After falling in love with the iPad, it's build quality and the fact my win 7 desktops gfx card died; i'm looking at buying the 21.5 inch iMac. My question is buying from the nz apple store is it worth while plumping for the i5 core 3.6 MHz CPU? As opposed to the normal i3 3.2mhz CPU?
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Philippe about the tactical deployment of german Kradschützen during the battle of Kursk:
"I think I can comment on this because I used to live above the Baby Doll Lounge, a topless bar that was once frequented by bikers in lower Manhattan."
This is pretty much complete bullshit. There's no requirement for something that controls the iPad to be "finger sized", but there is a requirement that the touch point provides enough change in capacitance for the touchscreen to consider it a "touch" and not an accidental or irrelevant input. In high sensitivity capacitive screens, factors like humidity and condensation can cause false-positives. Consumer-focused capacitive touchscreens are built to accept the normal change of capacitance applied when touched by a human finger, but have no "finger-sized touch point" requirement. In order for a stylus to work, it needs to create enough capacitance change for the screen to register it as a touch and not an errant piece of dust that fell onto the screen. To do this with something like conductive foam, a larger contact point is required.
Well, the more you know. To me, it 'felt' this way - I could not replicate the exact coordinates in the drawing app. But maybe -at this time- the software I used might be at fault. (I was playing around with a friend's iPad not to long after launch) Thanks for clearing this up.
So, change of topic :P - I try to replace my Powermac G5, because frankly it is generating more heat than doing actual computing work. Would a mac mini (model summer 2010) be a good replacement? I need a mac which can output to two screens - for light photoshop editing, surfing, as HTPC, virtualization via Paralles, light blender work (3D moddeling), video editing and conversion (I'll get an external FW drive for that). I am just annoyed that it only ships -in the default config- with 2GB RAM. In 2010. Gee, my G5 had 4GB RAM in fucking 2004.
Has anyone else picked one up yet? I'm probably going to get mine today or tomorrow. I was originally going to order it online and get 4 GB of RAM, but after further consideration and playing with one in a store, I think that 2 will do me fine.
Anyone who has bought one have any impressions yet?
I literally went to the store intending to buy one twice and both times didn't, then ended up coming home yesterday with a 13.3" Macbook Pro. I think the Macbook Air is a wonderful machine, but that it's still about one generation behind being the perfect laptop. Here's why:
Price. Apple entices the fuck out of you with the $999 base model, but by the time you upgrade the 11.6" to usable terms (the 128GB SSD is necessary in my opinion, as is 4GB RAM to prevent slowdown in Boot Camp and into the future with OS X), it's become a $1300 laptop. With tax, you're paying over $1400. For a laptop that is already not tremendously powerful with today's applications, I worry about how it'll fare in a year, let alone any longer than that. (For reference, this purchase was replacing a 2007 MacBook that has served me well for a full 3 years.) If you're buying a $1400 machine, it would be nice to know it'll last.
Power. Again, while the 11.6" is not the greatest value if you consider the power it has, the 13.3" is actually a reasonably powerful machine. It matches or beats the 13.3" Macbook Pro in most benchmarks, but I couldn't bring myself to pay the premium to get a little bit of added thinness (0.3" and 1.6lbs, to be exact) out of the hardware. The 13.3" 128GB 4GB model is $1399, while the Macbook Pro is $1200. Since the benchmarks that the 13.3" Air matching the 13.3" Macbook Pro have the Pro using the default HDD, you have to consider that most of the performance of the Air is coming from its built-in SSD.
Which, actually, is awesome. But a 128GB Sandforce SSD (which offers faster read/write speeds) are around $250, and under $200 in increasingly frequent newegg sales. To me, this puts both machines at around the same price. I haven't had a chance to directly compare benchmarks of a Macbook Pro with SSD to a 13.3" Macbook Air, but I can confidently say that the power of the Pro combined with the speed of an SSD will leave you with a significantly more versatile system.
