Macbook Air: your thoughts?

[mornish]

Hey guys, in case you haven't seen... there's a new macbook!


anyway, It looks really nice, but there aren't much harddrive choices. either a $1000 solid state or a crappy like 50 gig one.


other than that it looks very, very nice.


www.apple.com

[habbywall]

Besides it being thin my macbook is better than it yet still cheaper. What is so great about everything being thin and light? I'd rather not crack my laptop in half the one time I drop it from two feet off the ground.

[phlegm]

"Thinnovation"

It could be a good thin client, literally. ;)

I'm just glad to see more solid state hard drives hitting the mainstream. The next computer I buy in five years will have one. :p

[kington99]

Besides it being thin my macbook is better than it yet still cheaper. What is so great about everything being thin and light? I'd rather not crack my laptop in half the one time I drop it from two feet off the ground.

surely if you don't care about things being thin and light you should buy a desktop instead?

[habbywall]

surely if you don't care about things being thin and light you should buy a desktop instead?

And lug that around everyday? I was just referring to laptops. Thin is good, but there is a limit. If I read it correctly the macbook air doesn't have CD/DVD drive, why would I want a laptop with out one?
Honestly I think it looks ugly as well.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing it or apple in any way. Just giving my honest opinion.

[phlegm]

If I read it correctly the macbook air doesn't have CD/DVD drive, why would I want a laptop with out one?

Because you buy all your media digitally with iTunes, of course! :p

[surfer1024]

I don't like that it doesn't have a cd/dvd player.

edit: oops i guess that was already posted

[mscalisi]

That it doesn't have a user-replaceable battery is unforgivable.

[Spoonthumb]

slightly off topic. could you buy a laptop that is preloaded with windows, remove it and put a mac os on it? Because there are better laptops out there than mac's but the mac os is deffinatly superieor (sp).

[mscalisi]

Offically, no. However, there are people that have created "hackintoshes" by putting OSX on PCs. It's totally not supported, and you're very limited in your choice of device drivers. Not for the faint of heart.

slightly off topic. could you buy a laptop that is preloaded with windows, remove it and put a mac os on it? Because there are better laptops out there than mac's but the mac os is deffinatly superieor (sp).

[Spoonthumb]

Offically, no. However, there are people that have created "hackintoshes" by putting OSX on PCs. It's totally not supported, and you're very limited in your choice of device drivers. Not for the faint of heart.

do you know if it is possible to run FCP on Linux? Thats the only reason i want a mac. That computer is mad thin. Looks very breakable...

[kington99]

Wait, with no drive how do you load new software on?

[phlegm]

External drive, or over a network, right?

[Jerrick]

Because you buy all your media digitally with iTunes, of course! :p

Who buys media? =p

As said before, you could upload stuff with a network or external drive/cd drive, but that's kind of a hassle for a laptop.

I don't like it.

[habbywall]

Apparently you can put a CD in one of your other computers and it can get the info over the network. I'm sure it takes forever to do that though.

[maestro8]

I'm sure the Apple fanboys are masturbating furiously over this new product.

It amazes me how many people put so much energy into building / rebuilding their hardware and software configurations, but don't actually do anything with their computer.

All in all, it's just another piece of hardware. Meh. Wake me up when their engineers have come up with a better human-computer interface, or a new programming methodology that prevents crashes.

[Jerrick]

Apparently you can put a CD in one of your other computers and it can get the info over the network. I'm sure it takes forever to do that though.

Well, maybe it will help push the Wireless N networks.

[mscalisi]

A 100Mb network will have no problem keeping up with a 52x cd-rom. Then again, who runs their network that slow anymore.

Running a 54Mb wireless network may slow down the drive a little while it's reading information at the outermost portion of the disk.

Of course, you can always plug in a USB drive, so long as nothing else is using the single USB port. Of course, you can get a hub, but carrying all sorts of extra accessories starts to defeat the purpose of an ultra-light portable.

Apparently you can put a CD in one of your other computers and it can get the info over the network. I'm sure it takes forever to do that though.

[evil-nick]

It looks cool, but it's still too big. I dig the light, but if I'm going to carry around something with a 13" screen I'd rather have something like my Macbook with its 160G drive and optical drive.

