11.6" MacBook Air Review - Part 2 of 2

Just to refresh (click here for part 1)

We're comparing these two computers:

MacBook
Hard Drive: 250 GB
Processor: 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory: 2 GB

MacBook Air
Hard Drive: 128 GB
Processor: 1.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory 4 GB

In this part of the test, I install some of the more intensive applications to test the speed and handling of this MacBook Air.

Starting off with the Adobe CS4 package, I chose to install a slimmed-down version so as to save on hard disk space, picking select applications rather than bulk installing the entire dozen GB's. This, of course, is no problem for the computer. The real test comes when I've got Final Cut installed.

Now, this is something I did not explain well in part 1. I have an iMac which is my primary video-editing computer. What I need from my laptop is the ability to cut out short videos in the rare occasion that I cannot wait to get back to the desktop. I knew that the MacBook Air was CAPABLE of running Final Cut. What I did not know is how well it can do that. Well, now I know.

To start with, I completely forgot that the new Air has no CD drive. I had to spend a few hours burning dmg's of the Final Cut discs on my iMac. To do that, on a Mac that is, you go into applications, then utilities, open "disk utility", click on the CD, click "New Image" at the top, save the dmg where you'd like, put it on a hard drive and open it on the MacBook Air. Very simple, but takes an ample amount of time.

Anyways, with Final Cut installed, I began the tests. I loaded a recent Final Cut project on both computers. I choose some videos from a MD Democratic Party GOTV Rally I went to right before the election. This is a great example of the type of thing I might have to edit on the fly (of course, with no firewire on either laptop, I'd have to have my old powerbook in tow to capture footage to an external drive). In total, the project was about 15.4 gb, big but not huge. I choose to render a couple of the videos I had cut out from the source material. In all tests, the MacBook rendered anywhere from 33-40% faster (I repeated this task a few times, once with several other applications running simultaneously). That sounds substantial, but these couple minute videos render relatively quickly, and the difference was close to 30 seconds.

Ultimately, I've decided the MacBook Air will suffice for what I need. It is the ideal computer for my bike touring needs and perfectly capable of handling all the other heavy duty tasks that I have (albeit a little slower). After selling the other laptop and purchasing an external for the Air, I will expect to have spent a few hundred bucks.