My friend is selling me his Apple Macbook Air 13" with a 2.13 ghz core 2 duo with 2gb of ram and 128gb ssd with 3 year of apple care until 2012 December. He is selling me it for $800...Should I buy it or use the money and buy the new macbook air? How is the previous 2009 macbook air 2.13ghz from the new gen 2.13ghz 13"? Is there a big difference in speed and heating problems as I heard the 2.13 is actually slower than the 1.6ghz version for the old gen macbook due to the heating issue? Let me know so I know what to do..Thanks.
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Should I buy 2009 Macbook Air 13" w/2.13ghz +3year apple Care+128ssd or new air 13"?
- Thread starter alphadog111
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The CPU is exactly the same as in current gen (SL9600 in 2.13GHz and SL9400 in 1.86GHz). It has worse GPU (9400M vs 320M) and shorter battery life but otherwise it's pretty similar. The new MBA also has SD card slot, better resolution (1440x900 vs 1280x800) and second USB port plus new trackpad.
You have to think that are those few features worth the extra 500 bucks (low-end 13" MBA) (plus 249$ for AppleCare). Even though they are nice, I wouldn't pay that much extra for new one unless you need 4GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. However, 2.13GHz MBA with 4GB of RAM is 1000$ more than what your friend is asking for his
You have to think that are those few features worth the extra 500 bucks (low-end 13" MBA) (plus 249$ for AppleCare). Even though they are nice, I wouldn't pay that much extra for new one unless you need 4GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. However, 2.13GHz MBA with 4GB of RAM is 1000$ more than what your friend is asking for his
So It would be a good laptop none the less if I bought it? Is there a heating issue compared with the new macbook air and the old one on the 2.13ghz models as well?...I am using a Apple Macbook Air 1.8ghz with 64gb ssd right now and when I watch movies on youtube or hulu it lags..is it because of my internet speed or using the air for too long? I dont turn the air off just on stand by most of the time..
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you get backlit keyboard with older model. And sleep light. Not sure about display differences. Not quite as glossy? Go for the older one. Much better deal
you get backlit keyboard with older model. And sleep light. Not sure about display differences. Not quite as glossy? Go for the older one. Much better deal
On a MacBook (non Air, but same thing)
Which they removed from the new Air because there is no space for it on the front. But since it's instant on and off whenever you open/close it, it doesn't really matter.
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It's a good machine (the 2009 model). If you're not the type to have to have the latest, and don't buy a new one yearly, then it is worth the price!
New MacBook airs will get a better round of improvements next year anyhow. So, if you don't have a rush to get a new model, the old one is just as good (give or take...but well worth the price)!
It's a good machine (the 2009 model). If you're not the type to have to have the latest, and don't buy a new one yearly, then it is worth the price!
New MacBook airs will get a better round of improvements next year anyhow. So, if you don't have a rush to get a new model, the old one is just as good (give or take...but well worth the price)!
thanks for your input guys I did decide too buy it and I will update you on the status and how it runs...thank you!
One more thing...
One very important thing no one mentioned is the significant difference in the SSD drive in the early/mid Rev C MBA and the one in the late Rev C (May - October 2010) and the new MBA. If you are looking at an MBA from 2009, you should expect significantly slower response than the new MBA would have for any operations involving disk access. If you look at the xbench results, the "flash" SSD is 4 - 5 times faster than the older SSD.
I would guess your experience with Hulu is more due to internet speed (if it is not fast) than with the CPU/GPU. Again, xbench results posted on their site are not showing an increase in GPU capabilities as compared to the last generation MBA.
Also, I am not convinced Apple has solved the heat issue on the 2.1 GHz model. I think that is why it is no longer a stock option - because they were not able to keep the heat down on the processor in an even smaller package. I have not seen any posts yet on the new MBA with 2.1 GHz because it is a custom order, and I'm not sure anyone has received one yet. I've heard the Apple stores are only carrying the stock models. I highly suspect Apple solved the general issue of heat by putting in slower processors, but using much faster SSD technology - thus the user experiences the same or better performance as with a higher speed processor, but slower HDD.
So, I think there would be a very noticeable difference in disk speed between the late Rev C/new MBA and the 2009 MBA (which can affect a lot of things depending on what you do with your MBA). Other than that, I'm not convinced there is a lot of difference in performance.
One very important thing no one mentioned is the significant difference in the SSD drive in the early/mid Rev C MBA and the one in the late Rev C (May - October 2010) and the new MBA. If you are looking at an MBA from 2009, you should expect significantly slower response than the new MBA would have for any operations involving disk access. If you look at the xbench results, the "flash" SSD is 4 - 5 times faster than the older SSD.
I would guess your experience with Hulu is more due to internet speed (if it is not fast) than with the CPU/GPU. Again, xbench results posted on their site are not showing an increase in GPU capabilities as compared to the last generation MBA.
Also, I am not convinced Apple has solved the heat issue on the 2.1 GHz model. I think that is why it is no longer a stock option - because they were not able to keep the heat down on the processor in an even smaller package. I have not seen any posts yet on the new MBA with 2.1 GHz because it is a custom order, and I'm not sure anyone has received one yet. I've heard the Apple stores are only carrying the stock models. I highly suspect Apple solved the general issue of heat by putting in slower processors, but using much faster SSD technology - thus the user experiences the same or better performance as with a higher speed processor, but slower HDD.
So, I think there would be a very noticeable difference in disk speed between the late Rev C/new MBA and the 2009 MBA (which can affect a lot of things depending on what you do with your MBA). Other than that, I'm not convinced there is a lot of difference in performance.