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MacBook Air is enough for a work machine

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Re: MacBook Air is enough for a work machine

#191

Post by dlaw »

Recently I was looking for a new laptop. The new MacBook Airs arguably have the best-designed hardware of any laptop on the market, but I object to certain hacker-unfriendly steps Apple has taken: namely, the use of pentalobular and triwing screws to make disassembly difficult. I cannot in good faith buy a computer from a company that so actively dissuades tinkering.

I've decided to go with the ThinkPad X220 instead. Although it's not quite as svelte as the Air, it is designed to be user serviceable. Hell, Lenovo publishes a manual with instructions on how to replace the system board (including details such as the torque each screw should be tightened to). And, although the X220 has a removable battery, its battery life is just as good as (if not better than) that of the Air.

(Oh, and the OS difference does not affect me because I will run Arch Linux either way.)

Re: MacBook Air is enough for a work machine

#192

Post by pearle »

dlaw wrote: post #191

Recently I was looking for a new laptop. The new MacBook Airs arguably have the best-designed hardware of any laptop on the market, but I object to certain hacker-unfriendly steps Apple has taken: namely, the use of pentalobular and triwing screws to make disassembly difficult. I cannot in good faith buy a computer from a company that so actively dissuades tinkering. I've decided to go with the ThinkPad X220 instead.…

I made the same choice last week after the aluminum bezel on my out of warranty MBP cracked (Wtf!). Nothing in the current Macbook stable meets my criteria. The Pros are all too heavy and the MBA is currently underpowered. The X220 seemed like a much better fit for me and I have one on order as a result.

The fact that my MBP has been the absolute worst laptop I have ever owned didn't do Apple any favors.

Re: MacBook Air is enough for a work machine

#193

Post by ascendant »

r00fus wrote: post #93
ascendant wrote: post #49

I was seriously entertaining the idea of getting a top-end MBA earlier this year (refurbed for $200 off) but then the new MBP's came out and I couldn't justify a 13 inch screen and a Core 2 duo when for almost the same price I could have the 15 inch screen and a Sandy Bridge Core I7. I got the MBP and truly love it. I imagine the lightness of the air goes a long way towards what makes it so popular but I don't really…

Glad you like the MBP, but if you don't have an SSD you're missing out. If you do, the prices are a lot more equivalent (ie, MBP+SSD is not cheap).

I agree to a point. All of my regular-use apps (Eclipse, Xcode, Textmate, Chrome, Terminal, Echofon) all start up really quickly. I don't really ever find myself sitting around waiting for things on it.

Re: MacBook Air is enough for a work machine

#194

Post by sjs »

pyre wrote: post #177
sjs wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel that it makes sense. When weighing the options I came to the exact same conclusion as the author, except my notebook is If I were to buy a Pro it'd be the 15" for its resolution, and I definitely want 8GB of memory. However the 13" Air is compelling because of the size & weight. If it were available with 8GB of memory that would be the way to go, but it's not. Personally I'm holding out for the 15" Air. Ideall…

I think that the point is that if you can survive with a MBA with 4GB, then you can survive with a MBP with 4GB and just save the money. The same for the other specs that he was maxing out. He then went on to conclude that the lower specs meant that he might have to replace his laptop sooner, but the lower price meant that wasn't much of an issue. This side-steps the fact that if you lower the specs on the MBP you co…

No argument there. However as you start cutting things from the 15", driving the price down, it gets less and less compelling when compared to the 13" Air. The upgraded specs are the only reason to prefer the 15" over the Air at the same price, the Air is 1/2 the size & weight. Of course this is only my opinion, and it's merely a coincidence that I share it with this particular author. I'm not sold on the Air yet though, I think it needs a couple of iterations before it'll be a great Pro replacement and not just a passable one.

If you take the base 15" and add a 128GB SSD to make it as cheap as possible it's $1999. Unless you really care about the CPU, graphics card, optical drive, or FireWire (which I don't, but others do) you're paying $200 more for a larger, heavier machine. With less storage. If you add the 256GB SSD it's $2399, which makes it even less compelling. I'd rather put that $600 towards a 27" display and still have a 256GB SSD.

The only reasons for me to prefer the 15" are greater resolution or memory capacity, without those I only benefit for the faster CPU. Again this is very much my opinion and I don't expect everyone to agree. I'm not baffled that we disagree, people value different things based on their usage patterns.

Re: MacBook Air is enough for a work machine

#195

Post by shawndumas »

codenerdz wrote: post #189
shawndumas wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Use an iPad as a touchable external monitor... http://avatron.com/apps/air-display

This is basically a disguised VNC display. I test drove this app(or its clone) last year and it was noticeably laggy. Maybe things have changed since then...

But unlike VNC it extends the desktop.

