[Uncle Erik]

My sister got the 13" MB Air for Christmas. I played with it a bit on Sunday - fantastic machine. It "feels" faster than the white MacBook I have.

It's a stunning piece of hardware and I'm sorely tempted to upgrade. However, I'm holding off because the MacBook still does what I need and the iPad has somewhat taken over what I need in a portable setup. I reasoned myself into waiting another year to see what Apple comes up with for 2012.

 

[livewire]

I'd pull the trigger on an MBA in a heartbeat if it only had mini digital audio out. (Optical Toslink/SPDIF)
USB is just too limited for high-def audio. So I wait....

 

[estreeter]

Quote:

I'd pull the trigger on an MBA in a heartbeat if it only had mini digital audio out. (Optical Toslink/SPDIF)
USB is just too limited for high-def audio. So I wait....

And you are basing your comments re USB audio on what, precisely ? Plenty of folk seem happy with devices like the HiFace.

 

[pekingduck]

I wish Apple release a fanless MBA next year (they were granted a patent on fanless notebook cooling in March).
 
My current MBP (2006 model) has a very noisy fan and I can't really stand it..

 

[myinitialsaredac]

Quote:

I wish Apple release a fanless MBA next year (they were granted a patent on fanless notebook cooling in March).
 
My current MBP (2006 model) has a very noisy fan and I can't really stand it..

I can say from my experience the MBA fan is only noticeable when gaming (starcraft 2 like).
 
Dave

 

[estreeter]

The review I read trumpeted the fact that Apple may well become the first major manufacturer to dispense with optical drives across their entire laptop range, Personally, I think this is a mistake.
 
For those who are happy to keep an external optical drive at home and another at work, probably no biggie, but having travelled across Asia with a netbook and an external drive, its a PITA. We just did an Office install for a guy with an Acer laptop with no optical drive, and the guy will now have to pay good money for a 15 minute install - would have been cheaper (longterm) to buy an external drive, but many folk clearly believe that they will be able to download most of what they need from the Net. Based on Oz ISP plans, this is pure fantasy - it may well be viable for many of you in the US and Europe. For those downloading a lot of hi-rez music and video, I would be interested to hear what sort of plan you are on - here at work, we cracked the 100GB mark within 15 days last month, largely due to the number of times we need to run Windows update, download software etc for client machines. Sure, we cache some of it locally for repeat installs, but the pace of upgrades often means we have to refresh 100MB files monthly - it all adds up.
 
For those with genuinely 'unlimited' plans at reasonable rates, more power to ya

 

[runnin17]

My wife and I love our new MBA's. We have had them for a little over a month now and they are awesome. I think the best thing it has going for it is the battery life. I get an average of 9-10 hours. Since I only use my laptop for 30-45 minutes at a time it seems like I only need to charge the thing every two weeks

 

[illkemist]

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Does anyone know anything about the Macbook Air's DAC or sound quality?  How does it compare to the MBP?  (how's the MBP, btw?)

Haven't tried the MBA's hp out (as I don't have one) but I can vouch for the MBP DAC.  It's surprisingly good.  Listening casually to my music through yuin PK1's is pretty nice.  Certainly won't replace whatever your main system is, but it'll do in a pinch.  That's about the extent of my computer audio life, so I can't comment on hooking up a proper amp to it.


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Actually, I opted for the 128 GB with 2 GB or RAM.  There was really no need to spring for anything beyond stock.  I'll still do the bulk of my work on the desktop at home.  The MBP was from last year.  It wasn't the latest greatest version.
 
As far as comparisons go, it's hard to match them up.  But I can say that I have not been wanting for performance since I've started using the MacBook Air.  Keep in mind that I'm only really using it for simple cloud based stuff like email, web browsing and some writing.  But so far, I definitely do not miss lugging around my MBP.  Actually, the whole reason I got this machine was because too often, I found myself opting to leave the MBP home due to its weight.  I never have that concern with my MBA.  As a matter of fact, I carry it with me to work every day along with a D-SLR and have no problems with weight whatsoever.
 
