which Mac Book air? (A lot of questions but will mark your answers as help

Saad Attieh wrote:

13 inch up to 7 hours. realistically what does this mean?

I can speak for the 13" only - Yes, under normal computing use I get the listed 7 hours of use out of my system (on battery) before requiring to put the MBA on the charger. I have seen if I sit for a few hours and watch videos it drains the battery somewhat faster. The battery life (per charge) is totally amazing.

Saad Attieh wrote:
Both shall have 4 Gig ram. Does this mean that there will be little difference in how many programmes they can handle IE what does 4 gig let me do and what does 2.13 let me do in comparison to 1.6.

2G is the minimum I would use for normal computer use (mobile, internet surfing, photo viewing, etc.
You are right in thinking the additional RAM will tax the system less when running many applications at the same time, or more powerful applications which require additional RAM, OR if running Parallels where you have another OS running at the same time.

From what I'm reading - you're looking for something more portable and mobile as a second use computer. These systems are amazingly fast (fastest laptop I've ever used). It boots in about 10 seconds and runs everything very quickly. I'm amazed at the speed of these systems. I bought a 13" 1.86Ghz model with 4G RAM and 128G Flash storage. I couldn't be happier. Before purchasing I had done a LOT of research (like you) and realized that the slightly slower speeds won't make that much of a difference (depending on what you do). I use mine for general use (internet, documents, some photo viewing/manipulation using Lightroom, light Photoshop use. In fact, this system ROCKS.

In my mind you'll be very happy with the maxed out 11".

Best of luck in your purchase.

The processor in the 13 inch has double the L2 cache memory and faster Front Bus Speed compared to the 11.6 inch processor along with faster clock speed. This means even if the clock speed is the same, the 13 inch processor will be much faster at CPU intensive tasks than the 11.6 inch.

However, in normal daily tasks such as web browsing, document editing and playing audio and video, you should not notice any differences between the two, but the processor in the 11.6 inch will have to work harder to do the same tasks as the 13 inch.

On the memory question, the amount of RAM has very little relationship with processor speed. With stock 2Gb configuration, you will only have 1Gb of memory to run your programmes, as OSX and graphics card takes around 1Gb,

While this is fine for light every day use now, I’d suggest buying the 4Gb model if you planning to keep the mbair for more than 1 year.

Hope this helps

I’ve played with both of the 1.4GHz 11.6 and 1.86GHz 13 inch in store for a bit before deciding on the 13 inch.

Using stock software on both air, there were no noticeable differences between the two machines, even with three 720P and 1080P Flash videos streaming at the same time.

I don’t have any software on the mac that is noticeably slower than my desktop. Like you, the mbair is not my main computer so I don’t do any processor intensive tasks.

I do use VMWare some times which runs Windows inside OSX so have to divide system resources between the two operating systems. So I’m not sure if the 1.4 or 1.6GHz processor is capable of running two operating systems without any lag.

I don’t think you should consider the difference between the processors as main factor on deciding which version of the air to go for. Since the difference does not affect the user experience(usability) for daily tasks.

P.S. Two factors for my choice of the 13 over 11.6 inch are bigger screen size and 2hrs extra battery life for not much addition in volume and weight.

Which ever one you decide, I’m sure you will be happy with the air, and you might find you will be using your other computers less and less.

Also get the 4Gb of RAM version from Apple online store, the extra week of waiting for delivery is worth it.

P.P.S. since the WIFI card is the same in both version, there sould not be any differences in download speed based on processor power. Unless you are downloading *A LOT* of stuff in one go.

I decided on the 13" primarily for the screen size and battery. Personally I've never understood the fascination for truly widescreen laptops. Most web pages aren't coded to make use of the extra width, and the shorter but wider screens just mean to you have to scroll a lot. As I write this, I'm looking at the page with over 2" of white space on each side of the Discussions box.

The ONLY tradeoff is if you watch a lot of movies on your laptop which would make a difference having a 16:9 ratio. Fortunate for me, I watch a minimal amount of movies on my MBA.

I just came from one of the Big-Box electronics stores...where I made the effort to glance once again at the MBA's on display. Glad I went with the 13" still.

This is a very good point I forgot to mention, the 16:9 ratio on the 11.6 inch will also affect Word document, PDF, etc. Basically any portrait format will mean more scrolling up and down compared to the 13 inch. Its best for you to play around with the store demo to see if you mind the 16:9 ratio of the 11.6 inch.

P.S. I put the dock bar on the right hand side of the mbair screen to get more vertical space.

Exactly why I was swayed away from the 11 inch. I think the 16:10 ratio is better for what I want in a laptop. I like smaller notebooks, but don't like the size of most netbooks, which is what the 11 inch is targeted toward (IMHO).

I am now doing exactly what you are thinking of doing. I am trading off frequently between my MacBook Pro and my MacBook Air, i.e., the more powerful and bigger MBP is essentially a portable desktop at home, while the Air is now a travel computer and the one I shuttle between home and the workplace.

I have the maxed out 11" version of the Air. So far, it's seeming to be just as snappy as my MBP in response time. I put this down to SSD vs a regular hard drive. So that I can easily switch between the two, the Air matches what's on my MBP which means the entire Adobe Creative Suite, plus iWork and some other related applications. No problems to report thus far. Everything runs great. I can watch Netflix videos without problem such as skipping or stuttering, although the Air does get warmer when I watch or work in video. However, it is really not much worse than my MBP.

I did not even look at the 13" Air when deciding to buy. I wasn't even interested in it. For me, the difference between the 13 and 11" Air isn't one of weight. It's one of real estate. The 13" Air just seems way too close to my 15" MBP in size, and even though it is thin and light, it is too hard to toss in just any bag or purse when I'm traveling. The 11" Air is significantly smaller in perception and if whatever you plan to carry it in can fit a letter sized pad of paper or a magazine, it will fit the Air. Which means I have been able to not only decrease the overall weight and size of my laptop, but I can carry it in a much smaller backpack or bag too - even a large purse - further reducing what I have to lug around through an airport.

I've found that the screen isn't difficult to read or navigate through at all, and some of this is because of Apple's trackpad gestures, which make navigation very easy and not just limited to scrolling. It's easy to pinch the screen closer or further away, etc. So, for me, the small screen size is not even an issue.

I'm getting decent battery life. I'd say what I'm getting is close, if not right on, to Apple's estimates (with the exception of watching video). Routine word processing, internet browsing and email are getting me 4.5 - 5 hours.

I am absolutely in love with the 11" Air and more and more, my MBP gets relegated to background status among the two computers. It's just so...... easy to bring along. I'm never without it any more.

Hope this helps,
Raji

Some stores have maxed out version in stock, so you do not need to waite for shipping from china. Best to phone up the store before going there.

I checked all of the stores in my area, and none of them carried anything but the base models, so I ordered direct from Apple.