Omg Macbook Air!

[Ty]

IM SO GETTING ONE! IM SO GLAD I WAITED INSTEAD OF GETTING ONE AT CHRISTMAS:D JUST LOOK AT IT!!

http://www.apple.com/macbookair/guidedtour/

[Connor]

Oh my god! I hadn't even heard of this. It looks absolutely beautiful. I'd love one - if I want a laptop this'll definitely be the one I'll buy. :p When does it come out?

[Ty]

Oooh actually i may not get one.... it doesnt have a cd/dvd drive :(

[sdc91]

I just saw it.

It looks like a business-oriented laptop.

I like my MacBook a LOT more than that. I NEED an optical drive, and I don't want to pay $1800+ for the cheap one or $3000+ for the other one. Plus it only has 1 USB port.

I think Apple screwed up. Then again, I'm not the target customer.

[Ty]

Yeah, it has got quite a few faults, but its for a business market sooo.... Im going to be interested in seeing how well this does - I do hope we don't see another G4 cube....

[Paul_UK]

I can understand no optical drive if they are aiming to make it as light and portable as possible. For most business uses the drive isn't used that often (mainly for loading software). Only one USB port though - that is bad. You can't even use a USB optical drive and a USB mouse at the same time unless you use a USB hub.

It is obviously intended for people who travel regularly and want something light and very portable. If it has wireless, 3G and bluetooth built in, it would do well in that market. It's not a desktop replacement though, and not a multimedia machine.

It doesn't sound like a good choice for you guys.

[Fiorino]

Hmm, it's really nice but I think I can resist the urge to buy one. The no CD/DVD
drive turns me off, and my MacBook(sans air) is just fine for the time being.
Nice job Apple anyway :eusa_danc

[Fiorino]

Take that back about the optical drive- you can get a usb one (designed for
the MacBook air) for 99$.

[Kovax14]

yeah i love my regular macbook, although i wish i kinda had waited and oculd have had the choice...you can get an external CD drive which isnt that inconvenient, especially since i dont even use CDs that often

[Ty]

Hmmm nor do i to be honest.... But do you think that apple will update their regular laptop range? I have mixed feelings on the macbook air.

http://www.apple.com/macbookair/wireless.html look at the remote disk thingy, that looks interesting.

/Ty

[Kenko]

It sure is thin! If you needed an ultra portable it'd be the way to go! I'm curious how good the LED lit LCD is.

From what I've seen the regular MacBook is very portable as it is. With the price / functionality, this it for the ultra-portable sorts.

I don't think it's worth the premium for what I do. 1 USB slot, no built in optical drive, only 80GB hard drive, no built in Ethernet, 1.6Ghz all for $1800 ($1900 in Canada)! By the time you add Ethernet and optical drive it's $2000. For the price of that you could get a Macbook Pro!

Of course you don't have to buy an external DVD drive, you can install "Remote Disc Setup software" on your Mac or PC. Yuck! The last thing I'd ever want to do would be install more Apple crapware. The Quicktime/iTunes duo are intrusive enough! though I think you could just go about the normal way of sharing the drive using Microsoft networking.

[Paul_UK]

I don't think it's worth the premium for what I do. 1 USB slot, no built in optical drive, only 80GB hard drive, no built in Ethernet, 1.6Ghz all for $1800 ($1900 in Canada)! By the time you add Ethernet and optical drive it's $2000. For the price of that you could get a Macbook Pro!

Exactly. If you need the ultra-portability and lightness and can afford it (or your employer is paying) then it would be good. But for the same or less money you could get something bigger with better spec and more useful features that is better suited to your needs.

When buying a laptop (PC or Mac) you need to consider what you need or want it for, what features are essential, and what your budget is, then make your decision based on that. Otherwise you could end up with something that is new and cool, but not actually that useful for you.

[Ty]

Well, regardless, I don't think I myself will get the Macbook Air. Although I'm a bit cautious of getting a new macbook - I'm positive Apple's just going to jump out with a brand new laptop and i'll be stuck with the old one -.-


What do you guys think?

[Paul_UK]

With computers there is always a newer and better model released just after you buy one. Does it matter if it's last year's model, if it does the job and works OK?

[sdc91]

Well, regardless, I don't think I myself will get the Macbook Air. Although I'm a bit cautious of getting a new macbook - I'm positive Apple's just going to jump out with a brand new laptop and i'll be stuck with the old one -.-


What do you guys think?

