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I almost bought a MBA but i really need the built-in dvd burner and firewire port. I love the MBA's display. It's vastly superior to that "low quality" lcd panel apple puts in the Macbook. Let's hope Apple comes to it's senses and uses the MBA's display in the next version of the MB.

lenn

I think it still comes back to price more than anything. Even if one assumes that the missing features are a wash, and weight is a feature (though 3 lbs. vs. 5 lbs. is bordering on insignificant), $700.00 is not. That's the difference between a base-level MacBook and the Air, a big compromise to make for 2 lbs.

Stormsurfer: for some folks 2 lbs is worth $700. Personally, I find the difference between 5 and 3 lbs surprisingly noticeable. It is nice that folks have a Mac option in the sub notebook/compact/lightweight/whatever category. ;-)

"I even stuck the Air in my seat pocket during a flighta??try that with a MacBook Pro."
I tried that with a 17" MBP see it here in QTVR http://homepage.mac....S/USA/UAL757PS/ spin the pict around with your mouse to see it...

I think we can agree that just about every laptop user wants longer battery life. So why can't Apple make a laptop where you can slide out the dvd drive and stick in a second battery for increased runtime?

Stormsurfer said:

It sounds insignificant, but it's not. A few additional pounds of savings (~2 compared to a MacBook, ~3 compared to a 15-inch MacBook Pro) really does make a big difference when carrying a laptop and accessories around.

kaemena said:

OK, first-class doesn't count ;)

montgomery_burns said:

They did exactly that back in the PowerBook G3 days. (Although a swappable bay does add bulk.)

KPO said:

Or just license the MagSafe connector; there are already plenty of battery vendors out there who make such products.

While I'm still holding on to my 15" PowerBook G4 due to a lack of money for a replacement, I'm having to come to grips with the idea that I may be more of a casual user than I realize/would like to admit.
I went with the PB over the iBook at the time because I thought I'd be using GarageBand and iMovie, possibly even playing some games. I did all those things and appreciated the power, but two years have passed. Now all I use it for is playing music wirelessly with AirTunes, surfing the web, typing reports, and sparingly toying around in GarageBand.
I guess it's the notion that if I had the power of the MacBook Pro, I would use it. Now it's mainly the screen size and hard drive space (the PB has 80GB, 10GB remaining) holding me back from the Air. Compared to my 1.67GHz 15 PB, would I notice much of a performance boost when upgrading to the Air? And has anyone with a 15" MBP or PB found the Air's screen too small?

In your desperation to like the MBA, you seem to have missed the point. It is neither that small, nor that light. In fact, there are many better equipped Windows machines which use a 13.3" screen in the same weight range. The MBA has two features that make it outstanding: its thinness, and Mac OS X. The latter is very desirable, the former, somewhat nice.

Steve Jobs has been willing to compromise too much to get thinness. But, I have been waiting for two years for a true 12" replacement, and find the MBA to be too big, and two heavy. It is sad, but I will have to look to Sony, Asus, or Toshiba for a truly small and light machine. Hopefully, I can quickly replace the Windows with Linux, but I would rather have had a Mac.

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[quote]
> [quote name='montgomery_burns']I think we can agree that just about every laptop user wants longer battery life. So why can't Apple make a laptop where you can slide out the dvd drive and stick in a second battery for increased runtime?Alternatively, how about an external battery pack that uses the MagSafe port? That would also address the Air's lack of a removable battery.


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Apple did. It was called Pismo. Some people wish they'd do it again.

My comments are as follows;

Why did you write the first review? You are clearly not a true "road warrior" and therefore have no idea what we who are have been asking for 'lo these many years.

I know that most mac users - 3 in my family alone - want there music and photos. Business travelers want light weight. They want the machine to do simple things well. They want convenience use in poor locations with poor light. They don't need or want a 2 pound CD/DVD drive to burn the music they don't carry.

God bless mac for getting it right after all these years.

Also as an old DOS user, I love Terminal - this makes it possible to make the machine even more personal for my use.

While laughing at your first review in the American Airlines club at DFW several other real road guys and had a beer and blessed Steve whatever his last name is.

Thanks for letting me rant for a minute.

JW

georgep said:

Were we reading the same article? ;) The whole point of the article was that I was initially skeptical of the Air's appeal, but after actually using it over an extended period of time, I was surprised by how usable it was, and I realized that it would likely be more than enough computer for many "average" Mac users. I'd hardly call that "desperation to like" it.

georgep said:

3 pounds is indeed quite light. As for size, the Air's footprint isn't "sub-notebook"-like, but you know what? In my extended trial with the Air, I put it into many different bags, carry-ons, and cases; rarely would a smaller footprint have made a difference in how much I could fit in my bag, or how "portable" the laptop would have been; it just would have forced me to make due with a smaller screen and a smaller keyboard.

The issue here, it seems, isn't that the Air is "neither small nor light." It's that you want a true ultra-portable -- something that weighs ~2 pounds and has a smaller footprint. And there's nothing wrong with that desire. Unfortunately, the Air isn't that machine. The Air is, essentially, a laptop for people whose primary needs are a full-size screen and keyboard and light weight.

georgep said:

The Air is nearly two pounds lighter than the 12-inch PowerBook G4; it's considerably thinner, essentially the same depth, and less than 2 inches wider. Serious question: How is the Air too big and too heavy by comparison to the PBG412?

natmusak said:

Unless you're still using a good number of PowerPC-only programs, you should see a noticeable increase in performance with any of Apple's current notebooks.

As for the screen, although the Air's screen is smaller in physical size than that of your PowerBook G4, it's very close in usable screen area: both displays are 1280 pixels wide; the difference is that the Air's screen is 54 pixels shorter (800 vs. 854 pixels). That said, screen preferences are very personal; take your PowerBook into an Apple Store or other Apple retailer and launch the same programs on each to see what you think.

Thanks for the info Dan. Most of the apps I use have been updated for Leopard and if any haven't, I don't mind waiting or dealing with lower performance. As for the difference in display real estate, I actually bought one of the last iterations of the PowerBook G4, so it came with a 1440x960 15" display, which even the current MacBook Pros can't beat (though the loss of 60 pixels is hardly noticeable). In your experience, did you find it hard to move from the 15" MBP to the Air? Or were you working on a MB before you tried out the Air? Also, if I could ask another kind of unrelated question, how does it handle iMovie and GarageBand?

Thanks