MBP i7 to MBA: why not to do it!

[MikeinJapan]

Hey guys

I sold my MBP i7 and bought a fully load 13" air. I never really cared for the MBP and it cost me next to nothing. I figured just do it and get another 2 years out of a laptop for 2 years. (grad school next year).

I only bought it yesterday and I find that the speed is great. It is faster than the MBP but I haven't been pushing the air hard at all. The i7 is amazingly quick under loads. Today I was out and about and hit some problems that never crossed my mind.

First of all, I needed to send a picture of myself to someone about a job. I am a freelance language consultant and this is fairly normal. I couldn't find free wifi anywhere. So I figured, internet cafe! Nope ethernet only and I don't have the adaptor. Then at the 3rd place they have wifi but all my pics were on my home mac mini because the air SSD (256) is too small.

This was a pretty problematic for me today but not a deal breaker. If I had the pro the ethernet and storage wouldn't have been a problem. Just wanted to share this with people thinking of going a similar route. Overall, the air rocks!

 

[KPOM]

That's one reason why I picked up the ethernet adapter when I purchased my first MacBook Air in February 2008 and have kept it since. I've used it only rarely, but it's been nice to have.

The first version also included the display adapter, but later revisions dropped it and made it optional (and also changed the design so I couldn't carry it over to my new ones). So far, I haven't needed it or purchased it.

As for the pictures, you have quite a lot. I guess after having had a 120/128GB model for the past 3 years I've grown accustomed to the smaller storage space. 256GB seems quite vast. However, you do have the SDXC option now once prices drop (64GB cards are still around $200 but 32GB cards are only about $50 now). I'm also toying with the idea of getting a 500GB USB drive to supplement my 500GB Time Capsule and aging 160GB IDE USB drive that I use for "offsite" backups on Winclone and Carbon Copy Cloner.

The bottom line is that there are definitely downsides to a MacBook Air coming from something as powerful as a Core i7 MacBook Pro, but the new Airs (particularly the 13") are much more "mainstream" than the previous generation.

 

[ufkdo]

Yeah, air is just perfect. I started using it yesterday and I think I'm fallen in love Flash storage is just too quick, I sent 1 GB of data from my external USB flash to air's storage and i took just 10 secs.

Thanks everyone for their advices.

 

[jayo123456]

errrr..........

next time it might be a good idea to make a list of things you need, and make sure your purchase has it.


For me, i tether my iPhone, so ethernet is useless. And 128gb is plenty since I don't see a need to carry around my 300gb music library..... etc etc

 

[silverblack]

A couple of ways to get around the problem, if I were in your situation.

1. I have an iPhone, jailbroken with MyWi installed. I am set anywhere there's 3G signal, I will be able to tether with my MBA over wifi.

2. VNC. I set up my office iMac to allowed remote screen sharing. This way, I can remote control, and upload large files directly from my office. In fact, I don't even need the MBA for this, as I can VNC directly from my iPhone to my iMac.

 

[ReallyBigFeet]

This thread "speaks" to me. I've got a 2010 i7 15" MBP, fully tricked out with a 500G 7400RPM drive, 8g of RAM, a 128G boot SSD drive via an Optibay replacement and loaded to the gills with some high dollar licensed software: Final Cut Studio, MS Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate, etc. Probably $5K total investment in the thing. I needed the power for my business and portability for the implementation side of my business.

I can't do EVERYTHING with my 13" MBA I do with that beast, but I can do ENOUGH to make it through the work week without too many compromises.

I think I'd really miss that kind of horsepower when I'm sitting at my desk working on coding efforts or rendering larger videos for my clients.

But I am thinking very hard about de-installing all my high-$ licenses, selling the MBP and buying a 27" iMac instead. From what I've read it will perform better than my MBP and likely quieter as well.

 

[JasonR]

Reallybigfeet: get the right tool for the right job. The Air isn't designed to be a workhorse for video editing. Sure, it can do it, but not quickly or efficiently.

OP: Stop whining. Get the ethernet adapter, and keep pics on your "tiny" 256 GB hard drive. Seriously...or get a flash drive with the pics. If you're freaking out about your two "problems" maybe you should experience some real issues and get back to us.

Not to mention there are various online back up services (Dropbox) that could store thousands of pictures on the cloud.

