Apple MacBook Air MD223LL/A 11.6-Inch Deals

By 4ColorTheorem -(CA)
This review is from: Apple MacBook Air MD224LL/A 11.6-Inch Laptop (OLD VERSION) (Personal Computers)
I upgraded from an MC375LL/A mid-2010 13" MacBook Pro to a MC224LL/A mid-2012 11.6" MacBook Air, and the difference is like night and day. My new MBA takes 5 - 7 seconds from pressing the power button to login screen versus about two minutes with my old MBP. The main hardware differences are: Core i5 vs. Core 2 Duo, 1600MHz vs 1067MHz RAM memory, and (very important) SSD vs. mechanical HDD secondary storage. My new MBA doesn't even feel warm when playing Civilization V whereas my old MBP became very hot within minutes, and the graphics performance is at least twice as fast. As for the ergonomics, the keyboard really is full size, and the display is not noticeably smaller than the 13" MBP, yet the 11.6" display has more pixels. Most importantly to me, my MBA weighs less than half of my old MBP. I really am very happy with this 11.6" MacBook Air.

 By Jeff - (UK)
This review is from: Apple MacBook Air MD223LL/A 11.6-Inch Laptop (OLD VERSION) (Personal Computers)
I bought this 11" MacBook Air (MBA) from Amazon back when there was a one day sale in late January 2013 (MD223LL/A). Amazon did a wonderful job with the transaction and getting it to me, and the notebook has been flawless in operation. I bought it as a highly portable, second notebook with my primary being a MacBook Pro 17 (Late 2011) which I use almost exclusively at home and the MBA 11 travels with me along with my iPhone. I also had an iPad3 but I couldn't keep all my files for reference or revision (xls, doc, pdf, jpgs, etc.) with me in a portable manner, though the iPad retina display was much better, just a bit smaller.

The MBA is only slightly larger than an iPad and is all about portability while being a real notebook and not just a tablet. The keyboard is really easy to use. Because it is not my primary notebook, the MBA 11-64 GB hard drive is just fine as I only store the essentials on it and my iPhone has most of my iTunes music on it. The audio quality is just fine with the ear pods.

Are there some improvements that I would like to see? Sure, but it unfair to compare a $799 MBA 11 to a $2499 MBP 17, both with OS X Mountain Lion. The most obvious difference is the screen quality, resolution and I am still trying to adjust the MBA 11 screen to my preference. But remember, I am normally viewing the screen in imperfect environments usually on the road. When I get home, I use the 17. Given the iPad retina screen resolution, I cannot believe Apple cannot improve the screen quality of the MBA 11.

The battery life is about 4 hours with the screen brightness at 2/3 and the keyboard lighting on the lowest setting but I understand there is limited room for a larger battery.

The MBA 11 is much faster than my MBP 17 with a750 GB-7200 RPM hard drive.

My iPad3 used to have a data plan with the cell carrier for Internet access that worked well. How I solved this dilemma with the MBA 11 was through the use of my iPhone 5 and the "Personal Hotspot" function on the phone where I connect the MBA 11 to my iPhone for Internet access and see no difference in Internet speeds.

The MBA is a perfect size for the fold down trays on commercial airplanes, and it will play two movies using the full screen given the 16x9 aspect ratio vs. other MacBook notebooks that are 16x10.

I would think the MBA 11/64 GB SSD might be a bit small as your only notebook but with a 256 GB SSD and an external monitor, it just might due for some people for lighter use.

Overall I am very happy with what this notebook offers.

By Tanara -(UK)
This review is from: Apple MacBook Air MD224LL/A 11.6-Inch Laptop (OLD VERSION) (Personal Computers)
I've recently bought this product, thinking about mobility and ease of use, but have been somewhat disappointed.
Yes, the computer is fast. Very fast. It is also lightweighted, but it lacks a core feature I was expecting from such an expensive piece of hardware - a good battery life.

I have not seen my MacBook last more than two hours! Actually, it usually lasts a little less. And I'm not a heavy user - I use WiFi, navigate the web (webmail), some Word or Excel once in a while... nothing out of the ordinary...

For the price I paid (and one of the reasons I paid it was due to the promise of 5 hours of battery life) I think it was not worth it. My old Netbook (a LG X200) which I bought almost two years ago still runs over 3 hours on battery power alone.

For a traveller like me, this has not been a good experience.