It's this best-of-both-worlds scenario that brings me to the real reason why I didn't buy the 11.6" Macbook Air. The hardware just needs time to mature. I was in a make-or-break, fucking-fed-up-with-my-2007-macbook scenario, so I opted to upgrade now to the 13.3" pro. If I had a laptop I was satisfied with though, I would have happily waited for an 11.6" update. Once they are no longer using Core 2 Duos and have switched to either an i3 or Intel's upcoming Sandy/Ivy Bridge CULV variants (which offer significantly better on-chip graphics solutions), it's going to be a seriously powerful little machine. At the moment, I just couldn't justify spending a premium on a form factor I believe will feel outdated in just a short time.
I also think that with Apple's direction in 10.7, they've made their intentions clear to put SSDs in all of their machines. Specifically, the yet-to-be-explained features of fast-app switching and application resuming, combined with the removal of the 'running' light under an app on the dock imply to me that they intend on implementing an iOS-style application state saving, and automatically swapping these states in and out of RAM to the disk as you move between applications. To do this efficiently, you would need to rely on something like a Flash SSD to prevent disk-write times on storing and recalling application states from becoming obtrusive.
If my speculation is correct, and they do intend on moving to SSDs over the next year leading into the release of 10.7 (rather than over the next few years as they dwindling prices make them the norm across all PCs), we're going to see huge performance improvements across every single Mac. While the Macbook Air seems competitively quick now, once everything is running an SSD, I'm concerned that it will return to its place in the lineup as an underpowered luxury item for frequent business travelers.
The unfortunate thing is that it really is a brilliant little machine. If you really don't intend on doing anything intensive that would require the CPU, and don't mind that you're unable to add RAM or SSD space in the future, I think it's probably the perfect laptop...so long as you aren't bothered by the price. For me, in the end, I wanted the 11.6" but couldn't cope with paying so much more for so much less. And in considering the 13.3"...it's hardly even a contender against the Macbook Pro. The 1.6lb difference would matter if you travel a lot, but I could barely tell the difference when handling the two in the store.
So, those were my thoughts in comparing the three of Apple's smallest laptops. Since a lot of my choices were obviously based on my own situation and needs, you may come to an entirely different conclusion, and the 11.6" may be perfect for you. Obviously, the 13" plastic MacBook isn't even worth considering in the current lineup unless you absolutely cannot afford anything more than $999 and want the bang for your buck provided there. All in all, I think the coming improvements in CPU speed and integrated graphics are going to make ultraportable form factors like the 11.6" Macbook Air the norm in laptop computing. Right now though, it wasn't worth it for me to be the cutting edge of form factor while cutting so much in capability and performance.
I also think that with Apple's direction in 10.7, they've made their intentions clear to put SSDs in all of their machines.
Hopefully that means 10.7 will support TRIM.
Yeah, no kidding. There's speculation that Apple's SSD controller does background garbage collection on its own though, but obviously no one has been able to test this yet. AnandTech mentions that it appears Apple is doing GC in firmware on the Mac Pro SSDs, so there's no reason to believe it isn't being done here as well.
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SarksusATTACK AND DETHRONE GODRegistered Userregular
edited October 2010
I'm impressed by what Apple is able to squeeze out of the SSDs in the Airs with just garbage collection. It practically makes up for not supporting TRIM.
This is pretty much complete bullshit. There's no requirement for something that controls the iPad to be "finger sized", but there is a requirement that the touch point provides enough change in capacitance for the touchscreen to consider it a "touch" and not an accidental or irrelevant input. In high sensitivity capacitive screens, factors like humidity and condensation can cause false-positives. Consumer-focused capacitive touchscreens are built to accept the normal change of capacitance applied when touched by a human finger, but have no "finger-sized touch point" requirement. In order for a stylus to work, it needs to create enough capacitance change for the screen to register it as a touch and not an errant piece of dust that fell onto the screen. To do this with something like conductive foam, a larger contact point is required.
Well, the more you know. To me, it 'felt' this way - I could not replicate the exact coordinates in the drawing app. But maybe -at this time- the software I used might be at fault. (I was playing around with a friend's iPad not to long after launch) Thanks for clearing this up.
