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MacBook Air advice sought

Salad
Salad Posts: 10,189
in Troubleshooting
Is it worth paying an extra £135 for 256GB "PCIe-based flash" storage instead of 128GB ?
Rest of spec. seems the same.
Thanks for any advice offered!

Comments

  • Oh_Yoni_Boy
    Oh_Yoni_Boy Posts: 1,762
    I'd put it towards a better and cheaper Window-based ultrabook
  • kings hill addick
    kings hill addick Posts: 5,781
    I suppose that if 128GB is more than enough for you then no.

    If, on the other hand, you will be having a large-ish library of music/video/photos then you could easily need more than 128GB. Also, as I understand it, the OS can be quote large.

    Basically if you are just going to use it for it's lightness and portability and not store much on it except the odd document or PowerPoint presentation then you could save £135.
  • tom_k
    tom_k Posts: 1,207
    I'd pay it because I need a lot of storage. Plus it will be worth more when you eventually sell it.
  • SE10Addick
    SE10Addick Posts: 2,963
    yes - but more than that, make sure you have the MAX amount of RAM you can get.
  • Salad
    Salad Posts: 10,189
    edited September 2016
    PS it is a present for my daughter, I do not know what she uses it for tbh being a bit of a luddite myself (she is not a gamer).
    PPS I'm sure there are better alternatives but the tax dodgers have her hooked.
  • Glovepup
    Glovepup Posts: 1,742
    I would hold off buying if you can, Apple conference soon and new models are expected. Not everyone is bothered by this of course.

    http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/

    Personally the more storage the better and get the 13inch model
  • Salad
    Salad Posts: 10,189
    there's an offer runs out today for "free" Beats headphones that she is keen on
    (don't get me started on those!!!)
  • Glovepup
    Glovepup Posts: 1,742
    Salad said:

    there's an offer runs out today for "free" Beats headphones that she is keen on
    (don't get me started on those!!!)

    Much better headphones out there.... but you know that already.
  • Oh_Yoni_Boy
    Oh_Yoni_Boy Posts: 1,762
    edited September 2016
    Without being facetious this time - if she's not using any heavy-duty programmes (such as photo/video editing) or gaming, then 128GB should be plenty.

    Re: Macbook Airs (edit: and Beats by Dre) in general - if you want something that looks great and the brand gets you excited, that can be just as worthy of your money, especially if you don't need top specs.
  • cafcfan
    cafcfan Posts: 11,198
    Sorry? Have I got this right? Are you saying Apple charge an extra £135 for an extra 128GB on an SSD when ebuyer would sell you a whole 500GB SSD for a little over £100?
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  • se9addick
    se9addick Posts: 32,030
    cafcfan said:

    Sorry? Have I got this right? Are you saying Apple charge an extra £135 for an extra 128GB on an SSD when ebuyer would sell you a whole 500GB SSD for a little over £100?

    Save your incredulity. I would imagine most people are happy to pay a premium for the convenience of it already being installed given that not everyone's going to know how to swap an SSD out.
  • Glovepup
    Glovepup Posts: 1,742
    se9addick said:

    cafcfan said:

    Sorry? Have I got this right? Are you saying Apple charge an extra £135 for an extra 128GB on an SSD when ebuyer would sell you a whole 500GB SSD for a little over £100?

    Save your incredulity. I would imagine most people are happy to pay a premium for the convenience of it already being installed given that not everyone's going to know how to swap an SSD out.
    Not an issue if you have one of the older thicker models, still possible in the newer one apparently but I would be less inclined to try do to the smaller form factor.
  • charltonnick
    charltonnick Posts: 3,063
    You might want to make sure your macbook can accommodate PCIE based flash as its not the same physical dimensions as a standard SSD. I believe Apple uses a custom interface, while similar to M.2 it is not the same. You may want to look at higher capacity SSD's such as this one

    https://www.scan.co.uk/products/250gb-samsung-750-evo-25-ssd-sata-iii-6gb-s-samsung-mgx-256mb-cache-read-540mb-s-write-520mb-s-97k-8?utm_source=google+shopping&utm_medium=cpc&gclid=CJnOj6Xm-M4CFY0V0wodg-YFYQ

    Before purchasing ensure that the back can be taken off your computer as I know some resent models cant be opened and modified. You Wont really need anything faster than an SSD. If the Laptop has a HDD an SSD will be a big upgrade and you will notice the increased boot time speed.

    Hope this helps and just make sure your macbook can accept these changes before you buy anything :)
  • SDAddick
    SDAddick Posts: 14,467
    edited September 2016
    cafcfan said:

    Sorry? Have I got this right? Are you saying Apple charge an extra £135 for an extra 128GB on an SSD when ebuyer would sell you a whole 500GB SSD for a little over £100?

    Have you heard of Apple before?

