Macbook Air for grad school?

[onedayslp]

Hey all,

I'm having difficulty deciding if a 2012 13-inch Macbook Air will be adequate during grad school...

I purchased one this weekend because Best Buy was running an amazing sale on them and I got $200 off.

Now I'm having second thoughts of whether I should have gone with the Pro. My main concern: will 128 GB be enough storage for me? I plan to use it a lot as it will be my main computer. I'll be writing papers, using Excel, and maybe using some data analysis software. My iTunes library is fairly small, ~3000 songs. Anyone else using a MBA as their primary computer for grad school? 

[Cookie]

I am thinking of getting one, actually. My prof recommended it, since the new MBPro is not a good value as it used to be.  Since most of my work will be on a Mac desktop (my lab is a computer lab), having a MBA makes sense because I can get all the work transferred seamlessly. 

I'd go with 256gb though.

[kaister]

I bought one this past summer as a graduation gift to myself and plan to use it for grad school.  So far, so good.  But I also have an external hard drive so that I can store things as this laptop gets fuller.  

[biscuits]

I wouldn't obsess over the size of the hard drive unless you are planning to carry around obscenely large data sets or video libraries on a daily basis. External hard drives are quite cheap and are an easy way to add storage. 

[Biostat_Assistant_Prof]

I'm planning on getting one. I have a desktop for my games, videos, and music collection (which consists of >300gb of data alone) and plan on getting the13in MB Air primarily for school use and travel (and a small subset of my music library). I'll probably wait until August before buying it, because knowing Apple, new ones will be out sometime this summer (and rumors suggest a better screen).. As for HD space, 128gb should be fine if you use it for papers and school work, along with just a little music... I plan on getting a 256gb though, just to be sure I have enough space.

Edited March 25, 2013 by Noco7

[Samahito]

I'm writing this on the MBA I got around the time I accepted admission to my program for the Fall (current endergrad senior). It was like a graduation / Whoo hoo, I'm going to Grad School gift to myself. Pragmatically speaking, my old HP would intermittently shut down when the CPU overheats (which was happening more and more often) plus shitty battery life. I'm in the humanities, so its unlikely I'll be running any serious statistical analysis or video editing or anything like that. I do use LaTeX and Mendeley and a few other academic-specific programs which all run beautifully, as do Photoshop and Illustrator --  that and the 6-7 hour battery life, I say go for it. I have the 13 in, 128MB. I have a 1TB external so the smaller HD isn't too bothersome. 

Edited March 25, 2013 by Samahito

[LMac]

I've had one for two years and I love it. If you need a CD disc drive you can get one for $60ish

[Policy_wonk]

The MBA is the best investment I have ever made. It will run all the programs you talked about just fine. I also use Word, Excel, and SPSS (at the same time) with no problems. The battery life is sweet and the SSD is super fast and you dont have to worry if you drop it. I have a 128gb and have had 2+ years of files, 2500 photos, etc and have not run out of space. Buying a computer with a CD drive is like buying one with a floppy drive a five years ago. 

 

The only thing i would recommend is to max out the RAM. I have 2gigs and wish I had more. Not sure what they come with now as mine is the pre-backlit keyboard series. 

[onedayslp]

Thank you for all the replies! I feel like I can breathe a sigh of relief now and enjoy my new lovely laptop. It is super sexy but I wanted to be sure it would be practical, too! Sounds like I have no need to worry. 

[JazzHands]

I just use dropbox...

[brokenshift]

they're a good unit. sometimes the screen is a little small, depending on what you're working on. then again, my previous laptop had a 17 inch screen, so it was quite the adjustment.

 

i've convinced myself that the unit's small ssd is a good thing as it forces me to keep data off of it. if there's a laptop that has a high risk of sprouting legs, it's a macbook air, they hold their value very well and are always in demand.

 

just don't bother with a usb-based external hard drive setup, try to get something networked.

 

you can expand the storage a little bit with an sd card.

[wildviolet]

I'm using a MacBook Air (that I got refurbished) last summer. It's been great. I used to tote around a MacBook, and the difference in weight has been noticeable. My advisor offered to buy me a screen (when I need more screen space) and external hard drive.

