Macbook or Macbook Air?

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I'm unfortunately having to sell my iMac (24" Aluminum) but i'm proposing to get in it's place a macbook or macbook air, does anyone have the macbook air to give me an idea on how good they are/recommend?

I've also looked at the new macbook with the aluminum body which is very nice, either would be fine as i do have a Time Capsule for backup etc.

thanks in advance ;)
 
Do you want to be able to watch/use DVDs on the move without an extra USB drive? How important is CPU power to what you use it for?
 
Never really saw the point of the macbook air - good as a secondary machine, but not as a main machine. Far too much dosh to fork out for one aswell...
 
Macbook Air is a joke. Don't bother.
Get a Macbook, or the Pro version if you want a nicer screen.

If it's just about portability get a Samsung NC10 and save money.
 
MacBook Air is a beautiful piece of hardware but very limited in it's practicality. Go for a MacBook or MBP, much more rounded.
 
Well guys from the responses so far i'd be safe to say go for the "Macbook" over the "Macbook Air", my use varies from web browsing/email/photoshop/word. Suppose mobility from the lightness of the "macbook air" would be good, but not essential. I don't really need the cd/dvd drive if i got the "Air" as my wife has a laptop i could connect to for the use of a dvd drive. I do have a "Time Capsule" for storage of large files so that wouldn't be a problem. Other than that i don't know. Cheers
 
MacBook makes the most sense.

The Air is far from a joke as stated above but it's aimed to a very specific market and it was quite surprising that Apple tried to capture it.

It's a very nice machine but doesn't carry enough grunt simply.
 
Slogan said:
MacBook makes the most sense.

The Air is far from a joke as stated above but it's aimed to a very specific market and it was quite surprising that Apple tried to capture it.

It's a very nice machine but doesn't carry enough grunt simply.
Click to expand...

Exactly.
 
So a MacBook it is then, is there a massive difference between the 2.0ghz & 2.4ghz chip in these MacBooks? I know on a desktop i'd have said no so i'm presuming the same.
Thanks
 
Personally I would say yes.

My MacBook Pro at 2.16Ghz was really slick under Tiger and just a little less responsive when running Leopard.

Because of that, I would say the extra juice is worth it.
 
As always it comes down to cost vs features/benefits. If you're going to be using anything processor intensive like Photoshop (which you mentioned above) a little extra horsepower could be a good thing.

Note also that it's only the 2.4GHz MacBook that has the illuminated keyboard. Depending on your usage that may be something you would find useful. I know I do.

I'd also agree with what's been posted above. The new unibody MacBook is a much better buy for the overwhelming majority of people who aren't prepared to sacrifice flexibility and speed to save a tiny amount of weight and size.
 
MacBook everytime.

Only thing that the air would win on, is the display (as the MacBook uses an inferior panel) otherwise it's out-trumped in every department.

...and you pay crazy prices. In fact, I'd say if you can afford the air then I'd get a MBP :o;)
 
Its one or the other

1. Get a laptop with features you'd expect.

2. Get a laptop with its nads cut off for the sake of Steve Jobs having an onstage orgasm about it being uselessly thin.

Option 1 would be most peoples choice.
 
I bought a Gen A Macbook Air (1.8ghz, 64gb SSD) for £860 last week, brand new from a competitor.

Reasons for buying it over the base Unibody Macbook:

- Cheaper! (£70 less)
- 2.0ghz vs 1.8ghz = not a *huge* difference
- SSD Drive!
- Better panel - it's well known that the MBA panel is miles better than the Macbook
- Same Unibody construction
- Backlit keyboard (Base Macboook doesn't have it)
- Weighs less (it's only 0.X kg, but it's impressively lighter)
- Feel, in person, is sublime. (MB is great too, but there's something special about the Air)
- Bundled with 2 Video adapters

However, I'd buy a MB/MBP if I needed to regularly use the DVD Drive, multiple USB ports, gfx performance, or needed firewire on a portable. For my needs, the Air is perfect. As I mentioned, there's something special about the Air - the combination of it's features, performance:weight ratio, build quality, size, weight, and to a point, its sacrifices - it's a special wee thing. :)
 
Gerard said:
Option 1. Get a laptop with features you'd expect.
Click to expand...


Don't really want to go back to a Windows laptop, did think about a Sony with Blu-Ray which would be a great feature. Just wish Apple had stuck Blu-Ray drives in their MacBooks.
 
Av8 said:
Don't really want to go back to a Windows laptop, did think about a Sony with Blu-Ray which would be a great feature. Just wish Apple had stuck Blu-Ray drives in their MacBooks.
Click to expand...

Won't happen in a hurry unfortunately - Steve Jobs commented at the MB/MBP Unibody event a few months ago that BluRay licensing wasn't nice. I'd like to see it soon though - everyone else is doing it - they're even creeping up in budget machines now. :(
 
Can you not replace the drive with a slotload blueray that fits? tad expensive though ~ $500 from what i can see, but what about just housing it in an external box that you can access at home... would you need bluray on the move? That way you could do it for say <£100
 
DireEmblem said:
Can you not replace the drive with a slotload blueray that fits? tad expensive though ~ $500 from what i can see, but what about just housing it in an external box that you can access at home... would you need bluray on the move? That way you could do it for say <£100
Click to expand...

I had a look into that for my Mac Mini a while ago. At the time, BluRay writing would only be supported through 3rd party apps, and there was nothing on OS X to play BluRay films. Could be very different now.
 
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