Some advice

[Fasailmac]

i had the 13 mbp2.26 i liked it the battery was great etc but i hate the trackpad. Especially because i use windows frequently. I realized that the MBA has a trackpad button . I was wondering if the performance will be snappy for what i do. I watch movies on ninjavideo (divx). will be typing alot, using word and pages and keynote. I also found the 13 mbp a little too heavy for daily carrying considering i have 15lbs of books. I will be getting the 1.86 MBA rev c, with the ipod touch. Will the 4200rpm suffice can i replace it with an SSD later and how will this air perform with Snow Leopard. I also have a desktop for gaming etc.

 

[Fasailmac]

also what would the battery be like 20% brightness and browsing websites with no flash

 

[stoconnell]

I can say that maybe eventually there will be an SSD option for the MBA on the open market, but it isn't here right now. The issue has been discussed in many threads, but to summarize:

1) drive needs to be 1.8" and 5mm thick (you might be able to fudge by removing padding -- only do with and SSD -- and going with an 8mm -- more standard thickness). This thickness pretty much limits you to a single platter HDD if you were looking for after market HDDs, as well. The largest caveat is issue #2.

2) drive connection needs to be SATA-LIF interface (either standard or SSD). there just aren't any on the market, atm. this may change, and if you are handy with a soldering iron, you might be able to graft a micro-USB adapter onto the ribbon cable as a forum user details did in another thread.

I would say if you can afford to do so, get the SSD version. The price delta has gone down significantly from the Rev B days. The SSD helps round out the performance, esp at app start up, and makes the machine less vulnerable to data loss due to drops (your disk/data are more likely to survive -- machine might not). There are other risks and unknowns with SSDs over the long term. I went ahead and got the SSD, so I don't have a anything to compare it with.

 

[Fasailmac]

i wouldve gone with the refurb 1649 Canadian but i cant afford it im looking at the 1629 1.86 because i sold the ipod already for 220, making it 1429 which i think is a great deal. hopefully in 8-9 months there will be an upgrade available but i cant afford a 2000 laptop

 

[stoconnell]

i wouldve gone with the refurb 1649 Canadian but i cant afford it im looking at the 1629 1.86 because i sold the ipod already for 220, making it 1429 which i think is a great deal. hopefully in 8-9 months there will be an upgrade available but i cant afford a 2000 laptop

It should be a good machine -- I do love the form factor and weight having used a 15" MacBook Pro and 15" PowerBook before this. As a bonus with the Rev C, you do get the USB-ethernet adapter in the box. Some I/O things may be laggy relative to the 13" MBP due to the nature of the drive, but don't let me poison your perception or have you looking for problems (hanging out in these forums can lead to that). Good luck and enjoy your new machine if you choose to go this route. I too hope the market opens for MBA SATA-LIF drives in the future.