MBA goodbye, hello new MBP

[Soverc]

While some may be happy with the MBA I was not, it was slower than my rev1 MBP. While at the apple store this weekend my GF was buying an iPod and I asked the sales person how the MBA was selling he said well, I mentioned I had one, was asked how I liked it and told him I thought it was a piece of junk performance wise compared to my 2+ year old laptop. Manager came over and asked if I wanted to upgrade or get a macbook, After he assured me there was no restocking charges I opted for the MBP.

Just thought I would give a great customer satisfaction story. The MBA was bought Feb-6 and they returned it with no hit to me.

This is not ment to slam anyone that likes their MBA, it was just to slow for my use, I did like the weight factor.

 

[stakis]

While some may be happy with the MBA I was not, it was slower than my rev1 MBP. While at the apple store this weekend my GF was buying an iPod and I asked the sales person how the MBA was selling he said well, I mentioned I had one, was asked how I liked it and told him I thought it was a piece of junk performance wise compared to my 2+ year old laptop. Manager came over and asked if I wanted to upgrade or get a macbook, After he assured me there was no restocking charges I opted for the MBP.

Just thought I would give a great customer satisfaction story. The MBA was bought Feb-6 and they returned it with no hit to me.

This is not ment to slam anyone that likes their MBA, it was just to slow for my use, I did like the weight factor.

wow 14 days to 120... thats a pretty sick deal!!! where did this happen???

 

[1rottenapple]

What did you use your air for?

 

[HotAir]

Er... maybe it was that *good-lookin* GF buying the iPod that got you the 120 day reprieve?
(We must consider all possible scenarios to fathom the inexplicable.)

 

[ubercool]

Er... maybe it was that *good-lookin* GF buying the iPod that got you the 120 day reprieve?
(We must consider all possible scenarios to fathom the inexplicable.)

 

[weckart]

While some may be happy with the MBA I was not, it was slower than my rev1 MBP.

Not for nothing, but are you for real? Why do you think that was? Could it have anything to do with the hardware inside - slower GPU and HD, for instance?

 

[silverblack]

I thought it was a piece of junk performance wise compared to my 2+ year old laptop.

Isn't that what one would expect according to specs? MBA is all about trading in performances for portability.

Don't forget that your new MBP is also a piece of junk performance wise compared to a 2+ year old mac pro.


Spec for Gen 1 MBP:
1.83, 2.0 or 2.16 GHz Intel Core Duo Yonah
80 GB, 100 GB, Serial ATA, 5400 rpm
ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 128 MB (128 MiB) or 256 MB of GDDR3 SDRAM

Spec for MBA:
1.6 or 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Merom
80 GB ATA 1.8" 4200 rpm hard disk drive
Intel GMA X3100 graphics processor with 144 MB (144 MiB) of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory

 

[mac jones]

I'm waiting to get a faster HD for my Air as the one in there now is pretty pathetic.

It bugs me.

But that's comparing it to a MBP.

Comparing it to a MBP it comes up short.

As another comparison, I've used a Samsung Q1 that also has a 1.8" and the slowness didn't bother me, as I wasn't comparing it to anything as it's form factor is rather extreme.

 

[roland.g]

Really the question is what are you using the MBA for. I want one, for portability and for weight. I have a 2.8Ghz 24" iMac and would only use a notebook as a 2nd computer for websurfing, email, and writing. Maybe some photo stuff. But nothing real heavy. I have used a 1.66 Core Duo Mini with 2GB RAM and an 80GB 5400 SATA drive. I image the MBA would be quite comparable to the Mini. And I'm not really interested in carrying or travelling with a MacBook or MacBook Pro at 5-5.5 lbs.

 

[ayeying]

Guess it depends on the user. My 2nd MBA right now is FASTER then the first one I had. Its even more responsive then the MBP.

The only thing thats really bugging me in these laptop choices is the weight and size. 13" is perfect, 5 lbs is not for a 2 mile walk to work in a backpack filled with books.

 

[g808]

Good luck with your MBP. I'm sure you'll enjoy it more since speed is obviously important to you. That's not meant to be sarcastic.

