Second hand MacBook Air (A1466) still a worthwhile buy?
Discussion
Morning all...
So I've come to the conclusion that my iPad really isn't suiting my needs for various reasons (at least, not as a portable, sole computing device) so I've been looking at laptops. I did think about a convertible laptop, but it seems like any of these worth having are pretty close to a grand.
Working in IT I'd also rather not have to deal with Windows (frankly, I'm sick of the sight of it!), be nice to have a change, and I notice that my work are selling refurb laptops, with a 6 month warranty, one of which is a MacBook Air A1466, Core i7 1.7GHz processor, 8Gb RAM and 250Gb SSD. This seems like a pretty decent spec to me, so I'm just wondering, is this machine still worth having for the price they are selling it for (£450?). It's tempting because it seems to be relatively well matched to the modern stuff in most areas, its not Windows, and its half the price of the stuff I've been looking at. Thoughts?
So I've come to the conclusion that my iPad really isn't suiting my needs for various reasons (at least, not as a portable, sole computing device) so I've been looking at laptops. I did think about a convertible laptop, but it seems like any of these worth having are pretty close to a grand.
Working in IT I'd also rather not have to deal with Windows (frankly, I'm sick of the sight of it!), be nice to have a change, and I notice that my work are selling refurb laptops, with a 6 month warranty, one of which is a MacBook Air A1466, Core i7 1.7GHz processor, 8Gb RAM and 250Gb SSD. This seems like a pretty decent spec to me, so I'm just wondering, is this machine still worth having for the price they are selling it for (£450?). It's tempting because it seems to be relatively well matched to the modern stuff in most areas, its not Windows, and its half the price of the stuff I've been looking at. Thoughts?
I dunno how many they will have in stock (perhaps only 1). Thanks for the feedback, I am quite tempted. I did read the screen wasn't supposed to be that great, but then again, it can't surely be any worse than a 768P panel on a Yoga S1 or X240 Lenovo, surely, and yet sharpness aside, I find them to be fine.
Murph7355 said:
I totally agree.
(I even don't see what the big fuss is on the screen...side by side in some conditions/scenarios you'll notice a difference. But how often is that the case).
The one thing I would say is that 256Gb might be getting a bit tight if you have plenty of software and run photos/video through it.
I recommended one of these to my FiL around 6yrs or so ago and he's over the moon with it still. My OH also has one (similar age) and again, it works brilliantly.
I think 250 Gb will be fine actually, I am not a heavy user of videos or anything like that. It will just be something to compliment the iPad.(I even don't see what the big fuss is on the screen...side by side in some conditions/scenarios you'll notice a difference. But how often is that the case).
The one thing I would say is that 256Gb might be getting a bit tight if you have plenty of software and run photos/video through it.
I recommended one of these to my FiL around 6yrs or so ago and he's over the moon with it still. My OH also has one (similar age) and again, it works brilliantly.
GCH said:
Exactly.
Next to the latest retina, it isn't quite as sharp, but still better than most and perfectly usable.
I find that it is usually specw*nkers who complain about the screen - for the vast majority of users it is absolutely fine, myself included.
Probably the same group who claim they can notice a big difference between 1080P and 1440P on a 5" screen Next to the latest retina, it isn't quite as sharp, but still better than most and perfectly usable.
I find that it is usually specw*nkers who complain about the screen - for the vast majority of users it is absolutely fine, myself included.
You have put my mind a rest though as I did read some criticism of the screen, and it will be seeing a bit of netflix and the like...
I'm really not that arsed about the lack of touch screen either. I just seem to spend half my life cleaning the screen of my phone and ipad. Tent mode for the train would have been nice to have but I figure its probably just about small enough to sit on the table on the back of a train seat anyway and if not, my iPad will.
I’ve gone for it 
Will let you all know what I think (as a long time windows user).
I hear what you’re saying about the battery but I can’t try before I buy and I do have a warranty of 6 months to fall back on so I’m not overly concerned.
