Macbook Air

[philodox]

Originally Posted by DaveNB

The comparison to the EEE PC on features and/or price is like comparing apples to oranges (little bitty ones) I'm afraid. Can you really fairly compare the Celeron CPU and 4 GB SDD in the EEE, the smaller/lower resolution screen, the smaller keyboard, mass produced plastic construction to the Air with it's Core 2 Duo CPU, it's solid/beautiful aluminum chassis, larger screen, full sized keyboard and much larger (and almost impossibly pricey) 64 GB SDD in the Air? Really?

If you want (and have the expertise) to modify an EEE PC to your liking to vaguely approximate what features you'll get with an Air, go ahead as it's a really cool project/hack. But don't discount the amount of time, energy and expertise that will be needed (which most folks don't have). Most importantly, for me anyways, is the value of being able to run a very full featured/usable/stable OS X (legally, yes I know folks have gotten the EEE to run OS X albeit rather sluggishly), the option to boot/run virtualized instances of multiple other OS's (XP, Vista, Linux, BSD, etc) and have the rest of the stuff "just work".

Obviously the Macbook Air has quite a few things going for it over the EEE PC. The reason that I think the comparison valid, is that when I look at what I would do with an ultra portable laptop, the EEE PC has more than enough power and functionality. Some of the hacks people have done for it are pretty cool, but I think I could be happy with just upgrading the ram and doing my own Linux build on it. I'm also quite cheap.

[Jaapjan]

Originally Posted by philodox

Obviously the Macbook Air has quite a few things going for it over the EEE PC.

Well, yes. But I do not think you can compare the two easily for some reason while you say you can. EEE PC is certainly very portable though. Yet does it target the same crowd as the Air?

Hard to say. I do not know.

Unarguably though, you can more easily work on the Air given the power of the processor, memory, drive not to mention keyboard and screen size.

Yet the functions you'd use the Air for can presumably also be done with reasonable ease using the EEE PC, albeit more awkward probably. I think you'd be less inclined to work on the EEE, on documents or whatever, then with the Air.

Still, we argree on putting Linux onto it regardless of which! EEE Pc is nice ... but I'd consider it more of a Dinky-Toy-Hack-Throwaround laptop.

[philodox]

I agree, it would be no fun doing any real work on the EEE pc.

[DaveNB]

Originally Posted by philodox

I agree, it would be no fun doing any real work on the EEE pc.

I think of the EEE in terms of usability as being somewhere between the Nokia 770/800 and the iPod and the Air or some other Ultra Portable Laptop. The reduced sized keyboard and mouse pad and the smaller screen (lower resolution too as I recall, which causes you to have to do quite a bit side to side scrolling on many web pages like I have to do on my Nokia 770) may cause some usability issues. I hear that the EEE is quite responsive running Linux and works well as a browser for sites that don't have alot of Flash animation/applications.

It's a matter of degrees I guess. I had purchased a Nokia 770 for when I wanted to go REALLY light. The Air will open up the number of situations where I'd consider bringing on a laptop along by the virtue of it being far more pleasant to bring along than my current 15" Powerbook.

I think the EEE is a really cool device, especially if you have the hacking/do it yourself spirit and have the time/skills to extend it. It's just not enough of a leap up in usability/performance from my heavily hacked Nokia 770, which was fun to hack but no where as usable/stable as OS X.

This is a great discussion, there are alot of very valid and insightful opinions here and I'm having a good time taking it all in.

BTW, I started a Google Group for the MacBook Air (soon to be) owners/fans to talk and share information, as I've only found a few worthwhile discussion threads scattered in various web site forums (namely this one and a couple on MacRumors.com and some other Mac/Apple sites) that haven't degenerated into silly trolling/yelling matches/mindless Apple fanboy rants.

Please check it out, hopefully the group will amount to something and become a useful resource:
http://groups.google.com/group/mac-book-air

Dave

[Jaapjan]

It is kind of what I like about this place (being MobileRead). That discussions remain serious enough to be interesting. It is what makes MR great for me.

I hope it remains that way.

[DaveNB]

One thing I am looking forward to is now that I'll finally have upgraded to a Mac Laptop with a Intel CPU (been flogging a G4 TiBook for almost 8 years now, guess I'm a bit of a cheapskate too!!) I'll be able to run the Sony Connect Bookstore software in VM Ware. Maybe it'll even run in Codeweavers so I won't have use up HD space with a full XP install? Has anyone tried Codeweavers with the Sony Connect software? It isn't listed as working software in their database.

Then again, I've gotten used to using Kovid's excellent libprs500 package and also accessing the Sony Reader's file system via the Terminal/command line via the Docudesk FuseFS system extensions.

It's nice to have all the options for accessing my eBooks AND a perkier computer to do work on. I still think there will be many situations where the Sony Reader will be better for reading eBooks on than even the very bright LED backlit screen that the Air has. Anyone know if there is an OS X port of FBReader?

Dave

[Jaapjan]

Originally Posted by DaveNB

One thing I am looking forward to is now that I'll finally have upgraded to a Mac Laptop with a Intel CPU (been flogging a G4 TiBook for almost 8 years now, guess I'm a bit of a cheapskate too!!) I'll be able to run the Sony Connect Bookstore software in VM Ware. Maybe it'll even run in Codeweavers so I won't have use up HD space with a full XP install? Has anyone tried Codeweavers with the Sony Connect software? It isn't listed as working software in their database.

