Just upgraded to an Air - Wheeee!

[MultiFinder17]

Hullo all! I just upgraded my main laptop from my trusty 1.5GHz 12" PowerBook G4 to a MacBook Air, and all I can say is wow! I got a good deal on a used current-revision 1.86GHz model. This machine is amazing. It's fast, which'll be nice for most general computing tasks. It's light, which'll be extremely welcome in my bag all day. It's thin, so I can cram more stuff into my bag to make up for the lost weight :P

But really though, this thing is nothing short of amazing. I'm in love with the backlit keyboard and ambient light sensor adjusting things. I'd always thought that it would be annoying, but it isn't in the least. The gestures on the trackpad are taking some getting used to - I'm used to slamming the cursor into the bottom right corner of the screen for Exposé, but now the four-finger swipes are slowly taking the place of that. I love the keyboard - it's the most solid, pleasantly clicky laptop keyboard I've used, and that's saying a lot. The screen is amazing as well - great, rich, vibrant colours, insanely bright backlight, it's just stunning.

I'll just add that this is the first laptop that's ever made my PowerBook feel large in any way :) I'm in love! This should be a good laptop for me for years to come.

[lucifiel]

and the best part of all of this is, you're getting portability AND performance. Granted not the "oh i can play CoD 4 on max settings performance" but this is SO far away from the Atom based netbooks, and yet weigh about as much....just brilliant

Enjoy your new purchase!

[Scottsdale]

Congrats. If you ever want to speed it up tenfold, upgrade the drive to a Runcore SSD.

Good luck with your MBA.

[alphaod]

Congratulations mate!

[jmann]

Yay! It's a great computer. :)

[Winni]

... but this is SO far away from the Atom based netbooks, and yet weigh about as much....just brilliant

Yes. And that all at only five times the price of a netbook!

[lucifiel]

Yes. And that all at only five times the price of a netbook!

yes, but one gets what one pays for, though I suppose it isn't precisely fair to compare the two.

[draa]

Congrats on your Air, mate! Very good choice! :)

[greygray]

Congratulations! You're be getting a lot of curious looks from on-lookers and passers-by from such a beautiful device. :) I however, switched from an MBA to a 17" UMBP for the added features. Anyway, good luck on your MBA! ;)

[dan5.5]

Congrats. They are great little machines. I am thinking of getting one to replace my netbook

[MultiFinder17]

Thanks for the congrats y'all!

A few things I've noticed about the Air since I got it:
1. The screen is much nicer than I'd imagined it would be - it's insanely bright, its colours are beautiful, and it's just an overall gorgeous screen. Also, the screen seems massive - but that probably has something to do with the fact that I'm used to a 12" 1024x768 screen ;)
2. Remote Disk and Remote Install OS X work far better than I'd imagined they would. I thought that it would be a case of "it's slow and awful, but it works" but it's not at all. Things install just as fast as they would if the disk were actually in the machine; it's just wonderful.
3. It's *silent*. I love quiet computers. I have a mini as my main desktop, and love the lack of noise from it. This machine achieves the same level of silence, and it's incredibly blissful.
4. It's fast. Many seem to treat the Air as apple's netbook-equivalent machine. It's nowhere near those things. It's a full-blown, powerful computer.
5. The build quality is amazing. I never found the quality or rigidness of my 12" PowerBook lacking, and it is far superior to most other plastictastic laptops out there, but this is the first laptop that I've ever held that makes the PowerBook seem, well, lacking in its structure. The Air just feels so solid, it's amazing in something this small, thin, and light.

Overall, I'm extremely impressed with this machine, and look forward to many long years of service from it!

[stoconnell]

Thanks for the congrats y'all!

A few things I've noticed about the Air since I got it:
1. The screen is much nicer than I'd imagined it would be - it's insanely bright, its colours are beautiful, and it's just an overall gorgeous screen. Also, the screen seems massive - but that probably has something to do with the fact that I'm used to a 12" 1024x768 screen ;)
2. Remote Disk and Remote Install OS X work far better than I'd imagined they would. I thought that it would be a case of "it's slow and awful, but it works" but it's not at all. Things install just as fast as they would if the disk were actually in the machine; it's just wonderful.
3. It's *silent*. I love quiet computers. I have a mini as my main desktop, and love the lack of noise from it. This machine achieves the same level of silence, and it's incredibly blissful.
4. It's fast. Many seem to treat the Air as apple's netbook-equivalent machine. It's nowhere near those things. It's a full-blown, powerful computer.
5. The build quality is amazing. I never found the quality or rigidness of my 12" PowerBook lacking, and it is far superior to most other plastictastic laptops out there, but this is the first laptop that I've ever held that makes the PowerBook seem, well, lacking in its structure. The Air just feels so solid, it's amazing in something this small, thin, and light.

Overall, I'm extremely impressed with this machine, and look forward to many long years of service from it!

Well then, it's probably time to update your signature ;) The other thing that is just so amazing about the MBA (and I would guess any of the newer Macs) is just how big and useful the touchpad is and how much one grows to rely on it. I never use either an external keyboard or mouse with the MBA, which is something that I cannot say about the first generation MBP from work.

[ChevyMan]

Now you can save money by not buying a case. You can just use a giant freaking envelope!

Great purchase...

[coast1ja]

Yep, you can't really appreciate the power, design, and build quality of an MBA until you use one for awhile.

I went from a big clunky laptop to a netbook, then finally to a MBA. I will never go back!

[bmstrong]

Very cool! Enjoy your new purchase.

[bmstrong]

yes, but one gets what one pays for, though I suppose it isn't precisely fair to compare the two.

And that begs the question: I wonder what he paid for it? What's a "good deal"?

[MultiFinder17]

And that begs the question: I wonder what he paid for it? What's a "good deal"?

Ah, fair point, forgot about that :p

I got it from a reseller online, Mac of All Trades, for $1100. Seeing as how it's the same model Apple's currently selling for $1500, and it was described as (and arrived in!) mint condition, I'd call it a good deal :)

[nepfotos]

since less than a week I am a proud owner of a MBA 2.13, and it's great! The first laptop I love to take around!
Let's keep on enjoying our MBAs:D
Peter

[bmstrong]

Ah, fair point, forgot about that :p

I got it from a reseller online, Mac of All Trades, for $1100. Seeing as how it's the same model Apple's currently selling for $1500, and it was described as (and arrived in!) mint condition, I'd call it a good deal :)

Yeah, you did well. Thanks for the info.

[cfitz7111]

Ah, fair point, forgot about that :p

I got it from a reseller online, Mac of All Trades, for $1100. Seeing as how it's the same model Apple's currently selling for $1500, and it was described as (and arrived in!) mint condition, I'd call it a good deal :)

Congrats, and enjoy. Mac of All Trades, certainly has some good deals, and you found one, enjoy