I'm just gonna go with the Asus EEEPC, hopefully in a few months... Sure, it's only 900mhz, 4G hard drive, 7" screen and no optical, but it's also less than 2 lbs, has more usb slots, an ethernet jack ('cause honestly, sometimes the wireless isn't gonna cut it), and comes with Linux stock. Oh yeah, the 4G drive is solid state, and the price tag is a good $1400 lower than the Air ;)

[Matt_V]

I don't like it either. I love the Mac OS, but apple computers are just so expensive. I really don't care about how thin my laptop is, I would much rather just have a normal Macbook.

I don't like how it doesn't have a replaceable battery, or optical drive.

A decent Apple laptop with the specs that I want will cost about 2000, but I could find a PC with the same specs for less then 1000 easily. Im getting a new mac this summer, I just find it so frustrating how expensive it is, and how they don't have a good selection of refurbished computers.

I'm almost considering switching back to windows because Im not sure I want to pay 1000 dollars for the operating system.

[Jerrick]

I don't like it either. I love the Mac OS, but apple computers are just so expensive. I really don't care about how thin my laptop is, I would much rather just have a normal Macbook.

I don't like how it doesn't have a replaceable battery, or optical drive.

A decent Apple laptop with the specs that I want will cost about 2000, but I could find a PC with the same specs for less then 1000 easily. Im getting a new mac this summer, I just find it so frustrating how expensive it is, and how they don't have a good selection of refurbished computers.

I'm almost considering switching back to windows because Im not sure I want to pay 1000 dollars for the operating system.

And windows isnt bad either. :)

[mornish]

I don't like it either. I love the Mac OS, but apple computers are just so expensive. I really don't care about how thin my laptop is, I would much rather just have a normal Macbook.

I don't like how it doesn't have a replaceable battery, or optical drive.

A decent Apple laptop with the specs that I want will cost about 2000, but I could find a PC with the same specs for less then 1000 easily. Im getting a new mac this summer, I just find it so frustrating how expensive it is, and how they don't have a good selection of refurbished computers.

I'm almost considering switching back to windows because Im not sure I want to pay 1000 dollars for the operating system.



you aren't just paying for the operating system.

Your paying for the very nice, sleek look,
the ability to run all of the apple programs, (ilife, iwork, final cut, ect)
your paying for the magsafe power cord (that thing has saved my laptop's life so many times)


:)


I love my macbook pro so much.

[Jerrick]

you aren't just paying for the operating system.

Your paying for the very nice, sleek look,
the ability to run all of the apple programs, (ilife, iwork, final cut, ect)
your paying for the magsafe power cord (that thing has saved my laptop's life so many times)


:)


I love my macbook pro so much.

For someone who has never tripped or had troubles with cords, who doesnt care how sleek something looks, and runs equally well prgrams, none of that mattered to me. :p

[phlegm]

your MOM isn't just paying for the operating system.

Your MOM is paying for the very nice, sleek look,
the ability to run all of the apple programs, (ilife, iwork, final cut, ect)
your MOM is paying for the magsafe power cord (that thing has saved my laptop's life so many times)


:)


I love my macbook pro so much.

I think most of us would love a macbook pro if we didn't have to pay for it. :p

[saskatchewanian]

Personally I wish that they would bring back the 12" size. My computer is a 12" PowerBook G4 and I love how it is exactly the size of a stack of papers. If I need to take it to school I just zip it into my binder, I couldn't do that with a bigger (13.3") computer.

If you look at the compare specks page it is quickly obvious that the only advantage the MacBook air has over its 13" MacBook counterparts is it is 1/4" slimmer and 2lbs lighter. other than that the price is double and well, even the slowest "regular" MacBook has a faster processor than the most expensive MacBook Air. It seems to me that the MacBook Air is inferior to the much cheeper 13" MacBooks in almost every way.

I think that my next computer will most likely be a Mac Mini assuming that they upgrade their processors.

edit: I don't expect that ^^^ to happen any time soon, my PowerBook is still working flawlessly after 4 years of use.

[mornish]

Personally I wish that they would bring back the 12" size. My computer is a 12" PowerBook G4 and I love how it is exactly the size of a stack of papers. If I need to take it to school I just zip it into my binder, I couldn't do that with a bigger (13.3") computer.

If you look at the compare specks page it is quickly obvious that the only advantage the MacBook air has over its 13" MacBook counterparts is it is 1/4" slimmer and 2lbs lighter. other than that the price is double and well, even the slowest "regular" MacBook has a faster processor than the most expensive MacBook Air. It seems to me that the MacBook Air is inferior to the much cheeper 13" MacBooks in almost every way.

I think that my next computer will most likely be a Mac Mini assuming that they upgrade their processors.

edit: I don't expect that ^^^ to happen any time soon, my PowerBook is still working flawlessly after 4 years of use.