Re: MacBook Air is enough for a work machine

#196

Post by chrisbolt »

rowaway1 wrote: post #86
ernestipark wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand this obsession for backlit keyboards I've been reading about a lot lately on forums. It definitely looks nice but its just a battery drain and I assume most HN people don't look at their keys. I always keep mine off for the sake of my battery.

backlit keyboard aren't just for looking nice. they're for working at night in dark rooms. before touch typing you need to glance quickly at your hand's position above the keys, to make sure your hand position isn't transposed slightly up, down, left, right--which happens easily when you're blinded by a monitor in the dark, and the key bed is pitch black. yes, you can fold down your monitor till the light illuminates…

I've never used a laptop where the keys weren't illuminated by the big LCD behind them.

Re: MacBook Air is enough for a work machine

#197

Post by starpilot »

lightoverhead wrote: post #159

I'm really not a fun for Mac stuff. It's just a fashion thing, not for work. For the money you spent on Mac, you can definitely buy a cheap powerful machine with free reliable Linux system. No matter to say its monopoly of market, even an adapter to projector need its own. I have seen so many times someone using a Mac but forgot bringing that stupid adapter for projector, she/he had to change to PC to do the presenta…

In this case, the Mac might actually be the better buy if you're just talking hardware. From one review of the most comparable PC, the Samsung Series 9:

"The 13-inch MacBook Air delivers longer battery life, better graphics, and a higher-res display for $350 less, and you can get a 256GB SSD inside for $50 less than the Series 9."

http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/samsung-series-9.asp...

Re: MacBook Air is enough for a work machine

#198

Post by MrFoof »

icco wrote: post #128
ScottBurson wrote: post #59

Interesting that I seem to be the only 17-inch fan here. I can see the attraction of an MBA, but I prefer having a screen big enough that I can do everything on it without an external monitor, and I don't mind lugging it around at all.

I travel between three offices every day on foot / bike. I tried the 13" MBP on my back for a while, but in the end it caused more pain than it was worth. I can only imagine the 17" being far worse. For now I use a Lenovo x200, but it's about the same as the MBA 13". So while sure I could "lug" the 17" around, I'd much rather loose some screen space and save my back. But I will say, I am quite jealous when traveling…

The difference in weight is much more than it sounds.

Work had issued me a Lenovo Thinkpad T61p with a large extended battery pack to make it last closer to 4 hours. It weighed about 7.5 pounds. After just 15 minutes, my shoulder would become sore from lugging my bag around.

I handed them their laptop back and bought a 15" MacBook Pro with my own money. Just that 2 pound difference means that instead of my shoulder being sore after 15 minutes, it takes about an hour for it to become sore.

If I didn't need the memory and the CPU (I do data warehousing work, and need to run VMs almost all the time) I would certainly have gotten a 13" MacBook Air to shave off another 2.5 pounds. Heck, I'd probably get an even smaller bag just to shave off another 1/2 a pound. It's absolutely worth doing.

Re: MacBook Air is enough for a work machine

#199

Post by achompas »

Cushman wrote: post #145
achompas wrote: post #42

My MacBook Air was $1,799 and the equivalent MacBook Pro (top of the line 15″, because why would you buy the 13″?) would cost me just over $3,200 (adding 3rd party SSD, Apple 8GB RAM and the Hi-Res screen). Man, this is disingenuous. 8GB RAM? As if you can't get it cheaper (or the MBA even offered 8GB RAM as an option)? Or as if the 15" MBP doesn't blow the Air out of the water in every other aspect? I bought a 13" P…

Are you sure you want to own your MacBook for 3 years? The depreciation on Apple laptops is low enough that you can resell it and trade up to the latest refresh once a year for the same cost as trading up once every 3 years. If you're interested in the best bang-for-your-buck and can put up with the hassle, you should definitely think about it.

Are you sure you want to own your MacBook for 3 years?

I owned my white, 1st-generation MacBook for 5 years. To be fair, I wasn't coding then, so I might take your advice for this new laptop.

Re: MacBook Air is enough for a work machine

#200

Post by rowaway1 »

Shorel wrote: post #97
rowaway1 wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

backlit keyboard aren't just for looking nice. they're for working at night in dark rooms. before touch typing you need to glance quickly at your hand's position above the keys, to make sure your hand position isn't transposed slightly up, down, left, right--which happens easily when you're blinded by a monitor in the dark, and the key bed is pitch black. yes, you can fold down your monitor till the light illuminates…

No, no, no. That's why the F and J keys have small bumps you can feel so you can position your hands for touch typing. The 5 key in the numeric keyboard also has one of these. The backlight can be useful for the function keys or whatever, but touch typing does not need any light.

do f and j bumps enable you to touch transcribe this string?

>}[\|:{%^&?`~]*();"'!@_+-=#$,./not for me. these keys are the bottlenecks that break my flow and force me to think for a few moments about where things are.

your tactile union with your keyboard may be 100%, but mine is more like 80%. congrats if you've mastered chopsticks, but fork is a no-brainer. i admire the simplicity of those little f and j bumps, but they're just no match for a glance.

why not a choice: a backlight to turn on if you want, off if you don't? i don't want a backlight on all the time either. if i'm banging out email, no need. but if i'm coding, or something else that requires lots of special characters and finger-fu, then a backlight is handy.

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