This thread is dumb.

 

[ReallyBigFeet]

Reallybigfeet: get the right tool for the right job. The Air isn't designed to be a workhorse for video editing. Sure, it can do it, but not quickly or efficiently.

I think I did get the right tool for the job with the i7 MBP. It works fine for the job I need it to perform and is portable.

Are you trying to tell me that a 27" iMac is the WRONG tool for video renders? Should I be looking at a Mac Pro if I'm going the desktop route?

I never claimed I would be using the MBA for renders, at least not big ones. It works fine for very short 30-second renders with static scenes. I'm using it now for that purpose.

 

[Jayomat]

At first I thought you want to tell us a story why you should not get an MBA if you come from a MBPi7. But in the end, you just told us that 1) you didn't have an Ethernet-adapter when you needed one and 2) 256GB SSD is too small for you.. In the end you said:

Overall, the air rocks!

What's the use of this thread? (no offense)

 

[hcho3]

So, you just got rid of your MBP i7 that was released only 7 months ago and replaced with MBA?


I did not know people buy laptops to keep it less than a year these days...

I guess the economy isn't so bad for op right here.

 

[sigamy]

Not sure about the ethernet connectivity but having a picture of yourself available on the MBA seems simple enough. You don't need your entire iPhoto library. Find one or two pics that you can use for that purpose and copy them over. Shouldn't be about 5mb of space.

 

[aristobrat]

but all my pics were on my home mac mini because the air SSD (256) is too small.

That'd be a deal-breaker for me.

I also came from an i7 MBP w/ a 500GB drive and was a little worried about squeezing everything down to fit onto the Air's 256GB.

Before I made the decision to buy the Air, I used SuperDuper! to make a duplicate of my MBP drive, and then spent about an hour doing some housekeeping, and ended up getting it down to 170GB.

The Air's been a perfect solution for me. I don't miss my MBP at all. I do miss my iPad sometimes...

 

[teerexx52]

Sold my MacBook pro 15" i7 2.66 and went to a maxed out 13" Air. Love this machine. No regrets at all Especially right here at Dunkin Donuts

 

[fyrefly]

I needed to send a picture of myself to someone about a job. I am a freelance language consultant and this is fairly normal. I couldn't find free wifi anywhere.

1) Was there no Starbucks, McDonalds, Burger King, Borders, Dunkin Donuts, Public Library, etc... around at all? All of those have free Wifi. I find most metropolitan areas do! (since you said they had an internet cafe - I assume you're not on some campground).

2) If you needed to send a picture of yourself to someone, why not just take a picture with the FaceTime camera? It's not the best quality, but it's decent enough for a quick resume shot.

Alternatively, if you found a connection, why not use VNC (Or MobileMe's "Back to My Mac") to pull the photo you needed onto the computer?

 

[MikeinJapan]

make a list of things you need,

For me, i tether my iPhone, so ethernet is useless. And 128gb is plenty since I don't see a need to carry around my 300gb music library..... etc etc

Yeah cheers mate! I haven't use ethernet since 2006 on a laptop. My photo library is way over 256GB. I could have move the pictures I needed but it din't occur to me.

OP: Stop whining. Get the ethernet adapter, and keep pics on your "tiny" 256 GB hard drive. Seriously...or get a flash drive with the pics. If you're freaking out about your two "problems" maybe you should experience some real issues and get back to us.

Not whining at all mate, I am sharing my experience as I could find no info on this transition anywhere. I see tons of people buying airs and being disappointed and I am try to give people a heads up. You must be in a bad mood today!

So, you just got rid of your MBP i7 that was released only 7 months ago and replaced with MBA?


I did not know people buy laptops to keep it less than a year these days...

I guess the economy isn't so bad for op right here.

Apple gave me the i7 for free as a replacement for my old machine that had graphic issues. I needed something more portable and decided to sell it and buy a MBA. I only had to pay 10,000¥ more. I like the way people in the states always talk about the economy these days. Never happened 5 years ago.

1) Was there no Starbucks, McDonalds, Burger King, Borders, Dunkin Donuts, Public Library, etc... around at all? All of those have free Wifi. I find most metropolitan areas do! (since you said they had an internet cafe - I assume you're not on some campground).

