So it's been about 5 days since I got a macbook 11inch. I originally bought the 13in 2.13/4gb/256GB version also known as the "ultimate version"
I decided to save 500 bucks and go with the Macbook Ultimate 11inch which is comprised of 1.6Ghz/4GB/128GB setup.
How did it stack up?
Screen: Well I have to say the screen is great. The text is small after using an older 13in macbook, this real estate is still more than I'm used to. I don't really have to hunch back. The smaller text isn't that bad for my eyes and I compared an 11inch vs a 13inch, in terms of DPI the 11inch is a touch sharper but really compared to a 13 inch, you are getting more work space. I don't believe you are getting smaller icons or other fonts. It terms of glossy, this is a glossy light. I don't even notice the glossiness but at the same time the colors pop. Great color reproduction. Blacks are black and blue are blue. I'm using some of default wallpapers found in the OSX (the space one makes the colors really shine).
Keyboard: I never had a backlit keyboard. I always wanted one and still after 4 years…i still don't have a backlit keyboard. The keyboard is nice. I can see where people might have issues and thats the palm resting area. I have some space but for people who have bigger hands can see some of your hands being on the edge of the keyboard. The back keys do leave some oil behind after using it for a long time. The keys time good. I don't see any errors with this
Portability: This is it. This is the reason you bought a 11inch or else it makes no sense and the 13in is the better buy. You wanted a more portable laptop and there is a different. It's only like 1.5 inches shorter on the sides and front but having that added weight off makes this completely different. I just came back from Las vegas. I got on the shuttle bus to get to the airport. I had a duffle bag and thats it. I pulled out the macbook air 11in and started using the internet via tethered iphone. when the bus stopped at my destination, I just closed the lid and walked with it; not putting it back in my bag. The smaller size makes it better to carry and feels more like a notebook…an actual notebook. When I got to the southwest boarding pass machine, I just opened the lid, opened Evernote and got my confirmation. Instant on made the process fast and quick. I re-closed it. I walk through the security area. My laptop was already out and i just put it in the bin. I see everyone else's computers. Large, clunky… with the feeling of "i hate my life". I'm feeling great. Afterwards, I just walk to a open chair to wait for my flight, I just open the lid and proceed with what I was already working on.
I get on the plane. The laptop is still being held like a notebook pad. I get to my plane. and put my computer on the seat. It fits just fine and I start writing my report which i have to send to my boss using microsoft word. The only problem, even at 11in design, there people who like to recline their seat to vertical mode. But because the screen was smaller, i just moved the computer a bit closer to me to dodge the seat from hitting it. It really is annoying when people do that. I know they have to right to but seriously? To get better work, if I don't use the tray, it fits perfectly. Whats awesome is that I can have both a drink and the computer on the tray. With a lot of computer, you don't have that luxury. Ipad, because its low profile even when typing wins but i can do a lot more on my MBA 11. I still brought the ipad, i never used it. It was in my bag the whole time.
In vegas, I had to wait till my friends came down to pick me up for the room, i was just in the lobby and with such a small macbook, i was able to just open it and look up stuff on the internet. It's truly a blessing having a computer this small. In the room, It's just on the my bed but if i have to get a lot of work done, i like to just bend my knees up to prop up the MBA and i have a good keyboard layout, the screen is tilted max back and its close to my face and I don't have to crouch over and have back issues. My back was covered in many pillows that feel like boobs. Life is great.
I took some pictures of the computer on the plane.
Notebook + MBA 11 + IPAD with ROOM TO SPARE!!!
