Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Gymgenius

Suspended
Jan 29, 2010
211
127
I didn't expect this many people to sell iPads for the MBA. I just might sell my iPad (I hardly use it) if this many people have and not regretted it.

I'm another! Sold my 64gb Wifi iPad to part fund an 11.6 inch MBA Ultimate.
The MBA is incredible, and I don't really miss my iPad now either.

I only wish I'd bought one sooner.
 

sbb155

macrumors 6502
Jan 15, 2005
498
5
ipad is a great toy - needed the ability to compute - hello mba (to accompany the mbp and mp)
 

fizzwinkus

macrumors 6502a
Jan 27, 2008
665
0
i bought an ipad when they launched, and recently chose the 11" macbook air as my work computer so i have both. i prefer the ipad for two reasons - 3g and battery - but that comes with some pretty big caveats.

first, i use a mac pro at home. it does all the heavy lifting and stores everything (9tb in that thing right now)

second, i only have basic needs away from the house. they are vnc, my daily rss feeds, the web, and email. ibooks, apps, photos, etc are all gravy. ios limits don't bother me when i'm not at work or at home.

differences with the macbook air - the mba is an amazing machine, and if you need the flexibility of os x, it's a no brainer. if you don't, the ipad gives you more than twice the battery life and 3g connectivity in a smaller package. it can also be awkward to use in some situations: i plop the ipad on top of the treadmill console and watch tv shows or netflix at the gym - never going to try that with my macbook air. using it as a gps during a road trip was fantastic, especially with the nuclear reactor battery, and something we really didn't want to do with the mba or mbp we had.
 

Applepi

macrumors 6502a
Aug 15, 2007
549
0
Bought the iPad on launch day and used it for quite a bit. Over time though, web browsing started to get frustrating so I ditched it and bought the 13" Macbook Air. Don't regret it a bit.
 

pcshrink

macrumors newbie
Jan 3, 2004
17
0
Moorhead, MN
I just got my MBA and i have to say it is awesome!! I dont know if I would say it beats the iPad or the iPad is better? They are both different. Some things you cant do on the iPad that you can on the MBA, and some things (mostly games and other specific APPS) you cant have on the MBA. So, i think it is pure preference. Personally, I think I may sell mine to make room for the new one coming out. My MBA though is now dominant in my "food chain" of technology i own!:)
 

wh!plash

macrumors member
Mar 5, 2008
40
0
Sarasota, Fl
Another one here. Sold my 64GB wifi iPad, bought an 11" ultimate air.

I have a Mac Pro tower at the office, and a MBP 13 as a work computer for the house. Wife also has a MBP 13 from the office too.

I found I like having a machine laying around for casual use, and there were things I liked about the iPad. Mainly the battery, instant on, light weight, etc. But I didn't like how it was so limited in use. I'm an IT pro, and I just wished for a real computer with those same positives I liked about the iPad. The air seems to be exactly that.
 

ascender

macrumors 603
Dec 8, 2005
5,022
2,898
I think they're very different platforms and my main criticism of the ipad comes when I'm frustrated because its not a traditional laptop form factor. The inherent design of each makes them more comfortable to use for different tasks, like typing long documents, or as an e-reader for example.
 

kepardue

macrumors 6502
Oct 28, 2006
354
7
I have an iMac 27" at home and a Mac Pro at the office. I've been debating whether I should get a Macbook Air for portability when the need arises or to get an iPad 2 when it comes out. Speaking as someone who made the decision to get a refurbed Macbook Air yesterday--gosh, sounds like I made the right decision. Especially since I don't have an alternate mobile system.

Edited to fix some confusing grammar. :)
 

kepardue

macrumors 6502
Oct 28, 2006
354
7
Actually, beyond the few useful apps that might be iPad specific, about the only benefit I can think of that the iPad has over the MBA is being bundled with a (relatively) cheap, no contract solution for cellular Internet that you can turn on or off when you need it. That would be a Killer App (TM) for the MBA.
 

Pinksteady

macrumors 6502a
Aug 19, 2008
590
3
I sold my 32Gb 3G iPad for an 11" top-spec MacBook Air, and I haven't looked back.

The thing for me was that my iPad was my primary computer. It seems most people compliment a main machine with a laptop and/or iPad, but I didn't have a main machine, so when it came to knocking up a spreadsheet or something similar, the iPad wasn't ideally suited for the job.

