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It sure doesn't look like it, but has there been any change to the exterior/size of the macbook airs? There is no standard security lock port so I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to keep this from walking off while I'm at work. So far this tricky case seems to be my best bet.
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Jul 21, 2011 12:00
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Zwille posted:Being as light as it is, why would you leave it around? I'm a physician and it would be weird to bring a personal computer into exam rooms during clinic... And agreed that doesn't look ideal.
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Jul 21, 2011 13:57
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Zwille posted:You carry around a clipboard or papers anyway, right? Why not get something similar to this here? I personally wouldn't find it weird for a doc to carry around a laptop, and even if you do, you could easily hide it that way. Google "storage clipboard" and you'll find more options. Thanks, not a bad idea. It's more that from a patient privacy perspective (HIPAA in the US), the hospital would worry I'm entering private patient information on my personal unsecured computer. The macbook is for research, and just needs to be safe for a few hours while I see patients (I've had cell phones stolen from work rooms before). I like the clipboard idea...
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Jul 21, 2011 14:21
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Wikipedia Brown posted:Re: Locking MacBooks to tables because your hospital employs thieves: Thanks, that actually looks like a nice solution. As to the easiness of picking - I just need a visual deterrent. The same people who would steal my cell phone and then sign me up for spanish hip hop ringtone subscription (which never failed to entertain when they were delivered a month later on my new phone) are not going to take the time to figure out how to pick that lock on a computer in a work room. Also, for those interested in buying from someone that's not apple: I spoke with someone at Amazon who told me they are not expecting stock of the 13" 256 gb until 9/2. Yes, you can preorder an item that is available at the apple store now for delivery in 6 weeks from amazon. The triple points on my amazon card is not worth the wait.
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Jul 21, 2011 22:40
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Kobayashi posted:I doubt that would work with the Air. There is no clearance. Also notice how there is no front view of those product shots. Probably because there is some hunk of metal protruding from the gap between the screen and the base, scratching the finish off your Macbook Air logo. I looked for locking solutions last year when the new Air came out and I came up empty. The only thing I can think of is some kind of "noose" that slips around the screen and tightens around the base. There is about ~1" of space that has a gap between the screen and the base on each side. The rest of the the length of the machine has is a very snug hinge. Hm. Back to hiding the thing.
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Jul 22, 2011 16:40
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Is there a way to upgrade the hard drive in my 2009 MBP without voiding the warranty? It's 5400 rpm, would I notice a difference in overall speed if I upgraded to 7200? Or should I just go from 4 to 8 gb of RAM?I know a SSD would be a big upgrade but so expensive. I have a year and a half of apple care left, I'd prefer to keep that in tact.
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Jul 29, 2011 00:43
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jfreder posted:Upgrading your hard drive and/or memory doesn't void the warranty. I thought any time I opened it I did. Good to know. So even if it's done by a hack (me), and not an apple technician, the warranty lives?
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Jul 29, 2011 00:54
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Mu Zeta posted:The hard drive is user replaceable on the MBP at least on the unibodies. I called Applecare just to make sure. The guy said that if something was wrong with the hard drive they would prefer to just send the replacement to the user. Awesome, thanks. So, anyone think I'd be gaining anything by increasing the hard drive speed? I bet more RAM would be more useful.
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Jul 29, 2011 01:01
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Accipiter posted:Then while I stand corrected, I would still make drat sure to call Apple support myself, state my AppleCare ID up-front, verify that this is A-OK, get them to document it in a ticket, and record the ticket number BEFORE ever attempting to replace the hard drive. Point well taken.
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Jul 29, 2011 01:06
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Is anyone using this fancy hybrid HD/SSD, the seagate momentus XT? It sounds nice, but I'm not sure how much I trust it to "learn" my commonly used files. Does this work in real life? If you dual boot with windows does it just confuse the hell out of the drive? And can you (or do you need to) use the trim enabler with lion for the SSD partition? Similarly, does the phantom lion recovery partition work well with this drive (i.e. it won't accidentally partition off part of the SSD that would be used for speeding up the computer, right?). I'm going to pick up either this or the WD scorpio black to upgrade my 09 MBP.
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Aug 2, 2011 00:07
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Star War Sex Parrot posted:Has anyone picked up Apple's USB to Ethernet adapter with a 2011 Air? I'm seeing some reports of the adapter not working with Lion, and I'm wondering if I should pick it up. I have a feeling that the third-party ThunderBolt to Ethernet adapter will be ridiculously expensive. Thanks, that's two against and one marginal for. So is the WD scorpio black the notebook drive of choice right now?
