reddirt14

I've got an opportunity to order one or two new Macbook Airs at a good discount (more than 10% off msrp). I've never used an Apple other than tinkering with them in the stores a few times. I'd like to give it a try and I'm extremely attracted to the lightweight, compact design for travelling. So here are the questions for the active travelling Mac users:

Question #1: Is a 1.4 ghz 11" MBA with 4 gb of ram enough. Alternatively I'm looking at the 1.8 ghz 13" with 4 gb of ram. The Harddrive size isn't that important. I'm comfortable swapping on and off what I need and I don't hoard albums of music and video on my laptops. Obviously I'm making an assumption that the required harddrive upgrade to get to the larger processor, isn't worth it, in my case.

My normal use will be Word, Excel, PowerPoint, a drawing program for graphics and maybe a little database work (Access). I may also tinker around with some custom coding (java). I am also excited to play with the movie maknig programs and photo editors. I've never done the later before and it's one reason I want to dabble with a Mac. I think an MBA could be a good introduction. I need a very light machine to travel with my corporate brick (lockdown and monitored machine), potentially to travel light, and to take on vacation without the wife complaining much.

Question #2: I tend to travel in first class about 30% of the time. I do a lot of short domestic flights in small planes without first class. Is the 13" small enough to open up. My 16" is fairly akward in economy, but if needed I can do it (bad screen angle). Is the 11" that much of an advantage? I alsohave an older 14" laptop and it's at that annoying level that it can get trapped in the latch of the forward seat reclining. I can see where the 11" MBA is absolutely perfect on a flight. But that screen just seems "clipped" (shorter than I can handle for much more than reading e-mail. Seeing a full page can be important for me. Or at least a good part of a page (either PowerPoint or Word).

Question #3: I could buy both machines and afford to try them both for a month or so before selling one. Do you think the resale on a slightly used MBA would be equal to or greater than 10% off MSRP after a month or two. Alternatively, I can probably put in an order with similar pricing ever 6 months to a year. Could I buy one, try it and sell it for what I've got in it after a year or less? I realize I'm in a fortunate situation to be able to take advantage of a large corporate purchase and get prices like this. I have no idea what the Mac resale market is like, but I get the feeling there MSRP is fairly well enforced (to the extreme) and the machines tend to hold a fairly high value. Is that correct?

Thank you fo any insight you have. I'm quite a rookie to the Mac world, but excited to try it out. I absolutely love the size and weight the machine. That alone is a winning proposition (11 or 13").

sajgidda

I have a Mac Pro, iMac, MacBook Pro (17"), iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone, Apple TV and a couple of Time Capsules. Basically the only thing I don't have is the MacBook Air, and I'll try and explain why...

MBA is not good value in my mind, not so much for the price alone but the features you get. It all depends on the user but I find the specs too low on any MBA. All things considered I would suggest the 13" MBP instead, that will not be obsolete nearly as quickly

I just don't like the styling of the MBA. That thick bezel around the screen just looks cheap and a throwback to 2006, especially compared to the gorgeous screens on the MBP which essentially go right to the edge

I have never even tried to use my MBP on a plane; first, business or *shudder* economy. Back in the day I had a 13" MB(P) for flights but now all I use is my iPad which is one of the handiest things I've ever bought. I have the 64GB WiFi (3G is useless to me as I am in a few different countries through the year) and all the video, music and apps I need for a 10+ hour flight are right on there. Speaking of which the battery will also last around the 10 hour mark with general use, more if you don't tax it with WiFi, Bluetooth and video etc.

You can use the Apple wireless keyboard with the iPad but I just take a little portable stand with me (TwelveSouth $39) and I've never had an issue typing longish documents. I also have a stylus if I need to draw any quick diagrams etc (I'm a doctor in training)

So my suggestion would be a combo of 13" MBP specced to your desire and an iPad. This is the perfect mix of form, function and portability. Nowadays I take the 17" in my roll aboard but it never sees the light of day until I get to my hotel. Music always playing through the iPhone, playing on the iPad or watching videos. Was especially useful this past 6 week run as I was flying American everywhere and their AVOD selection is god awful

EDIT: Your issue on 11" screens... Well, I have a 10.1" screen Netbook which I have used about 4 times ever. It is just impossible to browse comfortably if you have to scroll every few seconds. The extra diagonal inch certainly helps but I would avoid anything less than 13". The 10" on the iPad only works because of how pure the interface is, no toolbars etc

LIH Prem

You need to make the decision about 11" vs 13" by yourself. You can go to an Apple Store and check them out, right?

It doesn't really matter what I think, does it? (If it does, I think 11" is too small for me, but I also think that's my personal preference and it doesn't apply to you or anybody else.) For me, the 13" MBA was the perfect replacement for traveling with my 13" MBP, which is also fairly new. But I really wanted thin/light for travel.

The position you are in is pretty good. You really can't go wrong either way. If you don't like it, get another one and sell this one or give it to somebody else in the company. Get 2, they are cheap.

heck, just get the maxed out 13". You will like that one. That's what I have.

-David

jwhughes3

I have tried it several times. Of course easier in J. I don't know about 13".

If I was going to buy a 13" screen I'd get the Pro. For ease of weight and travel stick with 11". Scrolling isn't a big deal to me. If you really anticipate heavy computing use the above suggestion for a 13-15" Pro and an iPad (16GB wifi). You won't be disappointed.

John

manneca

I don't have an Air because of the lack of computing power. I do a lot of photography work and the Air is too underpowered. You'd be fine with word processing, spread sheet, email and that sort of stuff. Once you get into graphics or movie editing, I think you'd be disappointed with the Air.

