Less here mostly means volume. There is very little that isn't in it, other than the DVD burner.
Most other comparable machines don't have one either.
They took 2006's MacBook, took out half the parts, and doubled the price. It's a very very elegant piece of machinery, but the sum of the parts equals $800, not $1800.
They took 2006's MacBook, took out half the parts, and doubled the price. It's a very very elegant piece of machinery, but the sum of the parts equals $800, not $1800.
And research, development and assembly account nothing? smaller computers always cost more. If you want the most bang for your buck then you need to stay away from all mobile computers.
They took 2006's MacBook, took out half the parts, and doubled the price. It's a very very elegant piece of machinery, but the sum of the parts equals $800, not $1800.
Hey, Glass Half Empty, they only took out one major part. Smaller components, more power efficient parts simply cost more.
They took 2006's MacBook, took out half the parts, and doubled the price. It's a very very elegant piece of machinery, but the sum of the parts equals $800, not $1800.
160GB 1.8" HDDs have two platters and are therefore too thick to fit. I expect the first speedbump will include the option of a single-platter HDD with more than 80GB. I suppose the first speedbump will come when Montevina is released.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffDM
Hey, Glass Half Empty, they only took out one major part. Smaller components, more power efficient parts simply cost more.
I like it. It is a good trade off between usability and features/form factor. Apple hasn't been traditionally shy about asking it's consumers to change their practices. I do believe they were the first to dump the floppy drive.
Are you referring to the one wih 512 RAM starting at $2429. Weighing 3.3 lbs and is 1.3" thick.
Oh it does have a battery life of8.5 hours. However, be careful that is if you only play music on it. Otherwise it chews energy just like every other portable.
Nice wheel pad though. And it does come with great software, i.e., Vista. Oops, no camera. And if you want to connect it to your big monitor, don't forget to pay extra for the connection. Slower wireless. And it looks you have to buy the AC adapter is an accessory. No Bluetooth. But it also comes with a 'super' Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 and a SuperMulti DVD, but it is fixed whatever that may mean.
And for those that are touting the Toshibas, their starting weight is 2.4 lbs. But you need a battery and that will add a minimum of 0.4 lbs. RGB output port only. Etc,, etc., etc.
Impressive. I really like the idea of this machine, and there aren't too many areas where one could say that Apple skimped too much... except... has anyone else noticed the lack of any way to use any sort of mobile broadband such as the Sprint cards in the Sony TZ or any of the solutions from Verizon or ATT/Cingular? Seems to me that the person most inclined to purchase this system is also the one most apt to miss this feature?
What would be really slick (well ok, it's pretty basic, but you can't do it today :-( ) would be allowing one to use their iPhone as a modem for the MacBook Air via BlueTooth. I really hope they offer that--and pitch it--when the eventual 3G iPhone arrives.
But seriously isn't it pretty straight forward to use a cell phone to get your laptop on the 'net? A few years ago I looked into it with Verizon and it was a real hack to (allegedly) get it to work.
I am very disappointed with this MBA. This thing is going to flop huge- think about it- this is a downgrade in performance from the macbook, and its thinner by less than an inch, but costs 700 bucks more. This isn't really any more portable- it actually has bigger dimensions than the macbook aside from the thickness. I can't see people paying 700 more for that thin aspect. Honestly I think this is a sort of tech showoff novelty. There is no way Apple can expect this thing to actually be a hit as far as sales are concerned. You can just get wayyyyyyyyy too much in the computer world for 1700 bucks to buy this thing. It is cool, but completely pointless to buy. There is no way this will fit anywhere your MB won't.
Are you referring to the one wih 512 RAM starting at $2429. Weighing 3.3 lbs and is 1.3" thick.
Oh it does have a battery life of8.5 hours. However, be careful that is if you only play music on it. Otherwise it chews energy just like every other portable.
Nice wheel pad though. And it does come with great software, i.e., Vista. Oops, no camera. And if you want to connect it to your big monitor, don't forget to pay extra for the connection. Slower wireless. And it looks you have to buy the AC adapter is an accessory. No Bluetooth. But it also comes with a 'super' Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 and a SuperMulti DVD, but it is fixed whatever that may mean.
And for those that are touting the Toshibas, their starting weight is 2.4 lbs. But you need a battery and that will add a minimum of 0.4 lbs. RGB output port only. Etc,, etc., etc.
Read the fine print guys to see the real cost.
Panasonic Toughbooks are always very pricey compared to other machines for their size and always with specs from 18-24 months prior. Their cliental is those who need a semi-rugged notebook.