So, change of topic :P - I try to replace my Powermac G5, because frankly it is generating more heat than doing actual computing work. Would a mac mini (model summer 2010) be a good replacement? I need a mac which can output to two screens - for light photoshop editing, surfing, as HTPC, virtualization via Paralles, light blender work (3D moddeling), video editing and conversion (I'll get an external FW drive for that). I am just annoyed that it only ships -in the default config- with 2GB RAM. In 2010. Gee, my G5 had 4GB RAM in fucking 2004.
How hard are your processors working? I ask because earlier this week I rebooted my Quad Core Mac Pro for the first time in, like 6 months (no joke). That same day my office heated up by, like, 15 degrees (again no joke). When I checked my processors which normally each run about 90 degrees were almost 150 degrees each. And the fans were spinning at almost a thousand RPM. It was a freakin' space heater pumping out mad heat.
Checking activity monitor the computer was pegged completely redline. You know what it was?
Freakin' SETI.
I had forgotten that earlier this year I quit out of the SETI app. And it's set to start automatically on reboot, even when I'm working.
As soon as I quit it (permanently this time), everything cooled back down again and my room is nice and cozy now. Maybe check your processes first?
Did you go for any upgrades or just the base model?
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Big DookieSmells great!Houston, TXRegistered Userregular
edited October 2010
Just the base model for $999. I really did consider both the 4 GB RAM and 128 GB upgrade, but in the end decided against it. I honestly think this will work fine for what I need it for, since I don't do any really intensive work on the go. Mostly writing, browsing, etc.
I love how light and small yet usable this thing is. The screen is fantastic too. Love it.
This is pretty much complete bullshit. There's no requirement for something that controls the iPad to be "finger sized", but there is a requirement that the touch point provides enough change in capacitance for the touchscreen to consider it a "touch" and not an accidental or irrelevant input. In high sensitivity capacitive screens, factors like humidity and condensation can cause false-positives. Consumer-focused capacitive touchscreens are built to accept the normal change of capacitance applied when touched by a human finger, but have no "finger-sized touch point" requirement. In order for a stylus to work, it needs to create enough capacitance change for the screen to register it as a touch and not an errant piece of dust that fell onto the screen. To do this with something like conductive foam, a larger contact point is required.
Well, the more you know. To me, it 'felt' this way - I could not replicate the exact coordinates in the drawing app. But maybe -at this time- the software I used might be at fault. (I was playing around with a friend's iPad not to long after launch) Thanks for clearing this up.
So, change of topic :P - I try to replace my Powermac G5, because frankly it is generating more heat than doing actual computing work. Would a mac mini (model summer 2010) be a good replacement? I need a mac which can output to two screens - for light photoshop editing, surfing, as HTPC, virtualization via Paralles, light blender work (3D moddeling), video editing and conversion (I'll get an external FW drive for that). I am just annoyed that it only ships -in the default config- with 2GB RAM. In 2010. Gee, my G5 had 4GB RAM in fucking 2004.
How hard are your processors working? I ask because earlier this week I rebooted my Quad Core Mac Pro for the first time in, like 6 months (no joke). That same day my office heated up by, like, 15 degrees (again no joke). When I checked my processors which normally each run about 90 degrees were almost 150 degrees each. And the fans were spinning at almost a thousand RPM. It was a freakin' space heater pumping out mad heat.
Checking activity monitor the computer was pegged completely redline. You know what it was?
Freakin' SETI.
I had forgotten that earlier this year I quit out of the SETI app. And it's set to start automatically on reboot, even when I'm working.
As soon as I quit it (permanently this time), everything cooled back down again and my room is nice and cozy now. Maybe check your processes first?
Honestly, in my experience, G5's will just do that after they start getting old. Mine does it, and before we replaced our G5's at work, they'd all start ramping up their fans at random times. I even still have one G5 as a test server running OS X Server 10.5.8 and it'll ramp the fans up at random times with 0 load on the processors.
I'd love to get a Mac Pro to replace my G5 at home, but....so much money.
Well, the computing power of a G5 is nothing to write home about anymore, especially because the majority of the developers are optimizing and developing for the Intel side only. I am not mad about it, the G5 did work perfectly for 6 years and still gets newish apps despite the demise of the Apple PowerPC platform.
