A MBA is in my future and I am envisioning a computing-anywhere kind of feeling that my imagination says will increase my output. Is that the stuff of fantasy, or have you actually been able to get more done with yours?
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MBA for work - Have you seen an increase in productivity?
- Thread starter FieldingMellish
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Seeing as the laptop has great battery life, I would say yes. The 13 inch Air or the MB Pro would give you the longest though.
My 11" battery life isn't too bad. Right now on my summer break though I haven't been on it all day, just a few hours at a time each day. I can go about a week without charging it. All I do is browse sites, watch few videos online, and listen to iTunes.
I was thinking along the lines of those photographers who say that the best camera is the one you can always have with you for when you come across cool things to take pictures of.
The Air looks like a computer that you can always have around for when ideas suddenly want to bubble up out of your head into the machine. Whether it's something written, drawn, or whatever.
The Air looks like a computer that you can always have around for when ideas suddenly want to bubble up out of your head into the machine. Whether it's something written, drawn, or whatever.
YES! More producitivity AND freedom.
You've got the right idea for sure.
True, the best camera is the one you have with you, it's no different with a notebook in my experience. I'd add the best camera or laptop is the one you have with you and enjoy using.
My Air is always with me or nearby. Can't stand working from a desk, at least for long hours ... creativity, enthusiasm, drive disappears. Enter the MacBook Air and you're free!
As a result my Mac Pro doesn't get used often. The best productivity tool I have would be my 13" MBA...
I work long hard hours, was able to take one of my company's five years ago from zero to $5 million in annual sales last year ... that was all done using a laptop and rarely sitting at my office desk or any desk. Instead I worked away from my couch, den, kitchen table, backyard, on travels, holidays ...
Yes, I'm pretty enthusiastic about mobile computing and even more enthusiastic for the MacBook Air's
The Air has always ended up being my computer of choice since the old RevB Airs ... and I've tried many many laptops of all sizes and brands...
Hope your purchase goes well!
You've got the right idea for sure.
True, the best camera is the one you have with you, it's no different with a notebook in my experience. I'd add the best camera or laptop is the one you have with you and enjoy using.
My Air is always with me or nearby. Can't stand working from a desk, at least for long hours ... creativity, enthusiasm, drive disappears. Enter the MacBook Air and you're free!
As a result my Mac Pro doesn't get used often. The best productivity tool I have would be my 13" MBA...
I work long hard hours, was able to take one of my company's five years ago from zero to $5 million in annual sales last year ... that was all done using a laptop and rarely sitting at my office desk or any desk. Instead I worked away from my couch, den, kitchen table, backyard, on travels, holidays ...
Yes, I'm pretty enthusiastic about mobile computing and even more enthusiastic for the MacBook Air's
The Air has always ended up being my computer of choice since the old RevB Airs ... and I've tried many many laptops of all sizes and brands...
Hope your purchase goes well!
I'll be attending grad school for creative writing this fall and I'm hoping the air will help my productivity as well while I'm on the move. Can't wait for refresh.
I've been pretty much the pack horse. As an advanced amateur photographer, I periodically manage to be carrying some poundage in gear. Sometimes, I have with me tools and samples for customer work; other times books of color swatches and whatever else. It will often lead to leaving the laptop at home, but no more. Instead of taking the train and resigning myself to reading the daily, I'll be able to get some stuff done during the ride. Alternatively, those lucky times carrying just the MBA in a breezy manner will be the cherry on top of the sundae.
I am contemplating buying one of the rumoured refreshed MBA's in September when I go back for my third year of university.
Since being at university I have religiously stuck to a pen and paper. This year I'm thinking about swapping the paper pad for a MBA.
I don't know if this is just me convincing myself to buy a new expensive gadget or a legitimate productivity increaser :S
Any students or developers have any of their experiences to share with getting work done on the air? I say developers because I'm a Computer Games Development student. Could be useful to have a compiler during a lecture to test out some of the things being discussed.
