I think what people are failing to see is that this machine is not meant to be your main computer. It is meant to augment an already existing network or computer for extreme portability. The price is great seeing the engineering feat which was accomplished. I will wait to buy one until I see the benchmarks and consumer comments. But it looks like something worth trying.

Firstly, you completely missed the point of my post - nowhere have I commented on the value of the MB Air.

Secondly, you might not like it if I compared the MB Air with it's peers, such as the ThinkPad X60, because then you may see just how crippled the MB Air really is.


I actually have a lot of experience with ultraportables from Lenovo, Sony and Fujitsu, but thanks for the pointer anyway.

Peter

Seconded. Compared with my TiBook, the screen on my MacBook is... disappointing. Natively a 6bit/chan panel, awful viewing angle (worse than my Dell Inspiron...) and not enough pixels to be exciting in any way. And a nasty glossy finish. I'm really missing the 1920x1200 15" screen on my now-deceased Dell. But c.f. the Macbook, the Titanium G4 powerbook is Display Heaven. I rather hope the "Air" has a better display.

Well I don't know about that...

The main issue I and others have is that you can't carry a spare to use on the road. It would suck to have to stop working because you can't swap batteries & don't have access to a power source. I can't see breaking out the screwdriver and opening the MBA to swap batteries in mid-flight. Heck you'd probably get accosted for being a terrorist these days.

This is the only real deal killer for me, what do you do?

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helping the 'new to Mac' www.ravemac.com

This is good news, indeed, but I still have the same issue as NW_Mike - last time I tried (by mistake) to take a Phillips screwdriver on a 'plane, the earnest young chap at the security desk took it off me. Along with some expensive precision pliers. (Never did get them back, despite assurances that they'd be in lost property to collect when I got back - mysteriously vanished, presumably into the security dude's pocket.) Bizarrely, they have no problem with taking, say, a sharp, steel barrelled propelling pencil onboard, so if you really want to stab people, go for one of those. Maybe they're afraid you'll dismantle the aircraft with a small screwdriver? Or your Macbook? But I digress...

I guess the "changing battery in mid flight" issue only applies to us skinflints who travel steerage - business class seats have power available. So it's arguably down to target audience again. I'm sure they'll sell enough of them. Me, I'll go for an ultra-portable for The Rest Of Us (TM) (and wait for the next gen one in hopes it has more ports and more advantages).

Given the premium price of the Air, justified by its being ultra-portable and very slick and cute, I really don't see why Apple haven't included at least one other USB port and a mini firewire port - even a FW400/iLink would make perfect sense, since then you could use target disc mode etc. and stream video from the ultra-compact hard-disc HD video camcorder (which you doubtless have if you're in the "must have a shiny new gadget" section of the market). Even my partner's plaything eeepc seems somehow more useable, the more I think about it - that has 3 USB ports and an ethernet port, weighs a pound less, can be used in a cramped airline seat, can be fitted with an internal modem, has a quick-swappable battery and only costs 200 quid, so it's not such a disaster if someone nicks it. (Also, you can't get so many confidential government records on its 4G drive... though it's possible, with screwdriver and soldering iron, to fit 32G of SSD inside an eeepc (along with bluetooth & GPS) for a hell of a lot less than an extra grand.)

I like my titanium G4. I like my MacBook. Won't be buying an Air, though, not even if a sudden spare couple of grand comes my way. It's just not small enough to justify the price and compromises. More or less the same footprint as my MacBook, and I'd save what, the thickness and weight of a glossy magazine, but I'd lose all the ports, the swappable battery, the decent sized hard drive and probably also the robustness (I don't trust aluminium cases not to dent or bend). And it would cost me a load more. The Air doesn't have enough "wow" even to be desirable just for the bling, to my mind. Make it a quarter inch thick all over, a bit smaller footprint and give it a deep-colour 1920x1200 display, then I'd say they could leave off all the ports and charge twice as much and I'd still want one. But as-is, so what? It's a PDA in a huge case with a glowing apple on it.

On the plus side, good to hear they've improved the screen over the MacBook - the glossy-screened MacBook is a recent low in Mac laptop screen quality. I know it's their "cheap" option, but I didn't expect the same LCD panel as a 400 quid Acer. (I much prefer my TiBook for visual stuff, although the MacBook leaves it for dead performance-wise.)

That actually makes sense. The replacement for the second battery is the MagSafe Airline Power Adapter.

Some will say "But my seats never have power!" to which the answer is, the MacBook Air is designed and priced for those who have more than enough money for everything. I would never recommend the MacBook Air to anyone on a budget. The whole design assumes you have "more" somewhere else. More money for a better seat class with power ports. A second, more powerful Mac as the base for all your files, peripherals, and ports, and the CPU power for heavy lifting. Regular access to fast WiFi. And most of all, enough money to buy an entirely new MacBook Air sooner than you would have to replace any other Mac, simply because the industry will outrun the low specs sooner than usual. You simply cannot do the MacBook Air and expect to live on the cheap. MacBook Air is not a Digital Hub. It is a digital terminal.


Your lack of faith is disturbing. All reports are that it is a cool machine. I stopped by the MacBook Air demo table at Macworld and overheard a user talking to the Apple rep about heat. The Apple rep was saying "Yup, it runs pretty cool, you can feel it. It's been on since about 9:30 this morning." It was the middle of the afternoon.

So you see the tablet market opening up a new niche in the black market counterfieting of text books!?? And this you say is the reason why kids will buy these machines? HAHAHAAHAHAAAAHHAAAHAHH!

Welcome to FelonyFraud University...where advanced technology inspires young minds to do unthinkable things.

Gawd... this makes me wanna PUKE... I don't know where you went to college but clearly it was community 2yr vo-tech skool where they don't teech Bid-nis Ethics!!! At Rutgers Univ. where I attended, the prestigious Rutgers School Of Law is on the same campus and the notion of undergrads pimping pirated text books to pay their way into law school is funny...too funny dude!

Message was edited by: glamgig