[Bass]

I would have to disagree with the consensus here. There are certain aspects of laptops that I believe many people overlook in the name of portability, one of which is a quality display. Yes, you could always just buy an external monitor to compensate, but if the whole point of owning a MBA is the portability, then I would prefer having access to a good display when I am not at home or at work.

 

I am not simply referring to screen-size though, but picture quality and resolution. This is where I think the MBA display lags behind as its PC competitors now offer 1080p (1920 x 1080) IPS displays at the same price point. If you have never heard of IPS displays before, just know that they are capable of resolving more colors and have much better viewing angles than the displays most of you are probably used to (TN). A higher resolution allows you to have more applications viewable side by side on one screen, and this can potentially offer a large boost in productivity depending on what your needs are. And as far as apple products go, even the 13" MBP offers a vastly superior display (2560 x 1600 IPS retina display). Unless you need portability at all costs, I can't believe anyone would think that the MBP offers less value! Not too long ago it was not common for stand alone monitors with displays of this caliber (albeit on a large 30 in. screen) to retail for beyond $2000. The fact that paying only a few hundred dollars more by upgrading to a MBP could give you this kind of luxury seems kind of amazing to me.

 

I apologize for rambling on a bit too much since admittedly I am somewhat of a technophile and really value extra screen space (I write a lot of code), but I know that when I have to travel and not have my desktop computer around, the most infuriating fact is being stuck with a crappy 1440 x 900 TN display (similar to the MBA) on my 4 year old laptop. Investing in a new laptop with a better display is definitely something I will have to consider myself when starting my grad school program next fall, so I wish you the best of luck in whatever decision you make. Again, I understand that while the needs of most users are very different from mine, I could never fathom making the compromises involved with owning a MBA as a power user.

Edited March 30, 2013 by Bass

[Swagato]

Re: the above.

 

Paragraph 2: Ramble about IPS display, despite the fact that for most users, the MB Air's 13" 1440x900 hi-res display (which is actually better than the MB Pro's since it is the same resolution on a physically smaller screen) is simply stunning. IPS is definitely not a concern for the vast majority of users.

 

Consider, on the other hand: The shockingly lighter weight, which is vastly preferable to any MB Pro (I moved from a Pro to the Air). The aesthetics of the Air, likewise, are considerably more pleasing than the Pro's. It just feels a damned lot sleeker and sturdier. The Air is powerful enough (depending on what configuration you get) to run just about anything you throw at it. The safety of an SSD is a major bonus. The screen size is definitely not a concern. I moved from an old Macbook (white) to the MB Pro and now to the Air; given my field, I value a good display performance. The Air easily wins. 

 

In general, the Air is easily the better choice. I do not think one feature that most of us have no real necessity for is enough of a counterpoint. 

[Panama Slim]

In general, the Air is easily the better choice. I do not think one feature that most of us have no real necessity for is enough of a counterpoint. 

 

I see from you signature that you doing film and visual type studies.  Do you edit video or photos on you MBA?  What programs and how do they perform?  I have a desktop PC and use Premiere Pro 5.5 and Lightroom 4 for my edits. But I will need a laptop for Fall and need to pick a lightweight but solid performer.

[Bass]

First of all it appears that my last post was down voted for some reason. I was only trying to offer my own informative opinion, since many of my friends have had trouble with the choice of what computer to buy and I only wanted to discuss one consideration that many people don't really think about before their purchase. I apologize if I came off as arrogant in my post! I already admitted that I consider myself somewhat of a computer enthusiast so I am aware that the suggestion that I advocated for might not matter much to the OP. But many other people that I know have been in a similar situation and after splurging on a computer with a better display, they tended to agree with my opinion.

 

Now to address the post below mine...

 

Re: the above.

 

Paragraph 2: Ramble about IPS display, despite the fact that for most users, the MB Air's 13" 1440x900 hi-res display (which is actually better than the MB Pro's since it is the same resolution on a physically smaller screen) is simply stunning. IPS is definitely not a concern for the vast majority of users.