Since being at university I have religiously stuck to a pen and paper. This year I'm thinking about swapping the paper pad for a MBA.
I don't know if this is just me convincing myself to buy a new expensive gadget or a legitimate productivity increaser :S
Any students or developers have any of their experiences to share with getting work done on the air? I say developers because I'm a Computer Games Development student. Could be useful to have a compiler during a lecture to test out some of the things being discussed.
It's probably made me a little less productive tbh.
I sometimes need to hardware into a network which means I need to go fumbling around in my bag for the adaptor. Sometimes I also need to be in a windows environment whereas I rarely if ever "need" to be in OSX which means I need to reboot
Those both very minor things and a price I'm easily willing to pay for the portability+battery life compared to my past 15" laptops I've owned.
I sometimes need to hardware into a network which means I need to go fumbling around in my bag for the adaptor. Sometimes I also need to be in a windows environment whereas I rarely if ever "need" to be in OSX which means I need to reboot
Those both very minor things and a price I'm easily willing to pay for the portability+battery life compared to my past 15" laptops I've owned.
Like I said, they're minor, but they still exist. I know a lot of people don't like to hear any down sides to their beloved Mac products but I'm not one of those. Pro's outweigh the cons which is why I own one.
I need Windows to load natively so I can't always use a VM
You've got the right idea for sure.
True, the best camera is the one you have with you, it's no different with a notebook in my experience. I'd add the best camera or laptop is the one you have with you and enjoy using.
My Air is always with me or nearby. Can't stand working from a desk, at least for long hours ... creativity, enthusiasm, drive disappears. Enter the MacBook Air and you're free!
As a result my Mac Pro doesn't get used often. The best productivity tool I have would be my 13" MBA...
I work long hard hours, was able to take one of my company's five years ago from zero to $5 million in annual sales last year ... that was all done using a laptop and rarely sitting at my office desk or any desk. Instead I worked away from my couch, den, kitchen table, backyard, on travels, holidays ...
Yes, I'm pretty enthusiastic about mobile computing and even more enthusiastic for the MacBook Air's
The Air has always ended up being my computer of choice since the old RevB Airs ... and I've tried many many laptops of all sizes and brands...
Hope your purchase goes well!
Good answer!
What is your business? I grew up in the Cambridge/Kitchener/Waterloo before moving to the west coast a couple years back.
I traded iPad 1 for my MBA Ultimate, and for creation, there's no contest. I absolutely love the computer. As a second computer, it's plenty powerful enough.
I read on the forum a lot of people getting one as the second computer and it soon became the primary. Kind of like dipping toes into the water that proved too comfortable not to jump into.
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If I get one it'll be a secondary computer but nothing more. My first mac many years ago was a MacBook and I couldn't deal with the tiny screen constantly.
FieldingMellish said:
If I get one it'll be a secondary computer but nothing more. My first mac many years ago was a MacBook and I couldn't deal with the tiny screen constantly.
Many of the people using it as their primary also have an external monitor connected to it.
That doesn't help you when you're not sitting at a desk... which technically is why people get the Air in the first place. To work away from the desk.
Not saying it's a bad idea, heck I have a 19 inch hooked up to my computer right now, I'm just stating that THAT is the reason people don't like the 11 inch model. It's too small.
That was definitely the case with 2008, but 2011 office for mac is a vast, vast improvement.
true, but still inferior to Office 2010 in a number of ways
- no Mac version of Access or MS SQL server (not necessarily a bad thing, but if that's what your business uses Office 2011 is not the best option)
- no Mac version of OneNote
- though VBA is back it's not as robust as it's Windows counterpart.
I've found that for my workflow I'm better off running Office 2010 in Parallels than I am running Office 2011.
How is your performance using Office 2010 in Parallels on the MBA? Also, how is the resolution in Parallels? I remember using VMWare w/XP on my iMac and it was not so good.