My airbook first impressions...
I'm at the Apple store on 5th ave NYC right now...they have the airbooks out....and I have to say...I'm blown away. Although they have the same "footprint" of a regular laptop...they REALLY are INSANELY thin. You have to see it in person. They are CRAZY thin and I want one!
Alas, I'm still going to get the macbook instead. I can do without all the stuff they got rid of like the optical drive and ports. No problem. But I just need more hard drive space. If it just came in a 160 gig HD version...I'd buy one right now. 80 gigs is just not enough. And I don't see the point in buying two laptops right now. The macbook is still portable enough for me.
But to all those saying the airbook is still too big...you gotta check it out in person. It is beyond WOW. I just can't put the thing down. Do yourself a favor and go down to your local apple store before you make a decision.
Like I said, the only reason I'm not getting one now is because I need a larger HD. But it makes me excited to see where Apple is going design wise.
:-)
Alas, I'm still going to get the macbook instead. I can do without all the stuff they got rid of like the optical drive and ports. No problem. But I just need more hard drive space. If it just came in a 160 gig HD version...I'd buy one right now. 80 gigs is just not enough. And I don't see the point in buying two laptops right now. The macbook is still portable enough for me.
But to all those saying the airbook is still too big...you gotta check it out in person. It is beyond WOW. I just can't put the thing down. Do yourself a favor and go down to your local apple store before you make a decision.
Like I said, the only reason I'm not getting one now is because I need a larger HD. But it makes me excited to see where Apple is going design wise.
:-)
Comments
120GB "real" hard drive, 2 USB ports, built-in ethernet jack and 4 hours real world use battery life, and $100 price drop and I might consider buying one.
I never used ethernet, and don't see me needing more than one usb really. If I ever need more, an external hub solves that problem easily. No firewire is a bummer...but then...apple switch back to usb awhile ago...so again, no problem there.
I am torn now tho. The HD being too small isn't an issue if I get one of those 160gig external HDs. They are quite small. And it isn't a bad solution. Of course I'd have to carry an extra thing on my travels which kinda defeats the airbooks main selling point over the macbook(ultra portable).
So which to get now, the black macbook or the 80 gig airbook? I just don't know now. Curse you Apple! :-)
Yeah saw a very high quality video of an up close un-boxing...
Where is that?
Are they in stock for immediate purchase?
They seem to be low on stock... my pre-order still hasn't arrived, nor has Apple provided their traveling salesman in Japan with a demo machine...
Almost all sites are suggesting 1 to 3 weeks for delivery.
Apple might have underestimated the initial sales of the Air...
Where is that?
HERE (Apple TV resolution)
120GB "real" hard drive, 2 USB ports, built-in ethernet jack and 4 hours real world use battery life, and $100 price drop and I might consider buying one.
Again, once you add all that stuff you are back to thicker and heavier, and still more expensive than the MacBook. Nobody would buy it - they would buy the MacBook.
I just don't get why people don't understand this.
Again, once you add all that stuff you are back to thicker and heavier, and still more expensive than the MacBook. Nobody would buy it - they would buy the MacBook.
I just don't get why people don't understand this.
Yeah I forget how heavy ethernet ports were these days. Not to mention a seconds USB port
And a $100 price drop, yeah that would be far too thick
Not to mention that Apple didn't have them damn sense to actually make the existing USB capable for actual peripherals. I mean come on, who designed this thing.. Johnny Ive's bloddy intern? The Air may be thin, but the damn designer is very thick.
Many people who have gone to see the Air love it. Many people are ordering it in full knowledge of what it can and can't do. We don't hear much from these people.
It doesn't suit some people's needs. Some, like Regan above, make rational choices about a purchase and move on with life. Others, well, boy do we hear from some of them! It is getting very tiresome.
Yeah I forget how heavy ethernet ports were these days. Not to mention a seconds USB port
There is no room in the unit for extra ports. Adding that room means it has to be thicker, or have a bigger footprint. People are already bitching about the footprint, as if 1.3 inches DIAGONAL (do the Pythagorean, I'm too lazy) makes any difference.
