Is the Air for you?

[Kaido]

I have been wanting a Mac ultraportable for a long, long time. Several of my friends had 12" iBooks and PowerBooks and I really loved the form factor. When the 13" Intel MacBook was initially released, I was super excited and jumped on it right away only to discover it wasn't quite what I wanted - no dedicated GPU, a little too heavy, a little too thick, plus I got burned by all of the first-gen defects (you name it, I had it). I later upgraded to a 15" Santa Rosa MacBook Pro and loved it - perfect thickness/weight for a 15", but it was still a little too large for me. I really wanted an ultraportable. Then the Air come out. Oh joy...and mixed feelings. Slim, sleek, and lacking. The missing features stood out immediately:

-No Ethernet
-No DVD drive
-No Firewire
-No ExpressCard
-No core upgrades (ram, hard drive, battery - all sealed)
-No stereo speakers (mono only)
-No digital audio output (or analog/digital input)

At first I was appalled, honestly. This is an EEE PC in a silver case! The lack of Firewire/ExpressCard is a huge turn-off...I enjoy using my HD camcorder and not having a place to plug it into when I'm on vacation just seems retarded. Not even an ExpressCard to add Firewire...what the heck Apple?

But I thought about it some more and other than that it actually seems pretty good. The multi-touch trackpad would replace my wireless mouse, eliminating the need for a USB port. It has a good-sized screen and I personally love the MacBook keys. I don't use the DVD drive a ton, so the USB SuperDrive or Remote Disk could work for me. The lack of Ethernet isn't that big of a deal since it has wireless, especially N. Mono speaker is...weird. Mostly I use Internet apps and Word processing-type stuff, which makes this the perfect laptop, more or less.

Except for the price. It's like getting slapped with the new Dell Tablet PC all over again...$1799? And only 2 gigs of RAM? I use 2 gigs in my Windows XP VM alone! Ideally this would fit in well at $1199, but that kind of clashes with the 13" MacBook pricing. So $1499...I heard a lot of people say that $1500 would be their sweet spot for a Mac ultraportable. Even $1599 would work...but shoot, for $1800 I'm going to buy a MacBook Pro.

Can someone explain the Mono speaker onboard?

All in all, I think most of us who were waiting for an ultraportable were extremely disappointed. The Air is cool, but...that's it. It's cool. It's aimed at those hip Apple users who have all the chic stuff and show off the contents of their bags on Flickr. What about the geeks?? Apple has their entire dream product line laid down for them and they completely ignore it...we want a functional ultraportable and we want a Mac Pro Lite, aka Cube 2.0. Price them both at $1499 and we'll be perfectly happy to pay it! ARGGG!!!

Conclusion: If I had the extra disposable income, I would definitely buy an Air. SSD if I could, haha! It would be the perfect supplement to my Quad machine at home...lots of power for processor-intensive apps and then a thin-and-light to tote with me for day-to-day stuff. I really, really, really wish it had an ExpressCard port, if not a 4-pin Firewire port...with an ExpressCard port, you could add Firewire 400 or 800, more USB 2.0 ports, eSATA ports, and the holy grail for ultraportables - the cellular Internet card! It makes zero sense why they didn't add this...based on what I've read about Steve Jobs, he probably felt it made the laptop look ugly or out of place. I don't know. I really hope Rev. 2 sports an expansion port so we can add more stuff to it.

So, how do you feel?

 

[chinaman1472]

At the price, I don't see the point to reducing features.

At least with the iPhone, it had extra features at the price of a premium product. But the Air... I feel like I'm getting handicapped at price. It really reminds of the when Motorola released the Razr; paying $500 seemed ridiculous for a normal phone when it's only "special" feature was being slim.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: chinaman1472
At the price, I don't see the point to reducing features.

At least with the iPhone, it had extra features at the price of a premium product. But the Air... I feel like I'm getting handicapped at price. It really reminds of the when Motorola released the Razr; paying $500 seemed ridiculous for a normal phone when it's only "special" feature was being slim.

Exactly. A 13" MacBook ultraportable would cannibalize the existing MacBook line, so a 13" or small MacBook Pro is really the only good solution. $1799 for an ultraportable Pro would be MORE than fair, in my opinion. Real graphics card, tight little package. No one asked for the Air...I'm sure there will be people who buy it, but I think most people will look at it and buy the 13" MacBook instead. We begged and begged Apple to release a real ultraportable, a 12" MacBook Pro or even a 13" MBP...why Apple, WHY?!

 

[Goosemaster]

too much form, not enough function.


I too was impressed when he took it out of the manila folder..and about 10min later I was asking myself how in the hell I would even use this thing (no WWAN)

 

[secretanchitman]

no way. design is spectacular of course, but it lacks almost everything that i was hoping for. honestly, i would prefer if they added more stuff, even if that added to weight and form factor.

 

[ubercaffeinated]

As a student but with particular tastes, I'm gonna have to go with the MBP. The Air is beautiful, but for that kind of money and where practicality is involved, the MBP just shines even more now.

 

[Wonderful Pork]

I would love a small/ultraportable "pro" machine, however it probably won't cost LESS than the current 15" due to the engineering required to reduce/miniaturize the components.

I'm cool without an optical drive, I've used the one in my MBP 3-4 times in 1.5 years (once was to install leopard). I don't really even mind the lack of USB ports, since I use a bluetooth mouse and keyboard.

I think I might be the target demographic for the Air: no heavy computing, just AIM, firefox, light web browsing and video. I'm not going to buy the Air right now due to the slower processor speed and 4200 RPM hard drive. I'd also much rather have a discrete video card (or something that can support a 30" display), but I don't game. I'd also like HDMI out instead of mini-DVI. I'm cool with everything else, especially since I normally lug around 2 laptops (work issued & personal) when I travel. The work one is managed, so I can't really configure it to my preference, plus it runs windows. And I can't connect a non-company issued computer to the corporate network so a Virtual Machine is out. I've been using my iPhone pretty much 99% and its been great, but I'd appriciate a bit of a larger screen and all.

 

[Injury]

I think it's a poor decision altogether to not make this in the ~$1k range. Essentially you're saying "Here's a machine designed for web browsing, email, some office apps and other less intense situations." Yet we're paying a price that's in the same range as machines that can do that and more at the addition of a couple of pounds and what, a quarter to half an inch? I think their goal is to target business-minded people but I think they are going to be hard-pressed to convince people that paying 2-3 times as much for this machine is better than a decent PC, especially considering that most office apps are made for PCs.

The clear lack of being able to swap out parts should be enough to turn off a huge chunk of the people that are willing to shell out the money for this sort of tech.

 

[iamwiz82]

I'd barely call any laptop speakers stereo, anyways. They are always of such lousy quality to fit the form requirements that it's not a huge deal to me.

I'd love this just for the ease of travel. It's a huge PITA to carry a backpack loaded with my laptop, camera, all the peripherals, and any reading materials, etc, on a plane.

 

[loup garou]

I'm torn, I love the size and design, but with the slow HD, no user accessible parts, and lack of internal WWAN options, I think it is out for me. I guess I'll stick to my MacBook and get a USB EVDO card. Although I saw you can get an m1330 on Dell outlet for ~$800 and a Verizon EVDO mini pci card on eBay for $75. Very tempting...

 

[RJ45]

not for me. I need more power and graphics and screen space. I'd absolutely love the 17" MBP to weigh 3 pounds though. The Air is a beautiful thing and I'm sure there will be plenty of people who will buy it but, there's not enough function in it for me. If I could afford to buy one just to have one, I would. I'd set on the shelf and gaze at its beauty and smile. I'm sure I'd use it every once in a while but for most of the stuff I do it just wouldn't work out.

 

[Eug]

-No Ethernet
-No DVD drive
-No Firewire
-No ExpressCard
-No core upgrades (ram, hard drive, battery - all sealed)
-No stereo speakers (mono only)
-No digital audio output (or analog/digital input)

I'm a prime customer for the Air, because I have several desktop Macs. And I really value Mac design.

