Hello Garth, I have a late 2010 11 inch macbook air and can give my opinions. I've never tried the 13 inch Air, so I won't give an opinion on it. Regarding RAM: I think there are several good reasons to purchase it with 4 GB of RAM. Reason one: Unlike most computers, RAM on the Air is not upgradable after you've purchased it. It is soldered to the system board and cannot be expanded. Perhaps an enterprising third party will come along with a method of upgrading RAM but as of yet this has not happened to the best of my knowledge. Reason two: Lion's minimum RAM requirement is two GB. It's probably a good idea to have more than the minimum even if you only plan to do basic web surfing, email and skype.. Reason three: If you're considering the only model that comes with 2GB RAM, I assume that also means you're considering the 64 GB SSD that comes with that base model. Apple's retail price is US $100 to bump that base model up to 4GB. However, if you bypass the base model and go with the higher-level model, you will get both the additional 2 GB of RAM plus a 128 GB SSD for not a lot more money, especially if you shop around at vendors such as macmall and amazon where you can find better pricing. While I would normally also recommend looking at Apple's online refurb store, in this case I think the reported performance improvements of the newest Air probably outweigh the small price difference offered by purchasing a last-generation refurbished Air.
Regarding Zoom: I used Zoom extensively in the past when my vision was better, and I still use it sometimes with my 24 inch external monitor. For getting out of tricky situations, I find Zoom is fine on the 11 inch screen. Try it in the store and see what you think. You can zoom the heck out of most things. If you're like me and cannot see anything on a white background, you might want to also try reversing the video to white-on-black. The Zoom, color and contrast options can all be found and quickly toggled in the Universal Access panel of System Preferences. If you decide to attach an external monitor, you can do this through the new Thunderbolt port which actually doubles as a mini DisplayPort, thus allowing you to use Apple's variety of adapters to connect to VGA, DVI and I think HDMI displays. HTH, Bryan On Jul 28, 2011, at 5:33 AM, Garth Humphreys wrote: > I am trying to decide which Mac Book Air to buy. I would love to hear the > experiences of those of you who use the zoom feature with VO. I have been > trying the air out at our local Apple store and am trying to decide between > the 11 inch and the 13 inch models. > > Firstly, do you all think that it is important to get 4 Gb RAM or would 2 Gb > be fine with VO. Keep in mind that the Air would primarily be used for email > and browsing. At times I will be using the Air for skype and will want to be > able to record the audio. > > Next, how well does the Zoom feature work. The reason for asking is that I am > trying to evaluate the value of spending an extra $100 or so for the extra > screen realestate of the 13 inch. My sight is poor enough that I would > probably only use the screen to help get out of those tricky situations where > seeing the screen makes it easier. I hope this makes sence to some of you. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en.
