just boring, of course a great machine though.

 

[Young Spade]

Having 2 computers to keep in sync is a nightmare for me. A single 13" MBA does wonders.

Dropbox: 2 gigs of free storage. Of course if you mean actual trees of information then yea, it sucks. You could always just do work on one and transfer the information over to the other when you aren't going to be using it; I don't know what you want to keep synced so I can't really do much other than offer some advice, however yea, keeping things synced generally sucks between two computers.

 

[defected07]

Just have a small server or NAS to store any information that both machines will utilize--like media files, photos, documents, etc.

I plan to keep my 15" C2D MBP--not sure what for--maybe for a mainly Windows machine for work, or a potential web/application server--who knows. But, I also have an unRAID server to store all of my media, PC backups--whatever! So, if you will mainly be at home and not traveling too much (in which case you may want to look into cloud storage), I'd look into either TimeMachine/CCC for backing up your machines, and/or a NAS for storing all common files your two machines will utilize.

 

[smeade]

I'm not waiting...

I want my nVidia GPU: supported by the various video hardware acceleration APIs, on OS X as well as Linux .

The Intel HD 3000 (that the upcoming MBA will be 99% sure equipped with) is not widely supported yet: full support on Linux, but nothing on OS X, AFAIK. Apple might have worked on that in 10.6.8 since they recommend it for FCPX. Hopefully Lion will bring full support.

To me, the current, late 2010 MBA will remain more compelling than the upcoming one until the latter's GPU gets full video hardware acceleration support, at least via Apple's VDADecoder as well as libVA.

(We're still waiting for such support for the both the 2011 MBP's HD 3000 and AMD GPUs.)

Acronym soup. What does it mean to the layman? Are there programs you can't run or tasks you can't complete with A vs. B? For most of the people I see in the Apple store, the great thing about Apple is that they sell what you can do with their products, not the tech specs.

 

[No-Me]

Think 27 imac and 13 mba is the dream combination for anyone.

Normally I have a 15" MBP (sandy bridge) connected with my 27" ACD, but my 11" ultimate also runs really smoothly.

Unless you're doing videostuff or gaming the 13" will be fine as your only computer!

 

[smeade]

To the OP: I side with the yea-sayers as well. Look around the forums here and at blogs and you'll see the overwhelming majority of MBA owners report no issues with performance. e.g.: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1181126/ http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/26/13-inch-macbook-air-review/

When people advise you to avoid the Air, they do so off of specs instead of experience. As a MBA owner myself, I say ignore the spec-heads and go for what your heart desires. At any rate, you get 14 days to decide so give it a try.

 

[KnightWRX]

Dropbox: 2 gigs of free storage. Of course if you mean actual trees of information then yea, it sucks. You could always just do work on one and transfer the information over to the other when you aren't going to be using it; I don't know what you want to keep synced so I can't really do much other than offer some advice, however yea, keeping things synced generally sucks between two computers.

I'm not putting my projects on the Internet, dropbox is a no go. Keeping computers synced is a nightmare, and really, an iMac offers me nothing than an external monitor doesn't over my MBA.

People claiming that having 2 computers is best just don't know that their opinion is not fact. There is no best solution for everybody. For me, the best is my lone MBA.

 

[Roman2K~]

Acronym soup. What does it mean to the layman? Are there programs you can't run or tasks you can't complete with A vs. B? For most of the people I see in the Apple store, the great thing about Apple is that they sell what you can do with their products, not the tech specs.

This may have sounded like an acronym soup to you, but not to people who have looked into hardware video decoding on OS X and Linux.

I don't really care about performance. For my use, the HD 3000 is more than enough. My point was that the nVidia GPUs and drivers are better supported than Intel's by libraries that take advantage of GPUs to assist the CPU. This is especially true on Linux.

 

[Samsumac]

yeah that's what I'm going to do. What should I look at though when it comes out though?

It'd be a total letdown though to get the MBP because I'm completely settled on getting an MBA because, let's be honest, it's just so much downright sexier than it's elder sibling. MBP is just boring, of course a great machine though.

Well, for starters there is the issue of the MB pro 13 being a much more sturdier laptop that the Air. The pro is going to withstand much more physical abuse and will probably have less major damage in case of a similar accident.
You are the only one that knows how roughly you will be handling the laptop, so this is a point to consider. I have seen far too many sexy,slim laptops going the way of the dodo due to minor accidents that other sturdier case designs just shrug off.. Thinkpads, in that respect, are legendary in their own right.

A refurbished mb pro 13 is a very good buy right now and will allow you to upgrade with less loss when the mb pro series is completely re-designed next year.

On the other hand the Air is indeed sexy, as you put it, but its size and apple's blinding mania of controlling everything means that it is impossible to upgrade even such a simple thing as RAM. The new model may not even allow for upgrading the SSD, who knows?

I am in the same boat as you, waiting the refreshment in deciding which to get, and as far as portability is concerned and having just handled both the 13 mb pro and the air, I don't think there is much, if anything in carrying
either of them.
You probably know all about the integrated hd3000 graphics we expect the new air to have etc so I won't go into that.
Don't condition yourself in believing that the 13" mb pro will be a let-down because it isn't. It is one of the most powerful 13 " laptops on the market with a sturdy design. If it wasn't for the screen resolution (although the quality of the panel is good) , the MB air would not have much going for it.
I think that the Intel Haswell chips will probably befit the Air better, than the current ulv i5/i7's

 

[Young Spade]

Well, for starters there is the issue of the MB pro 13 being a much more sturdier laptop that the Air. The pro is going to withstand much more physical abuse and will probably have less major damage in case of a similar accident.
You are the only one that knows how roughly you will be handling the laptop, so this is a point to consider. I have seen far too many sexy,slim laptops going the way of the dodo due to minor accidents that other sturdier case designs just shrug off.. Thinkpads, in that respect, are legendary in their own right.

I'm going to disagree with you on this point.

Sturdier? Although the machine will have thicker aluminum as the body, that makes it heavier. Couple that with a standard HD and you have a much higher risk of damaging something when dropped. It's heavier. Force = mass times velocity. The MBA, because it's so light and essentially 1 thing (all internals are soldiered together inside the casing), you have virtually no chance of actually breaking the thing if you drop it.

To your reference with thinkpads, they are made of high density plastic which handles shocks differently than aluminum does. When the force hits it, it will travel through the plastic (or aluminum), hit the internals of the machine, then disperse as it gets smaller. In this case you want the lightest material possible with the "right" amount of protection.

I'm sure some people somewhere has calculated the right protection for whatever laptop it is based on its weight, the material encasing it, and the height it fell from.

 

[Samsumac]

I'm going to disagree with you on this point.

Sturdier? Although the machine will have thicker aluminum as the body, that makes it heavier. Couple that with a standard HD and you have a much higher risk of damaging something when dropped. It's heavier. Force = mass times velocity. The MBA, because it's so light and essentially 1 thing (all internals are soldiered together inside the casing), you have virtually no chance of actually breaking the thing if you drop it.

To your reference with thinkpads, they are made of high density plastic which handles shocks differently than aluminum does. When the force hits it, it will travel through the plastic (or aluminum), hit the internals of the machine, then disperse as it gets smaller. In this case you want the lightest material possible with the "right" amount of protection.

I'm sure some people somewhere has calculated the right protection for whatever laptop it is based on its weight, the material encasing it, and the height it fell from.

I will respectfully disagree with your thinkpad analysis but this is not the point here. Apart from drops , there are compression hazards, i.e air tossed amongst books or whatever, knocks, spills and so many other ways to damage the thing..
MB air is quite more fragile, especially its screen.

 

[Young Spade]

I will respectfully disagree with your thinkpad analysis but this is not the point here. Apart from drops , there are compression hazards, i.e air tossed amongst books or whatever, knocks, spills and so many other ways to damage the thing..
MB air is quite more fragile, especially its screen.

More fragile? Aluminum vs glass all the way across? Seeing that glass is more fragile than most components used in laptops, yes you "might" have more bending in an air depending on how much you have in a bag (and you could argue less pressure on the screen since it's smaller?) but an aluminum bezel is tougher than a glass one.

