Wanted to buy 11inch....ended up buying 13inch "ultimate"

[Dammit Cubs]

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My original planned involved having a computer that never leaves home used to manage my data and torrents.

I'm highly thinking about going base model 13 inch. 2gb of ram should be enough and I'll never feel the 2.16 difference. Saving me 500. If I go 11 I'm going, base. There's no really point in making a slow computer 10% faster. It's going to seem the same.

I opened the corner of the box wrapping. Then I stopped. Lol does that count?

 

[arctic]

Just go for it, open it completely, give your Whitebook a few days while you transfer all your stuff to the new Air and sell it. Then you can start saving money again. If ever you need an optical drive, buy the cheapest non-Apple one you can find. As you continue saving, before you know it, it's Spring and you'll see Apple announcing Sandy Bridge to Pros. Your speedy 13 will still make a good second computer as compared to a weaker 11 incher. If you won't get another computer, this is a better primary than a weaker 11".

 

[sparkie7]

I'm highly thinking about going base model 13 inch. 2gb of ram should be enough and I'll never feel the 2.16 difference. Saving me 500. If I go 11 I'm going, base. There's no really point in making a slow computer 10% faster. It's going to seem the same.

I opened the corner of the box wrapping. Then I stopped. Lol does that count?

Not a good idea to go with only 2GB RAM. Down the line you will need 4GB.

Stop being a nancy pants and open the MBA up already!

 

[Dammit Cubs]

I couldn't sleep. I just think about what I have done. And you know what. ******* it. I just turn on the lights ran to the living room and opened it up.

I can't win. I want both the 11in and the power of the 13 in and that won't happen...yet.

So i'll suck up the fact that it cost me 800 more than I wanted to spend. It's fine. I can finally proceed with my life.

P.S. Did I mention Im going to vegas tommorrow and probably lose more money.

 

[SamTheeGeek]

64gb is just too little in my opinion, so yea 13" 128 or 256GB is the way to go.

 

[arctic]

P.S. Did I mention Im going to vegas tommorrow and probably lose more money.

Hey don't jinx it. You might win some and find yourself affording another 11" as your second computer.

 

[sparkie7]

I couldn't sleep. I just think about what I have done. And you know what. ******* it. I just turn on the lights ran to the living room and opened it up.

Sweet - way to go! Life is too short. I don;t know *how* you waited. I would have opened up that baby in a flash

I can't win. I want both the 11in and the power of the 13 in and that won't happen...yet.

Just think of all the extras you got with your 13"

-- more RAM > future proofed and for a main machine - a must
-- SD Card reader > very handy
-- more SSD space > trust me you'll be glad you got this option
-- 2.13GHz + increased cache > should be zippy fast!
-- extra 2" screen > it maybe not be as 'cute' as the 11" but much more workable and you'll be more productive

P.S. Did I mention Im going to vegas tommorrow and probably lose more money.

If you start winning, have the sense to chip in WALK AWAY. If you stay and keep playing you will EVENTUALLY lose it. Only play what you can afford to LOSE

 

[Abstract]

You wanted your 13.3" white MB to be your primary computer, and an 11.6" MBA to be your second computer?

Dude(tte), keep the 13" MBA "ultimate" and sell the white Macbook. If you need an optical drive, buy the external DVD drive.

Even if you had got the 11" MBA, I still would not have understood why you'd want your white MacBook to be your primary, and your 11" MBA to be your secondary computer. The specs are still close, and it's not as if one is much better than the other. Heck, the 11" screen has a higher resolution than your 13" screen. Again, makes no sense to me.

If you're going to swap, I suggest getting the slower version of the 13" MBA, but get 4 GB of RAM.

 

[Dammit Cubs]

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Oh I want the MacBook white to be my primary computer because it never leaves my 24 inch monitor. It never turns off and I download TBs of movies. Even when
Gone on trips, I Download entire series (no seasons....series of hd quality tv shows)

I work 50 hours a day where I have to use my IBM. Having a 11.6 inch that fits on alot of small places is nice. Plus it can play 1080p mkvs smooth.