My Powermac is struggeling with HD content (for example) - usually one or both CPUs are at 80% when playing a youtube video. Encoding / playback via graphic hardware isn't supported, so the machine gets loud when I playback something and the CPUs get all the load. Plus I have added a modified Geforce 7800GS (the fan on the card is spinning contantly beause of the modified Bios.) - With the Mac mini I would get the 3x the computing power in a "lunchbox" sized machine which uses the power of a lightbulb and is quite silent. But the price of 800 Euros is putting me off.
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FFOnce Upon a TimeIn OaklandRegistered Userregular
edited October 2010
Depressing, that.
When I bought my G5, Apple had as a part of their student developer program, a one time hardware discount you could use when you first signed up as a student developer. So, $99 fee to become a student developer (and proof that I was in some sort of computer class) led to near $6-700 off.
I'm on the fence about getting a Macbook (making the leap from Windows 7.) I just don't know which type of Macbook to get. I'm "drinking the punch" about the 13 inch MacBook Air, although I'm apprehensive about it.
I know this sounds silly, but I want the ability to play *some* games. I understand that with Steam on Mac these days, there are many more games than there were a year before. (I would go console or desktop, but I'm in the military and deploying to Afghanistan/Iraq every other year makes me want to focus on portability.)
What games would you plan on playing? My thought is that the Macbook/Macbook Air are simply going to be too under powered graphically compared to the Macbook Pros.
What games would you plan on playing? My thought is that the Macbook/Macbook Air are simply going to be too under powered graphically compared to the Macbook Pros.
all 13" and under models use the same graphics chipset, the Nvidia 320M
if you want dedicated graphics, you have to go for the 15" Macbook Pro
I see, I see. So, outside of games - how different are Macbook Airs versus Pros?
In a nutshell, the Airs are smaller and lighter, yet also more underpowered and with less battery life (though not significantly less). Also, the Airs are a lot less upgradeable.
I just got an Air, and for what I need it is a fantastic laptop. However, if you are a "power" user, the Air is probably not going to cut it.
Well, aside from gaming - i'm not really a "power" user.
How do you like it?
Which size did you get?
Is this your first Mac?
I'm really leaning towards a macbook air despite the whole gaming thing. I would probably be better off just bringing a psp or something with me to meet my gaming needs.
Big DookieSmells great!Houston, TXRegistered Userregular
edited October 2010
I made the big Apple switch a few years ago, when I bought a 12" PowerBook G4. Ever since then I've owned an iMac from 2009 and a 13" MacBook Pro from the same year. I also recently had an iPad, which I sold to get the 11" MacBook Air. Overall, I love the Air so far. It's incredibly small and thin, and considering the specs, I've seen almost no difference in performance. I'm sure that would change with games, but for day to day stuff, it's really fantastic.
So today has been pretty awesome thus far. I went to the post office (APO location so gotta pick everything up) and what do I have? A handful of packages!
Mac Mini
Magic Mouse
8gb RAM
The Force Unleashed PS3
Fallout New Vegas PS3
Only thing I'm waiting on now is the wireless keyboard, so I am using an old keyboard for now. And the 2 1TB HDD's. Those will help.
I hooked up the Mini to my TV and it's glorious. I'm going to put a few movies on this bad boy and see what it can do...right after I install all that delicious RAM. It does run pretty snappy without it though, but I've already got it here so I'm goin for it!
And I have 2 papers due Tuesday for my grad class. Damn cruel world, giving me shiny shiny things to draw my attention away from work!
Anyone know if I can set my logitech Harmony remote to turn on/off the Mini? That'd be awesome. I'll try to set it up later.
I see, I see. So, outside of games - how different are Macbook Airs versus Pros?
In a nutshell, the Airs are smaller and lighter, yet also more underpowered and with less battery life (though not significantly less). Also, the Airs are a lot less upgradeable.
I just got an Air, and for what I need it is a fantastic laptop. However, if you are a "power" user, the Air is probably not going to cut it.
The Airs have higher resolution screens for the size. IMO that makes them worth buying over a Pro unless you go for a 15" or larger version.
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Big DookieSmells great!Houston, TXRegistered Userregular
edited October 2010
Which is great if you have good eyes. I personally have had to increase the default font size. I do like the resolution though, it doesn't feel cramped like netbooks I have previously used.