Compared to an Ipad:
Performance: When it comes to performance, its all about what you are gonna use your computer for. You have to seriously ask yourself a lot of questions. For me, the only thing I probably need thats computer intensive is video. This GPU is wayyyyy better than my 2007 macbook but I didn't get to see the value right away. I used VLC and running 720p video was great and for a moment, running 1080p video was looking until i saw some pixel breakdowns. This could be related to the USB data transfer. Then I put Iron Man 2 on my SSD and ran VLC. Most of the scenes was fine until a reached a high bit rate moment then i started to see the choppiness. It really bothered me and i started thinking….I think im going back to apple to get the a 1.8 C2D 13in. I started looking at activity monitor and seeing that running 1080p, my VLC player was running 94% to 134% CPU usage. I got some great advice from macrumors members to try plex. Although plex has a great interface, there is a learning curve in how to use it. After using plex, the GPU was used to help relieve the CPU workload. My CPU workload was down to 50% on 1080p video. Videos ran smooth and kept going in and out of multiple 1080p video. Hopefully we will see GPU acceleration on VLC soon.
VLC - CPU 94% - 115% - GPU not assisted - smooth video playback until high bitrates were found, typically during action.
PLEX -CPU 50% - 60% - GPU assisted - smooth video playback on 1080p action or no action.
I added other programs such as hyperdock, evernote, dropbox, logmein. All working fine in the background.
Battery:
For the battery performance: I posted my numbers for an all day run. I logged most of the time stamps. This is using Ichat on, the entire time with me browsing, running terminal with some perl code run. I didn't watch a video. Here is my update on those numbers:
97% 2:31pm 5:42 remaining Ichat, Safari, Macvim
75% 3:58pm 6:22 remaining….changed to 4:22 remaining
68% 4:26pm 3:42 remaining
66% 4:32pm 2:48 remaining - LID CLOSED
Session 1: 31% drop, 121 minutes used.
64% 5:30pm 3:43 remaining - LID OPENED
62% 5:41pm 3:27 remaining Internet use
54% 6:10pm Lid closed
Session 2: 20% drop 40 minutes used
53% 6:20pm Lid Opened 2:54 remaining
51% 6:26pm Lid closed
session 3: 2% drop 6 minutes used. (i was in the middle of table tennis matches)
51% 6:43pm Lid Open
46% 6:56pm Running the Hornets vs Rockets game on Internet
44% 7:00pm Done running game on internet - it was halftime
39% 7:23pm Lid closed
session 4: 12% drop 40 minutes used.
39% 7:46pm Lid Open Ichat enabled
29% 8:24pm 1:57pm remaining Typing this article on my MBA, running Ichat
27% 8:29pm Lid closed
Session 5: 12% drop 43 minutes used
26% 9:46 Lid Opened time remaining 1:46
9% 10:31pm 0:24 remaining
8% 10:31pm lid closed
Session6: 18% drop 45 minutes used
Total: minute usage down to 9% = 121 + 40 + 6 + 40 + 43 + 45 = 295 minutes. Let's just say I can last another 5 minutes and make it a even 300
300 minutes = 5 hours.
I did another test. I wish I can edit my original post.
Iron Man 2 Running 50% brightness. - 1080p 15 gig file
Time stamp: 1:15pm 99%
Time stamp: 3:35pm 11% - i think the movie ended at like 3:15 or something. The movie length on IMBD is 2:04:00 so thats 126 minutes.
This is using plex with GPU assistant. I'll try standard tv shows and see what the outcome is.
More testing complete:
Starting at 80% - at 50% brightness, ran Formula one qualifying from the Japan Race.
Time Stamps include:
80% 9:35pm Running .mp4 (standard resolution, 1.5GB File)
66% 10:03PM
47% 10:45PM (running time 1:10)
37% 11:05PM (Running time 1:20)
From the looks of it, standard definition video runs at 2 minutes of video for every percent. Which would give 200 hours of video? or 3 hours and 20 minutes.
CPU load: 18.9 to 19.7 using quicktime player.
Ipad vs MBA 11
This is a touch one. First off they are both very different and Ipad is mostly a consuming device while the MBA is both. The biggest strength that the Ipad has battery life. I get 10 hours on the Ipad without trying and with Xvid movies...probably a good 6 hours. Read E-books is great on it and I still believe the Ipad is one of the best devices for reading the internet (non-flash) especially when you have a screen that is catered to be vertical. There is something about the Ipad I truly love. And my biggest usages are downloading and reading Naruto Manga on it. Using Goodreader. I use Airvideo to watch movies through a wifi connection and I use logmein. I even have a keyboard that goes with my pad. I use my ipad to document my work notes and scan my work drawings instead of keeping a lab notebook.
