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was going to buy the 13 ended up with 11

E

echo44

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 21, 2008
376
165
Went to the apple store where I was planning to check out the 13 inch
model and than my plan was to order the decked out 13 inch online with the faster processor and 4gb ended up going home with a stock 11 inch with 128gb
they are that cool!!!!! I am surprised how functional the 11 is
Apple has another big hit on their hand!
 
Congrats :) Based on reactions on these forums there are more and more people who buy the 11.6" instead of the 13.3".
 
I saw the 11 in model yesterday and was just amazed at the size of that thing! I'm just worried about speed. I'd probably have to upgrade at every new release! Keep us informed at how it handles iPhoto, iMovie, Aperture and or Lightroom if you have those! Also, all of Apple's other iWork apps too!

C64 said:
Congrats :) Based on reactions on these forums there are more and more people who buy the 11.6" instead of the 13.3".
Click to expand...
 
price was no object
i am sure the 13.3 is more powerful
the 11 feels really fast! I am sure the ss memory
has a lot to do with it.
 
I had just purchased the 11.6 today as well. They had both on display at the Apple Store today. I am finally using the new MBA and I absolutely love it so far. Completely different than my MB thats for sure. I already have my Microsoft on this and everything else that I typically use on my MB. It is also a lot better than the Dell mini I was also using. I did not think that it was that big of a deal going with the 13 when I had played with both of them in the store today. I mean that as in the screen. Like others have said it deff is not a netbook!! I am in love right now and really have to thank the forum for the help and advice on the MBA!! I did go with the base model. The guy at the store was like why didnt you just call us about the new MBA I was like hmm cos macrumors helped me!! He laughed but hey I love you guys on here!! :D
 
Same boat here... went to Apple store checked em out, then found out the Best Buy near me had them as well. Since I'm a silver rewards member I went for the 11" considering I have 45 days to decide. So far, pretty damn impressive. This machine shows just how slow and what a bottle neck traditional HDD's are. I'm not looking to do photoshop, or CPU intensive tasks, this is a go everywhere i go computing platform that will allow me to carry my media (as I did on my iPad) easily connect to my work VPN and have the advantage of a physical keyboard without the restriction the iPad has.

So far HD streaming doesn't even strain this thing (1.4/2gig/128SS). No noticeable heat after watching 2 (90 min) TV shows on Hulu, streaming lots of different 720, and 1080p Youtube video's and about everything I can think of from an online perspective. Some sites had smaller text, but as it's OSX a quick command & + key enlarges it rather nicely to more than readable without further zooming.

The SS storage really makes this an impressive laptop. I don't care what people call it, using it is impressive from boot time, load time to installing software. The overall performance is very, very fast and you would never know your using a 1.4 C2D CPU.

Color me impressed.
 
I am not disagreeing with you. To each their own.

But I just don't get how somebody can want a laptop that shows so little on a screen.

When writing, you see such a small portion of a page.

When browsing, you see so little of it.

When reading anything more than snippets, there is just too much scrolling too often.

At least that is how it is for me.

I kept hearing about how great these 11" MBAs were, so I went down and played with one again today, but just came to the same conclusions. They look great, just because they're like little Mac jewels, but I don't get why somebody would want to use one all the time, even just for browsing and email. The 13" isn't much larger, and the workspace on the screen is so much more useful.

At least that's how I see it.

I am sure you'll enjoy your 11".
 
They shouldn't even make the 13in model. The point of the Air is the size, and the 11in make perfect sense as a Apple netbook. If you get the 13in, you might as well get the 13" Macbook Pro or regular Macbook. They are cheaper and more powerful. The only benefit of the 13in Air is lighter weight - which isn't really worth it in my opinion.
 
netdog said:
I am not disagreeing with you. To each their own.

But I just don't get how somebody can want a laptop that shows so little on a screen.

When writing, you see such a small portion of a page.

When browsing, you see so little of it.

When reading anything more than snippets, there is just too much scrolling too often.

At least that is how it is for me.

I kept hearing about how great these 11" MBAs were, so I went down and played with one again today, but just came to the same conclusions. They look great, just because they're like little Mac jewels, but I don't get why somebody would want to use one all the time, even just for browsing and email. The 13" isn't much larger, and the workspace on the screen is so much more useful.

At least that's how I see it.

I am sure you'll enjoy your 11".
Click to expand...

Very vaild points, and the only reasons why I am still on the fence.

I guess someone should post some clear pictures of the amount of text you can have (no. of lines, paragraphs) on a browser on a word processor, in the little beauty.
 
bossxii said:
So far HD streaming doesn't even strain this thing (1.4/2gig/128SS). No noticeable heat after watching 2 (90 min) TV shows on Hulu, streaming lots of different 720, and 1080p Youtube video's and about everything I can think of from an online perspective.
Click to expand...
That's pretty awesome.
 
billysea said:
They shouldn't even make the 13in model. The point of the Air is the size, and the 11in make perfect sense as a Apple netbook. If you get the 13in, you might as well get the 13" Macbook Pro or regular Macbook. They are cheaper and more powerful. The only benefit of the 13in Air is lighter weight - which isn't really worth it in my opinion.
Click to expand...

The difference in weight between the MBP and the MBA is a big deal for many of us. For me, it's a lot more portable, and I've had one since day one. The difference in footprint between the 13" and the 11" is meaningless to me as both fit in anything I would carry them in. I do like the weight of the 11" but the screen is a toy to me whereas the 13" is a very usable monitor.

I think Jobs was right when he decried screens smaller than 13", and despite what people are saying here, I do think the 11" is a netbook, albeit a reasonably snappy one.

But hey, people loved netbooks, and obviously Apple is going to sell a ton of these 11" units. I had one of the small Sony's a few years ago, which also had a small but high res screen, and found it useless for getting work done. Just too fiddly.

