The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Thinking about buying a MBA 13"

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by burgereatsman, Dec 18, 2011.

  1. burgereatsman

    burgereatsman Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    9
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I'm thinking about purchasing a MBA 13" for my main laptop. Before I purchase the MBA, I have a few questions for people who already have the laptop or have more knowledge than I do. This is what I'm going to be purchasing:

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846

    I'm going to be doing mostly programming, Office/e-mails/web surfing/movies on this machine. For some of my programming, I will have to run bootcamp to use ASP.NET.

    1) I just want to confirm that loading Windows 7 on Bootcamp would only take about 45-1hour of battery life off compared to running OSX.
    2) How is the heat from this laptop on OSX and while on Bootcamp? Are the practically the same on either OS?
    3) Is the Macbook Pro a better option for me? If I get the Macbook Pro, I really want to install an SSD and I do not want to spend more than $1500 including taxes.

    I know some of these questions are answered in some other threads, but they don't provide me as clear of an answer as I would like.

    Thank you all! (PS This will be my first Mac!)
     
  2. Steven

    Steven God Amongst Mere Mortals

    Reputations:
    705
    Messages:
    986
    Likes Received:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    31
    1) Nobody can give you an exact measurement but only a mere approximation. And expect something around that.

    2) The heat is handed well, I have no complaints thus far.

    3) That depends on your uses.
     
  3. burgereatsman

    burgereatsman Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    9
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Thank you for your reply.

    I have a couple more questions before I purchase my new Mac tomorrow.
    I'm also debating with the MacBook Pro 13" with following specs:
    8GB RAM and 128 SSD.
    Let's just say I want to be able to do some web development and watch streaming movies at the same time on a different monitor. I also will travel a lot with this laptop.
    I currently only have a total of 111GB of disk space and have 40 GB remaining. I only hold my local music files and currently use Spotify so I don't plan on using a lot more disk space.

    Would the Air be sufficient, or should I choose the Pro with a worse screen and less disk space + way heavy?

    Thank you!