The New Macbook Air

[LivinLOS]

Interested in that too.. As I need another media PC with at least core duo.. Been speccing out motherboard, 2BG ram on a single stick, 400 GB sata and a GFX card.. Looking at 25 - 35k without PSE / Case / DVD Drive / Keyboard / Mouse / Soundcard / Etc..

So please tell me how I can do a machine like that for 15k with those components.

Sorry to go OT..

[dekka007]

Thanh can u build me one of those spec machines you can get for that price...... I'll pay cash and collect

[T_Dog]

Cool Machine, but has Mac solved the Yellowing Display Problem? My 2 year old MacBook display is noticeably yellow compared to when I first got it, and others have complained about this on their machines. Would hate to spend 3 grand on a machine just to have a yellow display two years later. My old Dell display was fine after 5 years. All in all though, I love my MacBook. Except for the display.....

[photojourn]

Sorry, I stand corrected. The MacBook AIr does indeed have a camera built-in. According to the specs it only has one speaker though.

And at $US 2,000 over a similarly spec'd MacBook the two pound saving in weight and overall thinner design is expensive.

Dekka007, if you really believe that DVDs and CD's will disappear in 2 or 3 years then I'm happy to put money on the fact that you are wrong. They'll be around much longer than that. Their wide-spread use in the consumer electronics field alone will see them continue.

As far as WiFi goes, well, the security of WiFi transmissions is a huge issue globally, while connections speeds that top out at around 4 Mbps in ideal situations compared to cable at 8 or 10 Mbps couldn't be described as anything less than painfully slow when downloading files. As for the expense side, check out what some ISPs charge per Mbyte of data uploaded or downloaded in different countries.

While you are able to run a device off both USB ports many people cannot. I've got an Apple branded Seagate Momentus drive removed from my MBP and rated at 5 v and 0.46 amp that comes no-where near mounting without a second USB cable plugged into it. There are numerous documented incidents of Apple's USB ports not providing sufficient power for external devices to run.

The MacBook Air is a cute little toy. It's a bit like a Ferrari with a Volkswagen engine and vinyl seats though.

If saving 2 pounds is worth spending an extra two grand then go for it. But it still leaves the problem of installing software supplied on CD/DVD media.

[Gimbo]

I just bought a 1.6Ghz dual core Acer for 25 000 bhat. It has a DVD burner, 4 USB outlets, 160Gb Hd, 2 gigs of memory, built in web camera, modem, wi-fi, and cable ethernet card, bluetooth, and infrared connections. It has microphone jacks, line out and line in jacks so I can connect it to my HiFI and play music with super sound. It weighs 2.45 kgs.

Tell me why I should fork out more than twice that to get less?

(I dont give a hoot about design)

Edited to remove wrong quote

Edited January 18, 2008 by Gimbo

[dekka007]

The MacBook Air is a cute little toy. It's a bit like a Ferrari with a Volkswagen engine and vinyl seats though.

You just don't get it....some consumers want lightweight over power that also looks great and willing to pay the premium for it. I change laptop every once or twice a year so its no biggie for me. I'll try it out and if it does not agree with me after a few months ill change it

Edited January 18, 2008 by dekka007

[canuckamuck]

One speaker eh? Must be a real boombox. I remember seeing my wife's dissapointment with her brand new Macbook. She brought it to her village to show a movie to the kids. All the kids put heads as close to the machine as possible so they could hear the dialogue. After about 15 minutes they got bored and left. It was just too hard to hear. What is it with Mac and useless speakers? My cell phone's built in speaker is much louder than our Macbook, I can use it like a radio.

At least they included a headphone jack as one of the precious three interfaces.

Laptops are supposed to be useful for multimedia, mp3's video's, games. I guess you need to either wear your headphones, which you will have to carry seperate, or maybe you just need to carry speakers with you (just add them to your backpack full of peripherals) but at least then you can share the experience. Maybe Apple folks have no friends and therefore the headphones are sufficient. Of course with no optical drive, many games and movies will require that second computer again. How many laptops are you allowed as carry-on luggage? I hope at least two.

[dekka007]

One speaker eh? Must be a real boombox. I remember seeing my wife's dissapointment with her brand new Macbook. She brought it to her village to show a movie to the kids. All the kids put heads as close to the machine as possible so they could hear the dialogue. After about 15 minutes they got bored and left. It was just too hard to hear. What is it with Mac and useless speakers? My cell phone's built in speaker is much louder than our Macbook, I can use it like a radio.

At least they included a headphone jack as one of the precious three interfaces.