11.6 inch would be my travel companion along side my iPad. I need some computer to handle server duties. My originL plan was to buy the cheapest 11.6 inch and Change the white MacBook to a Mac mini. This way I spent only 1000. I have the ultra portable Mac I always wanted. And a secondary server computer that controls my iTunes sync and everything else.

Now. I have to hope to god, I can sell my computer on eBay for 500+. I'll throw in a magic mouse and keyboard.

 

[tigres]

I couldn't sleep. I just think about what I have done. And you know what. ******* it. I just turn on the lights ran to the living room and opened it up.

I can't win. I want both the 11in and the power of the 13 in and that won't happen...yet.

So i'll suck up the fact that it cost me 800 more than I wanted to spend. It's fine. I can finally proceed with my life.

P.S. Did I mention Im going to vegas tommorrow and probably lose more money.

Good move, sell the macbook. Don't look back.

 

[arctic]

My originL plan was to buy the cheapest 11.6 inch and Change the white MacBook to a Mac mini.

Smart idea. You can still get the new mini if you can sell the Macbook. Best of both worlds. The 2 inch difference of the 13 and 11 is not that much imho. And you still have the better device spec-wise. In the long run, its the better move.

 

[Dammit Cubs]

Smart idea. You can still get the new mini if you can sell the Macbook. Best of both worlds. The 2 inch difference of the 13 and 11 is not that much imho. And you still have the better device spec-wise. In the long run, its the better move.

Well. If I bought a Mac mini now....I feel like it would be redundant in terms of processing power. I'll sell my MacBook. Because I originally forecasted 1200 as my budget. So I'm over.....by alot. But if a refurb mini comes up, I'll highly consider. Or I'll end up getting a windows set top box to manage my torrents.

 

[arctic]

Or I'll end up getting a windows set top box to manage my torrents.

Yeah, if its just for a stationary torrent machine, a cheap windows box sounds plausible.

 

[KPOM]

I work 50 hours a day where I have to use my IBM.

Wow! How you manage to work 50 hours in a 24 hour day on a PC from a manufacturer who pulled out of the business years ago is amazing.

Seriously, though, I'd suggest finding a way to convert the MB Air to your "primary" Mac.

 

[Dammit Cubs]

Okay so after using it for about a couple of hours. Doing tons of data migration. I don't see the advantage of spending 1800 dollars.

It is snappy. But not any less snappy then a 11inch. That's what really bothers me. THe battery life looks good and i ran 1080p youtube and 1080p MKVs. Both ran great. I really dont do much with my mac. Because I come home late and i just end up browsing the web, watching a movie and going to sleep.

I wonder if really i should down grade. I'm going to run some more numbers. My macbook white is keeping up with the air. it's just the harddrive is too slow.

 

[bcaslis]

Keep in mind if you downgrade and still want 4GB ram (highly recommended) then you either need to custom order or get the 11" ultimate at the store. That will only save you $400 assuming you don't get charged the restocking fee. If the larger resolution screen doesn't matter and the 256GB space then downgrading make sense, but those are the main features I find attractive about the 13".

 

[catalyst6]

Yea, it's a tough call.. I actually took three people with me to the apple store to make the decision.

And for me i actually changed my mind three times between separate configurations. .

In the beginning i knew i wanted a 13" simply because of the specs.. But as soon as i got to the Apple Store and seen them - The 13" is big, I mean really huge when compared to the 11"..

For me this computer was to take on the daily tasks and become my main computer.. Any video editing or heavy gaming would be done by a 15" MBP.. But i'd use this computer for work every day and on travel.

So, back to the apple store... Once i seen how huge the 13" was compared to the 11" i opted for the base model 11".. Figured, i'd be getting one over on Apple if i stuck with the $999 model and applied my corporate discount.. They bagged it up and i took it home.. .

Once i started loading Win 7 and my office apps i was left with roughly 15 gigs of free space left.. . (5 on the windows side and 10 on the Mac side).
This little machine took nearly everything i threw at and i quickly became a fan, with one concern.. HD space, so off i marched to the apple store to upgrade it to a 11" w/ the 128 HD option.. a $200 upgrade.