I also have a 17" MBP (2.16GHz Core Duo, 2GB RAM) and I don't notice any noticeable performance drop in the MBA. I run all the same apps I did on my MBP, including WinXP in VMWare. The Air runs better than expected with a VM. So far the Air has exceeded my expectations.

 

[QCassidy352]

I agree that it just depends on what you do with it. I had a core duo macbook for a year and half as my only computer and was happy with the performance (except on games, but that's to be expected). I imagine that the MBA is as fast as gen 1 macbooks, so I think I'd be happy with one. But if you're coming from something a lot more powerful, or do really demanding things, I can see where you would be disappointed.

Anyway, to the OP, pretty cool that they treated you that way. Hope the MBP is more to your liking!

 

[hildegueden]

I thought it was a piece of junk performance wise compared to my 2+ year old laptop. .

Piece of junk??? Who is this guy???.. I think he never had a MBA, and he dies to get one, but he can't afford it.

 

[evirob]

Piece of junk??? Who is this guy???.. I think he never had a MBA, and he dies to get one, but he can't afford it.

Been carrying my MBA around for work the past few months, whenever I power up. They'll go like Wow, this is a real nice and slim notebook.

Then the next remark they'll say will most likely be, since its the latest product, ought to be real powerful.

I just shrug it off, hate to explain time and again bout portability sacrifices power....

But it's powerful enough for me as I only run Acad 2007 via bootcamp, MS Office/iWork, and some Safari....

It certainly not built to be a multimedia PC except for it's gorgeous LCD...

 

[wordy]

You do take a performance hit owning an Air compared to other laptops. This guy tried it and decided it wasn't right for him, kudos.

I think if more people took the time to really assess their own needs and computer usage compared to what the Air offers, they wouldn't buy and Air and regret it later.

 

[Mackan]

I think if more people took the time to really assess their own needs and computer usage compared to what the Air offers, they wouldn't buy and Air and regret it later.

Agreed. Everyone should do some research on their own first. Of course the Air will not be a performance horse.

 

[Scromj]

Peformance not really an issue

I guess it all depends on what kind of speed you're used to. I upgraded to a MBA from a Titanium G4 and am thrilled with the performance (and weight) of the Air. And honestly, I use a new 2.4Ghz iMac at work and I don't notice much of a difference in speed compared with the MBA when doing things like web browsing, email, etc. And like a lot of people, that's what I do on a computer 80% of the time anyway. I was concerned about the MBA performance before I purchased, but it's a non-issue, and will be for most people.

 

[xpovos]

Er... maybe it was that *good-lookin* GF buying the iPod that got you the 120 day reprieve?
(We must consider all possible scenarios to fathom the inexplicable.)

All joking aside, there may be something to this. I've noticed that whenever I fail to get my way at the Apple Store, I can send in my tall, slim, gorgeous redheaded wife to get my way for me. It has never yet failed. I wonder if there's something she's not telling me.

Like the OP, I find the MBA underwhelming for some tasks, but this was expected before I purchased. I use the MBA only as a secondary system for travel and meetings, and it really excels for the usual professional tasks associated with those.

 

[NotoriousLefty]

I have a macbook pro and a powerbook g4 ... i like the powerbook g4 much better. It just feels more responsive, the ram chips dont even match right now for the powerbook and it still feels faster. I dont get it? The MacBook pro I got has 4gb ram and twice as much ghz and still I dont feel like its that much better, if at all? Powerbooks on ebay are like 750$ and the MacBook Pro I got is over 3,000$ hmmm.

 

[ScottFitz]

I only currently own a C2D Intel white iMac 17. I'm in the market for a laptop. I was worried about the performance hit. But, I'm running a core duo IBM right now that runs at about 1ghz if I'm readng the computer correctly. My company bought it for me last summer, but it was definitely a generation or two old on specs.

So, coming from that, anything is going to see fast.

The screen on the Air has be a bit mesmerized. LED displays are incredible. I ran it right between a blackbook and a MBP. The pro felt too large, the screen on the blackbook sucked butt. The air was incredible.

I'm strictly needing a laptop for travel and sitting in my lazyboy at home at night surfing. The most taxing task I'll likely run is Internet Explorer in VM. Other than that, it'll be all about surfing, emailing and a web-based customer database program. So, more surfing. Surely, the 1.6 MBA will be enough. The HD size is questionable however. Sure wish it was 120gb, but again, there's always tradeoffs in life.