Laptops are supposed to be useful for multimedia, mp3's video's, games. I guess you need to either wear your headphones, which you will have to carry seperate, or maybe you just need to carry speakers with you (just add them to your backpack full of peripherals) but at least then you can share the experience. Maybe Apple folks have no friends and therefore the headphones are sufficient. Of course with no optical drive, many games and movies will require that second computer again. How many laptops are you allowed as carry-on luggage? I hope at least two.

My macbook pro speakers are way better than any Asus or Acer or even Dell I have owned previously - although still crap. I think the majority of people don't use their laptop speakers in anger. I use a pair of small noise cancelling in-ear headphones for movie watching on planes etc. And at home just use airport express's to stream the music to stereo systems in each room.

[canuckamuck]

My macbook pro speakers are way better than any Asus or Acer or even Dell I have owned previously - although still crap. I think the majority of people don't use their laptop speakers in anger. I use a pair of small noise cancelling in-ear headphones for movie watching on planes etc. And at home just use airport express's to stream the music to stereo systems in each room.

Now that is cool. Is it complicated to connect a wireless hub to a HiFi? I have never thought about it. Or is bluetooth the way to go there? There must be bluetooth speakers around now/

[dekka007]

Airport Express has audio out port on the bottom. Integrates perfectly with Itunes and you are able to name each airport express to tell itunes which airport express (Room) u want to send it to. Bathroom, bedroom 1, lounge, kitchen etc.

Of course u need 1 airport express per room tho...thats where the costs start to increase...

Edited January 18, 2008 by dekka007

[dekka007]

Although a slight spanner in the works pricejapan.com are now offering the Sony TZ with an internal 64gb SSD plus internal 200gb HD. No optical.

I played with the Sony TZ this morning nice machine but Thailand only has HD models (100gb max) + Optical. Tempted with the 64gb ssd 200gb internal combination. Then replace the 200gb with a western digital 320gb and move the 200gb to a usb enclosure

Then u have a total of internal 384gb of HD space in a ultraportable!

interesting video on ssd vs HD:

Edited January 18, 2008 by dekka007

[nikster]

Sorry, I stand corrected. The MacBook AIr does indeed have a camera built-in. According to the specs it only has one speaker though.

And at $US 2,000 over a similarly spec'd MacBook the two pound saving in weight and overall thinner design is expensive.

Well observed. Slicing a pound off a laptop is expensive.

Dekka007, if you really believe that DVDs and CD's will disappear in 2 or 3 years then I'm happy to put money on the fact that you are wrong. They'll be around much longer than that. Their wide-spread use in the consumer electronics field alone will see them continue.

I don't know - I have a DVD player with USB input and now use my USB stick instead of DVDs, never looking back. And that's today. It's just so much better. There are only very small pieces missing, such as legal download services, but Netflix, Amazon Unboxed, and Apple iTunes have already started that - you can now download HD movies and play direct from the AppleTV or ... I don't know from what devices for Netflix.

I haven't used CDs or DVDs for a pretty long time now. 4GB USB stick has so many advantages over a DVD, and it's dirt cheap to boot. I think these could disappear pretty quickly especially if the HD DVD consortia don't strike a peace pact and give people what they want. And the way it looks like today, they'll squabble until no one cares anymore. HD DVD could extend the use of disks by a number of years since it's not going to be easy to download 50GB anytime soon.

As far as WiFi goes, well, the security of WiFi transmissions is a huge issue globally, while connections speeds that top out at around 4 Mbps in ideal situations compared to cable at 8 or 10 Mbps couldn't be described as anything less than painfully slow when downloading files.

You don't live in Thailand, do you? WiFi is nowhere near of being the bottleneck. It doesn't reach the advertised 54Mbit/s but it can do 20 or so rather easily.

While you are able to run a device off both USB ports many people cannot. I've got an Apple branded Seagate Momentus drive removed from my MBP and rated at 5 v and 0.46 amp that comes no-where near mounting without a second USB cable plugged into it. There are numerous documented incidents of Apple's USB ports not providing sufficient power for external devices to run.

That's correct. My MacBook Pro, sadly, suffers from the same problem. I have one box that only runs on the right port, and my CAT CDMA USB card also only runs on the right side port. The left side is too weak. Kind of annoying, especially because I have only 2. But I would think that Apple has corrected this problem in the MacBook Air. If there is only 1 USB port they _better_ make sure it has enough juice to power everything.

Note that the issue stems from Apple following the USB spec too closely - a lot of devices have start up power draws way beyond the USB 2.0 spec, but most PC manufacturers allow enough play that you'll never know. My PC laptop can run everything on any of its 4 USB ports. But it's also much bigger, slower, and lasts shorter on battery.

If saving 2 pounds is worth spending an extra two grand then go for it. But it still leaves the problem of installing software supplied on CD/DVD media.

