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MacBook Air First Impressions and Notes
- Thread starter arn
- Start date
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I recieved my macbook air yesterday. After a whole day of playing with it these are my initial impressions:
The air looks absolutely beautiful. I thought I would find the black keys on aluminum a bit tacky, but I actually like it. I absolutely loved the backlit keyboard, hopefully Apple will incorporate it into future versions of the macbook. The aluminum enclosure is very nice with surprisingly little heat. My friends black macbook gets much hotter than the air. With a 13.3" display the air has the same "footprint" as the macbook. The difference is when you compare them side by side. I always liked the style of the macbook, but when placed next to a macbook air, they look HUGE and bloated. It really is that thin!
The aluminum body feels very, very tight. Although it is so thin I can actually pick it up from a corner and feel absolutely no bending or warping, the thing is solid as a rock. I would never have dared to do that with my older IBM Thinkpad. In regards to weight, those 2 pounds do make a differnce.
The operating system was pretty responsive, as it should be with 2 Gb of RAM. It took Office 2008 from 5 to 8 seconds to open (yes, I timed it too
). I was pretty surprised at how zippy and responsive the laptop is considering that I ordered the base 1.6 GHz model. It is pretty much on par with the macbook. I wouldnt recommend it for gaming, 3D modeling or HD decoding, but it should be more than enough for normal computing needs.
The screen is a 13.3" LED backlit which is brighter than the macbook version. When I open the case it instantly turns on which is nice. i am not a fan glossy screens, but so far it hasnt bothered me much.
My biggest worry when buying the macbook were the reports of non replacable battery and puny hard drive (the SSD option at $999 is waaay to expensive for me). Fortunately this doesnt seem to be the case at all. Reports from mac sites demonstrate that the battery is actually pretty easy to replace, as all you need is a screwdriver. With this in mind, its only a matter of time before third party replacement batteries are available. Removing the hard drive takes a little more work, but its definately doable. The only problem is that the largest size comaptible 1.8" HDD available is precisely 80 Gb. This shouldnt be a problem as SSD drive prices are falling more and more every day, with reports saying that their prices should rive HDD prices by the end of this year/ early next year.
The "lack" of features is probably not going to be as big a problem as I thought. In all the years I have had my Thinkpad laptop, I probably burned less than 10 CD's/ DVD's. If I do find the need to burn a CD/ DVD I already have my 24" iMac as my primary desktop computer for that. When transfering files I mainly use my trusty 4 Gb USB drive which is more than enough. I installed Office 2008 using remote disk, which is an application that permits the macbook to "borrow" the disk drive from another computer to unstall apps. It worked as advertised, Office 2008 installed without any problems whatsoever.
The speaker sounded ok as it is mono, but as with any laptop I recommend using the headphone jack. The air also has a built in isight camera on top of the screen, it worked great. The one thing that I really missed was a firewire port. The external hard drive I use to back up my info and store my movies is firewire only, which means I am going to be forced to shell out some money for a USB external hard drive for use with my macbook air. Other than that the other "missing" features would most likely not be missed at all.
So after playing with the macbook air for more than a day I have to say I am pretty happy with it. One thing to keep in mind is that the macbook air is NOT meant to be used as a primary computer. If you decide to buy one I recommend you at least have a decent desktop for you primary computing needs. In the end I believe that Apple always meant for the macbook air to be used as a second computer, where portability was more important.
I know this was a bit long winded, but I hope it gives you all a better idea of what you are getting into if you decide to get a macbook air.
The air looks absolutely beautiful. I thought I would find the black keys on aluminum a bit tacky, but I actually like it. I absolutely loved the backlit keyboard, hopefully Apple will incorporate it into future versions of the macbook. The aluminum enclosure is very nice with surprisingly little heat. My friends black macbook gets much hotter than the air. With a 13.3" display the air has the same "footprint" as the macbook. The difference is when you compare them side by side. I always liked the style of the macbook, but when placed next to a macbook air, they look HUGE and bloated. It really is that thin!
The aluminum body feels very, very tight. Although it is so thin I can actually pick it up from a corner and feel absolutely no bending or warping, the thing is solid as a rock. I would never have dared to do that with my older IBM Thinkpad. In regards to weight, those 2 pounds do make a differnce.
The operating system was pretty responsive, as it should be with 2 Gb of RAM. It took Office 2008 from 5 to 8 seconds to open (yes, I timed it too
). I was pretty surprised at how zippy and responsive the laptop is considering that I ordered the base 1.6 GHz model. It is pretty much on par with the macbook. I wouldnt recommend it for gaming, 3D modeling or HD decoding, but it should be more than enough for normal computing needs. The screen is a 13.3" LED backlit which is brighter than the macbook version. When I open the case it instantly turns on which is nice. i am not a fan glossy screens, but so far it hasnt bothered me much.