My other choice was a Yoga S1 for £222, but I didn’t really want a machine that we all use daily at work even if it was a convertible touch screen machine with windows 10 and 8gb of ram and an an i5. But I would feel like I was at work using it, the battery life is fairly rubbish and the staff don’t exactly treat them well (oddly the rare staff who have macs seem to look after them much more).
I imagine the Mac should have a better touchpad, screen, keyboard, be lighter, faster, have better battery life and those things probably on balance will make up for the lack of 180 degree hinge and touch screen. Something else to learn how to use too which makes it a little more interesting than anything else I could have gone for, at least initially.
Will let you all know what I think (as a long time windows user).
I hear what you’re saying about the battery but I can’t try before I buy and I do have a warranty of 6 months to fall back on so I’m not overly concerned.
My other choice was a Yoga S1 for £222, but I didn’t really want a machine that we all use daily at work even if it was a convertible touch screen machine with windows 10 and 8gb of ram and an an i5. But I would feel like I was at work using it, the battery life is fairly rubbish and the staff don’t exactly treat them well (oddly the rare staff who have macs seem to look after them much more).
I imagine the Mac should have a better touchpad, screen, keyboard, be lighter, faster, have better battery life and those things probably on balance will make up for the lack of 180 degree hinge and touch screen. Something else to learn how to use too which makes it a little more interesting than anything else I could have gone for, at least initially.
It has arrived. First task is update the OS to High Sierra (currently on Mountain Lion).
The hardware looks and feels nice. The screen well its not a retina but I knew that, I'm sure it'll be good enough for my needs.
Once I've updated it and had a proper play about tonight I'll post back.
The hardware looks and feels nice. The screen well its not a retina but I knew that, I'm sure it'll be good enough for my needs.
Once I've updated it and had a proper play about tonight I'll post back.
Well I can remark on the screen thing a bit.
I must admit I wasn't all that impressed when I first fired it up. BUT, it had Mountain Lion on it which I found was 5 years old, and it really look dated, and text was pixelated.
I now have High Sierra on it though, and the fonts now look a LOT better and honestly, I've no complaints at all. Sure it'll look pixelated very close up but honestly it looks fine to me.
I've stuck Chrome on it now, very easy to install the application, just download the file, open it, drag it to the folder icon underneath and its done and in the Applications folder. Then drag the mounted drive to the bin. I did that without even googling it so thats pretty good really.
Oh and High Sierra looks MUCH nicer than Mountain Lion - I'm glad it does because I felt the ML looked really dated when I first turned it on.
I must admit I wasn't all that impressed when I first fired it up. BUT, it had Mountain Lion on it which I found was 5 years old, and it really look dated, and text was pixelated.
I now have High Sierra on it though, and the fonts now look a LOT better and honestly, I've no complaints at all. Sure it'll look pixelated very close up but honestly it looks fine to me.
I've stuck Chrome on it now, very easy to install the application, just download the file, open it, drag it to the folder icon underneath and its done and in the Applications folder. Then drag the mounted drive to the bin. I did that without even googling it so thats pretty good really.
Oh and High Sierra looks MUCH nicer than Mountain Lion - I'm glad it does because I felt the ML looked really dated when I first turned it on.
yes agreed, but they're all at it these days.So I've found the first glitch already. Unlocked the machine and found it kept rejecting the password. Turns out one of the keys stopped working, pressed it repeatedly and eventually it started to work again. Very weird. Now that key seems to work all the time.
I've created a new admin account in case it was that, as it came with a generic account out of the box.
I'll have to keep an eye on that
whoami said:
Not really.
I thought I'd really miss MagSafe (which was a great feature) after years of having a MacBook Air with it.
However, you soon get used to it not being there.
Well like I say, I've only ever used conventional laptops and tablets so its not something I would have missed. I can see the advantages, but then isn't the battery life supposed to be excellent anyway, so I wouldn't envisage myself leaving it plugged in much of the time.I thought I'd really miss MagSafe (which was a great feature) after years of having a MacBook Air with it.
However, you soon get used to it not being there.
