[Edgejr]

nightshrill said:

W/my student discount it's still 1700 as opposed to the 1000 i'm going to spend on the macbook, I'll take my 700 dollar savings and just upgrade the ram and hdd myself on a macbook to make it a 4gb and 160gb hdd macbook.

Tell you what, when they come out with the one with Firewire, cheaper, and with larger SSD storage, I'll sell you the one I just bought today for cheap! And then I'll get the new one. :-)

[buuuudy]

"Also, there are many ways to get your DVDs on your computer, and it doesn't take too long either."

Are any of them as fast as putting the disk in my drive?

Conversely, wouldn't I need a drive in order to put them on my HDD?

Thirdly, won;t my 80GB HDD fill up pretty quickly if I'm cramming it full of DVDs?

Movies aren't the only reason not having an optical drive is, um, stupid. If this is a professional-on-the-go machine, what do you do when you get to an office or location and there have been changes made to your presentation that are waiting for you on disk? What happens when you're done the presentation and the client wants a copy of it? The obvious answer is, "plug un your external drive and burn it, stoop." Awesome, just what I want...another piece of hardware to cart around with my ultra-portable laptop. NICE.

Not in the kind of gig where you need to give presentations? OK...what about tech support? What happens when you need to install a driver you have stored on your machine? What happens when YOU need to install a driver? (Assuming it can't be downloaded, of course.)

There's a simple answer to all of these software concerns, of course: a USB thumbdrive. At sizes ranging up to 16 GB (without becoming stoopit expensive), they are way more useful than a disc...provided you don;t have to leave anything behind. And your one and only USB drive isn't already connected to something vital.

Silly machine. SILLY I SAY!!

[buuuudy]

...provided the DMG is already on your hdd ;)

[arrozcomfeijao]

Sure, there must really be a lot of people out there ready to line up for this. But the Macbook Air does not live up to the hype that Apple products really cause. This is a product for a niche market, i.e., those people who already own other computers, or those who travel extensively, and maybe pick their laptops to match their luggage. This is definitely not going to be on everyone's wishlist, like the iPhone was. And focusing on this and this only, this time Apple failed to deliver.

[buuuudy]

Well yours donesn't mean s#!t to me, and yet, here you are, talking like an extra from "Clueless"

[buuuudy]

"WARLOCK7 (529 posts and 0 ladytail since Aug 29, 2004)
Re: Apple introduces MacBook Air Jan 15, 2008
Without that nifty docking station that they patented, I'm not much interested."


And your opinion matters...why, exactly?

www.enworld.org/images/4e/phb.jpg

dweeeeeb

[bloodwin1]

I like the look of the new machine but it doesn't seem to fill a space in the market other than 'overpriced Apple stuff'. I am sure it will sell just as the iPhone has sold but only to people with plenty of spare cash. The lack of optical drive is a pain in the butt. The wireless idea is lovely but at a client's address they aren't really going to be keen on getting me wireless access to their network.

What I would have liked to see would be a new entry level machine. Sure I know Apple only want to sell their stuff to rich fashion victims and media types but I really think they are missing a trick here. A new note book at the price of the MacBook would encourage switchers. People aren't going to want to pay over #1000 to try a different OS and if I had #1000 I'd be stretching to a MacBook pro. I was hoping to see something to replace my G4 iBook but I was left disappointed by this rich kid's toy. What I have seen so far has been really pointless this year:

Apple TV. It died and will die again. We cant currently store our DVDs in an iTunes app like we can our CDs so most folks are resigned to physical discs.

Time Capsule. I just bought a 360 GB external drive for #60 why would I pay #200 for 500GB? The wireless supprt is pointless with UK ISPs giving away free wirless routing hubs.

MacBook Air. Less functionality for more money. A #1000 pain in the ass. I also want to know who will be the first person to sit on one and break it. :)

iPhone updates. It's still and overpriced phone on an over priced tariff. The functions look nice but it's nothing my pay as you go phone cant do already.

Pretty toys yeas but that doesn't mean good. Leopard has been a stinker with the firewall issues. Right now I am not impressed by Apple at all.

[buuuudy]

"
MacBook Air. Less functionality for more money."

EXACTLY. Lame.

Careful with that expressing opinions, tho...if Walock7 sees it, he'll come-a-runnin'





PS: How do you quote other posts in your replies??

[kelake]

Who travels with a bag full of dvd's anymore?

Like other notebooks in it's class, to get small something has to be removed, and the least often used component in a modern device is the optical drive. Now if only it was as cheap as the Asus eeePC :)

[nasw]

longtimemacfan said:

"Interesting that the laptop Air model can't be used while you're in the air... flying.

on the specification page, maximum operating altitude is listed at 10,000 feet. Even the shipping altitude is listed at 35,000 feet. Can you even take it with you on a flight?

Perhaps this is a problem with the new battery architecture?"

I seem to recall that most airliners are typically pressurised such that the cabin conditions are equal to about 6,000 feet above sea level, so for cross country trips in a 737, the computer should be fine; less so for high altitude bombing raids in an unpressurised B-17... :)

A.

[bloodwin1]

While I agree the optical drive is rarely used the problem happens when you go to a client and want to exchange data. Where I work security is so tight we aren't allowed a wireless network so forget all that wireless stuff. Plugging into the network with a cable is a total non starter. so with no wireless to email and no cabled network access it's impossible to get media off the machine and therefore I either have to prepare discs in advance or send stuff via email when I return to my desk.I honestly don't see why it has to be so small. When I fist saw it I thought 'wow that's clever it's so slim' then I thought 'I bet that it's easy to break'. As for the handy little external optical drive, how rubbish would you look having to attach that to write a disc for a client?

[buuuudy]

bq. "Re: Apple introduces MacBook Air Jan 15, 2008 While I agree the optical drive is rarely used the problem happens when you go to a client and want to exchange data. Where I work security is so tight we aren't allowed a wireless network so forget all that wireless stuff. Plugging into the network with a cable is a total non starter. so with no wireless to email and no cabled network access it's impossible to get media off the machine and therefore I either have to prepare discs in advance or send stuff via email when I return to my desk.I honestly don't see why it has to be so small. When I fist saw it I thought 'wow that's clever it's so slim' then I thought 'I bet that it's easy to break'. As for the handy little external optical drive, how rubbish would you look having to attach that to write a disc for a client?"
My sentiments exactly.

[NW_Mike]

I love this thing, the USB/ Ethernet adapter would work fine for wired connections. That being said the deal breaker for me is:

1. Non upgradeable RAM
2. Non upgradeable/replaceable or 2nd battery
3. No FW port, I'm sorry, USB is slower, especially on a Mac.

Hoping rev 2 will change these aspects.

[DJRizzo]

bloodwin1 said:

While I agree the optical drive is rarely used the problem..."

No doubt there will be problems. Just like there were problems when floppies were faded out. I remember hearing the same arguments. I'm not saying your arguments aren't valid, I'm just saying that as technology changes these issues are bound to come up and it has to be part of the decision making process of the buyer. I know a lot of people wouldn't buy those first Macs sans floppy drive for that very reason and I'm sure their reasons were completely valid. I also remember that period when floppies were fading and Windows notebook users would occasionally have to pull out the floppy drive module & swap their CD ROM with it!

Apple may be wrong about this change, or they could be leading the pack again. We'll see what the future holds.