I am very disappointed with this MBA. This thing is going to flop huge- think about it- this is a downgrade in performance from the macbook, and its thinner by less than an inch, but costs 700 bucks more. This isn't really any more portable- it actually has bigger dimensions than the macbook aside from the thickness. I can't see people paying 700 more for that thin aspect. Honestly I think this is a sort of tech showoff novelty. There is no way Apple can expect this thing to actually be a hit as far as sales are concerned. You can just get wayyyyyyyyy too much in the computer world for 1700 bucks to buy this thing. It is cool, but completely pointless to buy. There is no way this will fit anywhere your MB won't.
Except that it's heavier, which means that there is a few pound of something I'm not taking because my MacBook is twice as heavy as the Air. Plus, i have to take 2 extra batteries to get 5 hours out of my MacBook.
I am very disappointed with this MBA. This thing is going to flop huge- think about it- this is a downgrade in performance from the macbook, and its thinner by less than an inch, but costs 700 bucks more. This isn't really any more portable- it actually has bigger dimensions than the macbook aside from the thickness. I can't see people paying 700 more for that thin aspect. Honestly I think this is a sort of tech showoff novelty. There is no way Apple can expect this thing to actually be a hit as far as sales are concerned. You can just get wayyyyyyyyy too much in the computer world for 1700 bucks to buy this thing. It is cool, but completely pointless to buy. There is no way this will fit anywhere your MB won't.
Except for an envelope.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anklosaur
Impressive. I really like the idea of this machine, and there aren't too many areas where one could say that Apple skimped too much... except... has anyone else noticed the lack of any way to use any sort of mobile broadband such as the Sprint cards in the Sony TZ or any of the solutions from Verizon or ATT/Cingular? Seems to me that the person most inclined to purchase this system is also the one most apt to miss this feature?
Dunno about Verizon, but Sprint has a few USB EVDO cards.
Impressive. I really like the idea of this machine, and there aren't too many areas where one could say that Apple skimped too much... except... has anyone else noticed the lack of any way to use any sort of mobile broadband such as the Sprint cards in the Sony TZ or any of the solutions from Verizon or ATT/Cingular? Seems to me that the person most inclined to purchase this system is also the one most apt to miss this feature?
I'm not sold on this being a good idea yet. first no floppy, now no optical drive? at least they had a compromise back then.. how the hell are you supposed to install linux or windows or how are you going to start up off disks? someone please explain to me what 11 year olds will do when they want to play games that require disks in the drive like the sims...
I dunno, maybe they really worked it out, but please let me know.
I spend a third of my life in airplanes, airports and hotel rooms. I carry a late model PowerBook G4 with one extra battery, an Airport Express, a bluetooth mouse, headphones, a 60 GB older iPod and a small digital camera. When I get home, I dutifully plug in a 500 GB FW 800 drive to back up with, plug in an external 20" monitor, a nice set of speakers and an external bluetooth keyboard. So far, so good. I'm not going to switch to a windows machine, I like my "Apple Experience" quite well, thank you, so comparisons of whizzy Sony's and Dells will do nothing to sway me. I like my computer to just effin' *work*. But it is getting old, so...
Time to upgrade, it's been a couple o' years, so I've been looking forward to this new Power, er, ah... MacBook. How's this going to affect me? Let's see...
Currently I have ports in this Mac I don't ever use, a card slot, old firewire, S-Video and audio *in* are all useless to me. I rarely use the CD/DVD whatever burner in there - it does double-sided DVD's or somesuchthing, but it don't matter because I don't use it. Looking at the MBA all I'd lose is the FW 800, and that can be addressed by plugging in my 500 GB external to my older, round Airport Base Station via USB. Oh, right, that feature isn't supported. Darn you, Apple. Maybe have to buy one of those new integrated airports with disk. Not a deal breaker.
With a five hour (claimed) battery I can make it across the country on a single charge. I hope I don't have to sit on the tarmac in Newark for three hours waiting for the weather to clear so we can fly for three more hours to Denver. Sure wish United business class had power outlets in their seats.
Time to move my files over. Uh oh... On my current 80 GB drive I only have 1.49 GB free. Yeah, my iTunes library is up over 60 GB but I like my music and I have a handful of TV shows. I'd like to be able to have a larger hard drive, because let's face it, I'm just too lazy to spend a few hours and clean out some files I don't need.
Darn it, if it wasn't for the 80 GB drive this would be the perfect computer for me. I was looking forward to a disk *upgrade*. That's a deal breaker. Looks like I'll be back to another, reliable old aluminum PowerBook. MacBook. Whatever.