They already had to reduce the area of the Core 2 Duo chip by 60% to fit it onto the mobo. There is no room for an ethernet chip or a second USB chip, not to mention the physical space for the jacks.
So since bigger footprint is out, then it has to be thicker. Thicker means more aluminum, which means heavier.
You can't just make it a *little* thicker - you would have to make room for a whole extra layer of components underneath or above the current mobo. So it's not a matter of it being .07 inches thicker, it's a matter of it approaching the thickness of the MacBook, which would be a death sentence for it and defeat the ENTIRE purpose of the thing.
At present, the case is thinner than the actual height of an ethernet RJ-45 jack - so adding more jacks means making an even bigger fold-out panel or putting another fold-out panel on the other side.
Jacks on the back of the unit? Nobody likes that. I can just hear the bitchfest now if they had gone that route.
Unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable, the ferociousness of the Anti-Air Pac.
Yeah, it's really weird. Lack of money; therefore, envy -- would be my take. Some people drool over things they can't afford, some get angry because they feel entitled. Getting angry at a computer because it's not right for you? Weird.
Me, I don't need one at the moment because of my MBP, but it hardly makes me angry.
On the positive side:
My niece (I gave her an MPA just as she headed down to Honduras to volunteer in some medical facilities) is loving it. That and a 10+ hour external battery, and she's found it a total joy.
My producer from my last film (who I also gave one to) has now ordered one for his wife and one for his son (who's at college). He keeps calling me up to tell me about something new he's discovered (he wasn't a Mac person before). Lots of calls means, hopefully, more work in the future (he said self-servingly
I think it's a great product that has a very stylish visibility. Anger? It's like getting angry at a Mussoni suit. Why? What did the suit ever do to you? Oh, that's right, I can get a full suit, jacket, pants... AND a vest! at Walmart for 1/10th the cost. What were those Italian designers thinking? Oh, and the Walmart suit has more pockets, too!
This is not the notebook for everyone. Don't complain about what it does not have, cannot have. Appreciate it for what it is: a thing of beauty. Like other beautiful things, not everyone can appreciate its allure, and not everyone can or should afford it. But, for me, it is the most elegant laptop I've ever seen.
. . . Don't complain about what it does not have, cannot have. Appreciate it for what it is: a thing of beauty. . .
I appreciate your points about the beauty of the MBA. And I may buy the current MBA myself; if so, only grudgingly to replace a 12" PB. More likely, I'll either buy a MBP or wait for a MBA Rev. B.
But IMO the complaints are valid about what the MBA does and does not have, for there is no product in the Apple lineup for the portable power user and the presence of the MBA precludes the emergence of such a product (at least until Rev. A or Rev.
Really, Apple could have included even a FW400 port, even if it subsequently deleted it in favor of USB 3.
Really, Apple could have included even a FW400 port
No, they dropped it because the chipset was too big. Another example of this would be in the iPod
No, they dropped it because the chipset was too big. Another example of this would be in the iPod
I've read the same explanation but I do not believe it. Rather, I believe Apple will in Rev A or Rev B adobt a faster interface than USB 2. Whether it is FW400 or FW800 or USB3, I will not guess. Intel worked to reduce the footprint of the cpu. Even if current FW400 chipsets were too big, again something I do not believe, then I imagine some company could have tweaked the current chipset designs.
As a pro user who works with video and audio, all of my current (the latest) gear only has USB; FW is being dropped by everyone, not just Apple. The Air will easily connect to my Canon HD camera and my Zoom audio recorder. If I wish, I can still use my old MBP and FW interface, but the new stuff is much more portable (which is the whole point of the Air) and does the same job. I can slip my entire studio into a rucksack; the combined weight comes in at about 5 pounds (without power bricks), which is less than the weight of just the MBP.
A possible portable studio:
Air (3 pounds), HD video camera (1.3 pounds), stereo audio recorder (< 1/2 pound), tripod (4 ounces)