Question of MacBook Air users.

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I have to say that I'm a huge fan of the MacBook air and I'd love to get one soon because it is in my perfect price range, but how long do I have with it? I'm hoping to use this for at least 3 years.

1. 1.8GhZ CPU. How many new OSes does it take for this thing to be obsolete? I could see in three years after Snow Leopard a "2.0GhZ standard" for OSes.
2. Fan speed... I've heard that using any tough software burns your hand to the point you could cook sausages on your MBA. Is this an issue for casual browsing?
3. Is it worth getting this over the MB if all I do is listen to music, talk on msn, surf the web and do homework all at once? Will the CPU be able to handle this without causing burns to my wonderful hands?

Can someone just do this for me:
Open iWork
Open MSN or adium or whatever
Open iTunes and play a song
Open an Internet page like Apple.ca

Tell me how well it handles. Pretty much, if it does extremely well without killing your hand, it looks like this could be my next laptop!

Thank you so much.
 
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Do you really want a computer with no CD drive and 1 USB port?
 
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Really?
Well if that's the case, I guess you might want to go for it if you've tried it at a Mac Store and liked it.
I don't have one, but I can tell that having 1 USB and no DVD drive would be a pain in the PATOOT.
You realize if you have a mouse plugged in, you can't attach anything else like a USB flash drive, or anything else that uses a USB 2.0 hub?
 
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I had 2, the problem is any flash ad would make the fans go to 6200RPMs and the heat was very hot after the software update, I loved it bought 2 and they were not for me, my new macbook is dead cold no fans and a bit heavier, I will never go back to the air at all:(

PS get a hub many thing do not fit right into the USB it was a pain

For what you do buy the lowend macbook... most air owners sold withen 2 months:(
 
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I had 2, the problem is any flash ad would make the fans go to 6200RPMs and the heat was very hot after the software update, I loved it bought 2 and they were not for me, my new macbook is dead cold no fans and a bit heavier, I will never go back to the air at all:(

PS get a hub many thing do not fit right into the USB it was a pain

For what you do buy the lowend macbook... most air owners sold withen 2 months:(


The USB drive is not a problem for me. I use the USB for two things: iPod and phone charging, and I don't need to do those at the same time.

Yet if the fans go insane and it can't handle basic things, I'm looking at a MacBook or iMac.
 
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If I remember correctly you get a 30 day no questions asked return policy if you buy it at the Apple store. So you can try it out for 30 days and if it isn't for you exchange it for a Macbook.
 
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****.

The USB drive is not a problem for me. I use the USB for two things: iPod and phone charging, and I don't need to do those at the same time.

Yet if the fans go insane and it can't handle basic things, I'm looking at a MacBook or iMac.

Yeah, just get a MacBook. Notice how you never see anyone with a MacBook Air, but tons of people with MBPs and normal MBs. You get what you pay for, and I believe the MB Air is too basic for anyone.
 
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Yeah, just get a MacBook. Notice how you never see anyone with a MacBook Air, but tons of people with MBPs and normal MBs. You get what you pay for, and I believe the MB Air is too basic for anyone.

I've just finished reading some posts on other Mac forums and people say there are no problems.

What I'll do is get a friend whos dad has one to bring it over so I can try it. If it runs smoothly and I really like it, it'll be my next laptop.

Thanks for the help guys =]
 
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I don't have one, but I can tell that having 1 USB and no DVD drive would be a pain in the ***.
You realize if you have a mouse plugged in, you can't attach anything else like a USB flash drive, or anything else that uses a USB 2.0 hub?

It's no more a PITA than having two USB ports and needing to plug in your USB stick when you've already got your mouse and iPhone plugged in. Regardless of how many ports you have, you will eventually get to the point where you will need to unplug something momentarily to plug something else in.

Speaking from experience, I have *NEVER* wished my MB Air had additional USB ports on it. I've got a small hub if I anticipate needing multiple devices plugged in for an extended period of time. Otherwise, one does just fine.

most air owners sold withen 2 months:(

I find that hard to believe. You only get to see the unhappy, or vocal MB Air users when you are on a forum. You don't see how many people use, and love their Air daily without ANY thought of returning it.

Yet if the fans go insane and it can't handle basic things

The fans do not go "insane" and the Air can more than handle basic tasks.

Notice how you never see anyone with a MacBook Air, but tons of people with MBPs and normal MBs.

Think about what you just said. Then think about how long the Air has been out.......NOT EVEN A YEAR! There's a reason why you see more people with a MB or MBP and it's simply because they've been around longer.

You get what you pay for, and I believe the MB Air is too basic for anyone.

I wholeheartedly disagree with you. While the Air may not offer enough for some people, it is FAR from basic, and it is more than capable of handling whatever most people can throw at it.
 
