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Attention Students! Really good deal on MacBook Airs


Julia Falling

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I don't know which of you are students, or have students who need computers, but Best Buy is running the best deal I've ever seen on the MacBook Air. Here's the link to the MacRumors story. We know two young ladies who are going to take advantage of this deal this weekend. The double discount ends on the 21st.

 

If you're not a student, you can still get a discount, it's just not as hefty.

 

EDIT: Both those young ladies are brand new Accordance owners (recipients of HS graduation gift certificates). I'll be doing some Mac & Accordance training sometime soon.

Edited by Julie Falling
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Thanks, Julie! This seems like a great deal.

 

Does 11.6" feel pretty small, do you think? Whether or not I'm in the market for this is another question, but if so, I'd be coming from a 13" late 2008 MacBook. We've upgraded its memory to 4GB but it's slowing down. Most of our 180GB or so capacity is full, too.

 

But the fact that what you linked to is a new computer makes me think the 4GB of memory would make it run and feel faster than the 4GB on a six-year-old MB? And I'm assuming I could live with 128GB SSD, especially since I could store anything on an external hard drive.

 

Just curious to hear others' thoughts, and especially yours, Julie!

 

Primary programs I use on a Mac at the moment are Chrome, iPhoto, Preview, Accordance, Kindle, MS Office, iWork.

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Oops--I missed the processor speed when I was looking earlier. I see this: "1.4GHz (with Turbo Boost up to 2.7GHz)."

 

Noob question: What is Turbo Boost and how much does it cost? Can one get it from Best Buy? 1.4GHz seems like to me like it might be slow-ish.

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Its basically overclocking turned into a product and dynamically activated based on how the processor is doing with respect to its limits and the presented load. Here is an Intel FAQ page on it : http://www.intel.com/support/processors/sb/CS-029908.htm. Here is a little more : http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/turbo-boost/turbo-boost-technology.html?wapkw=turbo+boost+technology

 

Thx

D

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Thanks, Daniel. So the technology is inherent and can be "activated" at no additional charge? Does that run down the computer faster, over the long-haul?

 

Also, re: this line:

 

 

 

Note: Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 allows the processor to operate at a power level that is higher than its TDP configuration and data sheet specified power for short durations to maximize performance.

 

Am I reading it right that it's not as if you can just turn on and keep on Turbo Boost Technology? I.e., you could turn it on for some heavy-duty work you were doing, but then it goes off afterwards?


UDPATE: Just re-read your comment, Daniel... if I understand you correctly, it just takes care of itself.

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Abram – I moved from a 15" MBP to a 13" MBA (with the same resolution). I have been completely satisfied. I have adequate screen real estate for most things. For me, Accordance was the deciding application. When a small screen is inadequate on the MBA, I would have had the same problem on the 15" MBP. I then just connect to an external monitor.

 

I don't think an 11" would have worked for me, but I've got an astigmatism and old eyes. (I've got an appointment with a surgeon to see about cataract surgery.) If your vision is good, an 11" might work. However, storage becomes an issue in my opinion – with either 11" or 13", you'd want to go with the better model with 256G SSD. 128G seems kinda tight.

 

Since my laptop is my main machine, I custom ordered and bumped up the processor, storage, and memory. It still came out much cheaper than the 13" Pro. Yes, the processor is not as fast, but I'm not doing a lot of photo or video editing. My laptop can still do those things, but I rarely do really processor intensive tasks. Accordance certainly doesn't require a Pro level machine.

 

When I bought my Air, the faster SSDs had just been introduced and had yet to come to the Pro line. So for just a little while, I had the fastest Mac laptop on the market – not clock speed, but 'getting the task done' speed. Now the Pros have the faster SSD & improved processing. Some will buy the Pro because they need it for other things. Some will buy it because they can. I am completely satisfied with my consumer level laptop – it does everything I need it to do and weighs less than 3 pounds. Additionally, the battery life if truly incredible. I consistently get more than 12 hours if I've rebooted recently. I think there have been times when I've gone over 14 hours. For someone who carries a laptop to school or work, you really don't need to take your brick with you.