But like I said, it's horses for courses. I hope all of you who choose the 11" wind up loving it. I just know that I wouldn't.
 
billysea said:
the 11in make perfect sense as a Apple netbook
Click to expand...

Now you've voided your warranty.

This is why I caution people to read the fine print in Apples documentation. In the case of the MBA it clearly states and I quote:

"Steve Jobs, otherwise known as the CEO", _Hates_ netbooks. He has publicly trashed them repeatedly, he believes they are totally worthless, and anyone caught calling any Apple product a netbook will have their warranty voided. No exceptions.






*just kidding* .... :)
 
billysea said:
They shouldn't even make the 13in model. . . The only benefit of the 13in Air is lighter weight - which isn't really worth it in my opinion.
Click to expand...

Um, no.

You obviously don't do a lot of traveling for leisure or business. After negotiating taxis and town cars, airport security and boarding, overhead luggage, club rooms and hotels, all of it with your business satchel slung over your shoulder, when you can buy a Macbook Air 13" and cut the weight of the Pro essentially in half and have a little more room in the bag -- it is an enormous difference. Enormous for anyone on the road.

Plus for anyone in business, $2k for a computer is nothing. That's the cost of one business trip, or even a dinner with several clients. Literally nothing.

Well, well worth it to buy a machine that cuts down on encumbrance.
 
Velin said:
Um, no.

You obviously don't do a lot of traveling for leisure or business. After negotiating taxis and town cars, airport security and boarding, overhead luggage, club rooms and hotels, all of it with your business satchel slung over your shoulder, when you can buy a Macbook Air 13" and cut the weight of the Pro essentially in half and have a little more room in the bag -- it is an enormous difference. Enormous for anyone on the road.

Plus for anyone in business, $2k for a computer is nothing. That's the cost of one business trip, or even a dinner with several clients. Literally nothing.

Well, well worth it to buy a machine that cuts down on encumbrance.
Click to expand...

Hear hear.
 
^ Yup. The 13" MBP might not feel that heavy, but if you carry it around for more than 10 minutes you really start to feel it. Let alone dragging it around every day. Sure, it's possible. But having something that's not really heavier than a book or whatever, is pretty great.
 
I have to say that the 11.6" is an awesome little machine, and that's just from playing with it for 45 minutes in the Apple Store this afternoon (I only got my hands on the 1.4 GHz 64GB).

For day to day tasks, I don't see how it couldn't be more than adequate; it was certainly faster than my 2.4 GHz 20" mid-2007 iMac. People who are worrying about the processor need not worry, we've all just been brainwashed by Intel's marketing. Remember the days when a 500MHz PPC could run circles around a 2.0 GHz Wintel machine? It's a similar theory here, the SSD makes up for the lower clock speed.

As for the screen, it's beautiful. With the high resolution, there's no need to worry IMO. You have a little bit more screen real-estate than you would get on a 13" MBP. There's also the fact that it can drive a 27" Cinema Display at full resolution (2560 x 1440); which is the perfect solution for doing anything that requires more real-estate.

I agree with what everyone has said in regards to the weight of the MBA vs. the MBP. Just from holding them off the tables in the stores, I was able to tell how much of a difference a little bit of weight makes. The MBP gets heavy after 30 seconds in your hand, but the Air is litterally like Air, you could almost forget that it is in your hand (I would have except it almost got knocked out of my hand by some d-bag in the store who had an ego and an attitude bigger than SJ^1,000,000).

-Don
 
wirelessmacuser said:
Now you've voided your warranty.

This is why I caution people to read the fine print in Apples documentation. In the case of the MBA it clearly states and I quote:

"Steve Jobs, otherwise known as the CEO", _Hates_ netbooks. He has publicly trashed them repeatedly, he believes they are totally worthless, and anyone caught calling any Apple product a netbook will have their warranty voided. No exceptions.

*just kidding* .... :)
Click to expand...

hahahaha...too funny!!!!!:D
 
billysea said:
They shouldn't even make the 13in model. The point of the Air is the size, and the 11in make perfect sense as a Apple netbook. If you get the 13in, you might as well get the 13" Macbook Pro or regular Macbook. They are cheaper and more powerful. The only benefit of the 13in Air is lighter weight - which isn't really worth it in my opinion.
Click to expand...

I'd actually argue just the opposite.

The 13" MBP released this past spring was what I originally wanted. Small, lighter than the 15" MBP and still had most of the computing power I needed. But I just couldn't bring myself to buy it since the weight difference was so minimal between it and the 15" relative to the power. I'm glad I went with the 15" and not the 13" MBP "Junior" model.

Now that the 13" MBA has been released, the 13" MBP "Junior" is obsolete. Apple's new line of computers should go: 11" MBA Netbook, Plastic Macbooks, 13" MBA sub-notebook, 15" MBP, 17" MBP.

The 11" should be positioned as the consumer-level Apple OSX alternative to Windows Netbooks and low-end laptops and the Macbook plastic models targeted against the cheap low-end HP and Toshiba plastic laptops that litter Best Buy.
 
C64 said:
^ Yup. The 13" MBP might not feel that heavy, but if you carry it around for more than 10 minutes you really start to feel it. Let alone dragging it around every day. Sure, it's possible. But having something that's not really heavier than a book or whatever, is pretty great.
Click to expand...

I can vouch for this. I travel over a 100,000 miles a year for work and currently have a 13" MBP. The weight gets very tedious after a while despite only being 4.5 lbs. 3 lbs and below is definitely a threshold number when carrying a notebook around. How many business men do you see carrying around a full blown Thinkpad T/R/W series vs. a Thinkpad X series? The X series is unbelievably popular due to the weight. Can't wait to get my hands on the 13" MBA.
 
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