Mac Airbook - No or later?

[PP67]

Our Dell laptop is now very old and very slow... We use our iPad ad much ad possible but it is always nice to have a full functioning computer in your quiver...

I know back in 2011 there were several on this forum that got the Mac Airbook and gave it very good reviews...

Are you Mac Airbook owners still happy with your purchase?

There is rumor of a 12" retina model coming out in mid-2014... If so, do you think it is worth the wait?

Thanks

[I Shrugged]

I am using an 11" Macbook Air right now.  I got it for travel and for sitting in different places around the house.  I love it.  A tablet like an iPad is great for reading but not so much for writing.

[Benko]

I need to buy a new laptop at some point.  Why not just get a regular mac laptop?  is the weight difference really worth the price difference?

[Pointedstick]

I need to buy a new laptop at some point.  Why not just get a regular mac laptop?  is the weight difference really worth the price difference?

At this point there is no "regular mac laptop." The laptop line has the Air and the Pro. The Air is lighter and actually cheaper. The Pro is more expensive, has a dedicated graphics card, an optical (CD/DVD) drive, and can have a larger screen. There's an even more expensive Pro model that has a higher-resolution screen, gets rid of the optical drive, and is a little thinner than the other Pro.

I'd go with the Air unless you need a dedicated graphics card, an optical drive, or a 15" screen. The high-res screen is IMHO a gimmick at the typical viewing distances, though I'll admit many seem to adore it.

Personally I have a 13" MacBook Air and I think it's basically the best non-gaming laptop ever made. It's unbelievably portable, the battery lasts forever, and it's incredibly fast and powerful for all tasks that don't involve playing video games. It even has good speakers. And of course, unlike most Windows laptops, the screen isn't completely, unusably awful if you tilt it two degrees in any direction.

You can also put Linux on it really easily.

[Benko]

You can also put Linux on it really easily.

Thanks, I had lost track of apple's laptop line up.

[dualstow]

The thing that kills me is that you cannot put the wonderful OS X on your own hardware (save those of you who are smart enough to maintain a "hackintosh").
I'm considering putting windows on my built-for-linux laptop.

When it dies I'm getting a Macbook Air, for sure.

[Pointedstick]

The thing that kills me is that you cannot put the wonderful OS X on your own hardware (save those of you who are smart enough to maintain a "hackintosh").

I used to say, "if you could do that, people would stop buying Apple's hardware!"

But looking at the state of the PC market, I'm not so sure anymore. Most of what they sell is just complete crap, if my recent experiences buying and using modern PC laptops is any indication. And the Linux experience shows that 99% of people aren't willing to install a different OS than what the machine came with.

My recommendation: Don't put Windows on your laptop, or at least not Windows 8. I don't know if you've used 8, but it's just a complete train wreck.

[t-bear52]

I was one of the posters who recommended the 2011 Macbook Air. Still fast and going strong! Liked it so much I purchased another 13" Air for my daughter for school just last month. Her's is even faster and the battery lasts literally all day. We put MS Word, Powerpoint, Excel on it and she's all good for school.

[MediumTex]

I have had my MacBook Air for right at two years now and I still love it.

The only change I have made is the $20 OS upgrade a year or so ago.  The main feature I like about the new OS is the ability to text.

The new MBA models have the dramatically expanded battery life, but I use mine plugged in most of the time, so I don't miss that feature (though I'm sure I would like it if I had it).

For a two year old machine to still feel this "new" is IMHO astonishing in an age where electronic devices are often obsolete within months of release.

To the question of whether you should buy one now, I would say "yes, you should."

The extent to which the Windows operating system is garbage only really becomes clear after you've spent time with a newer Mac and then go back to the Windows machine.  The difference is amazing.  The fact that Microsoft has been able to put out generation after generation of junk operating systems for decades now is pretty amazing. 

We have an old desktop with Windows Vista on it (Vista should get its own room in the museum of POS Microsoft products) that my kids play around on.  Any time they have a problem with the machine, I have to run three different anti virus programs, then do a bunch of updates (while researching the updates to make sure that they aren't malware), usually do 2-3 restarts, and then hope I don't run into any other problems.

The Steve Ballmer era at Microsoft has been a story of mediocre products and missed trends.  Take a look at the Microsoft stock price starting with the day Ballmer took over and you will see what I mean.  The one thing that Microsoft has done well has been the XBox.  I wonder how such a good product made it out of the Ballmer regime.

Anyway, I love my MacBook Air and I love the way it interacts with my iPhone and iPad.

[Pointedstick]

For a two year old machine to still feel this "new" is IMHO astonishing in an age where electronic devices are often obsolete within months of release.

It's all the solid-state disk used for permanent storage in place of a nasty old hard drive. It's not just a Mac thing; my Linux desktop computer with an SSD is similar. It was blazing fast on day 1 and hasn't slowed down one bit in almost two years. Fastest computer I've ever owned, even with a comparatively underpowered processor and no dedicated graphics card.

Probably the most important thing you can do for a computer made in the last 6 years or so to speed it up is to replace the hard drive with an SSD. The next thing of course is to get rid of Windows!

[dualstow]

I agree. SSD changes everything. Although when I bought my first one in 2010 I skimped out on RAM in the same computer. Can't wait to upgrade that. And OS X is the best operating system I've ever used.

[Mountaineer]

I also strongly endorse SSD.  I have a mid-2009 MacBook Pro 15" (my old eyes like that larger screen) that came with OSX Snow Leopard and 2 GB memory and a 5400 rpm harddrive and the 2.53 GZ processor.  I have since udated with 8 GB memory (I noticed some improvement) followed by a 7200 rpm harddrive (noticed a bit more improvement) and always install the lastest version of OSX - now Mavericks.  Then, about 3 months ago I replaced the harddrive with a SSD drive and a new data cable - WOW!  That made a major improvement in my almost 4 year old laptop.  It is like a new machine that boots and shuts down quickly; applications load very fast.  One suggestion - be sure to buy memory and SSD that is Mac compatible.  I purchased from OWC and was very pleased with their help and customer service.

Note: I read that data cables can be an issue with the mid-2009 MacBook Pro.  That is why I replaced it when I installed the SSD - just insurance.

[dualstow]

and always install the lastest version of OSX - now Mountain Lion.  Then, about 3 months ago I replaced the harddrive with a SSD drive and a new data cable - WOW!

Was it a big issue to put the OS on the new drive?
I ask because while I have a Snow Leopard DVD that I could use, I wonder how one would put the subsquent OSs which are usually downloaded from the Mac App store. I guess Apple Corp allows you to burn a disc for your own use?

[Pointedstick]

and always install the lastest version of OSX - now Mountain Lion.  Then, about 3 months ago I replaced the harddrive with a SSD drive and a new data cable - WOW!

Was it a big issue to put the OS on the new drive?
I ask because while I have a Snow Leopard DVD that I could use, I wonder how one would put the subsquent OSs which are usually downloaded from the Mac App store. I guess Apple Corp allows you to burn a disc for your own use?

It's pretty easy to clone a blank external drive from your existing one and then swap them.

1. Buy an external drive enclosure ($10) and put the new drive in it. Plug it into the computer.
2. Fire up /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility.app, click on the icon for your internal hard drive, and go to the "Restore" tab.
3. Restore your internal hard drive to the plugged-in external drive.
4. Turn off the computer.
5. Remove the external drive from its enclosure.
6. Swap the computer's hard drive with the new drive using iFixit's directions.

[dualstow]

Ah, brilliant. So I don't even need to use Carbon Copy Clone or that other software (the name escapes me), just Disk Utility. And I already have enclosures.
Handy, thanks!

I didn't address your other post about whether people would even buy Apple hardware if you could easily run OS X on a home-built machine. I do love their hardware with their unibody aluminum and all that. But it would be neat to have something like this: http://www.fit-pc.com/web/purchasing/order-mintbox/

Still, the Macbook Air is a marvel of engineering and hard to beat if you want a travel computer.

[dualstow]

Oop, never mind. Let me check out this iPad Air.

[dragoncar]

I need to buy a new laptop at some point.  Why not just get a regular mac laptop?  is the weight difference really worth the price difference?

At this point there is no "regular mac laptop." The laptop line has the Air and the Pro. The Air is lighter and actually cheaper. The Pro is more expensive, has a dedicated graphics card, an optical (CD/DVD) drive, and can have a larger screen. There's an even more expensive Pro model that has a higher-resolution screen, gets rid of the optical drive, and is a little thinner than the other Pro.

I'd go with the Air unless you need a dedicated graphics card, an optical drive, or a 15" screen. The high-res screen is IMHO a gimmick at the typical viewing distances, though I'll admit many seem to adore it.

Personally I have a 13" MacBook Air and I think it's basically the best non-gaming laptop ever made. It's unbelievably portable, the battery lasts forever, and it's incredibly fast and powerful for all tasks that don't involve playing video games. It even has good speakers. And of course, unlike most Windows laptops, the screen isn't completely, unusably awful if you tilt it two degrees in any direction.

You can also put Linux on it really easily.

Retina is only a gimmick to those with poor eyesight.  For me, it's the ONLY reason I'd consider replacing by 6 year old laptop. Edit:  Yes, I upgraded to SSD early on to make this snappy

I'm also torn between waiting for a Retina Air and just getting a Pro, so I appreciate the discussion here.  If Apple waits too long, however, perhaps Lenovo will come out with a retina version of my current lappy.

[Mountaineer]

and always install the lastest version of OSX - now Mountain Lion.  Then, about 3 months ago I replaced the harddrive with a SSD drive and a new data cable - WOW!

Was it a big issue to put the OS on the new drive?
I ask because while I have a Snow Leopard DVD that I could use, I wonder how one would put the subsquent OSs which are usually downloaded from the Mac App store. I guess Apple Corp allows you to burn a disc for your own use?

Very easy to update OSX.  However, saving a copy of the installer is a bit more complicated than burning a disk.  See this article:
http://www.macworld.com/article/2056561 ... drive.html

Also, I suggest backing up everything with Super Duper periodically.  It has saved my bacon a couple of times.  It makes an exact duplicate of your internal MacBook drive.  See:
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/ ... ption.html

Good luck.

[dualstow]

SuperDuper, yes, that's the other cloner whose name I was trying to recall earlier. Thanks!