Once i got it home i was really happy - but soon after, i started having nightmares..
'Only $100 more dollars for the base 13" - my subconscious ' muttered..
Then i started looking at the benefits -

- Larger screen
- More Battery Life
- Much Faster Processor
- More L2 Cache
- Faster FSB
- SD card slot

All that for only $100 more dollars..
I tossed and turned for a couple of nights and off i went back to the apple store yet again - determined to come home with the base 13".. Along, i grabbed my support group who completely understood my needs.. I also, took my 15" MBP to compare the size in person with the 13"..

Once i sat my 15" next to the 13" the footprint of the 13" was hardly smaller than my 15".. So, why would i rid myself of the 15" just for a slightly smaller footprint and sacrifice that much performance.. I wouldn't!

So, instead of going with the 13" i decided to pay another $160 and upgrade to the ultimate 11.6

For my purposes, i was never looking to replace the awesome performance of my 15" MBP - what i was looking to do is increase my portability and have fun with a novelty machine - something better than the iPad (which i passed on)


At the end of the day, i'm more than satisfied with the 11.6.
I was also worried with the substantially increased performance of the 13" in such a small enclosure re: Heat, Fans and subsequent slow downs as a result.. .

Sorry for the long winded reply but i felt somewhat obligated as i've gone through a similar situation..

- gl on your choice

Totally sums up my thoughts and why I ended up with the fully loaded 11 inch model. To me, the 13 is nothing new and for how large it is, why not just go with a loaded 13 MBP or 15 inch machine. I don't see the point of thinness on a 13 inch machine.

The 11 inch form factor with the thinness makes the new (smaller) MBA a real game changer.

 

[teksurv]

I don't know if this helps, but i just received my Ultimate 11" and i'm selling my 13" MBP. The very "snappy" performance plus the form factor made the 11" the right choice for me. The wife loves/uses my iPad 3G and the Mini serves as a desktop/streaming hub.

 

[gwsat]

I agonized over whether to buy the 11 inch ultimate or 13 inch ultimate MBA but finally decided on the 13 inch model. I was a little worried that even with 4GB of RAM and the 1.6Ghz chip, the 11 inch model might still be a little short of resources for my purposes. I run Windows 7 in a VMware Fusion virtual machine in Unity mode. This means that I simultaneously run both Windows apps and OS X apps from the OS X desktop. Anyway you slice it, such a setup is a resource hog.

Most importantly, the 11 inch model's 128GB of flash storage simply wasn't going to be enough for me because I already have nearly that much in data and programs on the 13 inch MBA's 256GB of flash storage. Having a 128GB flash drive filled up on opening day just wan't going to cut it.

I agree with other posters that the 13 inch ultimate MBA at $1,800, is pretty dear. That said, though, I am very encouraged on the basis of about half a day of use since I got everything installed on the MBA that it is going to be able to serve as the functional equivalent of my 2007 Santa Rosa MBP and let me get rid of my iPad, too. If so, the MBA will have been cheap at the price.

 

[Dammit Cubs]

okay so I just got back from the apple store. I told the manager my situation and asked if I can return the ultimate 13 inch. and she let me and waived the restocking fee. I ended up going with the ultimate 11 inch. Apparently, i went to a different apple store and they gave me a bit more percentage discount than normal (8% instead of 6%). I ended up putting 500 dollars back on my credit card.

The problem i'm having is that my macbook white is not that much slower than that ultimate 13 inch. Other than the SSD + better graphics card. I would personally like to have two apple computers instead of 1 apple computer. There is a certain way I want to have my computer life and it's going to require 2 computers.

The price bothered me. If i didn't already have an macbook, then 1800 is awesome. I have to save for trips to india and other factors and I'm also working to lower my debt. It just wasn't smart of me to do what I did.

Also, I jumped the gun. My heart wanted the 11 inch, my brain wanted the 13 inch and my wallet was causing me to have sleepless nights. I can't appreciate the ULTIMATE 13 inch without going through the chain of configurations. I know that will cost me more but atleast i will be confident i have to right computer that fits my needs.

