Ordered the new 1.6 Ghz w/SSD AIR. Having 2nd thoughts.

I bought the Macbook 2.4 Ghz and hated the screen (as some others have too) so I returned it back to Apple and they were nice enough to waive the restocking fee. So I ordered the MacBook Air 1.6 Ghz with SSD to save some cash. I wasn't sure if it was worth spending the extra $200.00 for 260 Mhz. It hasn't shipped yet but it's in "Prepared for Shipping" and I am having second thoughts if I should go all the way and get the 1.86 Ghz with SSD. So far I have noticed that people that have bought the new Air bought the top model 1.8 Ghz with SSD.
Did anyone order the 1.6 with SSD? Will there be a enough performance increase to justify the price? I will be doing web surfing, spread sheets, iPhoto and Photoshop edits and playing Need for Speed Carbon. Any replies appreciated.
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Playing Carbon on a Mac Air?

 

I played Need for Speed Carbon (Mac version) on the Alu Macbook on high settings and it played very smooth with no hiccups. GPU on the Macbook and the AIR are the same with a slight underclocking on the AIR, I'm sure it will play as well as the Macbook.
Any thoughts if I should keep the 1.6Ghz config or spend the extra money for the 1.86 Ghz? Will the speed difference be worth the money?

 

Doesn't the Air use the ultra low voltage processors? You might not really notice a difference between the 1.6ghz and 1.86ghz processors then. I say if you're happy with what you have, then keep it.

 

The problem is, he hasn't received it yet.

 

whats that phone in your avatar? Which k series is that? Concept?

 

its not worth it. keep the 1.6 ghz. there's no way you'll notice a ~200mhz increase.

 

For $200 I think it's good to take it. 4 reasons:
-Photoshop edits and playing Need for Speed Carbon could well use the the extra 216Mhz.
-The 1,86 CPUs are often better samples than the 1,6 so they can even run cooler.
-Resale value will be higher.
-Upgrading the Air CPU later will be very hard/impossible.

And yes I do know that games are GPU dependent but the extra 216Mhz on top of a 1.6 low voltage CPU will still deliver some extra fps. Also because previous MBA versions were aggressively downclocking.

 

@HLdan

How did you get them to waive the restocking fee?

 

Keep it and be happy with what you have. Its only about a 200mhz difference, i don't even know if you'll see a 2 fps difference.

 

Wow, Philflow and J12 make some good points. I just hate spending money only to find out the extra Mhz won't be noticed for day to day use. However Philflow makes a great point about resale value. I need to buy Applecare, possibly a superdrive at some point and all that adds up to $3000 U.S dollars given to Apple. It just shipped this evening. I called Apple this morning and they said that I could return it (unopened) even though it's CTO as long as I order the 1.86 model.

@ ArcticRider, I was one of the people who bought the new Macbook 2.0 and was told by the Apple rep that it had a backlit keyboard. Apple apologized for the mistake and offered me $150 towards any model I wanted. I went for the 2.4 model and the first one I got had a defective screen. Apple exchanged it and the second one was fine but I didn't like the viewing angles.
After calling them and explaining about some of the things I went through and I didn't like the Macbook screen, they offered to take it back and waive the restocking fee. They said it was a special accommodation and they normally don't waive the fee.
Now I ordered the Macbook Air. I just don't want to keep shipping stuff back. I want to be sure that the 1.6 Ghz will be good enough so that's why I am asking for all of your help.

 

It will be hard to notice though. If you're applying a Photoshop filter that takes 24 seconds on the 1.6, it might take 20 seconds on the 1.86. But for normal use (not CPU dependent) there will not be any difference.

 

keep it, in 6 months you wont regret it

 

One of my good friends has the macbook air. You can forget about photoshop and Need for Speed Carbon. This machine is strictly for web surfing, light video/music, etc. She has the higher end processor btw. It won't make a difference.

 

So are you saying the MBA is just a show pony?

 

Can't agree with you there. Air will run Photoshop like any other 1.8Ghz Core 2 Duo with 2GB. CS4 is GPU accelerated so the Nvidia 9400 will make it run even better.

I don't know enough of NFS but in the first benchmark I've seen the new Air 1.8 Ghz scores 1600 in 3dMark 06.

 

Not at all, but the Air wasn't designed to do some of the things the OP wants it to do. The air is absolutely fantastic design/size wise, battery life is excellent, and video/music streaming etc, no problems there unless it gets too hot. But gaming? That's not what the Air was made for.

As to Photoshop, Yes, it will run photoshop, but it will be dog slow compared to the macbooks that the OP had bought and returned previously. Plus there is the incredibly small screen size to consider. I mean sure, you can DO it, but why on earth would you want to?

 

A 1.8 Core 2 Duo will apply filters slower than a 2.4 Ghz but i would not call it "dog' slow.

On the other hand the 128GB SSD of the Air will launch Photoshop and open/save images much quicker than the stock drives of the Macbook.

The screensize of the Macbook and Air are both 13.3".

Because the Air's screen is superior to the Macbook's. Real life contrast ratio is 1 : 500 while the macbook is 1 : 150. Color reproduction on the Air is also more accurate. Viewing angles on the Air are more forgiving.

 

The only way you're going to notice a difference between the 1.6 and 1.8ghz processors is if you've got a stopwatch to time things.

I've got the original 1.6/80 Air and have NEVER wished I had gone with the 1.8 processor instead.

As far as resale goes later, you might get an extra $100 at most for having the 1.8. It's really not worth it.

 

Well if resale value is indeed $100 higher then the real costs of the 1.8 upgrade is only $100.

If I'm buying a $2000 laptop that would be a no brainer for me.

 

I don't think you'll notice the speed difference. The day to day usage is not likely to be where you'll see benefits/returns on the CPU speed bump. It'll be as PhilFlow said - potential resale value, trying to upgrade will be nigh impossible.