I'm not sold on this being a good idea yet. first no floppy, now no optical drive? at least they had a compromise back then.. how the hell are you supposed to install linux or windows or how are you going to start up off disks? someone please explain to me what 11 year olds will do when they want to play games that require disks in the drive like the sims...
I dunno, maybe they really worked it out, but please let me know.
LOL. You have a large number of options to install windows or linux, use the target disk mode and use the CD/DVD drive in another computer, use an external drive, or use a $18 (4gb) USB thumb drive like I do.
Also got a 8gb drive for $37, thank you fatwallet. But I havent needed to even open it yet.
I dont let my 14 year old play on my $700 laptop, noone in their right mind should be letting their children play with an $1800 laptop.
Been thinking about this. I will probably buy, but still a bit of a let down. I don't mind the prices and may even go with the SSD. Unlike others I am a big fan of the full sized keyboard and full sized screen. Having said that, I have 4 concerns (I wrote about them earlier):
1. I think this could have been less than 3 lbs, maybe 12.5. I look at Toshiba and Panasonic offerings. They are not as thin, but lighter and smaller footprint. Some of those have 12inch screens, but they also have optical drives and a ton of ports. I don't want an optical drive or ports, but I do want to know why this MBA isn't gosh darn lighter given it skimps on all of those. I mean a panasonic R500 is 12inch, with an optical drive and is 1.75 lbs.
2. But it could have been narrower. I am typing on in iBook G4 12inch. I note the foot print of the MBA is wider than the existing MB and even a 14inch Panasonic. What's up with the wasted space to the left and right of the keyboard and screen. Rivals don't use this space. I really wonder if this tapered design has led to wasting space. If this was more square like an PB G4 12inch, would this have been lighter and narrower (albeit not the world's thinest).
3. I don't mind that the battery is not removable that much, but again would accept this compromise if it had a longer listed battery time or lighter weight. 5 hours with an LED is not that impressive. The SSD had better be lighter and offer battery life.
4. Speaking of which, why is there no listing of battery life and weight with SSD as other manufacturers do. I am supposed to pre-order with no word on this? I am sure someone asked on this in meetings at Apple. So the question is why didn't they choose to list it.
They took 2006's MacBook, took out half the parts, and doubled the price. It's a very very elegant piece of machinery, but the sum of the parts equals $800, not $1800.
If that were true, yes. But as we all know, it isn't.
Do some research before you make silly statements like that.
A simple look on Apple's website would show you that you are wrong.
Comments
Less here mostly means volume. There is very little that isn't in it, other than the DVD burner.
Most other comparable machines don't have one either.
They took 2006's MacBook, took out half the parts, and doubled the price. It's a very very elegant piece of machinery, but the sum of the parts equals $800, not $1800.
They took 2006's MacBook, took out half the parts, and doubled the price. It's a very very elegant piece of machinery, but the sum of the parts equals $800, not $1800.
And research, development and assembly account nothing? smaller computers always cost more. If you want the most bang for your buck then you need to stay away from all mobile computers.
They took 2006's MacBook, took out half the parts, and doubled the price. It's a very very elegant piece of machinery, but the sum of the parts equals $800, not $1800.
Hey, Glass Half Empty, they only took out one major part. Smaller components, more power efficient parts simply cost more.
They took 2006's MacBook, took out half the parts, and doubled the price. It's a very very elegant piece of machinery, but the sum of the parts equals $800, not $1800.
To start, let's see the comparative parts list.
160GB 1.8" HDDs have two platters and are therefore too thick to fit. I expect the first speedbump will include the option of a single-platter HDD with more than 80GB. I suppose the first speedbump will come when Montevina is released.
Hey, Glass Half Empty, they only took out one major part. Smaller components, more power efficient parts simply cost more.
Not fair! Who said you could use logic?
Oh I forgot the link for the Panasonic: http://www.icube.us/product_detail.c...odel/CF-Y5.cfm
Are you referring to the one wih 512 RAM starting at $2429. Weighing 3.3 lbs and is 1.3" thick.
Oh it does have a battery life of8.5 hours. However, be careful that is if you only play music on it. Otherwise it chews energy just like every other portable.
Nice wheel pad though. And it does come with great software, i.e., Vista. Oops, no camera. And if you want to connect it to your big monitor, don't forget to pay extra for the connection. Slower wireless. And it looks you have to buy the AC adapter is an accessory. No Bluetooth. But it also comes with a 'super' Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 and a SuperMulti DVD, but it is fixed whatever that may mean.