Make sure you don't get an iPhone 4. Even the iPad's screen looks like ass by comparison.
My iPhone 4 was my first iPhone.
Comparing it to a friend's 3GS made his look like some cheap Chinese knockoff.
The iphone 4 screen resolution is what sold me on it over the Droid X. I look forward to more phones coming out with comparable displays, 'cause it's pretty great.
That said, I'm terrified of breaking my iphone 4. It just looks frail. I already have a v-shaped scratch on the screen somehow . And tethering has been hit or miss since 4.1 for me, but only in a specific location, so I don't know what exactly to make of that.
So we get stiff once in a while. So we have a little fun. What’s wrong with that? This is a free country, isn’t it? I can take my panda any place I want to. And if I wanna buy it a drink, that’s my business.
that adapter is standard now, and it's so much better than the old one.
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Big DookieSmells great!Houston, TXRegistered Userregular
edited November 2010
Also, I've been using mine for about 3 days now, and the smaller function keys make absolutely no difference in my opinion. The keyboard is still plenty big where it needs to be, which is SO NICE. That alone (and the huge trackpad) make this so much more than just a standard netbook.
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"I think I can comment on this because I used to live above the Baby Doll Lounge, a topless bar that was once frequented by bikers in lower Manhattan."
Well, the more you know. To me, it 'felt' this way - I could not replicate the exact coordinates in the drawing app. But maybe -at this time- the software I used might be at fault. (I was playing around with a friend's iPad not to long after launch) Thanks for clearing this up.
So, change of topic :P - I try to replace my Powermac G5, because frankly it is generating more heat than doing actual computing work. Would a mac mini (model summer 2010) be a good replacement? I need a mac which can output to two screens - for light photoshop editing, surfing, as HTPC, virtualization via Paralles, light blender work (3D moddeling), video editing and conversion (I'll get an external FW drive for that). I am just annoyed that it only ships -in the default config- with 2GB RAM. In 2010. Gee, my G5 had 4GB RAM in fucking 2004.
I literally went to the store intending to buy one twice and both times didn't, then ended up coming home yesterday with a 13.3" Macbook Pro. I think the Macbook Air is a wonderful machine, but that it's still about one generation behind being the perfect laptop. Here's why:
Price. Apple entices the fuck out of you with the $999 base model, but by the time you upgrade the 11.6" to usable terms (the 128GB SSD is necessary in my opinion, as is 4GB RAM to prevent slowdown in Boot Camp and into the future with OS X), it's become a $1300 laptop. With tax, you're paying over $1400. For a laptop that is already not tremendously powerful with today's applications, I worry about how it'll fare in a year, let alone any longer than that. (For reference, this purchase was replacing a 2007 MacBook that has served me well for a full 3 years.) If you're buying a $1400 machine, it would be nice to know it'll last.
Power. Again, while the 11.6" is not the greatest value if you consider the power it has, the 13.3" is actually a reasonably powerful machine. It matches or beats the 13.3" Macbook Pro in most benchmarks, but I couldn't bring myself to pay the premium to get a little bit of added thinness (0.3" and 1.6lbs, to be exact) out of the hardware. The 13.3" 128GB 4GB model is $1399, while the Macbook Pro is $1200. Since the benchmarks that the 13.3" Air matching the 13.3" Macbook Pro have the Pro using the default HDD, you have to consider that most of the performance of the Air is coming from its built-in SSD.
Which, actually, is awesome. But a 128GB Sandforce SSD (which offers faster read/write speeds) are around $250, and under $200 in increasingly frequent newegg sales. To me, this puts both machines at around the same price. I haven't had a chance to directly compare benchmarks of a Macbook Pro with SSD to a 13.3" Macbook Air, but I can confidently say that the power of the Pro combined with the speed of an SSD will leave you with a significantly more versatile system.