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Aug 2, 2011 02:11
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Boris the Blade posted:I have a 360 and a PS3, so gaming isn't a priority at all. Well if you want a small discount on a basically new 13" air, 256 gb with samsung SSD and samsung panel, let me know. I'm having a tough time adjusting to the smaller screen and find myself not replacing my old pro with the air. I bought on a whim, and if someone is interested I could part with it in a couple days (assuming I don't ruin my pro when I upgrade the hard drive). I'll likely be taking this one to the SA-mart...
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Aug 2, 2011 16:06
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jfreder posted:You could return it. Very good point. I assumed Amazon would charge me a significant restocking fee, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I guess if anyone really wanted to know they were getting the samsung/samsung combination I'd be willing to sell them mine if I hear before I return it, if only because I always get a lot of help from this forum.
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Aug 2, 2011 16:18
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fn+delete
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Aug 9, 2011 14:29
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MEET ME BY DUCKS posted:Are the new Macbook Airs glossy or matte? They almost looked matte to me, compared to how glossy the MBPs I saw were. Maybe it was the lighting, I thought I read they were glossy. I think they are technically glossy (definitely not matte), but they are actually somewhere in between. Think of them as low gloss. Much less glare than my mbp but still nice colors.
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Aug 9, 2011 16:40
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Is there any legitimate concern over using a macbook air in clamshell mode long term? When I'm at home it's always connected to an external monitor. It seems to get mildly warm, and I just wonder if exposing the display (almost directly) to that heat for a few hours every day is a bad idea. I doubt it would be an option if it was seriously going to harm the computer.
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Aug 16, 2011 12:07
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~Coxy posted:Bingo. movax posted:The machines do ventilate through their keyboards, but I'd expect the fans to kick up high and throttling to kick in long before anything bad(TM) happens to your machine. Thanks to both, I'll keep running in clamshell. Got 3 years to ruin the computer and get a free repair/replacement anyway.
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Aug 17, 2011 02:49
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I've got a latest generation airport express (wireless n) and while it works nicely, it chokes on streaming video. Netflix/hulu to the ps3 or youtube to my computer stutters every 10 minutes or so, but there's no issue when I plug any device in directly to the cable modem. Which was disappointing because I'd much rather blame comcast that apple. Two questions - does it sound like my airport express is borked? I could always dig out the older version this replaced (wireless g I guess) and see what happens. Or is the airport express just not capable of streaming a 2 hour movie? More importantly - I plan to just upgrade to an airport extreme so that I can plug the ps3 in directly and no longer worry about it since that's where the majority of my streaming goes. Is there any technological reason not to just get a used 3rd generation time capsule for about the price of a new airport extreme? As far as I can tell they are close to the same as far as the router parts go. I'd rather have local back ups than continue to pay backblaze every year. And airport extreme + usb hard drive still does not equal time capsule, correct?
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Aug 18, 2011 22:30
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Star War Sex Parrot posted:In terms of performance? Not even close. Me either. Thanks - that's helpful. what I gather form that graph is that any time capsule with an internal drive is a good choice, right? And based on wikipedia, the product hasn't changed much since 2009. 2010 improved the antenna design and 2011 went to a broadcom chip. I just wonder if that chip change is worth a $100 premium (comparing the new base model to the ebay market).
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Aug 18, 2011 23:17
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Star War Sex Parrot posted:Here's the review that I took that image from. Thanks. They certainly make a good case for the latest generation. I'll probably spring for the time capsule even though I'll back up my air via wifi anyway, and the difference in write speed between that and an extreme + usb drive is probably negligible over wifi. It looks nicer to have everything in one package.
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Aug 19, 2011 00:08
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brc64 posted:I read that review. Didn't it also come to the conclusion that there was no significant speed difference when backing up over wifi (both suck)? That's what I'd be looking at with my MBA and my wife's mini (mainly because the mini is a different room from the router, and it's too loving hot in the attic to run cable right now). Yeah wifi should be more of a bottleneck than sata vs usb. But after the initial back-up, incremental stuff shouldn't take long unless you deal with huge files regularly.
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Aug 19, 2011 03:24
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Mu Zeta posted:If you're in school the iPad is definitely the luxury. Having a small laptop with an awesome keyboard owns. There's nothing the iPad can do that the MBA can't. Agreed. I really don't think you can think of an iPad and a macbook air as similar devices. I like my iPad, but it is an oversized iPod that excels at media consumption. It's fun and keeps me entertained on a flight, but I'd never expect to bring it somewhere instead of my laptop. It would either be in addition to, or because I really didn't need to do any work where I was going.