I figured that if this ultimate 11 inch doesn't work out for me then its 13in 1.86 4GB 128 and we are done. Portability was really important for me. I know the macbook 13 in has better battery life, but i wouldn't be standing in front of my computer for more that 3 hours...maybe 5. Plus, its still a C2D. I felt wierd paying 1800 for a C2D.

One thing I have to say about the ultimate 13 in. My computer rebooted in 7 seconds!!!! not 15. 7!!!!! it was ridiculous.

Thanks for everyone's advice. You have given me good feedback and this whole macbook air is a just all screwed up. Soldering the configurations caused me to be this crazy. If we the users had options, i wouldn't of complained as much.

Now let's see what this guy can do.

 

[FAsnakes]

okay so I just got back from the apple store. I told the manager my situation and asked if I can return the ultimate 13 inch. and she let me and waived the restocking fee. I ended up going with the ultimate 11 inch. Apparently, i went to a different apple store and they gave me a bit more percentage discount than normal (8% instead of 6%). I ended up putting 500 dollars back on my credit card.

The problem i'm having is that my macbook white is not that much slower than that ultimate 13 inch. Other than the SSD + better graphics card. I would personally like to have two apple computers instead of 1 apple computer. There is a certain way I want to have my computer life and it's going to require 2 computers.

The price bothered me. If i didn't already have an macbook, then 1800 is awesome. I have to save for trips to india and other factors and I'm also working to lower my debt. It just wasn't smart of me to do what I did.

Also, I jumped the gun. My heart wanted the 11 inch, my brain wanted the 13 inch and my wallet was causing me to have sleepless nights. I can't appreciate the ULTIMATE 13 inch without going through the chain of configurations. I know that will cost me more but atleast i will be confident i have to right computer that fits my needs.

I figured that if this ultimate 11 inch doesn't work out for me then its 13in 1.86 4GB 128 and we are done. Portability was really important for me. I know the macbook 13 in has better battery life, but i wouldn't be standing in front of my computer for more that 3 hours...maybe 5. Plus, its still a C2D. I felt wierd paying 1800 for a C2D.

One thing I have to say about the ultimate 13 in. My computer rebooted in 7 seconds!!!! not 15. 7!!!!! it was ridiculous.

Thanks for everyone's advice. You have given me good feedback and this whole macbook air is a just all screwed up. Soldering the configurations caused me to be this crazy. If we the users had options, i wouldn't of complained as much.

Now let's see what this guy can do.

Good for you - have fun evaluating the 11".. I don't think it'll disappoint - for me personally, i have relatively high demands and it's meeting all of my requirements by far..
This thing is a productivity workhorse and has so far been able to play a ton of games...

- COD 4
- C&C 3
- Need 4 Speed Most Wanted

& i'm going to be trying other games next.. .
Plays everything just fine - this ultra portable is IMO amazing..

I would have loved to have had this last time i traveled to India..
If you haven't been, have fun - you'll enjoy!

 

[FAsnakes]

Totally sums up my thoughts and why I ended up with the fully loaded 11 inch model. To me, the 13 is nothing new and for how large it is, why not just go with a loaded 13 MBP or 15 inch machine. I don't see the point of thinness on a 13 inch machine.

The 11 inch form factor with the thinness makes the new (smaller) MBA a real game changer.

+1000000

Game changer indeed.. .

 

[Pipper99]

I only wish there was an app for OSX to make it function with windows like windows. (Dragging them to the side of the screen and having the window snap into place) EDT: I found a program named Cinch to do this!

A free program called shiftIt works quite good, too.

 

[Dammit Cubs]

so i found one error so far.

1080p video through VLC from Avatar and Iron man 2 showed choppy and studder during high bitrate moments.

Thats starting to bother me because i only download 1080p. 720p works okay

 

[FAsnakes]

so i found one error so far.

1080p video through VLC from Avatar and Iron man 2 showed choppy and studder during high bitrate moments.

Thats starting to bother me because i only download 1080p. 720p works okay

Did you try that on the 13" MBA you had?