Why all the concern about HD space?

[macdent]

I keep dragging my feet - confirmed there is a MBA in town, but keep reading the forums!
My thoughts are that why be so concerned about space when you can have a 1.8" HD mini the size of a few business cards attached when needed to your USB and "grab" any extra stuff we all seem so afraid to have on our MBA's HD?
Am I blowing smoke up my own or what????:

 

[tersono]

well, internal storage does overcome the need to lug accessories around with you (which is kinda the point with the MBA, no? )

However, my view is that 80gb is more than enough for a machine used as a second computer. I wouldn't want to have that little space on a primary machine, but for the ultra-portable market that the MBA is aimed at, I would have thought that it'd be more than enough...

 

[teerexx52]

I keep dragging my feet - confirmed there is a MBA in town, but keep reading the forums!
My thoughts are that why be so concerned about space when you can have a 1.8" HD mini the size of a few business cards attached when needed to your USB and "grab" any extra stuff we all seem so afraid to have on our MBA's HD?
Am I blowing smoke up my own or what????:

I'm not too concerned about space. I have a MacBook Pro which I'm thinking of selling if I can convince myself that the MacBook Air will do it for me. I have both computers set up identically. I have 62GB free on my Air. I did remove languages and such as well as using Xslimmer but its fine. My Itunes library is on my 32gb Touch and I have an external HD if I need it. So, I think the Air is fine for only computer (based upon your needs and mine are minimal). With time capsule coming I think it would be even easier to get by with the 80gb HD on the Air. Good luck!

 

[TxMacAddict]

I just repaired a Dell that was a little over 2 years old and it had a 2.5" 30GB HD spinning at 4200 RPMs. The owner of the laptop didn't seem to have any problems using it. The "underpowered" Air would be a huge step up for allot of notebook users out their.

 

[clayj]

I keep dragging my feet - confirmed there is a MBA in town, but keep reading the forums!
My thoughts are that why be so concerned about space when you can have a 1.8" HD mini the size of a few business cards attached when needed to your USB and "grab" any extra stuff we all seem so afraid to have on our MBA's HD?
Am I blowing smoke up my own or what????:

Macdent, your comments are well-taken.

The MBA's HD/SSD is definitely big enough to do most anything you need to do... you can install a hell of a lot of apps and/or data in there. But when you have a lot of space-intensive media files (music, movies, etc.), those things will eat your HD space for lunch.

Yes, you can add an external hard drive and have access to all the data you want. I've purchased a 320 GB external USB HD solely for that reason, so I can keep ALL of my data with me at all times. But I'd prefer not to have to plug it in every time I want to do something... that's why I (among others) have focused so much on (1) making the best use of space on the MBA's internal HD and (2) finding cool ways to access data that don't involve having to use something that physically plugs into the MBA. For me, the external USB HD is #3 on my list of preferred storage media; it's there if I need it, but hopefully I won't.

Whoever it was that said "the network is the computer" was more right than they know. The MBA, among other machines, is steering us down a path where portability is augmented by near-universal access to data stores. The time is coming when many technophiles (and then everyone else, later on) will have dedicated storage in their home or at work, and they'll be able to access that info from anywhere they can get a network connection. Between ultraportables, iPhones and other smartphones, and things like Remote Desktop Control and web-enabled applications, you can almost do anything from anywhere at this point... as long as you can get on the web.

 

[Mr.Green]

I travel for work every week, and my former computer was a Macbook Pro with a 250 gig drive. I'm having a hard time trying to figure out how to carry a subset of my itunes library (40 gigs) and a subset of my iPhotos (80 gigs) on my MBA and then getting everything to sync up when I get home.

 

[teerexx52]

I travel for work every week, and my former computer was a Macbook Pro with a 250 gig drive. I'm having a hard time trying to figure out how to carry a subset of my itunes library (40 gigs) and a subset of my iPhotos (80 gigs) on my MBA and then getting everything to sync up when I get home.

I have been using a portable external hard drive for that purpose before I had the Air. Use a 250GB Western Digital

 

[Mr.Green]

I have been using a portable external hard drive for that purpose before I had the Air. Use a 250GB Western Digital

I use a 120gb WD external drive in addition to the 250gb internal on my MBP. I think I'm just a data pack rat and have to try and break that habit.

 

[teerexx52]

I use a 120gb WD external drive in addition to the 250gb internal on my MBP. I think I'm just a data pack rat and have to try and break that habit.

You know its funny you say that. Since I bought my MacBook pro last November with 120gb drive I debated on changing it out for a 250 or 320. In fact I was within a whisker of having someone do it for me at considerable cost. But when I sat down and looked at what I really really needed on my computer and what could go on external drives (and later Time Capsule) I was able to get my load down to 14GB!!! It took some planning and thinking but I did it. Its funny what happens when you start thinking a bit differently about things.

I also have been stacking my 1.6 MacBook Air up against my MacBook pro and for what I do I can't tell the difference. Scares me!!!! LOL

 

[SCMedic]

I took my brand new MBA, and reinstalled leopard, ending up with about 65gigs of space... I don't get the big hard drive space issue either, because most likely, I'll never keep 60gigs of crap on a second computer.. All my music/movies/pictures and what not are on my 500gig external on my desktop. I plug in the MBA, grab the movies/music I want and go!

 

[Krevnik]

I took my brand new MBA, and reinstalled leopard, ending up with about 65gigs of space... I don't get the big hard drive space issue either, because most likely, I'll never keep 60gigs of crap on a second computer.. All my music/movies/pictures and what not are on my 500gig external on my desktop. I plug in the MBA, grab the movies/music I want and go!

The big concern is more on the SSD models I think. 64GB SSDs show up as 55GB free when freshly formatted. After a 7GB Leopard install, that means you are looking at ~45-48GB of free space for content. Anyone using VMWare or Boot Camp starts to cringe at this point.