Edited by Julie Falling
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Thanks, Julie--this is really helpful.

 

I understand that there may be MBA Retina models introduced this fall, but from the little research I've done, it looks like there are slightly more pixels per inch in the Air than even the MBP non-retina machines. So I'm guessing the resolution still looks pretty nice.

 

I'm assuming a custom order would not be included in the Best Buy deal. Do you have a link for a good place (whether Apple or the other site I've seen you link to in the past) for processor/memory upgrade options?

 

The light weight and long battery life is definitely appealing.

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I've never seen studies of the long term effects of running TurboBoost. Usually processor features can be enabled or disabled in the BIOS settings on machines. Mac's I'm not sure - never tried - but certainly its common on Linux and Windows boxes I've used. But generally all these things are enabled by default as they do help performance. Its best to think of it as turned on but not actually having any effect until its needed, at which time it will increase the CPU clock speed (overclock) and then things run faster. When the load drops again (whatever you were doing that needs to work the CPU that hard finishes) it drops the CPU speed and the CPU cools down. There is a strong correlation between CPU activity (and its speed) and the temperature of the CPU. It also correlates strongly with power consumption which is another reason to use it.

 

The temperature thing is very important and they will not run an overheated CPU for long because that will cause damage. So I expect that the there is no real downside in that sense but I've never really looked. There is after all no free lunch but they sell this technology in the entire range of CPUs and its used in industry deployments not just as a cute marketing add-on for home desktops.

 

A quick search reveals : http://www.pcnexus.net/2014/01/-proven-tips-to-increase-laptop-lifespan.html. But there is no data present with his recommendation to disable TB on laptops with i5 and i7s. Just the general getting too hot is bad. Overall it is a cooling issue really - if the box is properly designed and the cooling properly done then there should not be a problem. Most computers have more dust in them and more junk piled up around them, and their air vents, over time which is not good. And that's a much greater concern than TB reducing the life of the processor.

 

Personally I run an HP laptop with a 3rd i5 with TB in it I believe. I've never look at its behaviour. There is a monitoring tool you can load but I've not tried it out. Sometimes the fan comes on more than at other times. Personally I would not (and do not) worry about it.

 

Thx

D

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Thanks, Daniel--sounds like a good thing to have in place for short bursts of extra hard/multi-tasking work on a computer, but nothing to have to be overly conscious of. For non-experts like me, that's a good thing!

 

(This also makes me want to give my 2008 MacBook a thorough dusting--it's been all fan, all the time recently, and more often than not I only have Safari, Chrome, and Accordance open. Chrome is the primary culprit.)

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Abram –

 

I'm pretty sure the Best Buy deals are only for stock machines, but it might be worth some investigation.

 

There are academic discounts from Apple (you teach, right?). The price of the MBA I ordered has dropped about $250 since last year – that made the insurance for my Air cheaper this year.

 

MacAuthority or another one of the authorized resellers might be able to offer you a discount. We're out in the boonies here so MacAuthority and BestBuy are our only options for walk-in purchases. While that's OK for iPads and accessories, it doesn't work well for a custom machine. We've mostly gone straight to Apple. However, we have also used MacConnection – they do offer custom machines, often in stock, and often with a discount.

 

As far as heat goes, my Air only occasionally gets slightly warm. The fan comes on so rarely that I'm surprised when it does. I think with older platter-drive laptops, the HD itself may have been a performance bottleneck. The near-instant SSD makes a huge difference. From off to password request is under 13 seconds. A restart, shutting down everything and rebooting, takes 38 seconds to get to the password request. It impresses me every time. It used to be that a reboot took long enough that I could go get a cup of coffee. Not anymore.

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Great--will check it out. Thanks for alerting everyone to the sale... we're still trying to get another year out of this 2008 MB, but will at least spend more time now checking out the MBAs at Best Buy.

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Just one more thing – sorry, couldn't help myself – the resolution has been a non-issue with me. I put a 13" Air right next to a 13" Retina Pro. I honestly couldn't tell the difference. One of the families that will be buying a MBA for their daughter this weekend did the same thing and they couldn't tell the difference, either, so it's not just my astigmatism and cataracts.