I concur.

I have a 15.4" macbook pro, and I really like it. I would probably never get the macbook air unless almost all I was doing on it was word processing.

the macbooks and macbook pros are so much faster and can have such bigger hard drives that I think it would be silly to have a macbook air for everyday uses, like you could never get one to replace a desktop.

[evil-nick]

And windows isnt bad either. :)

Yer right, it's terrible! :D

The Macbook Air I think is aimed more at business folk who don't need a 2Ghz video editing workstation, but travel a lot. 3 lbs isn't a low, but 6lbs & all the cables etc can add up when yer walking through the airport with luggage. I had the 1.83Ghz Macbook, and it was overkill for 90% of what I did with it.

For perspective, my work machine (That I'm using right now, shhh ;)) is a Pentium 4 2.4Ghz with 768Megs of RAM. It's not only fast enough for work (which is mostly word processing and web surfing, but I also watch HD video on it, streaming Flash video, often run Windows XP within VMware (while doing everything else) and it runs Folding@Home in the background (For as is said in XKCD: "Stand back, I'm going to try SCIENCE!")

What you REALLY get when you buy a Mac is an OS which has been tailored for that hardware by the folks who made the hardware (or at least specced it), so it tends to work very very well. The Macbook would get 4 hours of battery life, when I rebooted into Windows that dropped in half. Now I have no Laptop (Gave it to my wife ;)) so I'm saving up for the Asus! :D

[habbywall]

For perspective, my work machine (That I'm using right now, shhh ;)) is a Pentium 4 2.4Ghz with 768Megs of RAM.

Good choice.

[ThisGuyIKnow]

How often do you actually use your optical drive when you're out in the field or even away from your desk? If it's not something you need with you all the time it makes sense to be able to just leave it at home.

At this point though it seems to be pretty much just for cool factor.

Remember the first iMacs that didn't have floppy drives and everyone freaked out, but it turned out you really didn't need it that much anyway?

[evil-nick]

I haven't used a floppy drive in god knows how long... The last time I had it in my machine I didn't even have it hooked up! My roomate last year came into my room one day and asked if he could use my computer 'cause his floppy drive wasn't working... I told him sure then explained he'd need to find the floppy drive in a random box under my bed first :D

I actually try not to use the optical drive in the laptop much, just 'cause they're so expensive and time consuming to replace. I have an external DVD writer I use instead... if that drive dies, I open the enclosure, slap in a new desktop drive, and I'm good to go. Also meant I only had to buy 1 dvd burner for 4 computers ;)

Habbywall, my RAM choice was from fate... I had 256M, and my computer started crashing. I ran Memtest86, and it said my RAM was bad, so I bought a 512M stick. Installed it, and the computer crashed. Turns out the memory controller on the motherboard had died... bad capacitors... So I had 758M of RAM for the new mobo :D

The moral of the story: if you're going to steal another company's design for capacitors, make sure you steal the COMPLETE FINISHED design ;) Seriously, almost every computer manufacturer for a two year span got hit with leaking capacitors because a company stole the design from another, and then sold a sh17-ton of capacitors for cheap to everyone :P

[john_childs]

That it doesn't have a user-replaceable battery is unforgivable.
So it's just a big glorified iPod that's not even as touchy feely as the Touch or iPhone.

[Buddy]

Hey guys, in case you haven't seen... there's a new macbook!




When I saw it, I was just like "Okay. I think they've just gone *too* thin." You could probably break it in two just by typing hard on it. :p

[phlegm]

Call me when the Macbook Paper comes out. I want to fold it up and stick it in my pocket.

[jamessd]

Call me when the Macbook Paper comes out. I want to fold it up and stick it in my pocket.
Well I wouldn't be surprised if apple came up with some kind of foolish idea for that :p

To me, apple make too much of a big thing about every product being the best out, conveniently perfect for your needs and the best on the market. They always have to have the superior look. And, they are definitely sure of what they want. I mean... it feels like they're releasing product after product when the first is still not even mature! (this get's on my nerves... those companies who release a product that is apparently the best out, and then before you know it a few weeks later they have one that is mutually the best! wtf?) Money grabbers.. agh. Oh and one final thing, I think the lovely grey interface they use is horrendously ... yukky! (and boring)

Wow, rant over... but the Macbook air looks quite nice ;) :p

[jamessd]

Heh, and would you believe it today i get an email from apple telling me about their new movie rental thing. :rolleyes: