Refurbished MBA (Rev A) vs UMB

I've decided to permanently park my 15" MBP on my desk, connected to an external monitor, speakers, keyboard mouse etc and use it as my torrent / wireless print server, and buy a smaller mac to replace it.

I only used the MBP for safari, itunes, messenger, office apps, and watching movies on the go.

I have spotted a first gen Macbook Air 1.6 ghz and a unibody MB 2.0 ghz for $1099 Canadian in the refurbished store. I think this is a pretty good price for either one and I get the full 1 year warantee with the option of extending it.

The MB seems ideal, but I wouldn't mind having the Air as well. I remember the first gen Air had all sorts of problems. Do you think Apple fixed the problems in this particular unit before putting it back up for sale?

 

I would personally avoid the first generation MBA for the reasons that you've stated. If you can afford to get a new one, then I suggest that you spend the extra few hundred bucks.

The wisest choice is probably to get the 1st gen uMB because it is much, much faster, has the same width and depth, and not so much thicker/heavier that it would weigh you down.

If you MUST have a super-thin notebook, then I suppose a second gen. MBA isn't so bad if the expense is justifiable.

 

Good point. I also realized the MBA has the 65nm processors instead of the cooler 45 nm CPUs.

So with the Air I'd be getting a slower CPU, slower hard drive, NO optical drive, less ports, and inferior graphics, and gain thinness.

With the MB I'd get a faster system, good graphics power, built in optical, replaceable hard drive.

That pretty much sums it up, but the Air looks so sexy.

 

IMO (just IMO), the uMB killed the MBA. Many of the attractive things about the MBA were matched or surpassed by the uMB: unibody alu, backlit keyboard, LED screen, etc. The only thing that MBA has going for it is its slimness, but for most folks (like me), the under 1" uMB and MBP are definitely thin enough already that we wouldn't pay so much more to get go even thinner (and a lot slower too).

Get the uMB

 

I 2nd this, go for the 13" MB/MBP

 

Apple Outlet has the 1.8GHz 128GB SSD nVidia Air for $1450. That might be worth looking into.

 

I bought the uMB referbished from Apple's website and love it. Never thought twice about the referbished part as it does come with the year warrenty and such. I doesn't have the backlit keyboard (which is my big pet peve and honestly the only reason I would consider going to a new MBP lol) and I am not sure but besides thinness, it the backlit keyboard might be the only feature the MBA has over the uMB. But to be honest, the backlit keyboard is cool but not really needed as I found my screen provides enough light for me to feel my way around the keyboard.

 

If you're a college student (or if you know a college student) the 13 MBP is easily the best value. With the educational discount the base MBP is $1100 + a free iPod touch, which you could sell for $150-200, making the final price $900-950. The refurbished uMB costs $950.

It's a bit of a hassle to sell the iPod and wait for the rebate, but I think the upgrade is worth it.

 

I owned two MBAs rev.A (80GB HDD and the 64GB SSD) I never had ANY problems.

In my opinion they are the perfect netbooks/light notebooks.

Unlike netbooks the Air has enough CPU power. Unlike the 13"MBP the Air is light. Really light for a 13".

 

The air is currently for those huge apple fans who already have a mac pro/imac/mbp and lots of money, and want a fashion accessory to show how rich they are. No optical drive and one usb its almost useless. The asus e-pcs have more features and cost $300. The macbook pro 13inch is way better and is cheaper. The slimness is cool, but the 13 inch mbp is already as thin as you could want a computer.

 

Spot on. Under 1" is so thin that anything less just means little to most consumers. I don't think that anyone is denying that the MBA is a niche product and isn't for everything.

Phil, I don't think that Apple classifies the MBA as a "netbook." For on thing, it is much faster and more full-featured, and a lot pricier.

 

Get the MBP 13". The MBA is for someone who already has a more powerful machine. Of your needs watching movies on the go will probably be toughest. The MBA cannot handle 1080p (revA at least). Might not be able to handle 720p. I havent tried though. I use mine to surf the net and do some coding in between classes. I paid only $820 for mine and it came with Applecare so it was just a bit more expensive than top of the line netbooks. I thought of the MBP 13 but having a 15 already the MBA made more sense (and was cheaper).

 

I don't know about you, but it would be awesome (to me) if my MBP is half an inch thinner.

 

Since a standard 2.5" HDD is about 9.5mm thick, a .5" laptop would have approx. 3mm left to incorporate the LCD, cooling, and top and bottom = impossible. This is why the MBA uses a 1.8" drive and has so many cooling issues.

So in reality, you wouldn't really want a .5" thick notebook, not if you want it to run like a MacBook Pro and not blow up in 15 minutes.

Around .8" might be the thinnest that we will ever have until SSD completely replaces 2.5" disks. Then there are still the issues of cooling and optical drives.

 

I am sure they don't. I classify it as a light notebook a.k.a. ultraportable.

MBA Rev. A much faster than a netbook? You'd be surprised. Rev. A stuttered quite easily when I was watching Youtube HD or other flash. In some tasks my Samsung NC10 is faster. And netbooks with GMA500 will outperform MBA with 1080p H264.

More full-featured? Netbooks come with more ports, upgradeable memory, upgradeable 2.5" hard drives, removable batteries...

A lot pricier? Ok I'll give you that one

Still MBA has some good features that netbooks can't touch: Very bright and high quality screen and a very comfortable keyboard and touchpad.

 

Yeah seriously. Youtube HD stutters so much on the MBA.

 

I decided to just get the uMB because I will be carrying this around with me at all times and I want more of a "complete" (optical drive) system. PLus it has a more powerful processor, upgradeable HD etc. Just a faster system overall. Also, I think the uMB is a lot more robust that the Air. I wouldn't want to carry the Air in my bag surrounded by 3-4 textbooks.

I found local people seller their used 2.0 models for $1100 CAN (about 960 US). So this means there is no tax...

So now I have to choose:

Buy from Apple refurbushed store for $1099 + tax = $1242
Buy from local used, but good condition for $1100.

Are Apple refurbished products formerly malfunctioning units? Or were they just returns?

 

I just noticed you have a MBP in your sig. If that is the case there is really no point getting a 13" MB or MBP :S But if you already decided why not buy it from Apple new the 13" MBP with the education discount? You can get a free ipod touch as well. If you can't buy it online with the discount in Canada I am sure you can drive across the border to buy one.

 

Well, a 13" MBP is still $1300 with edu pricing. I'd go with a used local uMB but not for $1100. If you're patient, you can score one for slightly under or around $1,000 with at least 5-months warranty remaining.

I know that the first gen. MBA stutters with Ytube HD, but netbooks are even worse. You'll get around 1 frame every minute. Flash HD files are not optimized because higher resolution H.264 requires less CPU resources.

 

the unibody macbook has better gpu and will eventually perform better while gaming or using 3d intensive apps.

 

You won't have a problem picking up slightly used uMB as alot of people are williing to part with theirs in order to get a MBP (not worth it in my eyes but what ev). Check the Market Place here, I think there are two uMB's there currently and I am sure ebay is full of them...