So I caved in and went to Apple Store, I walked out with a 2Gb, 128 Gb SSD 1.4 Ghz Macbook Air. I caved in to the temptation, unfortunately.
I have been playing with it for a few days and I you can tell you guys my experience with it.
The design is just amazing. The photographs look beautiful, but holding it in your hands it just feels so smooth. It feels rock solid in your hands, one of the most sturdy laptops out there. I would consider the craftsmanship to be top notch. (haven't had any hinge issues has anandtech stated).
Now for the good stuff. Would I recommend people to buy it, it depends. I think depends on what computers you have already and what your looking to do with the machine. After all, it is meant to be used as tool for some type of enrichment.
Having desktop, laptop, and some iOS devices, the 11 " MBA air is a different experience. The screen is very sharp but everything is so tiny. It doesn't have the magic of the iPad, it feels like a normal os x experience except in the tiniest proportions possible.
It boots up pretty fast and you can launch applications fast, but it not as fast as my C2D 3.06 Ghz MacBook Pro, when the Application is loaded into memory. If you web browse allot your gonna be able to tell the difference. CPU speed does matter for surfing the web, since everything is moving towards
javascript, and html5.
The system generally feels fast, like opening up programs, running applications that do allot of I/O to the disk. Anything that touches the disk will be faster, cause of course our SSD are faster than normal hard drives.
However once your application like a web browser or any thing else that does not have an exceptionally high I/O to the disk and more contingent on main memory, will be slower due to the CPU. The exception is if your main memory is used up and you start swapping to the disk, the MBA has the advantage. I was
able to make the MBA slow to a crawl by opening up enough programs. SSD is fast but not as fast as main memory.
13 " MBA which has a much better CPU; the web browsing might feel faster.
People who buy the 11 inch like myself , buy it for the size of it. You can literally take this laptop anywhere. It feels sturdy enough, you don't have to worry about your hard-disk dying. Since most of its part are integrated, I really don't know how durable it is, however the exterior at least seems durable.
The really negative point about it is the price. It just expensive no matter how you look at it. Your paying for that portability at a premium. Your macbook Pro can do everything the MBA can do and more but it's bigger. For some people the size and weight are really important.
I could not say this laptop can replace your macBook Pro. Maybe in a few generations, but it feels like a great second laptop. If your a unix hacker, this laptop will be quite a toy, the command line seems the perfect size on it.
If your gonna be browsing and writing allot, I would go with the 13 inch MBA. The screen is just the right size for it, the battery life is better, and web browsing will feel faster.
However if you want the bare minimum and smallest macbook you can buy, get this. Just be ready to use it as your second laptop.
As for me, I am still debating weather to return it. There is nothing I can do on it that I can't on the 3.06 Ghz C2D. However it would be nice to have an extra laptop just in case, that you can use a learning tool and really hack your operating system and have fun with it.
If the price was less 599, it would be the best selling mac. Maybe it will be. For now, we shall see.
So if you read allot and don't write as much and need something really portable, I would recommend an iPad. Actually everyone should have one, it just an entirely different and amazing computer experience.
If you do heavy web browsing, writing and traveling and need that extra portability, and don't want to worry about your hard drive dying, 13 " MBA Air . I would recommend it for college kids.
If you need a powerful laptop, MacBook Pro >= 2.5 Ghz C2D or any i5,i7.
If you need an all in one powerfull computer at a great cost in regards to performance, and you want a really big screen, the iMac.
If you have one or more of the above, and need a second laptop and new toy. Also a new machine where you can test out stuff before you put it on other laptops. And you want to look like a cool hacker at the coffee shops or B&N, AND money is no thing.
2010 11" MBA Air
If I had to choose one computer, it would be the iPad. It just lets you focus on the task at hand, it blocks everything out. You feel so much closer and intimate with the content, than any other device.
Thanks All
I have been playing with it for a few days and I you can tell you guys my experience with it.
The design is just amazing. The photographs look beautiful, but holding it in your hands it just feels so smooth. It feels rock solid in your hands, one of the most sturdy laptops out there. I would consider the craftsmanship to be top notch. (haven't had any hinge issues has anandtech stated).
Now for the good stuff. Would I recommend people to buy it, it depends. I think depends on what computers you have already and what your looking to do with the machine. After all, it is meant to be used as tool for some type of enrichment.
Having desktop, laptop, and some iOS devices, the 11 " MBA air is a different experience. The screen is very sharp but everything is so tiny. It doesn't have the magic of the iPad, it feels like a normal os x experience except in the tiniest proportions possible.
It boots up pretty fast and you can launch applications fast, but it not as fast as my C2D 3.06 Ghz MacBook Pro, when the Application is loaded into memory. If you web browse allot your gonna be able to tell the difference. CPU speed does matter for surfing the web, since everything is moving towards
javascript, and html5.
The system generally feels fast, like opening up programs, running applications that do allot of I/O to the disk. Anything that touches the disk will be faster, cause of course our SSD are faster than normal hard drives.
However once your application like a web browser or any thing else that does not have an exceptionally high I/O to the disk and more contingent on main memory, will be slower due to the CPU. The exception is if your main memory is used up and you start swapping to the disk, the MBA has the advantage. I was
able to make the MBA slow to a crawl by opening up enough programs. SSD is fast but not as fast as main memory.
13 " MBA which has a much better CPU; the web browsing might feel faster.
People who buy the 11 inch like myself , buy it for the size of it. You can literally take this laptop anywhere. It feels sturdy enough, you don't have to worry about your hard-disk dying. Since most of its part are integrated, I really don't know how durable it is, however the exterior at least seems durable.
The really negative point about it is the price. It just expensive no matter how you look at it. Your paying for that portability at a premium. Your macbook Pro can do everything the MBA can do and more but it's bigger. For some people the size and weight are really important.
I could not say this laptop can replace your macBook Pro. Maybe in a few generations, but it feels like a great second laptop. If your a unix hacker, this laptop will be quite a toy, the command line seems the perfect size on it.
If your gonna be browsing and writing allot, I would go with the 13 inch MBA. The screen is just the right size for it, the battery life is better, and web browsing will feel faster.
However if you want the bare minimum and smallest macbook you can buy, get this. Just be ready to use it as your second laptop.
As for me, I am still debating weather to return it. There is nothing I can do on it that I can't on the 3.06 Ghz C2D. However it would be nice to have an extra laptop just in case, that you can use a learning tool and really hack your operating system and have fun with it.
If the price was less 599, it would be the best selling mac. Maybe it will be. For now, we shall see.
So if you read allot and don't write as much and need something really portable, I would recommend an iPad. Actually everyone should have one, it just an entirely different and amazing computer experience.
If you do heavy web browsing, writing and traveling and need that extra portability, and don't want to worry about your hard drive dying, 13 " MBA Air . I would recommend it for college kids.
If you need a powerful laptop, MacBook Pro >= 2.5 Ghz C2D or any i5,i7.
If you need an all in one powerfull computer at a great cost in regards to performance, and you want a really big screen, the iMac.
If you have one or more of the above, and need a second laptop and new toy. Also a new machine where you can test out stuff before you put it on other laptops. And you want to look like a cool hacker at the coffee shops or B&N, AND money is no thing.
2010 11" MBA Air
If I had to choose one computer, it would be the iPad. It just lets you focus on the task at hand, it blocks everything out. You feel so much closer and intimate with the content, than any other device.
Thanks All