But there is something about the MBA that is drawing me away from the ipad. Even though the battery life is not as good, i lasted 5 hours on it. Thats 5 hours of productive work. with the Ipad, the feeling of never worrying about battery isn't produced in the MBA but there is something about long battery life. Combined with MBA's smaller footprint and the power to run anything without restrictions. It's a pretty powerful machine. For people who are selling their ipad's for a MBA. I can't say thats a bad decision. For people who are keeping both/ or still going to buy an ipad, I can't argue with that either. The biggest thing is, we don't want to leave our apple products neglected. I still see alot of room for the ipad with an MBA but after using the MBA. I kinda wish for a 7inch IPAD. Something even more portable that manages all the little things a notebook use. (when i say notebook i mean the paper one).
So I guess there's my review. I think the MBA is awesome and for me its my secondary computer. My 2.2Ghz macbook runs all my torrents, stores all my pictures, has all my movies, has all my music and is connected to a big 24 inch monitor. It never turns off and thats how i like it. My macbook air is something i want to carry everywhere and when i can't carry it, i want to bring my ipad. Performance, you wont' notice a difference until you strain the CPU because the SSD brings the illusion of a fast processor. If you need to do heavy video or crunch serious data then thats what the pro is from. macbook PRO. I wouldn't complain if you are trying to cure cancer with this processor. But if you are doing the general things then this computer is more than enough and with the size factor, it adds a new element. A game change.
This is only the beginning. Welcome to 2010 and what is soon to be start of greater and better gadgets.
That's my 2 cents. Buy this or don't buy this. Either way, i'm enjoying what I go. One note: if you aren't traveling that much and don't mind the extra weight, the 13 inch is by far the better value. But what can I say, I want the attention. HAHAHAHA.
I decided to save 500 bucks and go with the Macbook Ultimate 11inch which is comprised of 1.6Ghz/4GB/128GB setup.
How did it stack up?
Screen: Well I have to say the screen is great. The text is small after using an older 13in macbook, this real estate is still more than I'm used to. I don't really have to hunch back. The smaller text isn't that bad for my eyes and I compared an 11inch vs a 13inch, in terms of DPI the 11inch is a touch sharper but really compared to a 13 inch, you are getting more work space. I don't believe you are getting smaller icons or other fonts. It terms of glossy, this is a glossy light. I don't even notice the glossiness but at the same time the colors pop. Great color reproduction. Blacks are black and blue are blue. I'm using some of default wallpapers found in the OSX (the space one makes the colors really shine).
Keyboard: I never had a backlit keyboard. I always wanted one and still after 4 years…i still don't have a backlit keyboard. The keyboard is nice. I can see where people might have issues and thats the palm resting area. I have some space but for people who have bigger hands can see some of your hands being on the edge of the keyboard. The back keys do leave some oil behind after using it for a long time. The keys time good. I don't see any errors with this
Portability: This is it. This is the reason you bought a 11inch or else it makes no sense and the 13in is the better buy. You wanted a more portable laptop and there is a different. It's only like 1.5 inches shorter on the sides and front but having that added weight off makes this completely different. I just came back from Las vegas. I got on the shuttle bus to get to the airport. I had a duffle bag and thats it. I pulled out the macbook air 11in and started using the internet via tethered iphone. when the bus stopped at my destination, I just closed the lid and walked with it; not putting it back in my bag. The smaller size makes it better to carry and feels more like a notebook…an actual notebook. When I got to the southwest boarding pass machine, I just opened the lid, opened Evernote and got my confirmation. Instant on made the process fast and quick. I re-closed it. I walk through the security area. My laptop was already out and i just put it in the bin. I see everyone else's computers. Large, clunky… with the feeling of "i hate my life". I'm feeling great. Afterwards, I just walk to a open chair to wait for my flight, I just open the lid and proceed with what I was already working on.
