MacBook Air and PowerPoint for training sessions?

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Level 1

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MacBook Air and PowerPoint for training sessions?

Undecided between 11" MBA or the new 13" MBP. Need any and all input. I have an iMac at home and want this for travel and training presentations, presenting PowerPoints (through a projector). Also occasionally need to connect via ethernet to web for part of presentations (and see the solution in USB for ethernet adaptor). Has anyone used the 11" MBA this way for any length of time, and your experience pro or con? Certainly would love to shed the weight, but I don't want to be caught short in some classroom or hotel ballroom. Thanks in advance.

MacBook Air, Mac OS X (10.6.6)

Posted on Mar 1, 2011 5:55 PM

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Answer 1

Mar 1, 2011 6:25 PM in response to mrobertsm

If you can do it on your iMac, you can do it on the MBA. Just make sure the projector you will use can work with the MDP-to-whatever adapter (VGA?) required to use with the MBA. I have seen issues with the USB Ethernet adapter (gets hot or loses connection, etc.) in the forums. I personally will bring an Airport Express configured to create my own wireless network that is WPA2 protected....

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Answer 2

hawleyrw

Level 3

633 points

Mar 1, 2011 7:22 PM in response to Michaelworks

I've got my MBA and a MDP --> VGA adapter and projector at work. I'm going to have to give it a shot and see how the MBA handles it.

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Answer 3

mrobertsm Author

Level 1

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Mar 2, 2011 6:00 AM in response to Michaelworks

Thank you. Forgot to also ask: Is the basic MBA configuration (2GB memory / 64GB hard drive) ample enough to effectively run MS Office programs?

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Answer 4

T5GP5Ox32

Level 3

590 points

Mar 2, 2011 7:22 AM in response to mrobertsm

It is. You may run into some issues with how much HD space you have though with the 64 GB HD. You may want to look into purchasing a portable external for extra space once you start getting low. If you don't use much though then you should be good to go.

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Answer 5

Mar 2, 2011 8:49 AM in response to mrobertsm

mroberts8 wrote:
Thank you. Forgot to also ask: Is the basic MBA configuration (2GB memory / 64GB hard drive) ample enough to effectively run MS Office programs?

Like the other poster said, it will work. I went with 4 GB and 128 GB Ultimate because I was able to overload the floor model running multiple applications. If you don't mind carrying around external storage (USB hard drive) for your documents, music, etc. the entry level will work great. Remember you are listening to a bunch of geeks that can't live without having maxed out machines. You need to test drive them at the Apple Store. There is NO substitution for you test driving and deciding for yourself. Reading these forums will lead you to believe you need a Mac Pro in your situation 🙂

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Answer 6

mrobertsm Author

Level 1

0 points

Mar 2, 2011 9:20 AM in response to Michaelworks

Thank you... I've tested a floor model a number of times at the Apple store, but without Office installed. So I could not replicate having a sizable PowerPoint up. I was also looking for folks who may have given 1-2 hour programs using the MBA to see if there are issues. Most I would ever have open at once might be a browser, Word, PowerPoint, and run a .mov video. Recent years I've been using a MBP on former job and my great old 12" G4 pre-Intel Macbook (still cranking strong) on freelance gigs. Both will sometimes pause in the middle of big PowerPoint files. I agree on avoiding the arms race. And I would really like to shed the weight. I don't edit video, do big graphics, or game. Have had Macs since around 1990, including a bright orange clamshell iBook in my closet that still fires up even with no place to go, and a Newton that I managed to sell on eBay at one point. Those were the days. Thank you again.

Message was edited by: mroberts8

Message was edited by: mroberts8

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Answer 7

Mar 2, 2011 9:29 AM in response to mrobertsm

Ping hawleyrw who already responded to your post. He has Office 2011 on his, and was also going to checkout if the projector he had would work with the MDP-VGA adapter. Also, you might want to bring a big powerpoint project to the store on a thumbdrive and use Keynote, which should load it. The Apple store has to have Office loaded on one of the display 11.6"........ I'm just sayin'

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