 

Consider, on the other hand: The shockingly lighter weight, which is vastly preferable to any MB Pro (I moved from a Pro to the Air). The aesthetics of the Air, likewise, are considerably more pleasing than the Pro's. It just feels a damned lot sleeker and sturdier. The Air is powerful enough (depending on what configuration you get) to run just about anything you throw at it. The safety of an SSD is a major bonus. The screen size is definitely not a concern. I moved from an old Macbook (white) to the MB Pro and now to the Air; given my field, I value a good display performance. The Air easily wins. 

 

In general, the Air is easily the better choice. I do not think one feature that most of us have no real necessity for is enough of a counterpoint. 

 

On your first point, I realize now that you and many others are referring to the standard 13" MBP without the retina display. If that is what you are comparing the MBA to, then I would actually agree here, the MBA would definitely be the better value (and actually has the better display!). However I was referring to the 13" MBP with the retina display, which costs quite a bit more, but is worth the premium in my opinion. Again, not only because the display is IPS, but because you are getting a much larger resolution. Obviously our fields are different and therefore so are our needs but since another post was asking about video editing, I would also like to mention how Apple has designed "retina aware" software. This basically means you can customize the DPI scaling (eg how big the text and UI appears) for specific parts of the application, so it is possible to view a full 1080p video in your editor while keeping the rest of the text and UI large enough to be readable. If you ask me, this is probably the single greatest benefit of the retina display and I wish something like this could be available on a PC.

 

I am well aware of the benefits of SSD's vs HDD's, in fact I currently have one on my desktop. But the retina MBP also offers SSDs for storage by default, so the MBA doesn't really win there either.

 

Regarding weight, the actual difference between the 13" retina MBP and the 13" MBA is a little more than half a pound. I honestly can't vouch for how much of a difference this would make in practice though since I don't currently own either computer. It might be worth going to a retail outlet to actually test this out yourself if you are currently considering both.

 

Anandtech has written a great review on the retina MBP here: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6409/13inch-retina-macbook-pro-review

 

As well as for the MBA here: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6063/macbook-air-13inch-mid-2012-review

 

So when it comes down to it, the only reason I would pick the MBA over the retina MBP would be price. If you aren't a power user and don't really have any application specific needs the added luxury of the retina display on the MBP might not be worth it to you. But for video editing? If you need to actually do this on your laptop, I think it is no contest. 

Edited April 1, 2013 by Bass

[Eigen]

There's also the weight and portability side of things. 

 

Rarely do you ever "need" a 1080 monitor. But my 11" air is lighter than any of my other books and notebooks, and that makes it really easy to take everywhere. 

 

But then, I'm also fine with my old Dell IPS monitors from 2006. 

 

When 90% of what you're using it for is word processing, reading, and data analysis.... You really don't need an exceptionally high resolution. And so portability, battery life, etc. are more important for me. 

[na3eem]

The specs on macbook air are garbage for the $$ u pay... your better off getting a windows ultrabook

[compiler_guy]

interesting post..

You can always connect your notebook to a larger monitor and go dual screen.

What other portable MBA competitors are there ?

[peternewman89]

interesting post..

You can always connect your notebook to a larger monitor and go dual screen.

What other portable MBA competitors are there ?

 

I'm starting in the fall and what I'm leaning towards is a Windows 8 tablet with a docking keyboard station.  I'd be able to set up a keyboard at home and at my carrel or keep it with me, and could use the system as a laptop or tablet based on need.  It'd also be nice to carry around something smaller than a full-on laptop. I also have a macbook pro already, only 3 years old and still perfectly good, so looking more for something more mobile and lightweight personally.

[juilletmercredi]

I think it would be enough.  I really wish I had gone with an Air myself.  I had the same concerns, and I went with the MacBook Pro 13" with the 500 GB of HDD space.  However, in the last year I have acquired two external HDD (one is a desktop 3 TB drive and the other is a portable 1 TB drive) that I use to store all my movies and space-intensive goodies that I don't use on a regular basis.  Most of my important school-related stuff is on the cloud (Google Drive, which is incredibly easy to use AND means I can access my work from any Internet-connected computer, like if I wanted to go work at the library or something) and backed up on the desktop drive.  So I could easily get by on 128 GB, although I would probably go for a 256 GB SSD.