And for those that are touting the Toshibas, their starting weight is 2.4 lbs. But you need a battery and that will add a minimum of 0.4 lbs. RGB output port only. Etc,, etc., etc.
Read the fine print guys to see the real cost.
Impressive. I really like the idea of this machine, and there aren't too many areas where one could say that Apple skimped too much... except... has anyone else noticed the lack of any way to use any sort of mobile broadband such as the Sprint cards in the Sony TZ or any of the solutions from Verizon or ATT/Cingular? Seems to me that the person most inclined to purchase this system is also the one most apt to miss this feature?
A number of them are USB devices (see http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/verizon/v...ced-313177.php for $50 for one of the 3 options Verizon offers).
What would be really slick (well ok, it's pretty basic, but you can't do it today :-( ) would be allowing one to use their iPhone as a modem for the MacBook Air via BlueTooth. I really hope they offer that--and pitch it--when the eventual 3G iPhone arrives.
But seriously isn't it pretty straight forward to use a cell phone to get your laptop on the 'net? A few years ago I looked into it with Verizon and it was a real hack to (allegedly) get it to work.
Are you referring to the one wih 512 RAM starting at $2429. Weighing 3.3 lbs and is 1.3" thick.
Oh it does have a battery life of8.5 hours. However, be careful that is if you only play music on it. Otherwise it chews energy just like every other portable.
Nice wheel pad though. And it does come with great software, i.e., Vista. Oops, no camera. And if you want to connect it to your big monitor, don't forget to pay extra for the connection. Slower wireless. And it looks you have to buy the AC adapter is an accessory. No Bluetooth. But it also comes with a 'super' Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 and a SuperMulti DVD, but it is fixed whatever that may mean.
And for those that are touting the Toshibas, their starting weight is 2.4 lbs. But you need a battery and that will add a minimum of 0.4 lbs. RGB output port only. Etc,, etc., etc.
Read the fine print guys to see the real cost.
Panasonic Toughbooks are always very pricey compared to other machines for their size and always with specs from 18-24 months prior. Their cliental is those who need a semi-rugged notebook.
I am very disappointed with this MBA. This thing is going to flop huge- think about it- this is a downgrade in performance from the macbook, and its thinner by less than an inch, but costs 700 bucks more. This isn't really any more portable- it actually has bigger dimensions than the macbook aside from the thickness. I can't see people paying 700 more for that thin aspect. Honestly I think this is a sort of tech showoff novelty. There is no way Apple can expect this thing to actually be a hit as far as sales are concerned. You can just get wayyyyyyyyy too much in the computer world for 1700 bucks to buy this thing. It is cool, but completely pointless to buy. There is no way this will fit anywhere your MB won't.
Except that it's heavier, which means that there is a few pound of something I'm not taking because my MacBook is twice as heavy as the Air. Plus, i have to take 2 extra batteries to get 5 hours out of my MacBook.
I am very disappointed with this MBA. This thing is going to flop huge- think about it- this is a downgrade in performance from the macbook, and its thinner by less than an inch, but costs 700 bucks more. This isn't really any more portable- it actually has bigger dimensions than the macbook aside from the thickness. I can't see people paying 700 more for that thin aspect. Honestly I think this is a sort of tech showoff novelty. There is no way Apple can expect this thing to actually be a hit as far as sales are concerned. You can just get wayyyyyyyyy too much in the computer world for 1700 bucks to buy this thing. It is cool, but completely pointless to buy. There is no way this will fit anywhere your MB won't.
Except for an envelope.
Impressive. I really like the idea of this machine, and there aren't too many areas where one could say that Apple skimped too much... except... has anyone else noticed the lack of any way to use any sort of mobile broadband such as the Sprint cards in the Sony TZ or any of the solutions from Verizon or ATT/Cingular? Seems to me that the person most inclined to purchase this system is also the one most apt to miss this feature?
Dunno about Verizon, but Sprint has a few USB EVDO cards.
Impressive. I really like the idea of this machine, and there aren't too many areas where one could say that Apple skimped too much... except... has anyone else noticed the lack of any way to use any sort of mobile broadband such as the Sprint cards in the Sony TZ or any of the solutions from Verizon or ATT/Cingular? Seems to me that the person most inclined to purchase this system is also the one most apt to miss this feature?
What's wrong with that thar' USB port?
Just as one example, here's a review of an EV-DO USB modem ... from 1.5 years ago, no less!
