MBA 11 vs 13 vs ultraportable alternatives

My history here at NBR has mostly been giving advice, but now I need some. I need an ultraportable ASAP and I'm looking at the MBA range. I could use advice from people who have experience using both the MBA 11 and 13. Particularly if you use multiple operating systems.

Background: I'm about to embark on a long period of traveling and I can't do too much personal computing on my work laptop. At the moment, I have two Sony's, a VAIO Y (Intel SU7300) and VAIO F. I'd take the VAIO Y with me, but my wife has it in the US right now and is using it as her primary computer. The VAIO F is my desktop machine, but it's just too large to go in the same bag as my work laptop and the battery life is terrible. So, I've decided to buy a new notebook. It will be my primary computer for the next few months, and after that it will be used mostly for couch surfing and trips of up to 1-2 weeks.

I spent the day today checking out the following options in person: MBA 11, MBA 13, Sony VAIO YB, HP DM1, MSI U270. And in the past, I've played with the Acer 1810 and Toshiba T115. Based on what I've seen, I've narrowed it down to the two MacBook Air models and the HP. I know for certain that I want SSD storage and 4GB RAM for future proofing. The main advantage of the HP is cost: I can put an SSD + 4GB in it and keep it under AUD$ 1000 while the MBA 11 would be AUD$ 1750 and the MBA 13 would be AUD$ 2250 .

The laptop would be used for the following, listed in order of time spent: web surfing, light software development, MS Office apps, light gaming (games >5yr old), some photo organizing & editing, and miscellaneous stuff. I expect to use Windows 7 for MS Office and gaming, and Ubuntu for development. I don't expect to spend much time in OSX except for casual use and then only if the battery life is significantly better.

The MBA 11 is damn near the perfect size to fit in my bag along with my work computer, use on the plane, use on the sofa, lounge & in bed, and carry just about anywhere. It's as portable as an iPad except it has a keyboard and runs real operating systems. The MBA 13 is equally thin, but much bigger than the 11 in the other two dimensions. Once opened, the MBA 13 seems bigger than even the VAIO Z. It will fit into my bag, but I'm worried about it being cumbersome on a plane or train.

One concern with the MBA 11 is that I read the battery life while browsing is only around 4 hours after installing Flash. I'm worried that will drop to 3-3.5 hours under Windows 7 or Linux. If so, that's really not enough. I was getting 6-7 hours on my VAIO Y before my wife took it. From what I've read, the MBA 13 should be closer to that.

Another point in favor of the MBA 13 is the display. Extra vertical resolution is always a welcome thing IMHO, especially when coding or working on documents. The 1440x900 (16:10) display on the MBA is just about perfect. I know from working on the VAIO Y that 1366x768 is acceptable, but I'd really appreciate the extra resolution.

The only other thing I'm curious to hear about is heat & noise. I've read that the MBA 13 heats up more quickly and the fan runs louder, but I haven't been able to observe that. The background noise at the Apple store drowns out any fan noise, and both laptops seem to get moderately warm - warmer than both of my Sonys but not leg scorching like the MBPs.

Thanks in advance for any advice and comments.

 

Sorry I didn't read your whole post, but I've been researching this topic lately.

Samsung 9 Series 11" is nice but felt less solid when I played with one in the store. Trackpad is amazing.

Sony Z is due for a refresh in a month or so, My #1 choice of MBA alternatives. Let's hope the US model bring 1920x1280 in a 13" package.

I don't have any experience with the HP (elitebook) ultraportables.

Cnet Prizefight Samsung 9 vs. MBA

 

Thanks for reminding me of the Samsung 9. I hadn't realized they were available yet in Australia. The 13" is here, and I'll check it out today, but the asking price is $2500! Not sure if I can swallow that. The 11" isn't here yet, but it's not offered with anything bigger than 2GB RAM or 64GB SSD so I wouldn't be interested anyway.

 

Update: Saw the 13" Samsung today, the NP900X3A. It has a few things going for it over the 13" Air, such as a super-bright matte screen with excellent viewing angles that could actually be usable outdoors, a backlit keyboard with better feel, better connectivity (particularly USB 3.0), and a little better battery life. It also has the best non-Apple trackpad I've used. And it seems a bit smaller than the Air, even though I know it's about the same size. Speed and responsiveness seems to be about the same as the Air, which is to say very good, although the Air boots into OS X quicker than the Sammy boots into Windows 7. It has a ULV i5 CPU, which is about on par with the LV Core2 Duo CPU in the Air 13.

One disappointment was the screen resolution. It's getting hard to accept a 1366x768 display at this price level now. The color gamut didn't seem that impressive either. It's frustrating because the bright, even backlighting and matte finish are so nice. Another downside is the integrated graphics, while the Air has discrete. I do intend to play some older games on this laptop, and while they are somewhat playable with integrated graphics on low settings, the dedicated GPU will be nice. The last problem with it is the price: $2500 here in Australia. A comparatively equipped MBA 13 is $1750 (not counting Apple Care though).

So I guess I'm back to deciding which MacBook Air to get, the 11 or 13.

 

June is rumored to see the mba refreshed with sandybridge, igp and thunderbolt.