 

The resolution on a 13 MBA is identical to the resolution on your 2008 15" MBP. That is an improvement. I had to increase my font size in Accordance Prefs to get it big enough for comfort.

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Julie--that's good to know, actually. I mean, coming from a MacBook (mine is actually 13.3") I don't really expect super-high resolution. In other words, it would probably be really hard to go from Retina to non-Retina. I did (foolishly) allow myself to briefly look at and pine after the Retina displays at the Apple store the other week and, wow! They are crisp.

 

So I'm glad to hear the Airs are good, too.

 

Sounds like the "double" sale you mentioned is short-lived. Glad to have at least a day or two to think about it.

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The same website on the two 13" machines (MBA & Retina MBP), side by side, looked the same to me and to our friends. It may be that with some images there would be a discernible difference. With text, I couldn't see it.

 

There will no doubt be another sale. Sometimes when the sales come, the timing just isn't right. The timing is perfect for our college-bound students. At least two of them will be taking advantage of it. Another young lady, at the same college orientation weekend, may also be getting an Air, also.

Edited by Julie Falling
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My wife has an 11" MBA. The screen size has never been an issue. She does writing and I have used it occasionally to do grading on. I have used Accordance on it and have had no issues.

 

I will say that the 128 GB storage is tight and we have run into the issue of the storage being filled.

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Abram,

 

Chrome is horrible at memory usage for both the Mac and Windows, but I feel more-so for the Mac. After converting to a Mac, I naturally loaded Chrome on as that was my standard browser after Firefox started to get to bloated. I then noted my memory dropping and the Mac slowing after several tabs were opened on the browser (I have an avg of 5-10 tabs open constantly). Each of these were consuming 64-90MB of memory, so I switched to Safari and have reduced that load a lot.

 

As to overclocking, it really is all about temperature control. As you increase the speed of the CPU (rated in clock cycles), you generate more heat as all those millions of transistors switch on and off inside the CPU. With more heat comes the possibility of 'melting' or 'frying' the CPU so it is generally frowned upon to overclock a CPU 100% of the time at max overclocking capability.

 

The Turbo boost (as Daniel has stated) controls the CPU speed automatically based on needs of the applications the user is running. So as the CPU gets closer to 100% usage, the turbo kicks in to allow it to process more clock-cycles, thus doing tasks more quickly. This does not cost more money as its built in to the BIOS or Operating System software installed when you buy the machine.

 

I have a new MacBook Pro Late 2013 model. I decided to go with the Pro vs the Air because of selfish reasons... Best Buy had the Pro with the SSD capacity I wanted and with the RAM capacity I wanted and the MBA they had in stock didn't. I'm ashamed to admit I'm a product of the microwave and fast-food generation X who need it right now instead of waiting a few days to get a special order shipped in!

 

That being said, I have a 13" screen, and have had no problems with viewing or screen real estate, although the 13" Retina upgrade on my new MacBook Pro is nice compared to the older Screen I had on my Mid-2010 Pro.

Edited by Ryan Gustason
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Ryan, a most helpful set of explanations. Thank you very much! Inspired by your post, I have moved all of my Chrome stuff over to Firefox (hopefully less of a CPU hog), in the hopes of making this late 2008 MacBook go another year....

 

To my pleasant surprise, the new Firefox (30.0?) looks and feels pretty good.

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Definitely! It was way easier than I thought to move everything over to Firefox.

However, no Firefox for iPhone or iPad. That's a bummer--hopefully they'll develop one soon so I can use the sync feature I'd grown accustomed to with Chrome.

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I don't what kind of syncing you are doing with Chrome - never really used it. But there are plugins that can do syncs of things like bookmarks between different browsers - eg. Xmarks - never used it and as always care is required with sync tools. But they exist.

 

Thx

D

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Cool... Thanks, Daniel. Yes, I was mostly just syncing bookmarks and open tabs. So if I opened something on my iPad, I could leave it open and later pick it up on a computer.

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