I'm getting a couple of these babies but being new to the Intel world of Mac's I don't know what to expect.

Is there going to be much difference between the 1.6 and 1.8?

I'm moving from an iBook G4 1.42GHz, so the step in numbers to the 1.6 doesn't seem that great, even though I'm sure the intel factor makes a big difference....

I'd hardly be using it for much more than email, web stuff and powerpoint presentations (and maybe the odd bit of photo organising when out and about).

What would people recommend? Is it worth the extra $387.20 for the 1.8 processor?

Muchas Gracias

Go the 1.6
You'll find that the speed difference is huge and you will not be disappointed with the switch to intel

I have ordered the 1.8 processor I think even this will have problems with some apps, if you can afford it get it.

Yeah but what apps? I mean, Office, mail, safari and iphoto will all run.

I'm not doing much else. I can afford to get what I want in it, but still don't want to chuck money away for the hell of it...

I'm inclined to go the 1.8 just coz I'm a bigger is better person, but seeing as I'm coming off a low base I don't mind as long as what ever I get is faster!

I would go the 1.6GHz. The extra $387.20 puts you in MBP territory.

+1 to the 1.8ghz.
It's not like you can upgrade the processor so might as well have it being fastest thin computer in the world. And the intel chip is a huge factor not to mention it's dual core.

Personally I would just get 1.6.

I have ordered a 1.6 stock model but it isn't for me

If your happy with the 1.6 that's fine but I would hate to spend $2499.00 and not be happy with the speed for the sake of another $400.00

I'm buying the 1.8, mainly because I want the SSD drive and at that price the extra $430 isn't such a big jump.

I'm moving from an original 2.0Ghz Core Duo (not Core 2 Duo) MBP which means the 1.8 Core 2 Duo will probably run at about the same real-world speed.

I don't do a lot of processor intensive work on my laptop so I'm not too worried about the MBA being too slow right now but buying the 1.8 means I might get another 6 months of life out of it when 10.6 arrives and needs even more processing power than 10.5.

1,6. SSD will give you the performance

I only got the 1.6Ghz as $400 for 200Mhz is a waste of money really, even in a year, it's still only 200Mhz difference

If you are buying the Air then you aren't going for power. It will be zippy for all of the basic computing and lifestyle apps with the 2gb of memory.

As an aside, anyone going for the 64GB SSD option?

Seems pricey, but I am concerned about the lack of speed of a 4200rpm drive.

How much faster is SSD? Would it be equivalent to a 7200rpm drive?

I wont get the MBA now because of the cost. When I do look at getting the next rev or even the one after that next year, I will only buy it with SSD because without that performance is going to be very average.

SSD should be much faster than even a 7200rpm, faster than a 10,000rpm from what I understand.

Has anyone got any SSD benchmarks? I don't think flash memory is that fast or robust... 4200rpm laptop drives were the mainstay not too long ago, hah