I cut out the car analogy. It's getting old, and it's almost always inappropriate

Saving two pounds and having a tiny ultra-slim laptop. $1000. That's the whole game with subnotebooks. They are not for everyone.

Edited January 18, 2008 by nikster

[nikster]

Although a slight spanner in the works pricejapan.com are now offering the Sony TZ with an internal 64gb SSD plus internal 200gb HD. No optical.

I played with the Sony TZ this morning nice machine but Thailand only has HD models (100gb max) + Optical. Tempted with the 64gb ssd 200gb internal combination. Then replace the 200gb with a western digital 320gb and move the 200gb to a usb enclosure

Then u have a total of internal 384gb of HD space in a ultraportable!

Wow - and that thing - VGN-TZ91 - only weighs 1.1 kg?! That's amazing. And 91,000 Baht isn't all bad either. Of course they're saving that one for Japan

Only downside is the slow 1.2 GHz ULV CPU.

On second thought - I kind of think the HD is external. E.g. you can't get the 200 GB HD AND the 64GB SSD internal. It's either-or. The DVD player is external as well. Makes sense in a 1.1 Kg machine....

[dekka007]

No u can get the HD and SSD internal. The optical drive bay is replaced with a HD Bay and an extra USB port on the right hand side. a lot of guys have already got it on notebookreview.

forum.

Its simply a matter of removing the blanking bay cover on the right and replacing the 200gb Sata with a 320gb Sata.....

But if go SSD + HD internal obviously u have no optical drive and they do not provide a external optical. Just need to buy a third party usb writer if u need one.

pricejapan.com are excellent and deliver to thailand by dhl and help out with the customs price etc

used them a few times. Also check out the Toshiba RX1 they have now thats a small laptop!

Edited January 18, 2008 by dekka007

[steffi]

Well, consider the premium that will be tacked onto the MacBook Air once it arrives for sale in Bangkok. I'm willing to bet it's at least $200 USD more from an dealer there. And that's being conservative.

No u can get the HD and SSD internal. The optical drive bay is replaced with a HD Bay and an extra USB port on the right hand side. a lot of guys have already got it on notebookreview.

forum.

Its simply a matter of removing the blanking bay cover on the right and replacing the 200gb Sata with a 320gb Sata.....

But if go SSD + HD internal obviously u have no optical drive and they do not provide a external optical. Just need to buy a third party usb writer if u need one.

pricejapan.com are excellent and deliver to thailand by dhl and help out with the customs price etc

used them a few times. Also check out the Toshiba RX1 they have now thats a small laptop!

[freitag1]

I think apple tv and that apple steps into the movie rentals market is way more interesting.

Netflix and others will have a hard time competing with the itunes plattform and apple tv. Its just so convenient to watch a movie right away while it downloads in the background. The Macbook Air is overpriced imo. Here an overview of the other products: http://macgazette.de/en/2008/01/16/keynote-summary/

And about the future of dvd blu-ray & co... I think they will still be around for the next three years but wont be used much for data exchange.

Edited January 19, 2008 by freitag1

[photojourn]

Relative to the new MacBook Air...your action plan is?

Already ordered one! 126 (2.82%)

Will definitely order one very soon 139 (3.11%)

Fairly confident of ordering soon 223 (5.00%)

Need to see it in person to decide 555 (12.43%)

Pretty sure will not get one 1,215 (27.22%)

Definitely will not get one 1,324 (29.66%)

Will wait for first major revision 525 (11.76%)

Will wait for first price drop 357 (8.00%)

That's just over 89 per cent of 4,464 Macintosh users who aren't committed to buying a MacBook Air.

Interesting to read the user comments.

Not fast enough

Overpriced

Not enough connectivity offerings

Not enough storage

Sceptical of the USB port having enough power

No optical drive built-in - which history has shown impeded sales of good machines like the PowerBook Duo and Sony Vaios.

Taken from http://www.macosxhints.com/polls/index.php

"Only one usb port-and no firewire! Give me a break. I guess for the average joe who only uses a laptop to surf online, check their e-mail, and occasionally uses a usb flash drive, this is good. But for what you get (or, rather, don't get) this is way too expensive! (sic)"

"Releasing a computer without an ethernet port and a built-in optical drive is a mistake. Sony made that mistake with the Vaios, and Apple made that mistake with the Duos in the 98s."

"I'll pass on this one. I think this product is only directed at a fairly small market segment: people who travel a lot and have to lug their laptops around all the time.

Besides, a glossy screen! Brrr. You can see a reflection even in the demo on the apple site! Not to mention the other obvious detractors: no firewire, no separate ethernet jack and of course no DVD drive. A definite pass here."