However, I have highlighted why the Air is not for me. Well, that and the fact it costs a heluvalot, and has the same footprint as the MacBook. I also wonder just how slow that 1.8" drive is.

The only real benefit of the Air is the weight (and not the footprint). That's a significant weight reduction, but they compromised too much to achieve that IMO.

Basically, this thing reminds me of the Cube. It's a gorgeous and elegant design, but it's very crippled, and costs a heluvalot.

P.S. I own two Cubes. However, I bought them many years later (for a lot less obviously).

 

[bigrash]

Originally posted by: Kaido
-No Ethernet
-No DVD drive
-No Firewire
-No ExpressCard
-No core upgrades (ram, hard drive, battery - all sealed)
-No stereo speakers (mono only)
-No digital audio output (or analog/digital input)

None of these bother me, but ethernet and dvd drive would have been nice.

The only thing I don't like is the price. If it would have been around $1500, I would have pre-ordered that thing right away. But no way I'm spending so much on something that has lower specs than the macbook.

 

[rikadik]

I, like many others, wanted a 11" MB or 13" MBP - I would have been sold instantly.

It's not even that smaller than the MB in practical terms, having the same width and depth. Yeah it's really thin and light, but it's not going to save me much space or effort in carrying it around. Give it a smaller footprint even if you have to make it a little fatter and you'd have a great product.

Apple claim to have not compromised where others do, but in fact they really have just compromised in different, and in my opinion, the wrong places.

And since when was the MacBook keyboard a "full size" keyboard?! And how can you expect to make an ultraportable without being willing to compromise on screen-size?!

Oh yeah - and my friends 3 year old Toshiba Portege is thinner. Pfft.

 

[randomlinh]

which toshiba?

I too was hoping for at least a 13" macbook pro. I don't need an ultra portable... if I do, it's purpose for me would be quick web access and really to have around the house to look up info real quick. The Eee PC works well for that. I'm just waiting for a slightly larger screen, and better battery life, and maybe a faster processor... at the same price point (yes, I realize I can't have it all).

This mac air is neat, and a great demo of technology. But the 4200 rpm drive is too slow IMO. I hated it. The SSD is too expensive. And a gigabit ethernet port would have been nice because sometimes you just need it to set things up. Which then puts it as a secondary device more me.. and way out of price range for it's purpose. It's not not that portable anyway, just ultra light. Yes, that helps, but you still need a bag large enough for it.

 

[MovingTarget]

I saw this and thought that it could really be something that people would want. Then, I saw the price. WTF! Honestly, what apple needs is a low-end ultraportable to compliment it. Heck, you can technically run OSX on an Eee PC with a little bit of tweaking, and it has more features. Heck, just up the ram a little bit, offer the choice of conventional hdd or lower size SSD (that doesn't cost $1000), and they would have a winnar! They could pull off an ultraportable for under $1000. Heck, I got my iBook G4 for that price. With today's technology, this should be a reasonable request. The air should be the uber-high end, with the P-P-P-Powerbook should be the low end. I don't know what they should call it, but considering the story behind that name, they could probably sell it:/.

 

[Injury]

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1797523/

Saw this, thought I'd post it here.

(Yes, I loathe sites like college humor, too... but it got a chuckle out of me)

 

[dnuggett]

Originally posted by: rikadik
Oh yeah - and my friends 3 year old Toshiba Portege is thinner. Pfft.

I'm calling you out. What 3 year old Toshiba is this?

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Eug

-No Ethernet
-No DVD drive
-No Firewire
-No ExpressCard
-No core upgrades (ram, hard drive, battery - all sealed)
-No stereo speakers (mono only)
-No digital audio output (or analog/digital input)

I'm a prime customer for the Air, because I have several desktop Macs. And I really value Mac design.

However, I have highlighted why the Air is not for me. Well, that and the fact it costs a heluvalot, and has the same footprint as the MacBook. I also wonder just how slow that 1.8" drive is.

