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    13" MBA for Web Development

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by era86, Mar 12, 2012.

  1. era86

    era86 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Greetings!

    I am currently an owner of a Lenovo x220 and was wondering if anybody does any web development on their MacBook Air 13". I'm basically trying to do web development using Django (Python Based) and another heavier framework built on Java. I will be doing occasional compilations in Java and occasional heavy data migration (though not as much).

    If you do any type of programming or have an opinions on this type of work on the Air, please do share.

    Thanks!
     
    era86, Mar 12, 2012
    #1
  2. saturnotaku

    saturnotaku Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Your X220 has a vastly superior CPU and a better display than anything a MacBook Air offers. The Air has solid-state storage, but I believe you can outfit the Lenovo with a mSATA SSD, negating that advantage. You get slightly more screen real estate on the MBA due to its higher resolution, but I wouldn't trade the X220 just for that.
     
    saturnotaku, Mar 12, 2012
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  3. joer80

    joer80 Notebook Evangelist

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    I wouldnt program on anything less than the rez in a macbook air.. I dont think the extra color accuracy of the x220 is going to help as much as the working space that would let you see more lines of code and get your tool bars out of the way.

    Plus solid state storage in the air is free and not an added cost, and will make the machine feel faster than the one with the faster cpu.

    I only do php programing though...

    For me, I think I would prefer a 15 inch macbook air... Don't know if that is something that you are interested in or not, but it is possible it will launch soon.
     
    joer80, Mar 12, 2012
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  4. bogatyr

    bogatyr Notebook Evangelist

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    I definitely prefer the MBA 13" for coding over the X220. However I can't comment on color accuracy.
     
    bogatyr, Mar 12, 2012
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  5. era86

    era86 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Right now the pros I have for each:

    x220
    -IPS screen
    -keyboard
    -CPU
    -battery life

    MBA
    -form factor
    -screen resolution
    -thunderbolt
    -OSX

    I'm in no rush to purchase a new machine, so maybe I'll just stick to what I have. Any other thoughts are appreciated though.
     
    era86, Mar 12, 2012
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  6. masterchef341

    masterchef341 The guy from The Notebook

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    Here's my thought:

    I've been coding for a few years on Apples. I started with a 1440x900 macbook pro (15"), and then switched to the 1440x900 macbook air (13"). That change was easy, but 1440x900 is the bare minimum resolution I would recommend. If there's anything I desire, it's a higher resolution screen.
     
    masterchef341, Mar 12, 2012
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