    My feeling on these things is that it's always better to be safe than sorry. I know £135 isn't nothing, but if it means you get an extra year out of it then it'll more than pay for itself.

    Regarding the Macbook versus Windows debate, Windows have come a long way in recent years. For ages now I've had a macbook laptop, Android phone, and worked in .Net (Microsoft coding) development shops. I still think OS X is the easiest to use of the operating systems, even if you can get better specs elsewhere. The last time I looked into this in depth in a laptop sense was a couple years ago mind, but for laptops I still think Apple are the best.
  • CAFCsayer
    CAFCsayer Posts: 10,222
    Salad said:

    PS it is a present for my daughter, I do not know what she uses it for tbh being a bit of a luddite myself (she is not a gamer).
    PPS I'm sure there are better alternatives but the tax dodgers have her hooked.

    If she uses hers anything like I do my Mac you should be fine with 128GB should be fine... That's a lot of music and you can stream porn nowdays
  • DRAddick
    DRAddick Posts: 3,588
    edited September 2016
    If you can afford it then always get the larger SSD. It future proofs it and as Mac laptops hold their value quite well it will be worth more if you sell it later.

    I like macbooks and Apple OS's but they are so taking the p when it comes to how much they charge for upgrading storage and ram.
  • Salad
    Salad Posts: 10,189
    Glovepup said:

    I would hold off buying if you can, Apple conference soon and new models are expected. Not everyone is bothered by this of course.

    http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/

    Personally the more storage the better and get the 13inch model

    Excellent advice, thanks:
    http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/science-technology/707363/Apple-MacBook-Air-MacBook-Pro-Out-Of-Date-Refresh-October-Event
    will hold off for now.
  • razil
    razil Posts: 15,041
    Buy an older used one off me and save a lot of cash
  • LuckyReds
    LuckyReds Posts: 5,866
    edited September 2016
    cafcfan said:

    Sorry? Have I got this right? Are you saying Apple charge an extra £135 for an extra 128GB on an SSD when ebuyer would sell you a whole 500GB SSD for a little over £100?

    First job I ever had (the gross misconduct one) was working as an Apple Certified Macintosh Technician, for the company who had the contract with Apple for the jobs the Genius Bar couldn't do and even Apple's own internal repairs. Was quite an eye opener to see what the apple-tax actually amounted to, I can remember one afternoon playing a game in the office where you logged on to the Apple website and saw how expensive you could spec a Mac Pro (Nearly £7,000 at the moment) and how cheap you could build an equivalent machine.

    The hilarious thing was.. the manufacturers of the Apple hardware were exactly the same as those you'd find on eBuyer; the only difference being they'd have an apple logo printed on to their labels. Regularly with out-of-warranty repairs we'd quote for the non-apple certified stuff.
  • TEL
    TEL Posts: 10,100
    Had a very poor run with laptops of late (had a Toshiba thats been in and out of the warranty repair place like a fiddlers elbow) and was thinking of buying a secondhand 17" Mac Laptop...anyone here got any advice? Struggling by at the moment on an ancient Sony.....battery is buggered screens going and its out of memory :)
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  • razil
    razil Posts: 15,041
    yes buy my used macbook air 13"
  • ricky_otto
    ricky_otto Posts: 22,600
    razil said:

    yes buy my used macbook air 13"

    How much you selling it for?
  • razil
    razil Posts: 15,041
    market price (eBay), inbox me for spec
  • Clem_Snide
    Clem_Snide Posts: 11,735
    razil said:

    yes buy my used macbook air 13"

    Currently considering a second hand macbook. How much & what spec is it?
  • Glovepup
    Glovepup Posts: 1,742
    Clem_Snide said:

    razil said:

    yes buy my used macbook air 13"

    Currently considering a second hand macbook. How much & what spec is it?
    http://www.apple.com/uk/shop/browse/home/specialdeals/mac
  • DRAddick
    DRAddick Posts: 3,588
    edited September 2016
    I'm looking to sell my 15" Late 2013 Macbook Pro if anyone is interested.

    PM me if interested in full details.
  • razil
    razil Posts: 15,041
    edited May 2017
    Hi I've got a macbook Air for sale £300, mid 2012, 1.8ghz intel i5, 4gb 1600mhz intel hd graphics 4000 1024mb, one careful and knowledgeable owner, comes with black and Union flag skins, and Sierra OS. Its in great nick, I'm selling as I was very lucky to get a new Macbook pro 2016 recently
  • Rob7Lee
    Rob7Lee Posts: 9,592
    Razil, whats the hard drive size and assume SSD?
  • razil
    razil Posts: 15,041
    edited May 2017
    120gb and yes I think SSD, its how they make them so light I guess

    It's probably most ideal for a non-heavy mobile user, so Word Excel and web.

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