Need help deciding on MBA 11"

[wantedSpidy]

The bad: My sister is taking my current MBA from me
The good: I get to buy me another MBA

I'm interested in the 128GB SSD + 4GB RAM config. My problem is with deciding between getting a brand new MBA with lion or getting previous gen used.

Details ->
Used one:
- 1.6Ghz C2D
- Snow Leopard OSX
- 320m
- Applecare warranty for another 30 months (This is nice, cuz it guarantees a trouble free travel laptop till 2014)
- $950 (+$30 for lion when I install it)

New one:
- 1.6Ghz i5
- Lion
- HD 3000
- Applecare for 12 months
- $1150 (the $100 student credit offsets the tax in my state)

I don't care about the backlit keyboard, and I don't have strong opinions about either thunderbolt or the increased processor performance (should I?). I however I'm not sure about how big a drop the HD3000 is compared to the 320m, or will the i5 + HD3000 be better than the C2D + 320m?

This will be my only machine. I use my machine for the following:
- 80% of the time coding (So really any laptop from 2007 would suffice for that)
- 10% watching videos - connected to a 1920x1080 monitor or TV (includes some handbrake encoding for putting videos on my iphone)
- 10% recording some music with my Presonus firebox+garageband.

Money is not 'that' big an issue, but I hate senseless spending! (I've never paid more than $1k for a mac!!)

Need to decide by Saturday! lets gooooooo!

 

[TheStu]

If you aren't going to be playing any games then the difference between the HD3000 and the 320m is negligible. You will see huge gains between the CPUs though.

 

[wantedSpidy]

If you aren't going to be playing any games then the difference between the HD3000 and the 320m is negligible. You will see huge gains between the CPUs though.

My concern is: what will happen if I move to a bigger external monitor? Say 2560x1440 or 2560x1600?

Any idea for higher resolutions if the HD3000 + i5 will be better than the C2D + 320m?

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

Like Apple is saying, 2x the performance. So $200 for an 2x increase? That might be worth it.

 

[lokiju]

I bought the 11" Air last year and ended up returning it. It's just to slow in the CPU. Yes the video card is better on the older one but unless you're trying to run games off an 11" ultracompact laptop for some reason, you'll not run into any issues with the new model and the CPU power will be something that'll make using it a joy every day.

The last gen 11" would struggle loading simple webpages that had heavy images on it. Something wasn't right with how it would load a lot of things.

Now that I have the 2011 13" Air none of those same issues appear. It's more worth the money for this one than the prior one IMO. It's so damn speedy it "feels" truly faster than my 13" MBP.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Buy the new one. 2x faster will mean a lot in a couple of years

 

[amdhunter]

I bought the 11" Air last year and ended up returning it. It's just to slow in the CPU. Yes the video card is better on the older one but unless you're trying to run games off an 11" ultracompact laptop for some reason, you'll not run into any issues with the new model and the CPU power will be something that'll make using it a joy every day.

The last gen 11" would struggle loading simple webpages that had heavy images on it. Something wasn't right with how it would load a lot of things.

Now that I have the 2011 13" Air none of those same issues appear. It's more worth the money for this one than the prior one IMO. It's so damn speedy it "feels" truly faster than my 13" MBP.

You've convinced me to not even consider the old MBA.

 

[runawayprisoner]

Some points to consider:

1) 2011 Macbook Air likely won't ever be able to down-volt, so heat and power consumption will be a big concern in heavy load situations. Heavy load situations also include playing back videos and viewing Flash.

2) Just an extension of no.1, actually. 2010 model can use Coolbook to down-volt and can potentially run much smoother/faster while consuming less energy and producing less heat. Unfortunately, Coolbook doesn't support Lion yet. Fortunately, it is a dream on Snow Leopard.

3) There is a huge difference in performance between the 1.4GHz and 1.6GHz C2D used in the 11" model of 2010.

4) 2011 model can't be downgraded from Lion, or at least no one has confirmed that there won't be problems. So if you don't like Lion, you are stuck.

5) Warranty seems more extensive on the 2010 model.

6) Drivers for GeForce 320M are more mature, and especially more so if you intend to boot Windows at all. There is no difference in Mac OSX. If you don't care about gaming or 3D at all, you shouldn't worry.

7) Higher resolution requires more CPU power, so 2011 models will do a lot better.

8) You pay $200 less for the 2010 model.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

Some points to consider:

1) 2011 Macbook Air likely won't ever be able to down-volt, so heat and power consumption will be a big concern in heavy load situations. Heavy load situations also include playing back videos and viewing Flash.

