Processor and Harddrive combo (MBA)

Hey..

I can't seem to find anything about this - espcially with the MBA.

I'm looking at a MacBook Air, and have been wondering what "combo" is the best.?

The MBA will be used for daily office tasks (word, excel, powerpoint, Safari, Mail, iCal) and some photoediting (iPhoto (maybe Aperture)) - of course I will use it with my iPod as well (iTunes), and for the fun of it: GarageBand when I'm really REALLY bored..
I'll buy the external disk drive, for when I watch a DVD - very rarely..

What will be the best combo? 1.6gHz/80GB or 1.8gHz/64GB (SSD)??

Thanks,
Sander

 

The lower end combo really is abysmally slow, nobody can say otherwise. The small, slow hard drive really just ruins any chance it has at being anything else.

If you must get a MBA, then go for the SSD(Solid State Drive).

Most on here, including me, will recommend against it, though. It's unnecessarily expensive unless you really want to have the trendiest thing right now. Go for the base macbook and get a much faster and more usable machine(two usb ports, plus firewire, plus an actual disc drive), it's not that much bigger.

 

For your needs "1.6gHz/80GB" will do it and then some. I even do screen capturing and some video editing.

 

If you really want the air, the 80 gb HD would probably be good for you. Personally, I don't think I'd ever make it with 80 gigs, but thats just me.

 

I know the ordinary MacBook is cheaper, about the same size etc. and has all the extras - but I do currently have a white MacBook, but I'm going to sell it.. It causes to much problems - this is the fourth time I have it at repair, and in my world it shouldn't be like that.. The Air is afterall made of aluminium and thus should be a bit more robust, so to say - I hope?!

I bascially want a Mac, that is light (if not VERY light - like the Air ) and can handle basic photo editing.. Which really sums up to the Air in my ears.. I don't know.. I just don't want a regular MacBook anymore - I'm fed up with those.. and the regular macbook is to heavy (at least I think....)

I've been grumbling about buying a very compact external harddrive (VERY small and VERY light - maybe my 30GB Video iPod will do the trick?) to maybe store my large photo files on - instead of using the 80 gigs for that..


Another question though - are there any test result stating how big a performance jump the 1.8gHz/80gb gives over the 1.6ghz/80gb??

How is the build quality of the Air? Does dent and scratch easily? Will the screen get the grease from the keyboard all over it, like the regular MacBook??

 

just buy the baseline, and wait a few months for bigger 1.8" HDs to come out.

I wouldnt recommend the price of the upper one...your paying purely for SSD, which is tiny.

 

The feeling I get is that no option is that great.

The 80GB 4200rpm drive is small and slow.

And the SSD option is not all that fast either.

The next MBA should have the faster Intel SSD drives in them and the price should drop somewhat along with getting a 45nm based CPU to lower power/heat.

My general feeling is buy a used MBA to get the depreciation, or wait for Gen II.