My biggest worry when buying the macbook were the reports of non replacable battery and puny hard drive (the SSD option at $999 is waaay to expensive for me). Fortunately this doesnt seem to be the case at all. Reports from mac sites demonstrate that the battery is actually pretty easy to replace, as all you need is a screwdriver. With this in mind, its only a matter of time before third party replacement batteries are available. Removing the hard drive takes a little more work, but its definately doable. The only problem is that the largest size comaptible 1.8" HDD available is precisely 80 Gb. This shouldnt be a problem as SSD drive prices are falling more and more every day, with reports saying that their prices should rive HDD prices by the end of this year/ early next year.
The "lack" of features is probably not going to be as big a problem as I thought. In all the years I have had my Thinkpad laptop, I probably burned less than 10 CD's/ DVD's. If I do find the need to burn a CD/ DVD I already have my 24" iMac as my primary desktop computer for that. When transfering files I mainly use my trusty 4 Gb USB drive which is more than enough. I installed Office 2008 using remote disk, which is an application that permits the macbook to "borrow" the disk drive from another computer to unstall apps. It worked as advertised, Office 2008 installed without any problems whatsoever.
The speaker sounded ok as it is mono, but as with any laptop I recommend using the headphone jack. The air also has a built in isight camera on top of the screen, it worked great. The one thing that I really missed was a firewire port. The external hard drive I use to back up my info and store my movies is firewire only, which means I am going to be forced to shell out some money for a USB external hard drive for use with my macbook air. Other than that the other "missing" features would most likely not be missed at all.
So after playing with the macbook air for more than a day I have to say I am pretty happy with it. One thing to keep in mind is that the macbook air is NOT meant to be used as a primary computer. If you decide to buy one I recommend you at least have a decent desktop for you primary computing needs. In the end I believe that Apple always meant for the macbook air to be used as a second computer, where portability was more important.
I know this was a bit long winded, but I hope it gives you all a better idea of what you are getting into if you decide to get a macbook air.
I spent about a half hour with the Air at the Apple store on 5th ave. Looks good and runs better than I expected but there is no way this thing is worth $1800. I honestly don't understand how anyone can justify the price tag on this machine. I don't care if you crap gold nuggets, if you pay almost two grand for the MBA, you're a sucker.
I'm sorry we have a requirement here that if you insult our purchase you need to hand over your last 12 months of bank statements, so we may look over them.
Here's my impressions post:
Ahhh, Apple. How I love and hate thee at the same time. You are sucking away all my money, but you make such beautiful toys, I am unable to resist.
The Macbook Air (MBA) is really an engineering marvel, a thing of beauty wrapped in an almost unbelievable package. Sometimes I just like to look at it in all it's thin and shiny glory. Typing away on it as I am now just feels good, it's like it wants me to keep singing its praises to anyone I can.
But OK, beyond all the shininess and coolness, is it really a big deal? It's 2.3ish pounds heavier than the regular Macbooks, and not as powerful. Is the thinner size and lower weight worth the cost and tradeoff of computing power? Clearly that's an individual question and really depends on one's needs/lusts/desires. Not having owned any previous Mac laptop, it's hard for me to compare. What I can say is the size and form factor need to be experienced first hand to appreciate. Carrying this thing up and down the stairs feels like carrying a really really thin book. Bouncing it on my legs while on the couch it's nearly weightless. Yet when you open and up and start interacting, the build quality feels very solid, and you pretty much just feel like you are using a really well built laptop. It just screams "use me" when compared to my old clunky 6+ pound laptop. I used to think that was a fairly lightweight computer relative to the old "desktop replacement" I had owned many many years back (8+ pounds); it now feels like a boat anchor in comparison. The light weight in and of itself as a "feature" is really intangible, though; I think in the long run it will prove to be a factor that encourages me to use it more often in places/situations I might not have considered in the past.
So enough about the form factor. Other niceties include the absolutely gorgeous screen. I don't know what Apple does with their screens, but they always seem just that much more vibrant than comparably sized screens from other vendors. The full size keyboard with it's backlighting is also extremely nice. This is where it really stands apart from the "ultraportable" market. I've seen units that weigh less or with a smaller footprint, but generally the sacrifice is in the screen and/or keyboard. It has a great feel to it, a touch more solid and comfortable than the new skinny iMac keyboard. Speaking of touch, this is also the best touchpad I've ever experienced. I used to hate touchpads, and I have tried plenty of them. This one just works. I am now completely comfortable with general things like web browsing and application navigation. The multi finger gestures, etc make it a breeze. Also love the iPhone-esque zoom in feature. In fact I just used it a second ago so I could see this text better as I typed.
