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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
11" MacBook Air & Photogs Questions
Steven E. Frischling, Photographer
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| | | Posted: 2:49 PM on 12.22.10 |
->> Anyone using the 11" MacBook Air?
I have a non-photo client I field test various travel tools for and they have been wanting to test out the MacBook Air on the road. While they are not photo based, they do need to deal with graphics at times for their specific needs, generally in JPEG format, at times hundreds of images of a location ... so I tend to just think like photog when testing some things for them .
But anyway, is anyone using the 11" MacBook Air?
Specifically are you using Aperture? This client has a purpose built program they use, but it tends to have the same screen needs as Aperture, as well as being a power hog.
I am looking at the 128gb 1.4ghz version, likely with 4gb of RAM.
Opinions on 2gb of RAM and 4gb of RAM are appreciated as well, I'm not sure they need 4gb, but more never hurt. |
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Matt Cashore, Photographer
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Chris Hunt, Photographer
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Seattle | WA | USA | Posted: 4:13 PM on 12.22.10 |
->> I've used the 1.4ghz, 2GB memory model of the MacBook Air with Lightroom 3 and 1D Mark IV raw files.
I left Activity Monitor open while working and the CPU was pegged when rendering previews and exporting, but stayed well below 50% while browsing, captioning, and doing minor edits (exposure, white balance). I enjoyed the experience for the brief amount of time I used the machine, but the slowness when exporting images was noticeable and a turn-off. It took about twice the time to export a batch of images when compared to my 2.53ghz Macbook Pro.
As for memory, I found 2GB fine, but Lightroom will eat whatever you throw at it. If you can test with 4GB, you might as well. I'd like to hear your results.
If I didn't have a 13-inch, I'd get an Air. It was very usable. |
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Harry Engels, Student/Intern
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Bristol | UK | United Kingdom | Posted: 5:32 PM on 12.22.10 |
->> I bought the 11" 1.6ghz, 4gb ram and 128gb a week ago and absolutely love it. It replaces my 4 year old 15" macbook pro and will be my main computer. I've used it on one assignment so far and it performed perfectly. I don't use Aperture, which I imagine is quite cpu intensive, but it worked very well with photomechanic and photoshop.
Its just as fast, if not faster, than my old macbook pro and I find the smaller screen adequate for contact sheets, captioning, editing etc... One thing i've noticed is that programs load noticeably quicker (because of the flash memory i assume) and the battery life is great. My old macbook wouldn't last a whole 90 minute match on battery whilst the air was on 70% at the end of the game.
Overall I'm very pleased with the macbook air and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to buy one. As a photographer I reckon the upgrades in processor, ram and hard drive are essential but probably not for other, less intensive, uses. |
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Steven E. Frischling, Photographer
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| | | Posted: 6:29 PM on 12.22.10 |
| ->> Anyone seen a good speed comparison test of 1.4ghz vs 1.6ghz for the MBA? |
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