It's this best-of-both-worlds scenario that brings me to the real reason why I didn't buy the 11.6" Macbook Air. The hardware just needs time to mature. I was in a make-or-break, fucking-fed-up-with-my-2007-macbook scenario, so I opted to upgrade now to the 13.3" pro. If I had a laptop I was satisfied with though, I would have happily waited for an 11.6" update. Once they are no longer using Core 2 Duos and have switched to either an i3 or Intel's upcoming Sandy/Ivy Bridge CULV variants (which offer significantly better on-chip graphics solutions), it's going to be a seriously powerful little machine. At the moment, I just couldn't justify spending a premium on a form factor I believe will feel outdated in just a short time.
I also think that with Apple's direction in 10.7, they've made their intentions clear to put SSDs in all of their machines. Specifically, the yet-to-be-explained features of fast-app switching and application resuming, combined with the removal of the 'running' light under an app on the dock imply to me that they intend on implementing an iOS-style application state saving, and automatically swapping these states in and out of RAM to the disk as you move between applications. To do this efficiently, you would need to rely on something like a Flash SSD to prevent disk-write times on storing and recalling application states from becoming obtrusive.
If my speculation is correct, and they do intend on moving to SSDs over the next year leading into the release of 10.7 (rather than over the next few years as they dwindling prices make them the norm across all PCs), we're going to see huge performance improvements across every single Mac. While the Macbook Air seems competitively quick now, once everything is running an SSD, I'm concerned that it will return to its place in the lineup as an underpowered luxury item for frequent business travelers.
The unfortunate thing is that it really is a brilliant little machine. If you really don't intend on doing anything intensive that would require the CPU, and don't mind that you're unable to add RAM or SSD space in the future, I think it's probably the perfect laptop...so long as you aren't bothered by the price. For me, in the end, I wanted the 11.6" but couldn't cope with paying so much more for so much less. And in considering the 13.3"...it's hardly even a contender against the Macbook Pro. The 1.6lb difference would matter if you travel a lot, but I could barely tell the difference when handling the two in the store.
So, those were my thoughts in comparing the three of Apple's smallest laptops. Since a lot of my choices were obviously based on my own situation and needs, you may come to an entirely different conclusion, and the 11.6" may be perfect for you. Obviously, the 13" plastic MacBook isn't even worth considering in the current lineup unless you absolutely cannot afford anything more than $999 and want the bang for your buck provided there. All in all, I think the coming improvements in CPU speed and integrated graphics are going to make ultraportable form factors like the 11.6" Macbook Air the norm in laptop computing. Right now though, it wasn't worth it for me to be the cutting edge of form factor while cutting so much in capability and performance.
Hopefully that means 10.7 will support TRIM.
Yeah, no kidding. There's speculation that Apple's SSD controller does background garbage collection on its own though, but obviously no one has been able to test this yet. AnandTech mentions that it appears Apple is doing GC in firmware on the Mac Pro SSDs, so there's no reason to believe it isn't being done here as well.
How hard are your processors working? I ask because earlier this week I rebooted my Quad Core Mac Pro for the first time in, like 6 months (no joke). That same day my office heated up by, like, 15 degrees (again no joke). When I checked my processors which normally each run about 90 degrees were almost 150 degrees each. And the fans were spinning at almost a thousand RPM. It was a freakin' space heater pumping out mad heat.
Checking activity monitor the computer was pegged completely redline. You know what it was?
Freakin' SETI.
I had forgotten that earlier this year I quit out of the SETI app. And it's set to start automatically on reboot, even when I'm working.
As soon as I quit it (permanently this time), everything cooled back down again and my room is nice and cozy now. Maybe check your processes first?
Watch my music videos
It's awesome.
Oculus: TheBigDookie | XBL: Dook | NNID: BigDookie
Awesome. I hope you like it.
Did you go for any upgrades or just the base model?
I love how light and small yet usable this thing is. The screen is fantastic too. Love it.
Oculus: TheBigDookie | XBL: Dook | NNID: BigDookie
Honestly, in my experience, G5's will just do that after they start getting old. Mine does it, and before we replaced our G5's at work, they'd all start ramping up their fans at random times. I even still have one G5 as a test server running OS X Server 10.5.8 and it'll ramp the fans up at random times with 0 load on the processors.
I'd love to get a Mac Pro to replace my G5 at home, but....so much money.