 

My favorite notebook for an ultraportable would be the Sony Vaio Z. I prefer Mac OS X to Windows but can't live without Windows completely so I run a VM on my 17 inch MBP.

 

Get 13 unless you planning to spend 50% of time using it in the train.
In general if your trip is longer then a week or two (meaning you wont have access to bigger screen during that time) i would get 13.

11 is for going to cafes, visiting grandma on weekend etc. Its hard to work / play on it for extended period of time, simply uncomfortable. Also the battery difference, yes.

 

That's pretty much the way I was thinking - the extra screen resolution of the 13 is going to tip the balance.

I've heard about the refresh, but I've been putting this off for too long and can't wait any longer. I'll be traveling for a while starting next week.

Also, after looking at the Samsung 900X3A, I'm not convinced Sandy Bridge is going to be worth waiting for. The Samsung has the same Sandy Bridge i5 ULV that's supposed to go in the MBA. The CPU performance is improved vs. the MBA, though not drastically. And the battery life seems to be about the same. An incremental improvement, not a quantum leap. Also, the performance of the IGP is still way behind the GeForce 320M, so if they go integrated you won't be able to game on the new models. Benchmarks here:

laptopmag benchmarks

FWIW, I've always liked and wanted a VAIO Z, but haven't been able to justify the cost yet.

 

Why not the Lenovo X220? A battery life to die for.

It's not quite a MBA alternative, but it will support all your needs.

 

Or the new Lenovo X1? It blows away most of the notebooks here...

 

Indeed. Gorilla glass, chiclet keyboard (though not completely sold on that yet), and just a tad better looking than the stuffy old Thinkpad design (though that's not saying much).

Too bad I can't justify buying one when I already have a MBP.

 

Any rumour on if the mba in June will have a backlit keyboard?

 

Just going off of Apple's past, a MBA update in June would only be a spec bump. They wouldn't improve on the design until November, one year after the new MBA design was shown off. I could be wrong and nobody truly knows what Apple is going to do until they officially announce it but their computers normally go through a major design, a spec bump 6 months later, and then another major design 6 months after that (one year after a major design change).

 

Thanks for the additional suggestions. I appreciate the input.

I edited this post after reading more about the X1. It's definitely not what I'm looking for - too big and heavy. And for over $300 less, you can get the VAIO SB with longer battery life, optical drive, dedicated graphics and similar size, weight, build quality, and Sandy Bridge i5. Or for $200 less, buy a MBP 13 with longer battery life, optical drive, and similar size, weight, build quality, and Sandy Bridge i5. I think Lenovo missed the mark pretty bad on this one.

On the other hand, the X220 is worth further consideration. It's got the traditional ThinkPad keyboard and killer battery life. And you can get one with an IPS screen and otherwise similar specs as the X1 for about $200 less than the X1. It's still a bit thick & heavy to lug around in the same bag as my work laptop, and I'd have to figure out how to get it shipped to me while traveling. But hmm...

 

x220 is only 1.35kg — its definitely not heavy.
MBA 13 is just a bit of step up towards luxury with its SSD and better screen (also 1 extra inch on display) something extra here and there (not the cpu though).

However if you dont need mac os at all and want to save a bit money (who doesnt?) x220 should be awesome for you. Also its more sturdy and seems less glamour which should be a + for you.

In general its hard to justify apple prices if you are not fond of mac os or totally in love with design.

 

x220 has an IPS screen, much better to look at but does fall short on being lower resolution.

 

agreed, I went with the 220 for my needs. I can live with the lower res as I have access to external screens

 

Just wanted to say thanks for the advice. I ended up going with the MBA 11. Lenovo had a 4 week order time, which didn't fit my travel plans. I was also worried about fitting it into my bag (aka mobile office). It turns out even the MBA is a tight fit with all my other crap.

I got the 11 instead of the 13 mainly because of price. The high res screen on the 13 would have been nice, but unnecessary for a secondary computer. My wife also voted for smaller machine for ease of couch surfing.

I've had it for a week now and it's pretty sweet. I'm triple booting OS X, Windows, and Ubuntu. I'm using OS X mostly for web surfing, Windows for Skype, Office, and games. I've got Ubuntu on there for some light software development but haven't really used it much yet.

I'm getting about 6 hours of web surfing and other light use out of OS X, with wifi on but Bluetooth off and Flash blocked. Doing the same stuff in Windows gets me about 5 hours. If you let Flash do its thing, battery life drops by 1-2 hours in either OS (roughly). Right clicking takes a little practice in Windows but otherwise the trackpad and other hardware work well with Boot Camp.

The most shocking thing about this little machine is that it can actually play a lot of games. It's amazing they can pack this much power into such a small package. And except when gaming or trying to run Skype on OS X, the fan remains silent and it stays cool. Very impressive.

 

I definitely think you made the right choice. For what you were looking for, I think you hit the nail on the head. One thing I love about MacBooks (pro and air) is how universal they are. You want to pop it out and work on a document? Check. Want to surf the web wirelessly for 5 hours on the couch? Check. Want to fire up some World of Warcraft? Check. Want to hook it up to a tv mounted on the wall and use hour IPhone as a keyboard and trackpad? Check. The possibilties are endless and all in a 11-13" screen that'll fit almost anywhere.

 

Good buy!!