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Aug 19, 2011 13:33
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pipebomb posted:On another note: does anyone have one of the 8gb Apple flash drives they shipped with older Airs? Want to sell it? $150 for the 128? Also (just asked above) anyone able to report back on the battery drain of adding a second hard drive (SSD in particular, but the question on the last page was a standard drive) to a macbook pro? Significant? Negligible?
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Aug 19, 2011 20:38
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SourKraut posted:Anyone used Samsung HDDs in the MBPs or such? Newegg has a 500GB, 7200RPM drive on sale for $50 and since I didn't get the Hitachi that was on Shell Shocker before it sold out figured I'd maybe give this drive a chance unless anyone has had bad experiences with it. Posting it too since some others mentioned they were looking for HDDs for optibays/etc. I pm'd you, but I have the 500 gb WD scorpio black drive you were considering buying, unopened for $60 shipped in sa-mart.
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Sep 2, 2011 16:14
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Is there much of a real world difference between last year's and this year's (thunderbolt) imac? It looks like the higher spec'd 2010 27" model goes for about $1500 vs 2000 for this year's equivalent. Other than the thunderbolt port and sandy bridge I can't tell much changed. Is the processor really that much of an upgrade (both are quad core i5's, right)? For casual use, occasional games, what does the extra $500 get?
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Sep 10, 2011 22:19
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Star War Sex Parrot posted:For casual use/gaming, don't worry about it. Thanks. So like something like diablo 3 - not much of a difference in these two computers? I assume the processor/video card upgrades are minor? The facetime HD just doesn't do it for me...
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Sep 10, 2011 22:36
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Star War Sex Parrot posted:The 6970 is a pretty significant jump, but that's the high-end SKU. The 6770 is basically identical to the 5750 from the old high-end 27". Diablo 3 won't care about Lynnfield vs. Sandy Bridge. Thanks. Now if only I could bring a 27" home and see how ridiculous it looks on my desk... Also- hard drive on an imac is not user replaceable, right (at least not without voiding the warranty)? An extra $600 for a 256 gb in the BTO is insulting; how about an extra $250 for a 128 gb SSD? What on earth do you need 256 for if you have a 1 TB drive as well? I guess an optibay in place of the superdrive would work, but I assume the geniuses can tell if you yank the glass of an imac, and that it's then no longer under warranty.
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Sep 11, 2011 01:22
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Mu Zeta posted:The Genius has to yank the glass off as well when they work on it. How would they know if it was you? I assumed there's a tripwire or something, sort of like the little stickers on cell phones that prove exposure to water. kuskus posted:I did it this week. It is not difficult, just make sure you have a couple of $3 mini suction handles ready, a clean work area, and don't lift the screen out of the bezel quickly because there are 4 wires connected. Good to know. The video doesn't look easy, but it doesn't look impossible. Electric Bugaloo posted:Also (not sure if you already knew this and were kidding), the purpose of popping a small SSD in with a big HDD is to put all of your system and program files on the SSD- which is really fast- and your media and docs on the HDD- which isn't. As was pointed out- I don't need 256 gb for my system files. I need 64 or 128 gb. Those would be reasonably priced options. The 256 + 1 tb just doesn't make sense to me given the cost.
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Sep 11, 2011 12:51
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DoktorLoken posted:Anyone having issues with their 5th gen AEBS becoming invisible to the configuration utility as well as not being able to connect to a USB HD shared via it? Rebooting the base station solves the problem but it's been happening a lot on mine. Happens all the time with my 2011 air and time capsule. It's really annoying, because the time capsule's drive will just disappear. These kinds of things are supposed to just work, justifying all the extra money I pay to have a fully apple household. I have to laugh when I launch airport utility (while connected to the internet via said time capsule) and the airport utility reports no apple base stations within range. Because within 20 feet I also have 2 airport expresses hooked up to a printer and speakers. Nice. edit: also this is probably more a software than hardware thing. ndrake fucked around with this message at 04:20 on Sep 13, 2011 |
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Sep 13, 2011 02:37
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Has anyone tried portal or starcraft 2 on the 2011 13" MBA? I don't play either enough to have tried yet, mostly because I assume the intel graphics will look awful.
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Sep 19, 2011 13:39
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Bob Morales posted:
Point taken. Will move there. Appropriate question: with this belkin thunderbolt dock (among others I'm sure) coming, is there any way to do audio out through thunderbolt? I love the idea of plugging in thunderbolt and power cables and being set, but I'll still have to plug in external speakers. Is there a reasonable way (USB?) of having them connected with that single thunderbolt cable? Airtunes is an option for itunes, but it would be nice to have everything go to the speakers (I guess airfoil is a way around this problem).
