MacBook Air

[wes.coleman]

I'm not an Apple person by any stretch of the imagination, but this is just too cool for school.

[fraseyboy]

Indeed.

[Computerpro3]

Looks amazing except it runs like crap. Look at your hard drive options - dog slow or $800 extra for a solid state. Great looking though.

[Wodgy]

Originally Posted by Computerpro3

Looks amazing except it runs like crap. Look at your hard drive options - dog slow or $800 extra for a solid state. Great looking though.

Umm... no. It's one of the fastest clocked notebooks in the subnotebook category, even before SSD.

Ars Technica did a great spec comparison against other subnotebooks:
Macworld.Ars: MacBook Air spec shootout
The Macbook Air wins on most measures. And that doesn't even include the intangibles like having the chassis cast out of two solid pieces of machined aluminum, rather than plastic like the two competitors. (For people who just scroll to the end, the last line in the comparison is meant to be sarcastic.)

[sector001]

i'll pass on this one...

[kugino]

Originally Posted by Wodgy

Umm... no. It's one of the fastest clocked notebooks in the subnotebook category, even before SSD.

Ars Technica did a great spec comparison against other subnotebooks:
Macworld.Ars: MacBook Air spec shootout
The Macbook Air wins on most measures. And that doesn't even include the intangibles like having the chassis cast out of two solid pieces of machined aluminum, rather than plastic like the two competitors. (For people who just scroll to the end, the last line in the comparison is meant to be sarcastic.)

hey wodgy, thanks for the link. the more i think about the MBA the more i both love it and realize it doesn't suit my needs. i will be getting a new laptop soon but it looks like a newer macbook may be in the cards (mine is a slow first gen core duo)

[wes.coleman]

Originally Posted by sector001

i'll pass on this one...

In the end, I'd have to agree. The battery life must be something like 1 hour with the screen at normal brightness.

[appophylite]

I'll pass if only because the thinness comes at the cost of losing the built-in optical drive. I know a lot of people will probably say that you don't always use the optical drive so it doesn't matter if you carry it separately, but I really do prefer it to be there and be ready when I need it.

[kugino]

Originally Posted by Wodgy

Umm... no. It's one of the fastest clocked notebooks in the subnotebook category, even before SSD.

Ars Technica did a great spec comparison against other subnotebooks:
Macworld.Ars: MacBook Air spec shootout
The Macbook Air wins on most measures. And that doesn't even include the intangibles like having the chassis cast out of two solid pieces of machined aluminum, rather than plastic like the two competitors. (For people who just scroll to the end, the last line in the comparison is meant to be sarcastic.)

and don't forget one of the biggest advantages - OS X.

[Computerpro3]

Originally Posted by kugino

and don't forget one of the biggest advantages - OS X.

I can install OS X on my PC too, not that I'd ever want to

[cosmotron]

I think 1799 is pretty expensive for this thing... but I do like it.

[marvin]

Originally Posted by Wodgy

Umm... no. It's one of the fastest clocked notebooks in the subnotebook category, even before SSD.

Ars Technica did a great spec comparison against other subnotebooks:
Macworld.Ars: MacBook Air spec shootout
The Macbook Air wins on most measures. And that doesn't even include the intangibles like having the chassis cast out of two solid pieces of machined aluminum, rather than plastic like the two competitors. (For people who just scroll to the end, the last line in the comparison is meant to be sarcastic.)

The benchmark in this category, the Lenovo X61, has the 2.0 Ghz C2D in the base version and weighs in at just over $1k. That makes it difficult to argue that the MBA is one of the fastest clocked notebooks in the subnotebook category given that it's competition is faster by as much as 600 MHz. Real world price differential for a comparably equipped X61 is also ~ $600, significantly larger than the Ars' number. Really don't understand how they even got their numbers.

It certainly is a very slick looking entrant into the field and will probably make a whole lot of sales based on that alone. The choice of a 13.3" screen is odd though. It brings real world portability for the vast majority of people down to the regular MacBook level, but I can see why. It certainly makes it more viable as desktop replacement. On the other hand, the use of a non replaceable battery to get those extra tenths of an inch of thickness off is highly questionable. IMHO, a very stupid idea that's going to cause quite a bit of annoyance down the road for users.

[Wodgy]

Originally Posted by marvin

The benchmark in this category, the Lenovo X61, has the 2.0 Ghz C2D in the base version and weighs in at just over $1k. That makes it difficult to argue that the MBA is one of the fastest clocked notebooks in the subnotebook category given that it's competition is faster by as much as 600 MHz.

The Lenovo ThinkPad X61 is twice as thick as the Macbook Air at the Macbook's thickest point, and much thicker as you trail down towards the Macbook Air's thinner points. The X61 is also heavier while simultaneously having a smaller, lower resolution screen.

The X61 is a nice unit, but it's not the same level of technology or the same category as the Macbook Air.

The choice of a 13.3" screen is odd though. It brings real world portability for the vast majority of people down to the regular MacBook level, but I can see why.

A screen below 13.3" is getting into toy territory, not a machine for long-term, real-world use. (12" is fine, but 1024x768 is too low these days.) I don't understand the argument about how the extra 1.3" along the diagonal sacrifices portability in some way. If a person can't carry around a laptop that fits in an envelope, I suspect they're exaggerating their woes -- especially if they're willing to carry around a laptop that's more than twice the volume and heavier (X61).

[kugino]

Originally Posted by Computerpro3

I can install OS X on my PC too, not that I'd ever want to

thank goodness...os x deserves better than a pc

[majid]

I fondled one at Macworld, it is really a sweet machine. I don't think it makes sense for people who primarily want to run Windows in BootCamp mode, unlike the MacBook and MacBook Pro. I have a MacBook Pro 15" and will sell it off as soon as I get my Air, because my primary machine is a desktop Mac and the compromises in the Air are worthwhile for me to get a machine I can actually lug with me all day without breaking my back, the way I used to with my old Toshiba Portege 2000.