I get on the plane. The laptop is still being held like a notebook pad. I get to my plane. and put my computer on the seat. It fits just fine and I start writing my report which i have to send to my boss using microsoft word. The only problem, even at 11in design, there people who like to recline their seat to vertical mode. But because the screen was smaller, i just moved the computer a bit closer to me to dodge the seat from hitting it. It really is annoying when people do that. I know they have to right to but seriously? To get better work, if I don't use the tray, it fits perfectly. Whats awesome is that I can have both a drink and the computer on the tray. With a lot of computer, you don't have that luxury. Ipad, because its low profile even when typing wins but i can do a lot more on my MBA 11. I still brought the ipad, i never used it. It was in my bag the whole time.
In vegas, I had to wait till my friends came down to pick me up for the room, i was just in the lobby and with such a small macbook, i was able to just open it and look up stuff on the internet. It's truly a blessing having a computer this small. In the room, It's just on the my bed but if i have to get a lot of work done, i like to just bend my knees up to prop up the MBA and i have a good keyboard layout, the screen is tilted max back and its close to my face and I don't have to crouch over and have back issues. My back was covered in many pillows that feel like boobs. Life is great.
I took some pictures of the computer on the plane.
Notebook + MBA 11 + IPAD with ROOM TO SPARE!!!
Compared to an Ipad:
Performance: When it comes to performance, its all about what you are gonna use your computer for. You have to seriously ask yourself a lot of questions. For me, the only thing I probably need thats computer intensive is video. This GPU is wayyyyy better than my 2007 macbook but I didn't get to see the value right away. I used VLC and running 720p video was great and for a moment, running 1080p video was looking until i saw some pixel breakdowns. This could be related to the USB data transfer. Then I put Iron Man 2 on my SSD and ran VLC. Most of the scenes was fine until a reached a high bit rate moment then i started to see the choppiness. It really bothered me and i started thinking….I think im going back to apple to get the a 1.8 C2D 13in. I started looking at activity monitor and seeing that running 1080p, my VLC player was running 94% to 134% CPU usage. I got some great advice from macrumors members to try plex. Although plex has a great interface, there is a learning curve in how to use it. After using plex, the GPU was used to help relieve the CPU workload. My CPU workload was down to 50% on 1080p video. Videos ran smooth and kept going in and out of multiple 1080p video. Hopefully we will see GPU acceleration on VLC soon.
VLC - CPU 94% - 115% - GPU not assisted - smooth video playback until high bitrates were found, typically during action.
PLEX -CPU 50% - 60% - GPU assisted - smooth video playback on 1080p action or no action.
I added other programs such as hyperdock, evernote, dropbox, logmein. All working fine in the background.
Battery:
For the battery performance: I posted my numbers for an all day run. I logged most of the time stamps. This is using Ichat on, the entire time with me browsing, running terminal with some perl code run. I didn't watch a video. Here is my update on those numbers:
97% 2:31pm 5:42 remaining Ichat, Safari, Macvim
75% 3:58pm 6:22 remaining….changed to 4:22 remaining
68% 4:26pm 3:42 remaining
66% 4:32pm 2:48 remaining - LID CLOSED
Session 1: 31% drop, 121 minutes used.
64% 5:30pm 3:43 remaining - LID OPENED
62% 5:41pm 3:27 remaining Internet use
54% 6:10pm Lid closed
Session 2: 20% drop 40 minutes used
53% 6:20pm Lid Opened 2:54 remaining
51% 6:26pm Lid closed
session 3: 2% drop 6 minutes used. (i was in the middle of table tennis matches)
51% 6:43pm Lid Open
46% 6:56pm Running the Hornets vs Rockets game on Internet
44% 7:00pm Done running game on internet - it was halftime
39% 7:23pm Lid closed
session 4: 12% drop 40 minutes used.
