MacBook Air

[BMW335icoupe]

For those of you that have them what do you think about them. I have a MacBook pro and an iPad but thinking about selling the iPad and picking up a MacBook air. I just can't justify the price. Might pick up a refurb unit. I would use it for coding on xcode and general web surfing and email.

Thanks.

[.:bHd:.]

why do you want an air if you have a pro? I'd say sell the macbook pro and get the retina mac book. I've been using mine for 3 days and its amazing

[BMW335icoupe]

Originally Posted by .:bHd:.

why do you want an air if you have a pro? I'd say sell the macbook pro and get the retina mac book. I've been using mine for 3 days and its amazing

Well because the Pro is the power machine. I use it for documents, photoshop and any data intense tasks. I have a 15" pro and it is just to big and heavy to cary around even the house. Taking it from the office to the chair in the living room and having it on your lap for 3 hours coding gets pretty heavy and hot. The pro is custom configured with matte screen because I can't stand glare. The 11" air is so light and quick because of the SSD.

Any comments from the above.

[Chewy734]

Originally Posted by BMW335icoupe

... it is just to big and heavy to cary around even the house. Taking it from the office to the chair in the living room and having it on your lap for 3 hours coding gets pretty heavy and hot. The pro is custom configured with matte screen because I can't stand glare. The 11" air is so light and quick because of the SSD.

Buy an SSD and put it in the Pro, and then work out.

I have a 13" MBP, added an SSD, and it flies... much cheaper than the MBP Retina as well (assuming you don't need a 15" retina display).

[BMW335icoupe]

Originally Posted by Chewy734

Buy an SSD and put it in the Pro, and then work out.

I have a 13" MBP, added an SSD, and it flies... much cheaper than the MBP Retina as well (assuming you don't need a 15" retina display).

Thanks Chewy!!!! That's a good idea. What SSD did you put in (brand and size). Can apple put in a SSD for you at the genius bar because mine is still under warranty.

Thanks

[shipill]

I like big Mac to go

[BMW335icoupe]

Originally Posted by shipill

I like big Mac to go

What do you mean by that. You like the big MacBook pro 17" on the go.

[Greenkirby21]

macbook pro with retina display is the way to go. Sell your old macbook pro.

I have had mine for 2 weeks and love it.

Its the weight/thinness of an air and the most powerful macbook laptop

[yakev724]

Originally Posted by Chewy734

Buy an SSD and put it in the Pro, and then work out.

I have a 13" MBP, added an SSD, and it flies... much cheaper than the MBP Retina as well (assuming you don't need a 15" retina display).

Did the same exact thing. Absolutely love it. Noticed a good 20-30% more battery life and definitely a good bit quicker.

I have a 120GB OCZ Vertex 2 in mine but that's outdated. I actually bought a 120GB OCZ Vertex 3 for $70 new from Newegg last week (for my desktop)...but that deal's no longer active. Keep an eye out on slickdeals and newegg. Both OCZ drives (Vertex, Agility) are great.

[RedBarron]

Originally Posted by Legitimate

GF owns an Air and the only complaint I have vs my 17" Pro is the screen. Not that it's smaller, but it looks like a cheap TN screen with no viewing angle. Definitely doesn't seem like IPS.

Thats because they are not, all uni body Macbooks have TN panels even your 17" is a cheap TN panel, however possibly the new retina 15" is IPS but I am not sure. I love my macbook air and the screen looks better than a 13" mbp and has a higher screen resolution

[yakev724]

Originally Posted by RedBarron

Thats because they are not, all uni body Macbooks have TN panels even your 17" is a cheap TN panel, however possibly the new retina 15" is IPS but I am not sure. I love my macbook air and the screen looks better than a 13" mbp and has a higher screen resolution

I don't understand why the air screen hasn't been an option on the mbp since its release. Possibly the thing I want most is the air's screen, and would have gladly paid some extra $$ for the option.

[wisesoul]

I have an Air. Love it. Not missing the CD drives, it's light and fast. Memory is not so spectacular, but an external HDD should fix that.

[FDM68]

Have an 11" for travel. Love it and it weighs about has much as my ipad.

[persian54]

Maximum operating altitude: 10,000 feet
Maximum storage altitude: 15,000 feet
Maximum shipping altitude: 35,000 feet

Does this mean you cannot use the MBP on an airplane?