2) Just an extension of no.1, actually. 2010 model can use Coolbook to down-volt and can potentially run much smoother/faster while consuming less energy and producing less heat. Unfortunately, Coolbook doesn't support Lion yet. Fortunately, it is a dream on Snow Leopard.

3) There is a huge difference in performance between the 1.4GHz and 1.6GHz C2D used in the 11" model of 2010.

4) 2011 model can't be downgraded from Lion, or at least no one has confirmed that there won't be problems. So if you don't like Lion, you are stuck.

5) Warranty seems more extensive on the 2010 model.

6) Drivers for GeForce 320M are more mature, and especially more so if you intend to boot Windows at all. There is no difference in Mac OSX. If you don't care about gaming or 3D at all, you shouldn't worry.

7) Higher resolution requires more CPU power, so 2011 models will do a lot better.

8) You pay $200 less for the 2010 model.

No offense, but there is so much fail in this post that I don't even know where to start.

1. Why wouldn't it be able to down-volt? It's still an i5. Depends on the video since some are also GPU accelerated

3. And there isn't between the 1.6Ghz and the 1.7Ghz i5?

4. Why couldn't you? Wipe the drive and use a Snow Leopard USB drive to install. Unless the drivers aren't there which could be the case.

6. HD3000 is in a lot of machines...

7. Higher resolution is GPU intensive, not CPU

8. $200 less for 1/2 the performance.

 

[runawayprisoner]

1. Why wouldn't it be able to down-volt? It's still an i5. Depends on the video since some are also GPU accelerated

Because Coolbook, the only software that I know of that supports downvolting Intel CPU on Mac, doesn't support Core i processors.

And I'm talking about running 2GHz at 0.875v.

3. And there isn't between the 1.6Ghz and the 1.7Ghz i5?

Nope. Not according to many new owners on Macrumors. Or I might be wrong, but feel free to cite otherwise.

4. Why couldn't you? Wipe the drive and use a Snow Leopard USB drive to install. Unless the drivers aren't there which could be the case.

That's precisely why there would be troubles.

6. HD3000 is in a lot of machines...

Yep. But that doesn't mean Intel has stepped up its game in terms of drivers.

7. Higher resolution is GPU intensive, not CPU

It is CPU if you are running something other than games or videos.

8. $200 less for 1/2 the performance.

Any proof for 1/2 performance? I'm not talking about what Apple claimed. I'm talking about real world performance.

 

[manly]

My concern is: what will happen if I move to a bigger external monitor? Say 2560x1440 or 2560x1600?

Any idea for higher resolutions if the HD3000 + i5 will be better than the C2D + 320m?

Safe to say neither will run Crysis at such a res.

I think you should absolutely care about CPU performance over the ownership expectancy. If nothing else, Handbrake encoding should be markedly faster and since Xcode 4 has been labeled buggy & slow, I wouldn't even consider Core 2 Duo.

I wouldn't call it "real world" performance but the Geekbench numbers show the new MBA to hang in with the MacBook Pro.

 

[Mr.Holmes]

new air books are fast... i sold my iPad 2 and purchased a MBA a few months ago. Light, mobile, user friendly, fast, smooth, focus on your needs and wants then decide.

 

[wantedSpidy]

Seems like the used market is calibrating to the new apple pricing.

Previous generation MBA 11" 1.6Ghz 4GB 128GB SSD is now going for $850 if you look. Thats a solid $300 discount. Now I need to think some more.

 

[dclive]

Honestly I wouldn't even consider anything but the i5/i7. The C2D is *significantly* slower. I owned a 11" MBA / 64GB and it just wasn't fast enough for daily use. As a convenient couch laptop for checking on movies and such, sure. For doing much more it got annoying fast. Times have moved on. Even at $850, that 1.6 / 4GB / 128GB is too much; the CPU just doesn't cut it.

 

[Pliablemoose]

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/hom...co=MjEwNTcwMTk

If you're determined to get a C2D, get one refurbished from the Apple Store, as good as new, with full warranty.

 

[dclive]

I see $750 for the base 11". Add 8% tax, perhaps, so that's $810. For a refurb.

Or, get a brand new one, mail order, no tax, for $950. So for another $140, you get double the speed.

I'm sorry, but buying an old model is a bad idea.

 

[Pliablemoose]

I see $750 for the base 11". Add 8% tax, perhaps, so that's $810. For a refurb.

Or, get a brand new one, mail order, no tax, for $950. So for another $140, you get double the speed.

I'm sorry, but buying an old model is a bad idea.

