Macbook Air or new unibody Macbook
I am evaluating buying a new Mac laptop. I have found a refurbished Macbook Air with 80GB for $999 from Apple and also a $1099 for MacBook Aluminium. Of course the MacBook Aluminium is certainly superior with the faster processor and increased disk space. But, the ultra cool and mainly lighter Air is certainly a good feature at a compromise of additional speed and disk space. So here are some of the questions that I hope someone can help me answer to make a good buying decision -
- Can I upgrade the HD on Air from 80GB to something bigger ?
- I might have to use tools such as iMovie and iDVD on Air - Is Air good enough for this ?
- I might want to do some Apple iPhone development - Is Air good enough ?
- Is there an update to Air just around the corner ?
Thanks
- Can I upgrade the HD on Air from 80GB to something bigger ?
- I might have to use tools such as iMovie and iDVD on Air - Is Air good enough for this ?
- I might want to do some Apple iPhone development - Is Air good enough ?
- Is there an update to Air just around the corner ?
Thanks
Comments
I am evaluating buying a new Mac laptop. I have found a refurbished Macbook Air with 80GB for $999 from Apple and also a $1099 for MacBook Aluminium. Of course the MacBook Aluminium is certainly superior with the faster processor and increased disk space. But, the ultra cool and mainly lighter Air is certainly a good feature at a compromise of additional speed and disk space. So here are some of the questions that I hope someone can help me answer to make a good buying decision -
- Can I upgrade the HD on Air from 80GB to something bigger ?
- I might have to use tools such as iMovie and iDVD on Air - Is Air good enough for this ?
- I might want to do some Apple iPhone development - Is Air good enough ?
- Is there an update to Air just around the corner ?
Thanks
I would go with the MacBook. The MBA do not come with an optical drive, so burning dvd's and watching dvd's would mean that you would need an external optical drive.
There's also the matter of crappy graphics on the original air, which I assume a $999 refurb will be.
The Air's 1.8" HDD is really slow, and unfortunately this impacts performance across the board. Also don't forget that with the Air you will be limited to 2GB of RAM an no way to upgrade it.
About the only thing that the Air does have going for it is it's screen, which is far superior to the MacBook's. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that the MacBook Air's screen is about as good a screen as you'll find on any Apple laptop.
The MacBook Air is a fantastic machine, beautifully designed and built ? but the MacBook totally outclasses it. IMHO.
http://gizmodo.com/5070723/screen-sh...vs-macbook-air
but most of the time you will look at the screen straight on so it shouldn't be a huge problem.
I'd personally go for the Macbook. The hard drive is very easy to replace. Not much harder than replacing a battery. The connectivity options are still poor though. It's really a case of 2 USB ports vs 1.
The MBA might have a backlit keyboard, which is actually really nice. The entry MB won't.
Thanks for the response sos far. I want to hear more from others, but so far MacBook is in the lead. Are HDD easy to upgrade on Macbooks.
Extremely easy. 2.5" SATA interface. You literally drop it in and off you go!
I would try meeting up with somebody on Craigslist who is selling a brand new on in box for about 1000. Remember, meet localy, don't ship your money and meet in a public place.