The first generation of the current MacBook model had serious issues with thermal paste melting and such. If anything, you should get the one now since it has all the problems fixed (plus it comes with Leopard and iLife '08 now, you can't go wrong; that's the only thing I regret since I bought mine on 7/7/7-- I'm stuck with Tiger and iLife '06).

[Kenko]

I don't think there were any other big announcements on the notebook side during MacWorld, and they did do some mild refreshing after the release of Leopard (eg: now using X3100 video cards instead of the older crappier GMA960 in Macbooks).

If they do come out with something else I'm sure it would be incremental more than anything. So I don't think it'd be like being stuck with a new PPC iBook with the release of Intel Macbooks.

Besides if it's all great and shiny, and capable when you buy it, I don't see how suddenly you'd be 'stuck' with it. It still will be capable of everything it was when new. To continue from above, I know people with PPC iBooks that still use their machines no problem. Even though they aren't the latest and greatest from Apple.

[tinkergeek]

It also doesn't have audio input, an ethernet adapter, or a replaceable battery..

I like ultra-portables, a lot, but having to carry around a bug of accessories stinks more than carry just a regular Macbook. (I use standard ethernet drops a lot..)

Also, the hard disk is one of those fun little 1.8" doodads. While perfectly fine for a music player, OS X hates running on slow disks. If you look at the performance between a Mac Mini with its internal disk and when you boot it from a fast external disk, it's nearly three times as fast doing many simple operations (booting, open programs, Spotlight indexing, swapping if you run low on memory, etc). Of course, the speed problem can be helped by using the solid-state disk, but that adds an extra grand and there should be some concern about the longevity of such drives using Apple's standard file system.

So, I guess if one just does web browsing with Safari... or likes to travel for a few hours in style, man does Apple take the cake in the ultra-portable market now!

[Alex89]

This is type of laptop is known as "Ultra Portable Computer". It's not made to be your main PC or Mac, but something for business people to take to work everyday or on long trips for the purposes of internet and email, word processing and occasional basic media.

I reckon it's perfect for the market it's aimed at, but I personally prefer power over portability.

[acorn7]

It's very hot, and intended for rich people who already have a great main computer. So... not me ;) Just like Apple's typical OMG new product, it's amazing, you have to compromise a lot, and it's expensive.

And by the way, the $3,000 version is mainly because it has a solid state drive, which is by itself $1,000 which is apparently a good price if you compare it to other vendors... you really gotta like speed to pay that kind of money for an hard drive. I suspect nearly everyone with stick with the 80 gig standard.

[Urman]

Its going to be really expensive i want one thought

[Kenko]

This is type of laptop is known as "Ultra Portable Computer". It's not made to be your main PC or Mac, but something for business people to take to work everyday or on long trips for the purposes of internet and email, word processing and occasional basic media.

I reckon it's perfect for the market it's aimed at, but I personally prefer power over portability.
_________________
STATUS:

When I first glanced at your response my eyes skipped over portability and read "I personally prefer power over STATUS" :lol: which is also a valid statement.

Though what you say is true, this is designed as an ultra-portable and not a general use computer. Some people that's what they want and can afford and that's just great. When I bought my laptop it was to replace my 7 year old desktop as my general use computer so my requirements were different, I wanted as much power and specs as I could get in a relatively inexpensive laptop. It's a 15.4" but I would have bought a 17" if the price was right.

This machine, even if it doesn't sell extremely well, does help push ultra portables more, and with it it does bring additional technologies, such as as smaller C2D chip, and an LED backlight screen. These are things that could be of benefit to other notebook manufacturers. Heck the LED backlight might start to appear in desktop monitors. But this is a different approach on ultra-portables. Existing ones have had tiny screens and keyboards. This one has a normal sized screen and keyboard, probably making it more usable.

[mj89]

It's so thin I'd probably be scared that I'd break it...

[Gera-Kun]

haha, my Inro to Adver. and design teacher showed us the video! I couldn't believe it! i so want one, but i doubt i can afford it with even two years worth of work, due to the fact that i have to get lots of school stuff, lolz

[Wired106]

Ya same! I've been talking to my mom about getting one. I want one so bad but it doesnt have a cd drive. you have to buy it seperately for $100, which isnt so bad. It came out at Macworld on January 15th 2008, and its suppose to ship to all apple stores in 2 weeks! I was actually right outside of macworld today because I was shopping with my brother in the San Francisco mall and checked out the apple store also which happened to be right around the corner from Macworld, but they already finished their convention thing and they were cleaning up and taking stuff down :)