The wedge shape will make it useful for keeping doors open and adjusting off-level tables though

[nikster]

Good comparison with the Sony Vaio TZ:

http://www.macworld.com/article/131768/200.../mbavssony.html

Conclusion is: Neither wins. The TZ has an amazing array of ports and a DVD drive though. However, considering that the TZ has an 11" screen and a smaller keyboard, you can't really compare it 1:1 - different machines for different markets. There really is no subnotebook with a 13" screen and full size keyboard out there - except the MBA.

As for the USB bus: One review said that the external DVD drive won't work with other machines because they don't have enough power on the USB. It does work with the MBA though, so the inverse conclusion is that the MBA USB has plenty of power. As it should considering it's for everything that wasn't included in the machine.

Another caveat though - the MBA USB bus is placed underneath the machine, so there are many USB devices, such as 3G EV-DO modems, that don't physically fit underneath there.

[nikster]

Another interesting review on CNet

One thing that is kind of shocking is that the CPU compared to the Sony TZ is so much faster. Didn't think it would make that much of a difference but apparently the ULV CPUs as used in most other subnotebooks are indeed extremely slow.

This is the slower Vaio TZ, but still. Shockingly slow.

[stumonster]

another review

http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/25/macbook-air-review/

and this might curb the enthusiasm of some road warriors

The Air uses a 37 Watt/hour lithium polymer (compared to the MacBook Pro's 60WH lithium-ion), and using our normal tests -- full screen brightness, WiFi and Bluetooth on, no attached peripherals -- under medium usage (light browsing and watching a 1:20 h.264 movie) we got a mere 2 hours and 25 minutes. Under lighter usage (browsing, some audio playback, no movies) we got closer to 3 hours and 35 minutes. Not bad, but still nowhere near the 5 hours Apple promises (under ideal conditions, surely).

[ariesram74]

the Macbook Air is more like a pony at the horse and pony show - its practical for a niche - ie elite class - that have wireless everywhere and have a Mac desktop at home or in the office - the MBA is just meant to be taken to meetings, pulled out at Starbucks, maybe taken on the yacht or ski trip in Aspen.

That said its a beautiful little machine.

Hi.

If Apple made cars, they'd come without wheels - "the user will not miss that because he/she can always take the bus to destination, or buy a seperate crane truck to get the vehicle to destination, too." Of course Apple would sell fancy-looking crane trucks, too.

Oh, and such car without wheels would cost at least twice as much as an equally spec'ed vehicle from the competition, but hey - it's an APPLE for Steve's sake.

To the generous offer of a second-hand laptop for 55.000 Baht: Thanks, but i'd rather buy two brand-new ones for that money. Because i don't care what brand sticker is on the outside

Sticking with car analogies, what you are saying is that "thanks but you can keep your Porsche 911, i'd rather buy two new Kias".

Well - good for you, then. Kias drive from point A to point B and are cheap to boot - very sensible decision

The compromises on the MBA are radical but not over the top. There are add-ons for Ethernet and DVD burner. That they left out Ethernet is a bit of a surprise but I guess they figured when the boss gets one of these he'll have somebody pick up a $50 wireless router as well.

[nikster]

another review

http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/25/macbook-air-review/

and this might curb the enthusiasm of some road warriors

The Air uses a 37 Watt/hour lithium polymer (compared to the MacBook Pro's 60WH lithium-ion), and using our normal tests -- full screen brightness, WiFi and Bluetooth on, no attached peripherals -- under medium usage (light browsing and watching a 1:20 h.264 movie) we got a mere 2 hours and 25 minutes. Under lighter usage (browsing, some audio playback, no movies) we got closer to 3 hours and 35 minutes. Not bad, but still nowhere near the 5 hours Apple promises (under ideal conditions, surely).

This really kills the Air for me, personally. I could live with the other stuff but if it's a super duper mobile machine, and not cheap, I expect 5+ hours of real-life battery. The next iteration might just do that - the MacBook Pro now has a real-life 5.5 hours since the Penryn processor.

[sleepyjohn]

Thinning off the Air towards the edges is to my mind an aesthetic disaster equalled only by the early zephyr Zodiacs and recently by the new Mitsubishi pickups with their charming chromed rear lights.

Still a Chinaman may like it.

BTW I've not been so happy with battery life on my Macbook. I do note that the screen is very much brighter than the iBook however and that's great.

ps: Actually the Air's shape may help cool the battery

Edited June 9, 2008 by sleepyjohn

[Gary A]

I have seen a lot of sexy women in my life, but I have NEVER seen a sexy computer. What could possibly be sexy about a computer? Either they work or they don't. I have read reports about my Lenovo being blah looking. SO? It works great. I certainly didn't buy it because of the color.