5 books + 1 air = less pressure than 5 books + 1 MBP

Based on that it's hard pressed to hold that argument up; you could just state that you could put less books in the bag but if we start playing with semantics none of these points concerning durability have any meaning.

My post directly talked about knocks; I fail to see how either the Air or Pro would be better if spilled upon; if it isn't a thinkpad or another laptop with the "spill proof keyboard", it's going to be ruined. (let's not play the variable game and argue the chances of it being ruined shall we?)

 

[Apple Expert]

The MBA more fragile than a MBP just because of it's thinness? I dont think so I see them both on the same level. Maybe the MBP more delicate because of the all glass screen. Does that mean the iPad 2 is even worse since it's thinner and all glass which people are tapping on glass all the time? Please people give me a break.

 

[Young Spade]

The MBA more fragile than a MBP just because of it's thinness? I dont think so I see them both on the same level. Maybe the MBP more delicate because of the all glass screen. Does that mean the iPad 2 is even worse since it's thinner and all glass which people are tapping on glass all the time? Please people give me a break.

The iPad is more prone than the both to break after repeated dropping. More prone to break than the MBA at least; depends on how they land in random drops when comparing the iPad to the MBP.

Good intentions but your logic is flawed.

 

[Apple Expert]

The iPad is more prone than the both to break after repeated dropping. More prone to break than the MBA at least; depends on how they land in random drops when comparing the iPad to the MBP.

Good intentions but your logic is flawed.

Then buy a Xoom.

I've owned lots of apple products and never had they cracked, dented, etc. In fact more durable than most people think. I dont use any cases, just skinz. If you guys are soo concerned about them getting damaged, get a Dell and hack it.

 

[Samsumac]

As it happens there are two posts in the forums now about an 11" Air cracked screen and another Air 13" damaged when it was dropped inside a laptop bag
This is not of course the norm, but the MB Air is flimsier than the Pro, whether we like its size or not..
In any case it is a point for the OP to consider amongst other things, as I will as well, when the refreshed Air is finally unveiled. I am personally leaning towards a refurbished mb pro 13" as a stop-gap measure, until the pro chassis is re-designed and hopefully Apple will not have turned completely Darth Vader by then.
Thanks for the constructive arguments and the civility guys, whether we agree or not.

 

[tennisproha]

New SB 13" MBA is out!!

Idk if there is already a different thread for this or not, but I've been following this one so I'll just post here

What do you guys think of the new Sandy Bridge 13" MBA now that its out? Specifically, I'd like to know:
1) How the performance will compare to the current MBP? overall; cpu; gpu; video rendering?

2) How will the Intel HD graphics chip hold up? for online streaming, hulu/netflix; or gaming?

3) Minus the optical drive, can it compete head-to-head with the current MBP 13"? or even MBP 15"??

Sorry for the extensive questions but hopefully these are questions other ppl are wondering about as well! Thanks!

 

[Young Spade]

Idk if there is already a different thread for this or not, but I've been following this one so I'll just post here

What do you guys think of the new Sandy Bridge 13" MBA now that its out? Specifically, I'd like to know:
1) How the performance will compare to the current MBP? overall; cpu; gpu; video rendering?

2) How will the Intel HD graphics chip hold up? for online streaming, hulu/netflix; or gaming?

3) Minus the optical drive, can it compete head-to-head with the current MBP 13"? or even MBP 15"??

Sorry for the extensive questions but hopefully these are questions other ppl are wondering about as well! Thanks!

1) Not as good. Lower overall specs so you won't see the same performance. How they exactly stack up is beyond me though; it would depend on what you're doing with each computer and the actual task at hand.

The MBP would be faster but if you're just rendering family videos shot in 720p, either/or will be good enough. I think you should read up more on the MBP since it's been out longer and has had more exposure to more intensive applications.

2) Online streaming and HD video will be a breeze. I could do that easy with a 4 year old MB.

3) I dont' know how to answer that? If you need a CD drive, you'll need to get an external one or the MBP. If you don't use CDs/DVDs then get the Air? That seems like a question you can answer yourself.