[j0hn]

i have an mba and it's perfect for me - surfs the web great, loads applications well, etc. that's all i really need it for

[Chewy734]

Originally Posted by BMW335icoupe

Thanks Chewy!!!! That's a good idea. What SSD did you put in (brand and size). Can apple put in a SSD for you at the genius bar because mine is still under warranty.

Thanks

Joe, they won't do that for you. What's the model exact # of your laptop (you can find it on the bottom part of the case)? I just wanted to see if your laptop supports 6 Gbps SSD cards or not.

Mine's the last generation 13" and I'm using the Crucial M4 512gb SSD, which works amazingly well. I also recommend OWC SSDs.

The Genius bar won't update your laptop. Since it's under warranty, I recommend just keeping your current hard-drive, so if anything goes wrong, you can just put that in and take it to Apple to get fixed. The SSD is easy to install, and honestly only takes like 10 minutes. There is a very small risk of damaging anything too, since it's pretty straightforward. You can bring it to Cars & Coffee and I can do it for you, or you can follow this simple video:

http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/
(select your model, then look for "Hard drive replacement")

[Chewy734]

Originally Posted by RedBarron

Thats because they are not, all uni body Macbooks have TN panels even your 17" is a cheap TN panel, however possibly the new retina 15" is IPS but I am not sure.

You are correct. The new MBP Retina is using IPS technology.

Originally Posted by persian54

Does this mean you cannot use the MBP on an airplane?

I've had 0 problems using the MBP (or any other Apple products) on an airplane. In fact, you can buy the airplane adaptor to use it for longer flights so you don't run out of battery.

[escobar929]

i have an 11" Air and absolutely love it, its the perfect computer if you need something you can take w/ you anywhere you go. I have a 27" iMac for home use but I take the Air just about everywhere. I only got the 128GB SSD but I got a 2.5" 1TB WD HDD I carry around in my laptop bag

My fav thing about it is, even in my laptop bag (tom bihn for the air) and a bunch of other stuff in the bag, it still weighs less than my old 15" MBP by itself

[BMW335icoupe]

Thanks!!!! The model # is A1286. I am pretty hardware inclined so I am sure I could do it at home. OWC has some great videos on their YouTube channel as well.

While I am upgrading I will probably upgrade the ram as well to 8gb because I am at 4 right now.

Thanks again for the offer.

[danniexi]

MBA 13" owner here. I love the machine to bits. It does 95% of everything I need from a computer while being thin, light, and super quick (due to its SSD). Hell, I have a 27" late-2009 iMac and I feel that it can be sluggish sometimes. I should really upgrade that machine to an SSD as well.

I also have an iPad as well, and as great as it is, it's really for entertainment/media consumption usage. I use it solely for checking email, web browsing, general apps, and playing games. For any real mobile computing I use the MBA (for work). This includes web maintenance as well as a bit of photo editing (Pixelmator + Aperture). And let's not forget about running parallels for the 335i as well (COBB AP, BT Tool, Cobb ATR).

Personally, I'd sell the older MBP and iPad for the new Macbook Air. Its been upgraded with Ivy Bridge AND extra RAM + thunderbolt + USB 3.0. This should be more than enough for work and play. Only when you are doing INTENSIVE computing usage (Photoshop CS6, Final Cut) should you keep or upgrade to the MBP.

[Chewy734]

I forgot, the model # doesn't tell me much... serial #?

I guess if you didn't buy it in the past year, it doesn't have the 6 Gbps drive feature. In which case, this is the one you would want:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/inter...3G_Solid_State

Honestly though, the Crucial M4s are on sale right now, so even though they might not run at their fastest speeds, they are the best bang for the buck right now, and I would highly recommend them.

Incase you're bored, here is my writeup/review of it:
http://blog.ashuc.com/apple-macbook-...timate-laptop/

[BMW335icoupe]

Originally Posted by Chewy734

I forgot, the model # doesn't tell me much... serial #?

I guess if you didn't buy it in the past year, it doesn't have the 6 Gbps drive feature. In which case, this is the one you would want:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/inter...3G_Solid_State

Honestly though, the Crucial M4s are on sale right now, so even though they might not run at their fastest speeds, they are the best bang for the buck right now, and I would highly recommend them.

Incase you're bored, here is my writeup/review of it:
http://blog.ashuc.com/apple-macbook-...timate-laptop/

Awesome!!!! I custom ordered it last July. I will definitely read the review.

Thanks.