New 13" Macbook Air owner...

[monaarts]

So I just got my MBA today and WOW! That is the 1 word I can user to describe it....

The screen feels MUCH bigger than a 13". It is only when you look down at the keyboard that you realize your not typing on a 15+" screen! Colors are beautiful and not having glass is actually amazing!

SNAPPY! I open iTunes with a library of about 1500 songs and 100 movies and it is there.... My 13" 2.26GHz MBP had to think for a little bit before opening it, this doesn't have to. iPhoto with several thousand photos only takes a few seconds versus about half a minute or so with the MBP.

The keyboard and trackpad feel a LITTLE different, good and bad. The keyboard feels a little more responsive and has a little more feedback than the keyboard on the MBP. The trackpad doesn't feel quite as slick though, but barely. It may even be because it's new and hasn't been broken in or something.

After only about an hour with this I am VERY impressed. Literally, the only draw-back I see is the lack of backlighting on the keyboard but even that isn't that big of a deal. I would strongly recommend ANYONE who is contemplating between a MBP and a MBA to go with the air - you will not be disappointed!


- Joe

 

[DudeMartin]

Actually, thanks for that; I am having an internal affair between MBP and MBA!

 

[monaarts]

Actually, thanks for that; I am having an internal affair between MBP and MBA!

I was too... for about 2 weeks I wasn't sure and I finally said screw it and ordered the MBA.... As mentioned before, I couldn't be happier!


- Joe

 

[DudeMartin]

I was too... for about 2 weeks I wasn't sure and I finally said screw it and ordered the MBA.... As mentioned before, I couldn't be happier!


- Joe

Have you tried any games? Like Counter Strike Source, Team Fortress 2, Half Life 2? That's the only thing that is really worrying me - I have no doubt the machine itself is snappy, just graphical performance is what I am worried?

 

[monaarts]

I have not personally tried any of those but I have Photoshop CS5 and it runs AWESOME! If you youtube Macbook Air Call of Duty or some other game you can see it running it flawlessly! I should have said before that I bought the 13" with 2.13GHz processor, 4GB ram, and 256GB SSD.... Got it refurbished for $1529. When I got it there was a TINY little scratch on the bottom (i mean tiny!) but I called to see if they can swap out the plate and the lady told me they can either give me $100 off or swap the plate so I obviously chose the $100 off... So I got it for $1429!!!!!!! So the specs might make a bit of a difference, not sure how much of a difference though.


- Joe

COD2: MW2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmy3WhMIfCk&feature=related

Crysis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-bqbFRsgcI

You get my point.

 

[iDave]

Got mine today too, basic 13" refurbished. First impressions, love the sharper, less reflective screen and the loss of the black mirrored bezel of my MBP. Very snappy!

 

[jfrancis04]

How bad do you all miss the backlit keyboard?

I'm thinking of upgrading from an 08 Macbook and I've never had the luxury of backlit keys. I may just wait a few weeks to see if the new MBPs feature a thinner design.

 

[iDave]

How bad do you all miss the backlit keyboard?

Rarely used it on my MBP, so, not at all. It bothers my eyes to try to use a computer in the dark.

 

[nateo200]

COD2: MW2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmy3WhMIfCk&feature=related

Crysis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-bqbFRsgcI

You get my point.

I remember watching that and thinking that was really impressive...a bit random but how does one play COD MW2 on there mac? I've been searching everywhere so I can play it on my MacBook Pro.

 

[C64]

I remember watching that and thinking that was really impressive...a bit random but how does one play COD MW2 on there mac? I've been searching everywhere so I can play it on my MacBook Pro.

Install Windows via Bootcamp

 

[aspern]

I just got mine aswell, loving it so far. I don't really miss the backlit keyboard, but then again I never had one on my last pc.

I want to add that my macbook air 13", 1.86, 4gb, 128, can play 1080p without any problems with Plex.

A 1080p .mkv encode of Avatar with an average of 16000kbps bitrate(19GB file) plays smoooooth

This was something that I was abit concerned about before buying it, because it was a must have to be able to play all of my 1080p movie collection.

 

[C64]

I just got mine aswell, loving it so far. I don't really miss the backlit keyboard, but then again I never had one on my last pc.

I want to add that my macbook air 13", 1.86, 4gb, 128, can play 1080p without any problems with Plex.

A 1080p .mkv encode of Avatar with an average of 16000kbps bitrate(19GB file) plays smoooooth

This was something that I was abit concerned about before buying it, because it was a must have to be able to play all of my 1080p movie collection.

That's good to know; I ordered one with the exact same specs.

What about the fans when you're watching 1080p?

 

[monaarts]

That's good to know; I ordered one with the exact same specs.

What about the fans when you're watching 1080p?

I was watching some HD Netflix and the fans came on but they didn't sound like race cars like everyone else is saying... I would expect any other laptop to sound about the same.


- Joe

 

[aspern]

That's good to know; I ordered one with the exact same specs.

What about the fans when you're watching 1080p?

I don't hear the fans at all, the only time they've really come on is when playing some flash stuff in my browser(it's pretty wierd, happens to my pc aswell).

It's completely silent, this is while having 15 tabs open in chrome, iTunes and Skype open, and playing back Avatar. Amazing!

 

[monaarts]

I just want to add here too that the speakers in the 13" MBA are AMAZING! The stereo affect that they give off is amazing, feels like you have external speakers installed, no joke - it's like mini surround sound!



- Joe

 

[aldo818]

i noticed even that it came out a few month ago people are still looking at it wherever i go if it is the futur of macbook s and are woooow

Perfect device

 

[nateo200]

About the fans...I dont have the MBA but I have a MBP. Only time I ever heard the fans was when I was encoding video in the background while watching House MD and torrenting and I also had CS5 in the background. My free memory was down to about 100MB and CPU was like 190 which was kind of scary but I was putting it through torture. I think Video encoding (hand break) is really the one thing that can suck up CPU usage and RAM usage every other program that you would think would kill your CPU is pretty moderate IMO. Plus you'll have an SSD which kicks my harddrives ass read/write and overall speed wise.

Install Windows via Bootcamp

Thanks.