I survived for 6 months with just an iPad, but eventually gave in and made the switch. I love my MacBook!

I wrote a bit more on this on my blog (shameless plug I know):

iPad as a primary computer (hint: it didn’t work out)
 

Acorn

macrumors 68030
Jan 2, 2009
2,643
352
macrumors
i havent sold my ipad yet. but after buying an 11 inch air i dont use the ipad very much. I have considered selling the ipad however my ipad has 3g and my air does not. 3g is great to have. I can hop on the net everywhere. its also great for snowstorms when you lose power. you can still surf. if my air had 3g i would definitely sell the ipad but it doesnt so i will hold on to it. ipad 2 will have to be really impressive for me to even bother to upgrade from air and ipad 1.
 

aznguyen316

macrumors 68010
Oct 1, 2008
2,001
1
Tampa, FL
I sold my 32Gb 3G iPad for an 11" top-spec MacBook Air, and I haven't looked back.

The thing for me was that my iPad was my primary computer. It seems most people compliment a main machine with a laptop and/or iPad, but I didn't have a main machine, so when it came to knocking up a spreadsheet or something similar, the iPad wasn't ideally suited for the job.

I survived for 6 months with just an iPad, but eventually gave in and made the switch. I love my MacBook!

I wrote a bit more on this on my blog (shameless plug I know):

iPad as a primary computer (hint: it didn’t work out)

lol read you blog =) I want an iPad, but I certainly could not use it as a main computer. I think knowing this before hand helps. I just sold my MBP and am lugging around an old 15" Dell. I am using my iPod Touch 4G more which is essentially a shrunken down iPad. So far it's getting the job done for my lounging around tasks... which leads me to believe an iPad would suit me fine and to complement my next Macbook purchase.
 

Jezak

macrumors member
Sep 3, 2008
71
73
I own and use both daily. The Air is now my primary machine when I need to get real work done. I use my iPad for meeting notes, email, and reading (Kindle, iBooks, etc) through out the day as its lighter and feels to be far more unobtrusive within our corporate environment.
 

Night Spring

macrumors G5
Jul 17, 2008
14,885
8,055
I've had the iPad since day 1, and still use it every day. I recently bought the Air, but I only use it about once or twice a week. Most of the time, when I have "real work" to do, I do it on my iMac. The Air is only used when I absolutely have to get some work done while on the go. And the iPad is my main entertainment device (ebooks, surfing, twitter, text&email), both at home and while on the go. I tried reading and surfing on the Air, but the keyboard just gets in the way. So basically, the Air is just work-only. I can see how someone who wants a computer mainly for work would pick the Air over the iPad, but if you want an entertainment device, I think the iPad wins hands down.
 

Pinksteady

macrumors 6502a
Aug 19, 2008
590
3
i havent sold my ipad yet. but after buying an 11 inch air i dont use the ipad very much. I have considered selling the ipad however my ipad has 3g and my air does not. 3g is great to have. I can hop on the net everywhere. its also great for snowstorms when you lose power. you can still surf. if my air had 3g i would definitely sell the ipad but it doesnt so i will hold on to it. ipad 2 will have to be really impressive for me to even bother to upgrade from air and ipad 1.

If lack of 3G is the only thing holding you back, then there options available to you:

1. Tether your MacBook with your phone. I have just jailbroken my iPhone 4 (iOS 4.2.1) and am now using my phobe's 3G connection to go on the Internet with my mac, FOR FREE.
2. Buy a dongle or MiFi device. If you are already paying a subscription for your iPad's 3G support then the only additional cost would be the one-off cost of the device.
3. Go legit and pay your phone provider for tethering support (expensive in my experience)
 

Pinksteady

macrumors 6502a
Aug 19, 2008
590
3
I've had the iPad since day 1, and still use it every day. I recently bought the Air, but I only use it about once or twice a week. Most of the time, when I have "real work" to do, I do it on my iMac. The Air is only used when I absolutely have to get some work done while on the go. And the iPad is my main entertainment device (ebooks, surfing, twitter, text&email), both at home and while on the go. I tried reading and surfing on the Air, but the keyboard just gets in the way. So basically, the Air is just work-only. I can see how someone who wants a computer mainly for work would pick the Air over the iPad, but if you want an entertainment device, I think the iPad wins hands down.