I agree, for me, the i5/i7 CPU's + Thunderbolt makes the current generation the only option for me, but the OP seems pretty intent on buying the last gen MBA. And I have to stick up for Apple refurbs, they're the best refurbs I've ever purchased, they're physically perfect and come with a full warranty. I'll be plugging along with my Windows stuff till the current gen hits the refurb store...

I just gave my kid my last gen MBA for college, if she was anything but a Music/Education major, I would have sprung for a current gen CPU.

 

[sxr7171]

I have that 1.6 4G C2D MBA. I wouldn't say it's slow by any means. CPU performance is generally not the bottleneck in most people's computing usage. The SSD makes the machine run quite fast. Sure the C2D is a old CPU and much slower than modern CPUs, but resulting combination of SSD and CPU and OS optimizations yields a fairly responsive machine.

That having been said the new MBAs are just so much faster in spec and hence performance. The SSDs are faster the CPU is much faster and Thunderbolt will revolutionize portable machine connectivity IMHO.

Given that, I would say a fair price for my machine is $800 or less. The improvement in the current MBA is quite vast. So I took a big hit by being a first generation 11" adopter. But having had use of this machine has been worth every penny.

As for Apple refurbed. Ever wonder what they do when they swap out your iPod or Phone? They take the old one back, fix it, change all the exterior parts to new ones. Basically you have a new product that was "assembled" by hand and inspected by a human being instead rolling off the assembly line. When I say "fix it" it's always got to be a board change or a part change. It's not worth the time for someone to troubleshoot these things soldering iron in hand. I bought a 40GB refurb iPod in the past and the device was pristine with the plastic protective wrap on it and just flawless. I also once got a refurbed iPhone 3G, and it too came in flawless condition.

My experience has been that with reputable companies buying a refurb directly from the company can lead to amazing deals. I recently purchased a refurb Harmony 900 remote for $159. It came in a white box in perfect functioning and cosmetic condition with all accessories. I saved a ton.

 

[dclive]

I have that 1.6 4G C2D MBA. I wouldn't say it's slow by any means. CPU performance is generally not the bottleneck in most people's computing usage. The SSD makes the machine run quite fast. Sure the C2D is a old CPU and much slower than modern CPUs, but resulting combination of SSD and CPU and OS optimizations yields a fairly responsive machine.

...when compared to machines from a few years ago, and when little is expected of the CPU, I completely agree. It's when you do a lot (and by that I really don't mean that much...) with the CPU that it all falls apart. Try having Chrome open and render 10 tabs at once. That's normal for me - the other machines handle it; the MBA took a significant speed hit when I did that. Even rendering a single page or two was significantly slower than the other machines.

I lived with it for about 6 months but ultimately decided it was better to sell it and focus on a more modern machine.

That having been said the new MBAs are just so much faster in spec and hence performance. The SSDs are faster the CPU is much faster and Thunderbolt will revolutionize portable machine connectivity IMHO.

Given that, I would say a fair price for my machine is $800 or less. The improvement in the current MBA is quite vast. So I took a big hit by being a first generation 11" adopter. But having had use of this machine has been worth every penny.

As for Apple refurbed. Ever wonder what they do when they swap out your iPod or Phone? They take the old one back, fix it, change all the exterior parts to new ones. Basically you have a new product that was "assembled" by hand and inspected by a human being instead rolling off the assembly line. When I say "fix it" it's always got to be a board change or a part change. It's not worth the time for someone to troubleshoot these things soldering iron in hand. I bought a 40GB refurb iPod in the past and the device was pristine with the plastic protective wrap on it and just flawless. I also once got a refurbed iPhone 3G, and it too came in flawless condition.

I'm not disagreeing that Apple's refurb process isn't great - it's just overpriced, especially in this instance; the point is that for a savings of just $140 (refurb 2/64 from Apple store, plus tax, vs. MacAnyMailOrderPlace, at $950, no tax), it's silly to accept 1/2 the CPU speed and a last-generation part without Thunderbolt.

 

[runawayprisoner]

...when compared to machines from a few years ago, and when little is expected of the CPU, I completely agree. It's when you do a lot (and by that I really don't mean that much...) with the CPU that it all falls apart. Try having Chrome open and render 10 tabs at once. That's normal for me - the other machines handle it; the MBA took a significant speed hit when I did that. Even rendering a single page or two was significantly slower than the other machines.

Well, as I mentioned. The 1.4GHz C2D in the base model of the Air last year was significantly slower than the 1.6GHz model.

The difference is actually measurable by human eyes. The OP is mentioning the 1.6GHz model.