Paul
Dunno about Verizon, but Sprint has a few USB EVDO cards.
Malax posted one from Verizon a few posts up. I didn't know these were out. I don't like the 24 month contract for it.
I dunno, maybe they really worked it out, but please let me know.
I spend a third of my life in airplanes, airports and hotel rooms. I carry a late model PowerBook G4 with one extra battery, an Airport Express, a bluetooth mouse, headphones, a 60 GB older iPod and a small digital camera. When I get home, I dutifully plug in a 500 GB FW 800 drive to back up with, plug in an external 20" monitor, a nice set of speakers and an external bluetooth keyboard. So far, so good. I'm not going to switch to a windows machine, I like my "Apple Experience" quite well, thank you, so comparisons of whizzy Sony's and Dells will do nothing to sway me. I like my computer to just effin' *work*. But it is getting old, so...
Time to upgrade, it's been a couple o' years, so I've been looking forward to this new Power, er, ah... MacBook. How's this going to affect me? Let's see...
Currently I have ports in this Mac I don't ever use, a card slot, old firewire, S-Video and audio *in* are all useless to me. I rarely use the CD/DVD whatever burner in there - it does double-sided DVD's or somesuchthing, but it don't matter because I don't use it. Looking at the MBA all I'd lose is the FW 800, and that can be addressed by plugging in my 500 GB external to my older, round Airport Base Station via USB. Oh, right, that feature isn't supported. Darn you, Apple. Maybe have to buy one of those new integrated airports with disk. Not a deal breaker.
With a five hour (claimed) battery I can make it across the country on a single charge. I hope I don't have to sit on the tarmac in Newark for three hours waiting for the weather to clear so we can fly for three more hours to Denver. Sure wish United business class had power outlets in their seats.
Time to move my files over. Uh oh... On my current 80 GB drive I only have 1.49 GB free. Yeah, my iTunes library is up over 60 GB but I like my music and I have a handful of TV shows. I'd like to be able to have a larger hard drive, because let's face it, I'm just too lazy to spend a few hours and clean out some files I don't need.
Darn it, if it wasn't for the 80 GB drive this would be the perfect computer for me. I was looking forward to a disk *upgrade*. That's a deal breaker. Looks like I'll be back to another, reliable old aluminum PowerBook. MacBook. Whatever.
-Gator
I'm not sold on this being a good idea yet. first no floppy, now no optical drive? at least they had a compromise back then.. how the hell are you supposed to install linux or windows or how are you going to start up off disks? someone please explain to me what 11 year olds will do when they want to play games that require disks in the drive like the sims...
I dunno, maybe they really worked it out, but please let me know.
LOL. You have a large number of options to install windows or linux, use the target disk mode and use the CD/DVD drive in another computer, use an external drive, or use a $18 (4gb) USB thumb drive like I do.
Also got a 8gb drive for $37, thank you fatwallet. But I havent needed to even open it yet.
I dont let my 14 year old play on my $700 laptop, noone in their right mind should be letting their children play with an $1800 laptop.
1. I think this could have been less than 3 lbs, maybe 12.5. I look at Toshiba and Panasonic offerings. They are not as thin, but lighter and smaller footprint. Some of those have 12inch screens, but they also have optical drives and a ton of ports. I don't want an optical drive or ports, but I do want to know why this MBA isn't gosh darn lighter given it skimps on all of those. I mean a panasonic R500 is 12inch, with an optical drive and is 1.75 lbs.
2. But it could have been narrower. I am typing on in iBook G4 12inch. I note the foot print of the MBA is wider than the existing MB and even a 14inch Panasonic. What's up with the wasted space to the left and right of the keyboard and screen. Rivals don't use this space. I really wonder if this tapered design has led to wasting space. If this was more square like an PB G4 12inch, would this have been lighter and narrower (albeit not the world's thinest).
3. I don't mind that the battery is not removable that much, but again would accept this compromise if it had a longer listed battery time or lighter weight. 5 hours with an LED is not that impressive. The SSD had better be lighter and offer battery life.
4. Speaking of which, why is there no listing of battery life and weight with SSD as other manufacturers do. I am supposed to pre-order with no word on this? I am sure someone asked on this in meetings at Apple. So the question is why didn't they choose to list it.
They took 2006's MacBook, took out half the parts, and doubled the price. It's a very very elegant piece of machinery, but the sum of the parts equals $800, not $1800.
If that were true, yes. But as we all know, it isn't.
Do some research before you make silly statements like that.
A simple look on Apple's website would show you that you are wrong.