Then again, I've gotten used to using Kovid's excellent libprs500 package and also accessing the Sony Reader's file system via the Terminal/command line via the Docudesk FuseFS system extensions.

It's nice to have all the options for accessing my eBooks AND a perkier computer to do work on. I still think there will be many situations where the Sony Reader will be better for reading eBooks on than even the very bright LED backlit screen that the Air has. Anyone know if there is an OS X port of FBReader?

Dave

I have been looking for eBook readers for OSX but I have yet to find any, open source or not. It is dismal!

Edit: Darn, my head appears often in this thread!

[DaveNB]

Originally Posted by philodox

Some of the hacks people have done for it (the EEE PC) are pretty cool, but I think I could be happy with just upgrading the ram and doing my own Linux build on it. I'm also quite cheap.

I too am quite a cheakskate, but unfortunately I don't posses the skills to perform the extreme hacks this guy did to his EEE:
http://beta.ivancover.com/wiki/index...ernal_Upgrades

He somehow managed to cram the following hacks/extra hardware into the EEE and got it all working to boot!!!:
-Upgraded the WiFi to 802.11 a/b/g/n
-2 USB hubs which hook up the following
-GPS and Bluetooth with their respective antennas mounted into the bezel around the display
-An additional superfast internal 4GB USB Flash Drive: Corsair Voyager GT with a staggering stated rates of 34 MB/s read and 25 MB/s write speed
-A SD Card reader for even more expansion of his storage capacity
-A Telephone Modem
-Power switches for all of the new stuff he installed.
-FM transmitter to send Audio to any FM Radio

Not only has he found some empty space in the already tiny EEE for all this stuff, but he does an amazing job of making all the additional wiring look really neat and tidy as well!!! Wow, you gotta check out his pics.

This cost him an additional $454 odd bucks over what he paid for his EEE, not counting his not insignificant labor and expertise. I mean, how does one put a price on that level of geek l33t'ness?

Amazing. Wonder what the battery life now though?

Dave

[philodox]

Wow, that is pretty impressive. I'm also curious on the new battery life.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by Jaapjan

I have been looking for eBook readers for OSX but I have yet to find any, open source or not. It is dismal!

Edit: Darn, my head appears often in this thread!

eReader works on mac's I believe. Check the wiki for mac compatible eBook Readers.

Dale

[DaveNB]

Go figure, someone did port FBReader to OS X:
http://www.fbreader.org/macos/
http://gobunov.ru/projects.html
Apparently, you also need TrollTech's QT library and the enca and expat libraries (the last 2 are included).

I haven't tried this port yet, but will give it a try when I get my new MacBook Air as it looks to be an ideal eBook reading platform (albeit bulkier than my Sony Reader) especially since I've accumulated a bunch of .pdf and .html eBooks.

I've also found a few eBook reading programs on www.MacUpdate.com in addition to the usual .pdf readers available free from Adobe, actually .pdf display is built into OS X (Safari and Preview) if you don't need any fancy features.

Chmox and Chimp - displays .chm files: http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/15121/chmox
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/18339/chimp

Maclit - displays .lit files:
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/25659/maclit

Text Reader for Project Gutenberg files:
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/18593/sophie

Multi Column Text Reader:
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/12575/tofu

I've also used TextEdit to save .rtf files as .html and view the .html files in Safari (easier navigation, can change text sizes easier, no accidental re-editing of the eBook while reading it in TextEdit).

Dave

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http://groups.google.com/group/mac-book-air

[DaveNB]

Well, I've had my new MacBook Air for a week now and aside from some intermittent problems re-associating with my US Robotics (non-Apple) WPA encrypted WiFi router, it's been flawless. This is a great laptop if you're interested in going light yet wanting to be able to get some work done on a comfortably sized screen and full sized keyboard.

I have a partial review/first impressions posted here:
http://groups.google.com/group/mac-b...12f586c71cbf17

There are lots of decent reviews on the MacBook Air out there, AppleInsider.com has a series of very well written/thoughtful reviews that you should definitely check out if you're looking at one of these.

BTW, getting back to the Asus EEE PC issue, here's an interesting followup on how usable the EEE has turned out to be:
http://gizmodo.com/351086/asus-eee-p...fficially-over

http://www.geek.com/eee-pc-chronicle...ality-sets-in/

The EEE's screen was just a bit too small (something I've experienced with my Noikia 770), the stock OS just isn't all that stable, WiFi can be flaky, and poor battery endurance (still drains too much power even while sleeping). I'm not sure if using an alternative hacked Linux OS flavor (Ubuntu for EEE or some other variant) fixes these problems, but they're not going to be easy solutions for most buyers to implement on their own.

All in all, I'm really happy with my Mac Book Air purchase. BTW, the Sony Connect eBook Library software runs perfectly in VMWare Fusion virtualization so now I can run it on my Mac for the occasional purchase. I still prefer to use libprs500 or Docudesk's PRS browser for most day to day chores.

Dave

P.S. I've been collecting the URL's for various MacBook Air reviews, tips, hacks and resources on that Google Groups page, check it out if you're interested.