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People keep complaining over the mouse. See, us humans are smart, we invented Bluetooth.
 
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It's no more a PITA than having two USB ports and needing to plug in your USB stick when you've already got your mouse and iPhone plugged in. Regardless of how many ports you have, you will eventually get to the point where you will need to unplug something momentarily to plug something else in.

Speaking from experience, I have *NEVER* wished my MB Air had additional USB ports on it. I've got a small hub if I anticipate needing multiple devices plugged in for an extended period of time. Otherwise, one does just fine.



I find that hard to believe. You only get to see the unhappy, or vocal MB Air users when you are on a forum. You don't see how many people use, and love their Air daily without ANY thought of returning it.



The fans do not go "insane" and the Air can more than handle basic tasks.



Think about what you just said. Then think about how long the Air has been out.......NOT EVEN A YEAR! There's a reason why you see more people with a MB or MBP and it's simply because they've been around longer.



I wholeheartedly disagree with you. While the Air may not offer enough for some people, it is FAR from basic, and it is more than capable of handling whatever most people can throw at it.

Can I get a direct comparison between your BlackBook and Air?

Thanks
 
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Can I get a direct comparison between your BlackBook and Air?

Thanks

One's Black, the other is Silver. :)

Can you be a little more specific as to what you want compared?
 
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One's Black, the other is Silver. :)

Can you be a little more specific as to what you want compared?

Lol :p

Really just the difference in speed when running basic applications.

And you say that your Air hasn't had any overheating issues right?
 
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I got one, had it for 1 week and 6 days and sold it.

I loved the concept. Just needed more power.

For what you use it seems like it would work just great. But running a virtual machine and cisco IOS on it was just too much for it to handle. There are very easy fan solutions if it does peg at 6200 a lot.

If the computer had more huevos it would have been great, but I just wanted more power, I now own a new macbook 2.4, it is exactly what I was hoping for, just a little heavy and over abundance of ports ;).

Hope that helped.
 
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Lol :p

Really just the difference in speed when running basic applications.

And you say that your Air hasn't had any overheating issues right?

I take my Air with me everywhere and it's perfect for web surfing, email, chat, torrent downloads, financial software, etc. I also use it as a portable TV which connects back to my main HTPC (SageTV). MS Office takes a little bit longer to load up on my Air compared to my MB, but still very usable.

It does get warm, but never overheats like some people moan about, and the fan noise really isn't all that bad unless you're sitting in a perfectly quiet room.

If you're looking for something extremely portable and works good for light duty use, the Air is perfect. If you want something a little more "beefy" then you should go for the MacBook. It really depends on what you want out of your Mac.

Not sure if that's much help, but opinions rarely are.
 
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I take my Air with me everywhere and it's perfect for web surfing, email, chat, torrent downloads, financial software, etc. I also use it as a portable TV which connects back to my main HTPC (SageTV). MS Office takes a little bit longer to load up on my Air compared to my MB, but still very usable.

It does get warm, but never overheats like some people moan about, and the fan noise really isn't all that bad unless you're sitting in a perfectly quiet room.

If you're looking for something extremely portable and works good for light duty use, the Air is perfect. If you want something a little more "beefy" then you should go for the MacBook. It really depends on what you want out of your Mac.

Not sure if that's much help, but opinions rarely are.

Thanks for the help so far, but:

-How does it run videos online (streaming)
-How does it do with flash based adverts?

Thanks a tun, you've helped enormously already.
 
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No problems viewing videos online. As I said, I use it as a portable TV which connects back to my HTPC. I can do this through my local LAN or over the Internet. Never any problems unless the Internet connection is poor while away from home.

As for Flash, I use Firefox with Adblock so I rarely see any advertisements, flash or otherwise.
 
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No problems viewing videos online. As I said, I use it as a portable TV which connects back to my HTPC. I can do this through my local LAN or over the Internet. Never any problems unless the Internet connection is poor while away from home.

As for Flash, I use Firefox with Adblock so I rarely see any advertisements, flash or otherwise.

Sounds great.

I'm really excited about getting one of these, but theres only a couple people that say that this is a great machine and a tun that complain about the fans. Perhaps its just the hit-or-miss type of thing?

One last question, I promise you :p Do you normally use this laptop on a table or your lap?
 
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Mostly on a coffee table, but also on my lap if I'm in bed. It's never been so hot that I can't use it on my lap either.

Best advice I can give is to go into an Apple store (if possible) and play with them both to see which one you like better.

For me, the Air is exactly what I want as an ultraportable where as my MacBook is a little heavy to cart around (however not so heavy that it's impossible or impractical).
 

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