 

I carry my computer EVERYWHERE (seriously, I'm on the WiFi in a McDonald's right now) and I could use a 2-pound reduction in its weight.  Also, the SSD means it will start up more quickly.  The only thing I would maybe worry about is processing power/speed with inteisve data analysis software; sometimes even my Pro doesn't really like SPSS.

 

My Dream is to have a 27" iMac at home and a MacBook Air to carry around with me, and then just sync everything over the cloud. But that is for the future when I have The Monies.  (I am also just being lazy, as I have a 23" monitor at home that I hook the Pro up to, but I'd just prefer to have the iMac and not have to re-hook up when I come home, lol.)

 

I have also used the optical drive a grand total of once (to install SPSS, which I could've done online if I needed to).

 

Also, I had this IPS vs. other technologies concern when shopping for an external monitor earlier this year.  Honestly, I concluded that it really doesn't matter; the average user won't notice the difference.  Unless you're doing a lot of photo editing or web design or something artistically intensive, normal monitors work just fine for most people.  Also, the Retina display 13" Mac is 4.5 lbs, whereas the MacBook Air 13" is 2.96 lbs.  Even rounding to 3, that's a pound and a half, not a half a pound.

 

 

 

 

I'm starting in the fall and what I'm leaning towards is a Windows 8 tablet with a docking keyboard station.  I'd be able to set up a keyboard at home and at my carrel or keep it with me, and could use the system as a laptop or tablet based on need.  It'd also be nice to carry around something smaller than a full-on laptop. I also have a macbook pro already, only 3 years old and still perfectly good, so looking more for something more mobile and lightweight personally.

 

 

I've read some reviews on Windows tablets (I was gonna get one for my sister) and actually read that some folks think the Windows tablet-laptops don't function that well as tablets.  They're great laptops, apparently, but not necessarily good tablets.

 

Consider a full-on tablet, like the Galaxy Tab 10 or the iPad.  I have an iPad and a MacBook Pro and I can often carry the iPad and my keyboard when doing lighter work like reading articles and taking notes on them or taking notes in class.  Android tablets are cheaper than the iPad.  I know the big draw for the iPad is the iCloud syncing, which is nice, but there are other ways to make your Mac sync with Android.  I use Google Drive, some people use Dropbox.  I needed more storage and Dropbox's extra storage is ridiculously expensive.  I pay $25 a year, or $2.50 a month, for 25GB of cloud storage with Google Drive.  Plus I can view online and use Google Docs, and I got additional storage for my Gmail account.  Win win!  I only have an iPad because it was a gift and I got it before all the new tablets were out on the market; if I were purchasing now, I would get a less expensive but just as good Android tablet.

[peternewman89]

I've read some reviews on Windows tablets (I was gonna get one for my sister) and actually read that some folks think the Windows tablet-laptops don't function that well as tablets.  They're great laptops, apparently, but not necessarily good tablets.

 

Consider a full-on tablet, like the Galaxy Tab 10 or the iPad.  I have an iPad and a MacBook Pro and I can often carry the iPad and my keyboard when doing lighter work like reading articles and taking notes on them or taking notes in class.  Android tablets are cheaper than the iPad.  I know the big draw for the iPad is the iCloud syncing, which is nice, but there are other ways to make your Mac sync with Android.  I use Google Drive, some people use Dropbox.  I needed more storage and Dropbox's extra storage is ridiculously expensive.  I pay $25 a year, or $2.50 a month, for 25GB of cloud storage with Google Drive.  Plus I can view online and use Google Docs, and I got additional storage for my Gmail account.  Win win!  I only have an iPad because it was a gift and I got it before all the new tablets were out on the market; if I were purchasing now, I would get a less expensive but just as good Android tablet.