 

[ubercool]

When I first saw this thread, I ignored it. But I've come to the same conclusion as the OP but for an entirely different reason. First of all I must say, I love my MacBook Air, and hate having to give it up, but my predicament is as follows.

First of all, I'm moving from a Sony TZ and I simply love its form factor. Small and powerful with 192GB storage capacity and a simply gorgeous screen.

So, I have been carrying both MBA and TZ with me for months as far as Bali, which is like carrying an eight-pound desktop replacement, if you add up all the power supplies, airplane chargers, plus multiplicity of MBA-specific accessories, including external archival hard disk, USB extension cord and two dongles.

I need the MBA for Keynote, since I'm a professional presenter, and I need the Sony TZ for Outlook, until I can convert all my e-mail folders to .mbox files using Little Machines' O2M software and make the final leap.

I would like to keep my MacBook Air because I just love its weight and cool looks. But, the schlepping and storage limitation is just too much. And with Mac Thunderbird, I'm looking forward to leaving Outlook behind, it's a POS.

Anyway, I've reached the conclusion that I need a Mac that can also run Windows. Unfortunately, the 64GB capacity of the MBA SSD is now the wall, I only have 5GB left right now, not even enough for XP.

So, I've decided to buy a MacBook Pro 15 base configuration on Amazon.com and wait out Steve's next announcements, hoping for something small but powerful.

I need to run both Windows and Mac. There's not enough space on my ultralight. I know it's a temporary situation. So out my wallet again comes, as Yoda might say.

 

[ajmarton]

Opinion from former PC user....

I purchased the new IBM X60 last Christmas (07) and had it custom configured to run Vista - 4 MB cutting edge memory, quick SATA drive (250 GB) with big cache, secondary cache on top of the CPU built in cache - and I was still disappointed with the performance. I sold it and got the MBA and have absolutely no regrets! The MBA seems faster even though I know the specs say otherwise. The screen is much better even though my X60 had the upgraded LCD screen. The only cool thing about the IBM was the built-in fingerprint reader I ordered. It is great to just swipe it instead of passwords. The IBM ran hotter and it took forever for it to boot up. Battery life was better but not a big factor for me. I got Fusion (running Windows XP with no problems) for the MBA so I can still bridge between my Windows desktop systems and get Time Machine to run the wireless and backup functions. It all works - even hooking the printer up to the TM. I also love the MBA keyboard. All in all I have absolutely no regrets and what amazes me is that the MBA stands up so well against what was a custom IBM notebook that I put together to run VISTA.

 

[eXan]

I purchased the new IBM X60 last Christmas (07) and had it custom configured to run Vista - 4 MB cutting edge memory, quick SATA drive (250 GB) with big cache, secondary cache on top of the CPU built in cache - and I was still disappointed with the performance. I sold it and got the MBA and have absolutely no regrets! The MBA seems faster even though I know the specs say otherwise. The screen is much better even though my X60 had the upgraded LCD screen. The only cool thing about the IBM was the built-in fingerprint reader I ordered. It is great to just swipe it instead of passwords. The IBM ran hotter and it took forever for it to boot up. Battery life was better but not a big factor for me. I got Fusion (running Windows XP with no problems) for the MBA so I can still bridge between my Windows desktop systems and get Time Machine to run the wireless and backup functions. It all works - even hooking the printer up to the TM. I also love the MBA keyboard. All in all I have absolutely no regrets and what amazes me is that the MBA stands up so well against what was a custom IBM notebook that I put together to run VISTA.

I'm sure OS X would also struggle to run on 4 MB cutting edge memory

 

[ubercool]

So, I realized that the MBP that Amazon sells is with the matte screen, which I don't like. Realizing that my abandoned, and still not sold, MacBook has a 200GB/7200rpm drive in it and a 2.2Ghz Duo, I decided to install Thunderbird and start playing with it again.

The screen can't hold a candle to the MBA in terms of brightness, but I did notice that the MacBook has a much smoother font display. The MBA screen is fuzzy by comparison. So, I'm gonna just go back to the ol' MacBook. That should save me another $2K that I would have to lay out again to chase satisfaction.