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Sep 19, 2011 13:51
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DEUCE SLUICE posted:Just grab a cheap USB or Firewire audio interface and plug your speakers into that. Interesting. So something like this would work and not degrade the sound? ndrake fucked around with this message at 17:12 on Sep 19, 2011 |
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Sep 19, 2011 17:08
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DEUCE SLUICE posted:No idea about that specific one, but most USB DAC's are going to be for people who aren't happy with their onboard sound (and/or have specific needs like instrument inputs) so normally anything should be better than onboard. Very cool, thanks for the tip. Now if only Belkin would release that thunderbolt dock before 9/30 so I could get it 50% off (coupon code FB50 if anyone needs a belkin product).
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Sep 19, 2011 17:21
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My wife has a 2010 13" MBP that has been collecting dust since I got her an air. I typically connect my air to an external monitor but was considering setting up her old pro as a pseudo-desktop. If I threw an SSD and 8 gb of RAM in the machine (2.4 ghz core 2 duo, geforce 320M 256mb shared video memory) and connected to an external monitor, would it be a reasonable "mac-mini?" I really want a desktop with some barebones gaming capabilities (starcraft 3, maybe some steam games in bootcamp), but am not sure how well I could get this thing to perform. I don't want to buy upgrades without a reasonable expectation of success; I can always just sell it and use the cash to build a desktop or pick up a mini.
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Jan 29, 2013 02:01
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japtor posted:Well it'd be a reasonable 2010 Mac mini...which isn't so hot when I think you could probably sell it and get a much better 2011 or 2012 mini with the funds (well the IGP on the 2011 would be a push vs the 320M). SourKraut posted:I'd imagine the 2011 with the Radeon 6630 would probably suit his needs fine though? I've been considering the 2011 Mac Mini with the Radeon 6630 for a basic gaming machine myself, but haven't been able to find how well it'd do for older games at either 1920x1080 or 1920x1200 (I have monitors at both resolutions that I could use with it). Thanks. I wasn't sure how much better (if at all) the 2011 mini would be, and its dedicated video seems to outperform the integrated graphics in the 2012 model. I could probably sell the pro for 400-450; it sounds like I'd be better off paying the difference for an older mini. I think I'm in the same boat as SourKraut, even if I were to make that change I don't know how well the mini would serve, and even for simple games I may be better off just building a small hackintosh, I just like having apple products that just work.
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Jan 29, 2013 05:22
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I think the answer is "doesn't matter." I want to replace my 2011 MBA. I'd like to get a retina but the windows 7 machine that I remote into 70% of the time on the computer looks ugly(er) on a retina. So the air is fine for me. I want better battery life and better graphics for an improved experience when I output to a 24 or 27" display (this 2011 stutters with some things). I was looking at: 2013 13" i7 with 8 gb for 1189 (refurb) or 2014 13" i5 with 8 gb for 1239 (edu) It seems like the i7 is only worthwhile for video editing. I know that's an over simplification, but my needs are safari, word, powerpoint evernote and citrix for the virtual machine. I do use stata and occasionally open large data sets, but if my 2011 i5 could handle it I'm sure either of these can. The newer processor maybe offers a minimal improvement in battery life, I think. But is last year's i7 worth getting over this year's i5 just in case I find a use for more processing power - considering it's cheaper? Or is it just wasted cycles that will chew through the battery (very marginally) faster?
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Jun 13, 2014 03:52
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Great, thank you. If I'm comparing 11 hours and change vs 12 hours of battery life I can't imagine I'd ever notice. I'll keep waiting on a notification from refurbme for last years model.
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Jun 13, 2014 05:00
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I know this kind of question is difficult to answer - but I'm looking at a 15" retina; is 8 gb of RAM worth $300? The late 2013 base model with 8 gb is 1600, new 2014 with 16 gb is 1900. It seems like a hefty jump. I'm working on a 2011 13" air so either one is a big upgrade, and I do not have any intense (no video editing, gaming, VMs etc) requirements and just use my computer for web/office. Seems like I should just save my money and go with last year's model. Would the additional RAM have anything to do with the GUI lag being discussed a few posts above? I doubt it.
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Sep 5, 2014 14:01
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Pivo posted:If you can show you're in post-sec or teach post-sec you can get like $200 off and a $100 gift card, which makes the more expensive model a lot more appealing. Thanks for the thoughts. Seems like 8 would suffice. I doubt I could tell the difference in processors from 2 to 2.2 ghz. I am faculty and do get the edu discount, but that still leaves the base 15" at 1899 (same price as bhphoto online), but I live in Chicago and so have to pay almost 10% sales tax if I buy from apple which far exceeds the value of the $100 gift card.
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Sep 5, 2014 17:04
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