 

I've been going through reviews and pricing out as well and am not sure exactly where I want to go just yet.  I'm aiming for something that will let me just keep my laptop at home if at all possible.  I have a rooted, flashed kindle fire 7 inch tablet that is at this point a small android tablet, but what frustrates me is the restrictive nature of the mobile operating system.  It's good for what it is but I'm hoping for something more powerful and full-featured.  I'm not a big iPad fan and definitely won't be going in that direction, but might need to take another look at the high-end Android selections.  I'll be putting off any purchase until the summer either way, so maybe everything will be better functioning by then (however unlikely that is).  Thanks for the advice.

[Bass]

Also, I had this IPS vs. other technologies concern when shopping for an external monitor earlier this year.  Honestly, I concluded that it really doesn't matter; the average user won't notice the difference.  Unless you're doing a lot of photo editing or web design or something artistically intensive, normal monitors work just fine for most people.  Also, the Retina display 13" Mac is 4.5 lbs, whereas the MacBook Air 13" is 2.96 lbs.  Even rounding to 3, that's a pound and a half, not a half a pound.

 

Again, you are referring to the non retina Macbook Pro, please look at the Anandtech review more carefully. The 13" retina Macbook Pro is 3.57 pounds, which is actually a mere .61 pound difference. These specs can also be found on Apple's website. However I am not the type constantly lugging around my laptop everywhere so for all I know this might be a bigger burden than it may seem on paper.

 

Back to arguments about the screen, I would like to add that an IPS display does not only give you more vibrant colors (which is only truly important in a few areas as you said), but a vastly superior viewing angle. This is actually a big deal on a notebook since oftentimes I find myself having to fold out the screen at precisely the right angle for the picture to look good. Looking at it from a slightly off angle will invert the colors. Technically, an IPS display is also imperfect in this area, but in general the picture is still far more correct during off angle viewing.

 

Resolution also makes a bigger difference than you might think. It's one thing if your usage consists entirely of reading webpages, but it can be difficult to fit more than one application on the screen on a typical notebook resolution (eg, 1440 x 900). One thing I love about working on my desktop is that I can fit two applications entirely on my monitors. For me this provides a huge productivity boost in everything I do, including several things I would consider relevant for a grad student (for instance, I could fit source code for data analysis on one half of the screen and a paper describing the procedure on the other). I mentioned this already in another post but when I am forced to work away from home and have only my laptop (also bearing in mind that it is four years old and much heavier than either the retina MBP or MBA), I find it harder to get as much done on my 1440 x 900 screen for this very reason. Again I will acknowledge that this can be compensated for by investing in external monitors, but if you are constantly traveling and therefore need the portability, doesn't having a high resolution screen seem helpful? I shared many of the sentiments some of you currently have before experiencing the benefits myself, and even though it is really just a luxury, it is one worth considering if you are going to stick to one primary computer for your entire grad school career.

Edited April 1, 2013 by Bass

[Eigen]

My MBA screen works great to fit two documents side by side. 

 

That doesn't require a particular resolution (high or low), but rather a particular screen ratio- 16:9 or 16:10. 

 

I can put the paper I'm working on one side, and the previous version or a reference or an outline on the other. 

 

Or compare two data sets. Or code I'm writing vs. code I've written. 

 

And I'm not sure what the viewing angles are on the screen you're using, but I've got a very close to 180° angle on my MBA, both vertical and horizontal. 

[Bass]

You can probably fit two documents side by side at MBA resolutions, but my ultimate point is that you can still fit much more at higher resolutions, which is never a bad thing. 

 

But if there is one thing I can glean from the responses to each of my posts, I can concede that most people's needs here will be served just fine with an MBA. As a tech enthusiast I have a bad habit of getting excited over features that might seem unimportant to most users, but I feel compelled to mention them regardless. 

 

If we are strictly going to constrain the discussion to ultraportable notebooks like the MBA, I feel compelled to mention that there are currently viable alternatives that are just as portable, if you are willing to live without Mac OSX:

 

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6194/asus-ux31a-putting-the-ultra-in-ultrabooks/9

Edited April 2, 2013 by Bass