Macbook Air

[Nate the great]

This is true, but it doesn't help the people who are used to having 2 or 3 batteries with them. Plus, the $129 is the price aPple charges. I'm sure you can find them on Ebay for less.

I recently joined this group because my original battery is down to only half its original strength. Three hours battery life just couldn't cut it.

[NatCh]

Besides, if aPple has to do the work then you're out of your laptop for the duration of the return/replacement cycle. Not the most attractive alternative to swapping the rascal yourself.

[yvanleterrible]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

This is true, but it doesn't help the people who are used to having 2 or 3 batteries with them. Plus, the $129 is the price aPple charges. I'm sure you can find them on Ebay for less.

I recently joined this group because my original battery is down to only half its original strength. Three hours battery life just couldn't cut it.

I too dream of that eink computer and that aPple would make it.

[DaveNB]

I pre-ordered one as soon as it was announced even before seeing it in person. I did get to spend some time using the Air at Macworld and it is an amazing machine. It's not for everyone, but it exactly what I've been wanting in a laptop: VERY Portable and Thin, light, yet a totally solid build, great screen, great battery life, runs cool and silently, yet is quite fast/responsive. I don't really use a CD/DVD drive on my existing laptop (USB flash drives and ripping/re-encoding DVD's to mpeg4/DiVX for on the road viewing works great, just takes some advanced planning). I don't plan to do any video on this laptop (I have a desktop for that, which actually has a slower CPU than the Air as it's older) and I already have everything wirelessly networked for file transfers, video/music streaming and printing, etc.

Some have panned the Air on the fact that there is no built in 3G/WiMax for cellular/wireless communications. Not a deal breaker for me as 3G/WiMax is not universally accessible nor a solidified standard here in the US and some areas have better coverage by one company than another. The addition of a wireless 3G/WiMax modem means more bulk/power use/expense to squeeze into any laptop. Given that there is not one dominant standard in all areas of coverage, why force someone buying the Air into one solution? I suppose you could always use one of those bulky/ugly EVDO/3G USB external adapters (already supported in OS X BTW), but remember, the Air has Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR. I can easily tether the Air off my current 3G cell phone via Bluetooth and access my cell provider's network that way. I'm already paying for one cell with a data plan, why not use it instead of having to pay for a second cellular data plan (which are NOT cheap BTW).

The non-replaceable battery is not a huge big deal for me as Portability/size was key for me and a design allowing for a removable battery would require a thicker/bulkier shape. It's an acceptable trade off especially if you consider how easy it would be to make an external battery pack that would feed power via the Magsafe adapter for long trips (and if it was built with multiple tips/cords, it could also maybe feed/re-charge other devices like your iPod/iPhone, Cell phone, GPS, etc). It sounds like the internal battery isn't that difficult to replace every few years as the battery wears down (as all rechargeable batteries eventually do).

If you're looking for a tablet form factor, check out this authorized Apple Macbook modification:
http://www.axiotron.com/index.php?id=modbook

I got a chance to use the Modbook as well. While it's quite full featured, it's also MUCH bulkier and heavier (and more expensive to boot). As good as the ink input is, it just isn't that easy/seamless to use for heavy text input without an external keyboard. It would suit someone who's primary software tools work well with a pen/point and click interface (drawing/graphics/photoshop). If you're looking mainly for a web browser, e-mail and e-book reader, it's probably an overkill.

I think the mousepad gestures in the Air really makes a leap in usability that I'm sure will trickle down to all of Apple's laptop (ie. alot less mousing around and having to click on all the little buttons, or constant mode changes between typing and mousing).

In short, the hardware and design is amazing. It's priced well for an ultraportable laptop IMHO (accepting that you'll always pay a premium for more portability, can't get around it) if you don't want an "everything but the kitchen sink" type laptop. My current 15" Titanium Powerbook has essentially become a desktop that stays at home as it's just a bit too big/bulky/heavy and fragile (believe me the Air feels more solid/sturdy than even a current Aluminum Powerbook or a Macbook, no flex or creaking at all) to want to tote along everywhere.

I can't wait to get it in early February, I'll be sure to post a more thorough review when it does get here.

Dave

[tribble]

How silent is the Macbook Air? Thats something really important to me. i had an LG TX which could be operated fanless, depending on your currently needed computing power. That was really awesome.

[DaveNB]

Originally Posted by tribble

How silent is the Macbook Air? Thats something really important to me. i had an LG TX which could be operated fanless, depending on your currently needed computing power.

It was pretty hard to hear the fan (there is an internal cooling fan that runs at variable speeds depending on internal temps) at all but there was alot of ambient noise in the Moscone center and the crowd around the Macbook Air display was huge.

I held the laptop up to my head and could barely hear the fan, it'd been on pretty much on and being used/poked at continuously for 4-6 hours at that point. It was only slightly warm to the touch, not hot, and the fan was on but pretty quiet. It'd be good to hear it in a really quiet environment to really see how silently the Air runs.

