Some concerns about the MBA ?!?!

[djspace]

Hi guys, i want to buy a MBA but i have some concerns.

First, how is the speaker ? I watch a lot of movies on my laptop and i don't really like to put on headphones everytime i watch a movie, so i would like to know if it's ok for that purpose.

Second, i only do normal stuff like web browsing, watching movies, music, chat, office... I don't really do heavy stuff like photoshop or video editing, so i would like to know if the 4200 rpm drive will really affect the speed during these tasks ?

I really appreciate your help and i'm sorry if this has been ask a million time.

PS : Sorry for my english i'm a french canadian !

 

[macanudo]

Hi guys, i want to buy a MBA but i have some concerns.

First, how is the speaker ? I watch a lot of movies on my laptop and i don't really like to put on headphones everytime i watch a movie, so i would like to know if it's ok for that purpose.

Second, i only do normal stuff like web browsing, watching movies, music, chat, office... I don't really do heavy stuff like photoshop or video editing, so i would like to know if the 4200 rpm drive will really affect the speed during these tasks ?

I really appreciate your help and i'm sorry if this has been ask a million time.

PS : Sorry for my english i'm a french canadian !

1. It has a mono speaker, so the sound quality isn't spectacular. It's just ok.

2. I use it for everything you mentioned + some light aperture work, and it's not too bad. The fan will come up at around 65 deg C and some people mention a shut down of one core when it gets too hot...but I haven't seen it in mine yet. The MBA was meant for light computer usage like internet and productivity apps.

Good luck!

 

[iToaster]

Si vous voudriez, je parlerais en francais (je sais un peu). Anyway, the sound won't be dull, you should be able to happily watch a movie on it, but it's no 5.1 surround sound. As for programs, you should be fine as long as you don't venture into the specialist things (ie Final Cut would be a no no). The MacBook Air should be a good computer for you. Are you planning on buying the optical drive, or is it a second computer?

 

[aristobrat]

Second, i only do normal stuff like web browsing, watching movies, music, chat, office... I don't really do heavy stuff like photoshop or video editing, so i would like to know if the 4200 rpm drive will really affect the speed during these tasks ?

I was at the Apple store today playing with two Airs, one with the SSD and one with the 4200 drive.

Initial boot and loading a program for the first time, the SSD was amazingly fast. The 4200 one was just OK.

However, once a program was loaded, I couldn't tell any difference between the two models. They both felt as fast (or faster) than my 2.16ghz C2D MBP.

Personally, I'm going to snag a 1.6/80 and just deal with the fact that right after a reboot, it's going to be slower than I'd like. But after everything I'm going to use has been opened once and cached in memory, it's going to fly.

 

[ddd269]

For the use that you described, the MBA will be fine. I'm sure you read in the other threads that many people stopped using their MBP and MacPros since they got the MBA. That should give you a clear indication of the capabilities of the MBA. I personally have used my MBP only a couple of times since I got the MBA a month ago. Haven't encountered any "lack" of power or capabilities yet. The only thing I might bring to your attention is, if you plan to watch movies without a headset, then you'll have a hard time listening to the sound because the sound that comes out of the speaker is very low (even at max setting). This is not a problem unique to MBA as it is the same way with most laptops.

 

[djspace]

Thanks a lot guys, i really appreciate your help and it really is useful for me.

IToaster, i have a mac mini C2D 2 Ghz at home so that and my MBA would be the only computers i use. The mini probably isn't a lot faster than the MBA but i can watch 1080p movies on my 46 inch tv without any problem . Anyway i'm planning on buying the superdrive just in case.

I currently have an old HP laptop with altec lansing speakers on it, so i think i'll go in a store to check the speakers. I'll try to find a place where the have them on display because there is no apple store in Quebec City .

For the same price i can get a MBP but i dont think i need all that power and also the MBA is so sexy.

Anyway thank you guys, i'll let you know when my choice is made.