My Powermac is struggeling with HD content (for example) - usually one or both CPUs are at 80% when playing a youtube video. Encoding / playback via graphic hardware isn't supported, so the machine gets loud when I playback something and the CPUs get all the load. Plus I have added a modified Geforce 7800GS (the fan on the card is spinning contantly beause of the modified Bios.) - With the Mac mini I would get the 3x the computing power in a "lunchbox" sized machine which uses the power of a lightbulb and is quite silent. But the price of 800 Euros is putting me off.
When I bought my G5, Apple had as a part of their student developer program, a one time hardware discount you could use when you first signed up as a student developer. So, $99 fee to become a student developer (and proof that I was in some sort of computer class) led to near $6-700 off.
That program is loooong gone.
I know this sounds silly, but I want the ability to play *some* games. I understand that with Steam on Mac these days, there are many more games than there were a year before. (I would go console or desktop, but I'm in the military and deploying to Afghanistan/Iraq every other year makes me want to focus on portability.)
Any recommendations?
WiiU: jooncole (Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate)
3DS: 2122-5983-8919
all 13" and under models use the same graphics chipset, the Nvidia 320M
if you want dedicated graphics, you have to go for the 15" Macbook Pro
The Witcher, Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl, maybe Dragon Age (is this even feasible?)
WiiU: jooncole (Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate)
3DS: 2122-5983-8919
WiiU: jooncole (Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate)
3DS: 2122-5983-8919
In a nutshell, the Airs are smaller and lighter, yet also more underpowered and with less battery life (though not significantly less). Also, the Airs are a lot less upgradeable.
I just got an Air, and for what I need it is a fantastic laptop. However, if you are a "power" user, the Air is probably not going to cut it.
Oculus: TheBigDookie | XBL: Dook | NNID: BigDookie
How do you like it?
Which size did you get?
Is this your first Mac?
I'm really leaning towards a macbook air despite the whole gaming thing. I would probably be better off just bringing a psp or something with me to meet my gaming needs.
WiiU: jooncole (Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate)
3DS: 2122-5983-8919
Oculus: TheBigDookie | XBL: Dook | NNID: BigDookie
Mac Mini
Magic Mouse
8gb RAM
The Force Unleashed PS3
Fallout New Vegas PS3
Only thing I'm waiting on now is the wireless keyboard, so I am using an old keyboard for now. And the 2 1TB HDD's. Those will help.
I hooked up the Mini to my TV and it's glorious. I'm going to put a few movies on this bad boy and see what it can do...right after I install all that delicious RAM. It does run pretty snappy without it though, but I've already got it here so I'm goin for it!
And I have 2 papers due Tuesday for my grad class. Damn cruel world, giving me shiny shiny things to draw my attention away from work!
Anyone know if I can set my logitech Harmony remote to turn on/off the Mini? That'd be awesome. I'll try to set it up later.
The Airs have higher resolution screens for the size. IMO that makes them worth buying over a Pro unless you go for a 15" or larger version.
Oculus: TheBigDookie | XBL: Dook | NNID: BigDookie
Totally blew my mind, and I didn't expect to go back and notice a difference like that.
Make sure you don't get an iPhone 4. Even the iPad's screen looks like ass by comparison.
My iPhone 4 was my first iPhone.
Comparing it to a friend's 3GS made his look like some cheap Chinese knockoff.
The iphone 4 screen resolution is what sold me on it over the Droid X. I look forward to more phones coming out with comparable displays, 'cause it's pretty great.
That said, I'm terrified of breaking my iphone 4. It just looks frail. I already have a v-shaped scratch on the screen somehow
that adapter is standard now, and it's so much better than the old one.
Oculus: TheBigDookie | XBL: Dook | NNID: BigDookie
I love this thing. Although I think I am more in love with the OS than anything else. This shit is so fluid!
WiiU: jooncole (Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate)
3DS: 2122-5983-8919
Your first Mac?
Switch: 6200-8149-0919 / Wii U: maximumzero / 3DS: 0860-3352-3335 / eBay Shop
I was on a decent computer with Windows 7 for about a year. I also love the portability of the 11 inches. It's like a netbook that doesn't suck.
WiiU: jooncole (Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate)
3DS: 2122-5983-8919