[johnnymac47]

Draining the battery 100% should help keep the battery in good shape. Batteries have problems when they are never drained 100%, but only drained a little bit then recharged.

[Spark]

" What about burning iTunes playlists? What about burning iPhoto albums? What about burning GarageBand creations? Would these have to be burned in the conventional manner after the Air wirelessly transferred files to another computer? Or, is the Air DVD toast (pun intended)?"

If you don't already have an alternate Mac to do these chores then the MBA is not for you. It is not designed as your sole Mac. It is the lightweight portable meant to be an errand runner on trips and meetings, not the workhorse. This function is not hard to fathom. Quit trying to make it more than it is just so you can shoot it down. If you can't use it, just set your sights on a regular MacBook or MacBook Pro. There are these other alternatives.

[totoro]

Hilarious.

My favorite comments are made by those people who aren't content with saying "this computer isn't for me", but also have to try to insult anyone who does want one. It is such an obvious mark of the insecure.

[edmetric]

Spark said:

If you don't already have an alternate Mac to do these chores then the MBA is not for you...Quit trying to make it more than it is just so you can shoot it down.

ROFL So, it should be called the Supplemental Air. LOL You don't have a very high opinion of the Air capabilities do you? The Air Two-Fer. Not your sole Mac. Which Mac do you suggest for your Air Pair?

[firi]

There is a market for the MBA, no question. Small maybe, but MBA will sell more MacBooks and MacBookPros, it's like sport cars, why would people buy a two seater instead of sedan or minivan. Media will talk (and is talking, look at us) about the MBA, a lot of people will go inside an Apple Store (maybe its the magnets) will check it out and if it is not for them will give the MB or MBP a chance. All MBA will be paid by (happy) custumer billboards

[Spark]

From my standpoint and use profile I do not have much use for ANY sub notebook. That doesn't mean I can 't see their value to a group of users. What's so funny about the proposition that the MacBook Air best suits someone with a desktop machine at home or office. When I go on a business trip I am taking my laptop along to retain access to the internet for web and email, VPN back to my office, and to bring copies of documents, PDFs, database apps, and presentations. I don't try to do graphics or video production on my laptop as a rule (although I own a MacBook Pro for those purposes), nor do I need to do CD/DVD burning, or any other disc or processor intensive tasks. If I traveled more often, the MBA would be a fine piece of equipment. As far as which Mac to pair the Air with, it would be fine match with any of Apple's desktops. Why not? If I've got a Mac Pro or iMac sitting on a desk somewhere, it does all the things the MBA is not suited to. Apple as designed a traveling companion for those that do most of their work at a desktop. It makes sense not to duplicate massive arrays of ports and optical drives for people in this situation. It's not that rare.

[Martian]

Hi worldboy,
It’s great to see someone who can actually discuss specific points (unlike the little flame brat “fraz”).
You make a great case that the MBA can fully meet the needs of some frequent travelers. I readily concede that.
I won’t bother to discuss the advantages that apply to all Macs. Macintosh is why we are all here.
• no second battery to carry to get nearly 5 hours use....Maybe 5 hours as long as the battery is new. Flight delays and cancellations are the norm in the NE U.S. and Canada, some of us need the flexibility of interchangeable batteries.

• full size LED lit display & full size keyboard.....Larger display and keyboard is a fair tradeoff for larger footprint—personal preference. (LED is becoming universal on new laptop designs)

• Multi-touch trackpad replaces external mouse (and wows clients)....Great feature, will be on all future Mac portables, but not relevant to MBA’s omissions.

• iDisk replaces USB thumb drive in many situations (and it can't be lost or left behind like an SD card - who uses one of those in business except for photography? And why remove it from the camera/phone anyway?)....SD cards do have their file transfer and backup use for many of us, they are generic, fit into wallet, take “no” space. (Camera hanging from the computer can be cumbersome, most cameras presently have agonizingly slow USB 1)

• Tiny Airport Express is a instant wireless network at the hotel/office or client's premises (or the even smaller ethernet adapter just goes with the CAT5 cable you remembered to bring if Ethernet access is a must)....Good point, as long as you don’t mind packing another battery-sized device.

• Most of us (in Australia where I live) already have a 3G wireless contract - the wireless modem is the only thing that absolutely must go into that lonely USB port. I am so glad Apple didn't lock everyone into the same wireless carrier with an internal 3G card....The MBA is hardly thin and elegant when a dongle is hanging from it instead of neatly and safely tucked inside an ExpressCard slot, always ready for instant use. Sony's Sprint board doesn't seem to be a problem, just don't use it.

• Is this enough reasons yet?.... You really shouldn’t have to use workarounds, lose utility, and rationalize that you can live without this or that unless there is a genuine tradeoff for what you gave up. Does anyone honestly think that Apple couldn’t have fit in a few more ports and a battery door and still produced “the world’s thinnest computer”? Just imagine taking a Sony TZ remove its optical drive and its huge docking station connector, stretch its footprint to accomodate the larger screen and keyboad, then rework it with the saved space.

[edmetric]

Spark said:

From my standpoint and use profile I do not have much use for ANY sub notebook.

Good post. Your personal experience/opinion. Good tone to your post. No false "make it more than it is" or "shoot it down" statements about the motives of others.

Too bad I'm not a student. I would love the Air.

The lighter travel weight of the Air does not help me because I use a rolling bag. My Powerbook can do all the wireless tasks of the Air except the limited remote control.

The biggest key for me is Apple software. Leopard and typical Mac apps require some beefier hardware for some tasks. The Air has the same software that the Mac Pro has.

I want an Air because the styling/engineering is just beautiful.

[rpruser]

Does anyone think that apple released the time capsule directly because of the air's limited storage capacity? And if you think about it, the air is almost a strategic move to bring in more money. For instance, an average consumer buys the macbook air because of its thinness, light weight, and overall design. If they are any kind of "typical" mac user (lots of pictures, video, and music), they will soon realize that they need more drive space. They buy time capsule because not only does it give them an easy, wireless drive, but it also allows access to 802.11n the 'best' wireless networking available. Then he decide he wants to make a dvd with all of his favorite videos, so he buys an external dvd burner from apple. At this point he has spent $1800 for the laptop, $300 for time capsule, and $100 for a dvd burner, and a few more bucks for a usb hub so that he can connect more than one thing. For this price he could have bought a macbook, with better performance, multiple usb, and a dvd-rw drive with money to spare, or a macbook pro with about $100 left over. Macbook air is built around hidden costs and downgraded performance all disuised by a thin and sleek design.

Unless the consumer has money to throw away, he should avoid the macbook air at all costs.

Or if he can't handle an extra 4 pounds.