39% 7:46pm Lid Open Ichat enabled
29% 8:24pm 1:57pm remaining Typing this article on my MBA, running Ichat
27% 8:29pm Lid closed
Session 5: 12% drop 43 minutes used
26% 9:46 Lid Opened time remaining 1:46
9% 10:31pm 0:24 remaining
8% 10:31pm lid closed
Session6: 18% drop 45 minutes used
Total: minute usage down to 9% = 121 + 40 + 6 + 40 + 43 + 45 = 295 minutes. Let's just say I can last another 5 minutes and make it a even 300
300 minutes = 5 hours.
I did another test. I wish I can edit my original post.
Iron Man 2 Running 50% brightness. - 1080p 15 gig file
Time stamp: 1:15pm 99%
Time stamp: 3:35pm 11% - i think the movie ended at like 3:15 or something. The movie length on IMBD is 2:04:00 so thats 126 minutes.
This is using plex with GPU assistant. I'll try standard tv shows and see what the outcome is.
More testing complete:
Starting at 80% - at 50% brightness, ran Formula one qualifying from the Japan Race.
Time Stamps include:
80% 9:35pm Running .mp4 (standard resolution, 1.5GB File)
66% 10:03PM
47% 10:45PM (running time 1:10)
37% 11:05PM (Running time 1:20)
From the looks of it, standard definition video runs at 2 minutes of video for every percent. Which would give 200 hours of video? or 3 hours and 20 minutes.
CPU load: 18.9 to 19.7 using quicktime player.
Ipad vs MBA 11
This is a touch one. First off they are both very different and Ipad is mostly a consuming device while the MBA is both. The biggest strength that the Ipad has battery life. I get 10 hours on the Ipad without trying and with Xvid movies...probably a good 6 hours. Read E-books is great on it and I still believe the Ipad is one of the best devices for reading the internet (non-flash) especially when you have a screen that is catered to be vertical. There is something about the Ipad I truly love. And my biggest usages are downloading and reading Naruto Manga on it. Using Goodreader. I use Airvideo to watch movies through a wifi connection and I use logmein. I even have a keyboard that goes with my pad. I use my ipad to document my work notes and scan my work drawings instead of keeping a lab notebook.
But there is something about the MBA that is drawing me away from the ipad. Even though the battery life is not as good, i lasted 5 hours on it. Thats 5 hours of productive work. with the Ipad, the feeling of never worrying about battery isn't produced in the MBA but there is something about long battery life. Combined with MBA's smaller footprint and the power to run anything without restrictions. It's a pretty powerful machine. For people who are selling their ipad's for a MBA. I can't say thats a bad decision. For people who are keeping both/ or still going to buy an ipad, I can't argue with that either. The biggest thing is, we don't want to leave our apple products neglected. I still see alot of room for the ipad with an MBA but after using the MBA. I kinda wish for a 7inch IPAD. Something even more portable that manages all the little things a notebook use. (when i say notebook i mean the paper one).
So I guess there's my review. I think the MBA is awesome and for me its my secondary computer. My 2.2Ghz macbook runs all my torrents, stores all my pictures, has all my movies, has all my music and is connected to a big 24 inch monitor. It never turns off and thats how i like it. My macbook air is something i want to carry everywhere and when i can't carry it, i want to bring my ipad. Performance, you wont' notice a difference until you strain the CPU because the SSD brings the illusion of a fast processor. If you need to do heavy video or crunch serious data then thats what the pro is from. macbook PRO. I wouldn't complain if you are trying to cure cancer with this processor. But if you are doing the general things then this computer is more than enough and with the size factor, it adds a new element. A game change.
This is only the beginning. Welcome to 2010 and what is soon to be start of greater and better gadgets.
That's my 2 cents. Buy this or don't buy this. Either way, i'm enjoying what I go. One note: if you aren't traveling that much and don't mind the extra weight, the 13 inch is by far the better value. But what can I say, I want the attention. HAHAHAHA.
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