MacBook Air used once or twice a week? Was that money well spent!?
 

jamesryanbell

macrumors 68020
Mar 17, 2009
2,171
93
no it is selling well because it is the newest thing. when the new macbook pro comes out the air will fade into obscurity again just like the last revisions

If no one bought it, they wouldn't have made it. It's not some obscure item (the previous gen) that no one ever bought. If it would've been something that didn't matter, they ABSOLUTELY wouldn't have produced another version of the same idea. First gen MBA = success. Second gen MBA = success.

That's not really debatable.
 

Night Spring

macrumors G5
Jul 17, 2008
14,885
8,055
MacBook Air used once or twice a week? Was that money well spent!?

Possibly not. :p
I really like the Air, it's the most well-built notebok I've ever owned. I just don't have a significant need for *any* notebook in my life at the moment. Well, other than the once or twice a week when I need one, and I was tired of lugging around the old Sony Vaio on those occasions - I think it weighs about twice as much as the Air. And since I have the cash to spend, I just decided to indulge a bit.But obviously, if I had to sell off one of my devices, the Air will be the first to go.

I just wanted to point out that whether the Air or iPad is more useful depends on the individual circumstance. Come to think of it, if I were still in school, I might take the Air+iPad and forego the iMac. It all just depends.
 

Detlev_73

macrumors 6502
Jul 20, 2004
279
0
Roswell, GA
Just sold my iPad this morning

I bought my 11.6" MacBook Air in October, and I love it. It's the perfect size: it's also surprisingly fast. The iPad was neat and all, but too heavy for its size and didn't like that it couldn't run Flash websites. Sure more sites have been improved for iPad, but not fast enough.

My wishes for a future iPad model are that it eventually gets a Retina-like screen, SD card slot, and it would be neat if there were a 7" option. I think that the iPad will grow into a family similar to iPods. 10" seems rather large: OK, no comments from the peanut gallery. :eek:
 

petvas

macrumors 603
Jul 20, 2006
5,479
1,808
Munich, Germany
I have an iPad 3G 32GB and a Macbook Air 11" Ultimate. The Macbook Air I got five days ago, so the novelty is still there
As I am writing this, I am sitting on the sofa and using my Macbook Air.

If you want to just surf the Internet (with no flash) and check emails, then get the iPad. If you want more than that get the Macbook Air. It is an amazing laptop that is so small, you can carry it almost everywhere. My main computer is a Mac Pro, so I really need one device as a companion to the Mac Pro. It has to be mobile, fast and it shouldn't make me feel limited in any way.
I own iPads since last June. My first one was an iPad 16GB Wifi only model, which I sold in December in order to get the 3G 32 model. If you are planning to have lot of games or movies get the 32GB model and not the 16GB.
My main issue with the iPad is believe or not multitasking! The RAM is too small and when surfing with Safari you will see that. Having more than two tabs causes almost certainly the pages to refresh every time you go back to them. I hate that. I don't want to have the pages get refreshed every time I go back to them. I understand why this is happening but it irritates me nevertheless. Having a touch based GUI is certainly great and the feeling you get surfing the Internet is also nice, but after a couple of months and when the novelty wears off you will start seeing the limitations imposed by the hardware. Another point of criticism is app switching. Apps do tend to resume slowly and there is almost always a lag when apps resume, which I also don't like.
Now that I think about it there is also something else. The keyboard has an annoying auto correction (which can be turned off), the same as on the iPhone. If you don't mind it, you won't have any problems with it.

Now to the Macbook Air. This is an amazing laptop. I got the ultimate configuration with 1.6Ghz CPU, 4GB RAM and 128GB Flash storage. I use it for Internet surfing, Emails, Note taking, movie watching, chatting, video conferencing and many other typical computing tasks. Nothing processor intensive here. The system behaves very fast and you won't notice any lag.
I am really torn apart as I know that having both devices isn't really logical, but if I was to give up one of them it would be the iPad and not the Macbook Air.
 

olisones

macrumors 6502
Aug 8, 2008
251
16
I'm expecting delivery of an 11" ultimate refurb on Monday having sold my 32gb Wifi iPad. I agree with other posters - the iPad is great for emails, surfing etc, but I found trying to get anything done on it like spreadsheets and documents was tough. I've been working away from my office more, and I found it was beginning to hold my work flow back so wanted something equally portable but more powerful - the Air made most sense.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.