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New MacBook Air

Rick

By Rick
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dkCambridgeshire

dkCambridgeshire

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I bought the 11" Macbook Air last Thursday but was very dissatisfied with the sound quality - particularly the lack of volume. Thus the dealer agreed to exchange it for a Macbook Pro which suits my purposes much better. I 'fell for' the Air video which makes all the claims about the wonderful technology ... but IMO they should have used/sourced/designed better speakers. The store's demo Air was just as lacking in volume and sound quality.

 

I'm happier with the Macbook Pro because it can be upgraded if necessary whereas the memory on the Air cannot be user upgraded.

 

dunk

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wattsy

wattsy

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So real specifics on performance of LR and PS would be helpful. There was a brief comment on colour calibration. How good can you get the screens after calibration?

 

The screens are okay and can be calibrated but do bear in mind that they are 6-bit TN panels like all the other screens in Apple's laptop range. It's a pity that it's not possible to pay a little extra (even when buying the top of the range 17" anti-glare MBP) and get a screen as good as the one in the £450 iPad.

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pico

pico

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I am now on my brand new Mac Air, 13", 4gb RAM, 128gb storage (actual is 121gb).

 

One thing - the network wire is strictly USB and exactly as fast as my wireless (~ 370kb per second at the moment while downloading CS5 trial), so there is no advantage to using the wired adapter.

 

softwarereinstall.jpg

 

It comes with a nifty little USB Software Reinstall Drive because it has no DVD/CD drive.

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thetoaster

thetoaster

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I am now on my brand new Mac Air, 13", 4gb RAM, 128gb storage (actual is 121gb).

 

One thing - the network wire is strictly USB and exactly as fast as my wireless (~ 370kb per second at the moment while downloading CS5 trial), so there is no advantage to using the wired adapter.

 

 

It comes with a nifty little USB Software Reinstall Drive because it has no DVD/CD drive.

 

pico, have you by chance tested data transfers on your local network?

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eapple

eapple

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I am now on my brand new Mac Air, 13", 4gb RAM, 128gb storage (actual is 121gb).

 

One thing - the network wire is strictly USB and exactly as fast as my wireless (~ 370kb per second at the moment while downloading CS5 trial), so there is no advantage to using the wired adapter.

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eapple

eapple

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I am now on my brand new Mac Air, 13", 4gb RAM, 128gb storage (actual is 121gb).

 

One thing - the network wire is strictly USB and exactly as fast as my wireless (~ 370kb per second at the moment while downloading CS5 trial), so there is no advantage to using the wired adapter.

 

Sorry for the duplicate response!

 

One of the reasons I got the MacBook Air instead of an iPad is because of the possibility of a wired network connection. Since it is my travel computer, I wanted it to work in hotel rooms with only wired connections and no Wifi. If you have an iPad in a hotel room with only Wifi, you would be out of luck.

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Rick

Rick

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I use a 13" MB cheapo for travel. There was no Air at the time the air would have been sufficient. I miss the disc burn capability though.

 

Some Air have solid state drives that do not run photoshop well. Investigate this. No personel experience.

 

I doubt this. I have a 17MBP with SSD and it runs PS quite well.

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pico

pico

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I use a 13" MB cheapo for travel. There was no Air at the time the air would have been sufficient. I miss the disc burn capability though.

 

Some Air have solid state drives that do not run photoshop well. Investigate this. No personel experience.

 

My Air, the latest, runs CS5 adequately, even with PBS files.

 

Hardware Overview:

 

Model Name: MacBook Air

Model Identifier: MacBookAir3,2

Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo

Processor Speed: 1.86 GHz

Number of Processors: 1

Total Number of Cores: 2

L2 Cache: 6 MB

Memory: 4 GB

Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz

...

Capacity: 121.33 GB (121,332,826,112 bytes)

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Rick

Rick

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Cool. Just got the MBA !! ...with 4GB RAM and 128 SSD, Just got done loading everything on it and it works very well. I like this thing a lot, so far. Next, retrieve Leica LR3 copy and see how fast it runs. More to come...

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Rick

Rick

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Hey Bo, that would be great. Can you imagine show and tell over a drink somewhere. We'd never get out before closing.

 

Just an update. I love this 11" MBA. I can tell you that it run's everything fine. Nobody needs to worry about it being slow, it is not.

 

Just some random thoughts: The small 11" screen is much better than I thought. I was worried that it would be too small. I'm not having any problem seeing photos and adjusting them on it. And like my big 17"MBP, I run nine "spaces" at a time and the little Air does fine with it and it keeps things organized and uncluttered. The super small size is so nice. This seems lighter than my iPad. It is definitely more versatile. ***Now that Apple is planning on releasing an upgrade to their OS that will run App's on things like this new MBA, I'll sell the iPad. Too bad, because I have the original unlimited data plan and I'll lose that. I guess I'll by a WiFi card and plan. Next, I'm not dragging the 17" MBP around the house anymore. It has become a desk machine because this little 11" MBA is just that good and so light that it is just too easy to use. This is the machine I thought the iPad was going to be. For me, the 17" MBP and this little guy are perfect. This going to be a sweet little travel computer. I'm so glad I didn't get the 13" MBA, it is actually much larger and for travel this little MBA is perfect. It is like not carrying anything and for reviewing and working on files it is going to be perfect. I've already used LR3 and PS on it and it is fine. I'll down load a reader and it will become my book reader as well. Something I never did with the 17". So far, two thumbs up.

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Rick

Rick

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Fascinating. Personally, I use the 3G data often enough on my iPad (I have the 2G plan, I was too late for the unlimited one) that I can't imagine being without 3G data on something larger than my iPhone.

 

I'm looking at the mobile hot spot cards. I know a lot of people (here) have done this for a while. The idea is that you get a card and a data plan and then you can share it with other family members with there devices. It also works as a backup should your home wifi go down.

 

I have to say that all I've been using is this 11-MBA around the house this weekend. It is what I thought the iPad was going to do for me.

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stevelap

stevelap

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Another vote for the MacBook Air. I'm a long time mac user who didn't buy an iPad but did get a MBA as soon as the new 11' model was announced. I've maxed out the RAM/processor/SSD and it's just what I wanted, a small and light weight travel computer that can handle Aperture if need be.

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Tom_W

Tom_W

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Rick, I own one of these 13" new Airs .. I'm using it now :)

 

Works very well and what is better I have found the battery life to exceed that stated in the specs providing you simply lower the brightness of the screen for normal use.

 

I had a choice of the 11 or 13 and as I (privately) use it for photo's I chose the 13 as the 11 would not be practical for me unless I was solely for writing. As the RAM is soldered in I also have the 4GB and it runs 3.3 lightroom just fine but I would not want to do a lot of processing on it - just the weeding.

 

Currently I have 5:39 left (which has to date proven to be accurate) and it has been on for 3:16.

 

PS I ain't well healed :( ... it's a company one. :D

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