2) If you needed to send a picture of yourself to someone, why not just take a picture with the FaceTime camera? It's not the best quality, but it's decent enough for a quick resume shot.

Alternatively, if you found a connection, why not use VNC (Or MobileMe's "Back to My Mac") to pull the photo you needed onto the computer?

1)All of those places have free wifi in the states but not in Japan. Free open wifi is rare in Japan. I do have an account in starbucks but that stores router was down or something.
2)It is not that type of photo. Japanese companies basically are looking for a specific type of person and looks is usually a big part of it (which it shouldn't be but is) so I have some pro pictures. Luckily, I am friendly with the photography and he mailed them to my phone and I forwarded them on. This situation is rare and plan to set up VNC etc but I haven't got round to it yet.

This thread "speaks" to me. I've got a 2010 i7 15" MBP, fully tricked out with a 500G 7400RPM drive, 8g of RAM, a 128G boot SSD drive via an Optibay replacement and loaded to the gills with some high dollar licensed software: Final Cut Studio, MS Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate, etc. Probably $5K total investment in the thing. I needed the power for my business and portability for the implementation side of my business.

I can't do EVERYTHING with my 13" MBA I do with that beast, but I can do ENOUGH to make it through the work week without too many compromises.

I think I'd really miss that kind of horsepower when I'm sitting at my desk working on coding efforts or rendering larger videos for my clients.

But I am thinking very hard about de-installing all my high-$ licenses, selling the MBP and buying a 27" iMac instead. From what I've read it will perform better than my MBP and likely quieter as well.

That'd be a deal-breaker for me.

I also came from an i7 MBP w/ a 500GB drive and was a little worried about squeezing everything down to fit onto the Air's 256GB.

Before I made the decision to buy the Air, I used SuperDuper! to make a duplicate of my MBP drive, and then spent about an hour doing some housekeeping, and ended up getting it down to 170GB.

The Air's been a perfect solution for me. I don't miss my MBP at all. I do miss my iPad sometimes...

This thread was aimed at these people. Not the retards that think they are giving great advice. Put it on a flash drive, make a list of what you need and buy it, the OP must no be effected by the economy, etc. Come on guys, retrospective advice is the art of idiot. I bet you shout at the TV a lot too.

I was trying to help people that are going the same route I went. I guys you guys don't see that.

 

[maratus]

I really hope that 15" will become more "specialized" with a lot of customers going with ultraportable MBA. After that Apple may probably redesign 15" as a more expensive device with IPS/PVA screen, 1Gb dedicated VRAM, probably built-in 3G/WiMax modem and therefore higher price.
As for me, IPS in MBP is necessary to finally prefer it over Air. On the other hand, screen of this ilk is enough for me (and many others) to not even consider any other notebooks no matter how portable. What are you waiting for, Apple?

 

[timeslip]

But I am thinking very hard about de-installing all my high-$ licenses, selling the MBP and buying a 27" iMac instead. From what I've read it will perform better than my MBP and likely quieter as well.

Exactly what I did.... Except I bought the 27" iMAC first because the display just blew me away compared to my older Dell 30". Then the air completely replaced my MBP.

Just sold it yesterday too.. (2.66 i7, high res, matte, 8GB, 500gb 7200, intel ssd)

 

[MikeinJapan]

Exactly what I did.... Except I bought the 27" iMAC first because the display just blew me away compared to my older Dell 30". Then the air completely replaced my MBP.

Just sold it yesterday too.. (2.66 i7, high res, matte, 8GB, 500gb 7200, intel ssd)

I am buying an iMac 27" next year too. I am going to wait for the next upgrade (I think it will be minor) but I don't have the cash right now.

 

[darngooddesign]

First of all, I needed to send a picture of myself to someone about a job. I am a freelance language consultant and this is fairly normal. I couldn't find free wifi anywhere. So I figured, internet cafe! Nope ethernet only and I don't have the adaptor. Then at the 3rd place they have wifi but all my pics were on my home mac mini because the air SSD (256) is too small.

Jailbreak either your iPhone or iPad and install MyWi for tethering. Then you will have net access everywhere.

 

[koobcamuk]

Are you with Docomo or softbank?

If you're on Docomo get the N-04B or SH-01c for wifi tethering on-the-go!