So far so good with this one anyway apart from the weird keyboard glitch, but I'll put it through its paces a bit more tonight as all I've really done is stuck chrome on it and played around for 5 minutes here and there...
So I've been playing with this thing for a good hour or so:-
Impressions:-
Keyboard pretty good but not the best I've used. Looks nice though, feels pleasant. It does occasionally seem to fail to pick up some inputs.
Touchpad is an absolute dream compared to anything I've used with Windows. The OS also seems perfectly designed to make full use of it.
Doesn't get hot, can't hear fans, in general use.
Looks and feels quality
Will take me quite a while to get used to, but the OS already feels far more of a quality product than Windows. I'm quite sure I would always pick windows if I absolutely HAD to get something done as quickly as possible, and I doubt that I will ever be QUITE as quick as on windows because I'm so used to it but also its geared up for fast and efficient productivity (when it works). However, this is just so much prettier, more refined, and just simply more pleasant / fun to use. It doesn't feel like it will break at any minute.
Battery seems to be holding up surprisingly well - still on 80% and I've been playing with it all day.
Definitely a quality item for £450. Now I just got to get used to it.
Impressions:-
Keyboard pretty good but not the best I've used. Looks nice though, feels pleasant. It does occasionally seem to fail to pick up some inputs.
Touchpad is an absolute dream compared to anything I've used with Windows. The OS also seems perfectly designed to make full use of it.
Doesn't get hot, can't hear fans, in general use.
Looks and feels quality
Will take me quite a while to get used to, but the OS already feels far more of a quality product than Windows. I'm quite sure I would always pick windows if I absolutely HAD to get something done as quickly as possible, and I doubt that I will ever be QUITE as quick as on windows because I'm so used to it but also its geared up for fast and efficient productivity (when it works). However, this is just so much prettier, more refined, and just simply more pleasant / fun to use. It doesn't feel like it will break at any minute.
Battery seems to be holding up surprisingly well - still on 80% and I've been playing with it all day.
Definitely a quality item for £450. Now I just got to get used to it.
Keyboard stopped working for about 30 seconds before. In spotlight, tried to backspace. Didn't work. Trying to add more letters, didn't work. Pressed escape and spotlight closed, and then keyboard has now started working normally again. Typed this whole post on it and it did miss one key press. Do you think the keyboard is faulty? If so I'll probably have to send it back. Shame, as it turned out, it was the only one in stock.
I must admit I feel quite keen to overcome any problems as it really is a nice machine. Wouldn't have ever considered one before but there certainly is something about it. Other than that it feels unflappable and certainly seems to perform better than the similar age XPS 13 I had before it and even probably as quick in general use as my gaming desktop (even then perhaps still quicker in places).
I'm going to try getting it to work on my superwide, I reckon it'll look good on that.
I'm going to try getting it to work on my superwide, I reckon it'll look good on that.
GCH said:
You said you had updated to high sierra?
Very top left of screen -> apple logo --> about this mac.
Brings a pop up like this:
Top line is the year
Mine just says MacBook Air (13-inch). Doesn't have the year anywhere.Very top left of screen -> apple logo --> about this mac.
Brings a pop up like this:
Top line is the year
NDA said:
OP - I bought one of these for my MacBook:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Transcend-JetDrive-Lite-S...
I store everything on there - except apps. After 4 or 5 years of ownership, I have around 50% of memory remaining and the MacBook runs just as well as it did when I bought it.
Looks good, but I'm sure the storage will be plenty for my use.https://www.amazon.co.uk/Transcend-JetDrive-Lite-S...
I store everything on there - except apps. After 4 or 5 years of ownership, I have around 50% of memory remaining and the MacBook runs just as well as it did when I bought it.
The machine behaved impeccably last night so fingers crossed its alright. It's a breath of fresh air after working with Windows, and I never thought I would say this but there is a possibility I might end up ditching my S7 for an iPhone as I can already see how well the cross platform stuff works. I use Google's services at the moment, which I feel are good, but the Apple stuff looks even more polished than most, if anything - although I still feel Google Photos and Maps are superior.
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