I bought a MBP in April and it's beginning to feel slow and it's the fastest, most RAM Apple makes.

Efrem

As a classic example of YMMV, I've used a 17" MacBook Pro and before that a 17" PowerBook for several years, for the screen real estate. It's my only computer, which makes it also my only travel computer. I use it in coach seats as often as not. Takes a bit of wiggling, it helps that I'm skinny, but it works. Saving four pounds of weight would be nice, but for me it's way back of screen size in importance. (The fact that I'm one of those weirdos who walk up great big hills with a great big pack may help, but I think I'd want it anyhow.)

I do basically the same things the OP does, except that the coding is mostly JavaScript (unrelated to Java, despite Netscape's attempt to capitalize on Java's popularity by picking a related name) and VB. Having room for multiple windows is, for me, a biggie.

I say this not to claim that I'm right and others are therefore wrong, but to emphasize that this is totally a matter of taste. There is no substitute for seeing if it fits your working style. Since you can try both, I'd go for it. If for any reason this isn't practical, I'd start with the 11" and move up if it's not big enough.

Macs tend to hold their value better than Windows machines. I'm part of the reason: almost always buy used, in part so I can afford a 17-incher and have some money left for travel!

moman

Once you go Mac you don't go back

17" mac toter here too. I'm going to pick up the 13" MBA. One thing to consider is that the HD is solid state. The problem with 2 vs 4GB of RAM is that after the ram is full the hard drive is used as a virtual ram, which slows down drastically with spinning disks. Not true with solid state drives, which are almost as fast at the flash ram. So I'd go with the 2GB ram to save money.

I agree with the other poster who complained about the bezel around the screen. This certainly should be fixed.

The perfect trifecta for me would be iPhone, 13" MBA, 17" MBP for travel.

Tummy

For a first Mac experience, I can't recommend a Macbook Air.

For what you listed:
1) There is no Access in Office Mac.
2) iMovie editing will be horribly slow and frustrating.
3) Using iPhoto would be ok, but still pretty slow.

I have the 1st gen Macbook Air from 2008 and after 9 months, couldn't stand it anymore. It was just too restrictive for a general purpose computer especially if we wanted to play with media. I then got a 13" Unibody Macbook, then a 13" Macbook Pro, and most recently a i7 iMac 27".

The 11" size is great for travel, except it's missing a SD card slot that would make it easier to load photos.

I buy all my computers from Amazon where you get a slight discount (about $50) plus they don't collect state sales tax in most areas which is I think 9.75% in Cook county. On black friday last year I bought my Macbook Pro for $150 off on Amazon and paid $4 more to get it with Saturday delivery using Amazon Prime.

Tummy

They can't make the glass thin enough compared to the aluminum bezel. It will also add a bit of weight.

reddirt14

So the 4 gb of ram isn't really that important? I assumed it made a big difference. That would save me almost $90. I am now leaning toward the 13". I Can afford (justify) the $90 for the 4 gb upgrade if it makes a noticeable difference. The $300 or so to jump to 256gb SSD and 2.13 seems like alot. And I just have a mental block spending $1,600 on a laptop, albeit a very amazing, compact laptop. $1,250 is right around my mental limit. I know it's only $350, and I could "afford" to do it. But it's my first Mac and I'm hesitant to jump in that heavy.

moman

Interesting. Not a show stopper, but definately looks like my last dell from 2005.

$1200 is my sweet spot too, especially after paying $3300 for my 17" Pro, which I would do again in a heartbeat, the best $3300 I've ever spent on any kind of technology device. I'm getting the 13" with 2G ram, and I'm a power user who spends 12 hr + day on the computer. That should tell you how little worried I am about the RAM situation.

MBA will become my default travel machine, using the 17" for everything else.

nmenaker

Couple comments. I don't think there has ever been Access for mac, but for those who need something like it, there are some good alternatives. But I think for even MORE than 99% of the buyers, this is a non issue.

I have done editing already with a 13" MBA11, only 2GB ram and it works fine, and iphoto shows now signs of weakness on the MBA11 at all, I find it actually faster than my MBP 15"

I was going to point out to the OP, that if he doesn't some how get away without paying any tax, which is nearly impossible save for online purhcases from macmall, amazon, etc., he will actually see a loss GREATER than 10% in the aggregate for the USED discount AND the tax lost, which nobody else is really going to compensate for.

nmenaker

I would actually GET The 4GB ram for the 90$, I think you may want to do some other things in the future, virtual machines, any gaming, any more involved video editing or playing HD videos, and you are going to notice it then. I have the 2GB since they didn't have any of the 4GB on the first day an I find it is fine for most everything, (even the video editing I mentioned above) but for running a VM it really has to be the only thing running at the time, which is NOT as convenient. I also think that if you are interested in resale, you WILL GET nearly all the 90$ back upon resale for this item.

reddirt14

Good point on 4 gb. It's probably worth getting it. I certainly do plan to use it to watch movies and I'd like to have a good video editing experience. If I get into it, I'll consider one of the desktop machines later.

I'm not too worried about Access, as I will set it up as a dual boot for Windows to run Office. Some of my specialized software can be operating system specific.

I won't be paying tax on the purchase either. So for me, it's about 20% off of what I would expect to pay at the store. I think this is enough to get me to try one out.

All very good points. I'm leaning toward the 13", 1.83ghz, 4 gb ram, 128gb SSD. That seems to be a good model to tryout.

nmenaker

If you get the 4BG, you could setup a nice VM instead of having to do the dual boot route. Works VERY nicely. there are some nice deals right now on VMWARE for 2$, and parallels for 17$ AR. I would get parallels at this point in the game, but at this point one can actually GET both and try it out (although, they both DO have free trials)