Poor iPad, though.  It has been relegated to home duties.  The keyboard and tethering options of the MBA make it too useful and convenient.

Do you do any picture editing on your Air? I was curious if it can run Aperture or Lightroom...  I have a feeling if I bought a MBA, I would just get rid of my iPad; too much overlap.  Unless I just kept it for books and magazines.
 


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If you are in my situation that you have a "work" computer on your desk at home and need something portable that is still plenty powerful for most things (short of fast protein folding/modeling) I would recommend the Air. 
 
If you are looking for a 1 comp deal then I would say the MBP may be a better choice for work and play. 
 
 

x2.  If you need an all in one solution, the MBA might not be it.  At least it's not for me.

I do all of my photo editing with Aperture on my desktop with 23" and 24" monitors.  So I have not done any editing on the MBA.  I bought the Air for portable use.  At home, I let the Mac Mini handle all the other stuff, like media and editing.

 

[DeusEx]

Quote:

My wife and I love our new MBA's. We have had them for a little over a month now and they are awesome. I think the best thing it has going for it is the battery life. I get an average of 9-10 hours. Since I only use my laptop for 30-45 minutes at a time it seems like I only need to charge the thing every two weeks

 
How are you getting 9-10 hours out of the MBA?  
 

 

[Gino]

I got an 11.6" 2gb ram 128gb ssd MacBook Air. I love it. I haven't timed my battery use but it seems to last longer than I care to use it. I've done 3.5hrs now and it still has 43% charge. It says 2:19 to go. 
 
It is a peppy little Mac that surprises me. The biggest surprise was sound quality off the headphone jack. I used my Heead-direct RE2 iems and it sounded better than my iPod Photo Color (4G). Now I want to get better iems. Still deciding between a budget RE0 which is on sale or go all out with an Etymotic ER4P. I am not sure an ER4S will play loud enough on the Air 11.6". The Etymotic HF5 looks interesting for the price. Dunno how that will pit against the RE0. The RE Zero is another option  but I have not come across a review. Only the $99 price suggests to me that it is "better" than the RE0. 

 

[kite7]

Getting a solid state drive will greatly increase the responsiveness of pretty much everything; that's the main reason why the MB Air feels faster. It's not the CPU or RAM that is contributing to the responsiveness as much as the solid state drive.
 
Quote:

My sister got the 13" MB Air for Christmas. I played with it a bit on Sunday - fantastic machine. It "feels" faster than the white MacBook I have.

 

[DeusEx]

Anyone running Boot Camp or virtualization software on their Macbook for Windows?

 

[Gino]

I installed Windows 7 Ultimate using Boot Camp on my 11" MacBook Air 128gb ssd. Minimum partition allowed by Boot Camp was 20gb. My actual installation without updates and apps was 9gb. 
 
I just use Windows to run Phoenix RC helicopter and plane simulator. It handles that with ease with DirectX installed and visual effects turned off. Windows 7 runs smooth with visual effects running office stuff. I get 2 finger scroll, tap to click, etc using the Boot Camp downloaded Windows 7 drivers. 

 

[macrog]

I went in the get a MBA 13" in the New Years sales but ended up with a Macbook Pro i7 15" on the basis that there is according to the salesman no trim function on the MBA SSD hard drives and so they slow down hugely over time.
 
Is this true?
 
If not I will definately get an Air as well.
 
Regards
 
Macrog

 

[estreeter]

Quote:

I went in the get a MBA 13" in the New Years sales but ended up with a Macbook Pro i7 15" on the basis that there is according to the salesman no trim function on the MBA SSD hard drives and so they slow down hugely over time.
 
Is this true?
 
If not I will definately get an Air as well.
 
Regards
 
Macrog

 
I dont know about the MBA, but that is a reported downside of all SSDs. A better question might be whether Apple would deliberately release a product which is going to generate complaints from power users (OK, MBA power users ..) within 6 months. I suspect that your salesman friend just made himself a very nice commission.