Thread: Macbook air as family PC or other?

i will get in before all the apple knockers take over

i switched to apple a few years ago. i am a computer numpty and the constant problems i was having with PC's used to drive me nuts. since having an apple my IT issues have disappeared 100%.

re: mini mac, this is what i upgraded to from my PC. great little machine and it has done everything i have need although it just about at capacity. i only surf the net, email and store photos and video maybe a little bit of word processing.

if your kids need to run office programs for school you will need to have dual boot or what ever it is called. although most basic documents that i send from my wrk PC to the apple seem to open with few errors, but than again it's never anything important.

i too was looking at a pro but am leaning towards an air.........not overly helpful but i am sure the apple perts will be along with more info

Thanks Weeds. I have Office for Mac so no need for a dual boot. I don't intend to run Windows on it.

I also should have added that I'm not interested in starting a Apple vs PC or Windows vs OS-X debate so thanks for adding that at the start.

Mostly interested in whether an Macbook Air is enough for non video intensive grunty work.

Hi Ashes,

I'm a Apple user. In my family of 2 persons I have 2 x 27" iMac; 1 x 13" Macbook Air; 1 x 11" Macbook Air (MBA); Apple TV; 3 x iPhone. Now that i've committed it to paper I understand why Apple never question my complaints and just replace with a new model.

The MacBook Air is a great little machine. Light, certainly powerful enough to do what you described. I do a lot of photo editing and i'm yet to stall iPhoto (although I do have a windows PC built specifically for photo editing with Photoshop and lightroom).

If it's going to be a communal computer then memory will be an issue for the MBA unless you start adding external drives. As a communal computer personally I think it is too small. Great for travelling and working on the go. Adding a dock to it means adding a monitor. The Apple monitors are about $1200 for the 27" screen. For $1500 you can buy the iMac 27". You will be confronted with the lack of monitor with the Mac mini so factor that in if that's on the cards too (also $200 for a keyboard and mouse).

I love the size of the 27" screen. I can open 2 full sized documents side by side on the screen. I do a lot of drafting of documents so to have a source document and the working document on the same screen at the same time is an essential pleasure. Another bonus, your kids won't be hiding what is on the screen. Not knowing your room layout and location of the computer the iMac may not be practical.

Have a look at the Apple web page. Click "store" and on the bottom left there is a link to refurbished macs. Both my iMacs and the 13" MBA are refurbished and yet to have a problem after several years. Generally a 20-30% saving over list price, however the refurbed models are generally 6 to 12 months old. For your needs you won't notice the difference between the new super dooper model and the recent superseded model.

You can buy microsoft office for Mac. Buy the student edition which gives you word, excel and powerpoint. The mac version does not have all the super dooper functions of the microsoft version for PC but if you are merely drafting documents and don't venture into high end publishing style editing you won't notice the difference. I'm yet to find myself saying, wish i had this or that function in either of word or excel.

When i bought my wife her iMac she hissed and spat at me. She is a convert and thinks it's the ants pants.

go and play with them in-store.

cheers MLD

I will definately have a dock for it when using as a communal computer. I have a spare 22" screen, spare keyboard, mouse etc. so shouldn't have any costs here. A shiny new 27" Apple monitor would be nice but not needed at the moment. I will definately be using external storage at the docking station or a NAS solution at home so happy to only have a 128GB or 256GB SSD on the actual machine. When it is out of it's dock or way from attached storage I really don't need to carry round more than a few documents.

I definately need a new laptop and want to avoid the expense of buying both a desktop and laptop if I can avoid it.

It really does depend on what you intend to use it for.

I use a Macbook Air 11" as my main (and only) computer while travelling. The constraints for me were that it had to be lightweight and portable, and robust enough to throw in a rucksack with the rest of my gear. For the most part, it's held up pretty well.

Word, excel, web browsing, etc, it does without problem, and I also run some reasonably intense image editing software for my photography - photoshop, lightroom, etc. IT gets through the editing, albeit with a distinct lag over my desktop PC at home, and every other application grinds to a halt in the process.

If this is to be your main home setup, you'll probably find it more worthwhile to grab a mac mini and some cheap peripherals, and use your macbook air away from the home. My $0.02 at least....

I've recently bought a 13" MBP i5. While very happy with it I'm looking forward to fitting a SSD.

It travels in a backpack most days. For the $ I still think it was better value than the MBA. The price difference was about $700. If they were closer in price I would have bought an MBA.

Unless you need portability go with a iMac or mini. If you do then a laptop. If you carry it often and are prepared to pay the difference then a MBA i7 with 8G of RAM and 256 SSD to ensure it meets your needs further into the future. Otherwise a MBP i7.

I sort of assumed that there would be docking station options out there for the Macbook Air but they seem to be few and far between. I see a offering by Belkin and Matrox are coming out soon.

Might have to rethink some of this. Mini for the family machine and something else for me.

Agree that the air is good for a mobile/travelling machine. I'd be hesitant to use it as a family pc.