The Apple spokespersons/handlers said that they were easily seeing a 5 hour battery life from these things. But I'd want to see some real reviews/systematic/real world testing though.

I suspect that as constantly the demo units were being used, there was probably alot more touching/looking/poking around the gorgeous hardware than constant WiFi use/browsing/photo editing/running programs/etc. so they may not have been pushed very hard in terms of CPU use so the amount of fan noise, heating up and battery usage may not be representative of real life hard use. More like casual or moderate use.

Dave

[philodox]

Lets compare it to their current laptops... less powerful, no Ethernet port, very few other ports, can't replace the battery, no optical drive. And the only thing it has over them? It's thin. I just don't see paying more money for something that has one advantage with so many disadvantages. If I really wanted an ultra mobile laptop, I'd get an EEE PC and mod the crap out of it as they come with a solid state drive by default and are very well priced. If you want the solid state option on the Macbook you are paying $3k in the end.

[DaveNB]

Originally Posted by philodox

Lets compare it to their current laptops... less powerful, no Ethernet port, very few other ports, can't replace the battery, no optical drive. And the only thing it has over them? It's thin. I just don't see paying more money for something that has one advantage with so many disadvantages. If I really wanted an ultra mobile laptop, I'd get an EEE PC and mod the crap out of it as they come with a solid state drive by default and are very well priced. If you want the solid state option on the Macbook you are paying $3k in the end.

Well, if you look at any company's ultra-portable laptop (Sony, Fujitsu, Toshiba, Lenovo, etc.) they're all a bit less powerful, a bit less full featured, have a smaller screen, have smaller batteries and you'll pay a price premium for the light weight/portability. There will always be some trade offs, these compromises are not unique to the Air. Apple with the Macbook Air has just decided to push the envelope a bit in terms of shaving the hardware down to their vision of the bare functional essentials without compromising the user experience (big screen, full sized keyboard, mousepad gestures and most importantly OS X).

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".

Personally, my time is better spent getting work done, not figuring out how to hack stuff to work (sort of/most of the time). To claim you're not you're getting nothing at all for the added expense of the Air is really not accurate.

I'm afraid you're just not Apple's target audience for this product. It doesn't mean that the Air doesn't hold some significant value/functionality for someone else, especially as a laptop that is a clean/integrated/ergonomic design that will "just work" right out of the box.

Dave

[tompe]

Originally Posted by DaveNB

Well, if you look at any company's ultra-portable laptop (Sony, Fujitsu, Toshiba, Lenovo, etc.) they're all a bit less powerful, a bit less full featured, have a smaller screen, have smaller batteries and you'll pay a price premium for the light weight/portability.

Actually I am not missing so much on my Dell D420. I have three USB ports and that is very useful. I really do not see how you can manage with one USB port without much extra trouble.

[Jaapjan]

Originally Posted by tompe

Actually I am not missing so much on my Dell D420. I have three USB ports and that is very useful. I really do not see how you can manage with one USB port without much extra trouble.

Having only one usb port is a bit of a hassle, yes. But then I wouldn't -really- need that many more USB ports when I am on-the-go. Serious, what else would I lug around?

The thing I have mostly connected is either a mouse (because I dislike trackpads) or a removable harddrive.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Jaapjan

Having only one usb port is a bit of a hassle, yes. But then I wouldn't -really- need that many more USB ports when I am on-the-go. Serious, what else would I lug around?

When am travelling I usually need two ports to move data from one USB device like a camera to another USB device like a hard disk (an Archos or an iRiver).

[Jaapjan]

Originally Posted by tompe

When am travelling I usually need two ports to move data from one USB device like a camera to another USB device like a hard disk (an Archos or an iRiver).

I have a WD Passport drive myself (wonderful thing! Heartily recommended!) and I plug it in fairly often. Two ports -would- have been handier. But pulling the plug on the mouse and shoving in the Passport would not bother me much.

[tribble]

Especially since you can use a bluetooth mouse Oh and a USB hub. But more than one USB port would have been nice.

[Jaapjan]

Originally Posted by tribble

Especially since you can use a bluetooth mouse Oh and a USB hub. But more than one USB port would have been nice.

True. But I hate replacing batteries. Still, it is something worth thinking about.

Of course, if I had a bluetooth mouse I would just have to have a Macbook Air too, just to be complete. Mmm... now there is a thought ....

[yvanleterrible]

Boy! Lucky most of you.

Compare all that to the choices we had 20 years ago!

A portable computer will be a compromise of features as long as there are choices to be made. When the whole is the size of a dime they will complain that we can still see them!?! Where does it stop?

Even if this device does not comprise all you need there is still a way out that allows your access to all you need. It's connected via your virtual surroundings, a simple part of a whole. Just like a car needs a fuel supply infrastructure and highways. Put simply, the device is only the front door of a building.