The only real benefit of the Air is the weight (and not the footprint). That's a significant weight reduction, but they compromised too much to achieve that IMO.

Basically, this thing reminds me of the Cube. It's a gorgeous and elegant design, but it's very crippled, and costs a heluvalot.

P.S. I own two Cubes. However, I bought them many years later (for a lot less obviously).

That's funny, I have a Cube too :laugh:

The Air is aimed at consumers, not geeks. 99% of Apple's users are normal consumers who surf the Internet, read email, and type in Word. The 1% of the geeks (us) are offended by this contraption and mad that we didn't get what we really wanted (ultraportable MBP), but financially it makes sense for Apple to go where the money is.

Personally I would love to have an Air, especially with the cool SSD drive. For most of my activities - typing, Internet stuff - it's perfect. For the rest I can use my workstation. But MAN it's so expensive...it's like the Dell Tablet...really, really cool but way overpriced. The light weight and thin size would be perfect for just kicking it around the house or taking it with me places.

I would buy the Air if it at least had an ExpressCard slot - that way I could add Firewire or a WWAN cellular card or whatever. Steve, I hope you're reading this for Revision 2!

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: MovingTarget
I saw this and thought that it could really be something that people would want. Then, I saw the price. WTF! Honestly, what apple needs is a low-end ultraportable to compliment it. Heck, you can technically run OSX on an Eee PC with a little bit of tweaking, and it has more features. Heck, just up the ram a little bit, offer the choice of conventional hdd or lower size SSD (that doesn't cost $1000), and they would have a winnar! They could pull off an ultraportable for under $1000. Heck, I got my iBook G4 for that price. With today's technology, this should be a reasonable request. The air should be the uber-high end, with the P-P-P-Powerbook should be the low end. I don't know what they should call it, but considering the story behind that name, they could probably sell it:/.

Yeah I don't know what Apple was thinking with the price. I think $1499 or even $1599 would have been the sweet spot for this machine, but at $1799 it competes price-wise with the MacBook Pro line. The concept of an ultra-thin laptop is really, really cool, but the 15" is already feels thin-and-light at 1" thick and 5.5 pounds.

Oh and as far as the RAM goes, it only has a Merom processor, which I believe is limited to 3 gigs of ram (or 3.3 gigs unofficially, iirc). So 2 gigs is a logical, albeit dumb, limit for the Air.

 

[rikadik]

Originally posted by: dnuggett

Originally posted by: rikadik
Oh yeah - and my friends 3 year old Toshiba Portege is thinner. Pfft.

I'm calling you out. What 3 year old Toshiba is this?

Its a Toshiba Portege R100.

In practical terms, due to its tapered design the Air obviously feels like a slimmer machine, but at its thickest part it is 19.4mm compared to the R100's 19mm. It's a petty difference I know, but all I was really getting at is that the Air isn't the thinnest laptop in the world like Apple claims.

 

[her34]

* there should be 2 usb ports not 1

* there should be hdmi, not micro-dvi

* external optical drive should be included

 

[dnuggett]

Originally posted by: rikadik

Originally posted by: dnuggett

Originally posted by: rikadik
Oh yeah - and my friends 3 year old Toshiba Portege is thinner. Pfft.

I'm calling you out. What 3 year old Toshiba is this?

Its a Toshiba Portege R100.

In practical terms, due to its tapered design the Air obviously feels like a slimmer machine, but at its thickest part it is 19.4mm compared to the R100's 19mm. It's a petty difference I know, but all I was really getting at is that the Air isn't the thinnest laptop in the world like Apple claims.

What is the thinnest part of the R100? In aggregate, the Air may have it beat.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: her34
* there should be 2 usb ports not 1

* there should be hdmi, not micro-dvi

* external optical drive should be included

Ooh HDMI would have been an even better idea! Plus an ExpressCard slot, then you could add whatever you wanted!

 

[ObscureCaucasian]

I'd rather buy 6 eeePCs.