In terms of other stuff, what can I say? It's really a full up Mac packed into the unit. You get Leopard and iLife pre-installed, for better or worse, and all the niceties and features anyone who's used a Mac before is used to. The hard drive isn't the fastest (boot up time was noticeably slower than the iMac) but is insanely quiet (iPod quiet). The unit does get warm at times and the fan goes on (not so iPod quiet), which is considerably louder and more noticeable. It's unfortunate they weren't able to get the 45nm Penryn's into these units, but I suppose that will be in the next version.
Applications wise, I haven't been able to experiment as much as I'd like. I fiddled a bit with iTunes and iPhoto, no surprises there of course. Slingbox installed and ran flawlessy, so I'll be able to use it as a portable TV. Also, it took a while, but I was able to use Bootcamp to get Windows XP installed. Dual booting worked fine, and I was able to install my first test game (Space Rangers 2) in XP. Frankly I'd prefer to stay in OSX as much as possible, but it's nice to know I can get in some gaming in XP as well. The biggest issue is the lack of a CD/DVD drive for gaming. I did get the USB external drive but it would still be nice to not have to lug the thing around for games. I tried to get HOMM V to work (Mac native) but had some issues with the graphics. Right now I'm trying to install Shadowbane to see if I can get it running (that should be interesting).
All in all I'm very pleased and really enjoying the MBA. I know this is certainly not the unit for everyone, but I think anyone who likes tech can appreciate how well engineered of a product this is. Realizing this is still the "honeymoon period", I'll have to reassess after a month and more, but as with the iPhone, I don't think I'll be feeling the buyer's remorse as I have with many other electronics I've purchased in the past.
Ahhh, Apple. How I love and hate thee at the same time. You are sucking away all my money, but you make such beautiful toys, I am unable to resist.
The Macbook Air (MBA) is really an engineering marvel, a thing of beauty wrapped in an almost unbelievable package. Sometimes I just like to look at it in all it's thin and shiny glory. Typing away on it as I am now just feels good, it's like it wants me to keep singing its praises to anyone I can.
But OK, beyond all the shininess and coolness, is it really a big deal? It's 2.3ish pounds heavier than the regular Macbooks, and not as powerful. Is the thinner size and lower weight worth the cost and tradeoff of computing power? Clearly that's an individual question and really depends on one's needs/lusts/desires. Not having owned any previous Mac laptop, it's hard for me to compare. What I can say is the size and form factor need to be experienced first hand to appreciate. Carrying this thing up and down the stairs feels like carrying a really really thin book. Bouncing it on my legs while on the couch it's nearly weightless. Yet when you open and up and start interacting, the build quality feels very solid, and you pretty much just feel like you are using a really well built laptop. It just screams "use me" when compared to my old clunky 6+ pound laptop. I used to think that was a fairly lightweight computer relative to the old "desktop replacement" I had owned many many years back (8+ pounds); it now feels like a boat anchor in comparison. The light weight in and of itself as a "feature" is really intangible, though; I think in the long run it will prove to be a factor that encourages me to use it more often in places/situations I might not have considered in the past.
So enough about the form factor. Other niceties include the absolutely gorgeous screen. I don't know what Apple does with their screens, but they always seem just that much more vibrant than comparably sized screens from other vendors. The full size keyboard with it's backlighting is also extremely nice. This is where it really stands apart from the "ultraportable" market. I've seen units that weigh less or with a smaller footprint, but generally the sacrifice is in the screen and/or keyboard. It has a great feel to it, a touch more solid and comfortable than the new skinny iMac keyboard. Speaking of touch, this is also the best touchpad I've ever experienced. I used to hate touchpads, and I have tried plenty of them. This one just works. I am now completely comfortable with general things like web browsing and application navigation. The multi finger gestures, etc make it a breeze. Also love the iPhone-esque zoom in feature. In fact I just used it a second ago so I could see this text better as I typed.
In terms of other stuff, what can I say? It's really a full up Mac packed into the unit. You get Leopard and iLife pre-installed, for better or worse, and all the niceties and features anyone who's used a Mac before is used to. The hard drive isn't the fastest (boot up time was noticeably slower than the iMac) but is insanely quiet (iPod quiet). The unit does get warm at times and the fan goes on (not so iPod quiet), which is considerably louder and more noticeable. It's unfortunate they weren't able to get the 45nm Penryn's into these units, but I suppose that will be in the next version.
Applications wise, I haven't been able to experiment as much as I'd like. I fiddled a bit with iTunes and iPhoto, no surprises there of course. Slingbox installed and ran flawlessy, so I'll be able to use it as a portable TV. Also, it took a while, but I was able to use Bootcamp to get Windows XP installed. Dual booting worked fine, and I was able to install my first test game (Space Rangers 2) in XP. Frankly I'd prefer to stay in OSX as much as possible, but it's nice to know I can get in some gaming in XP as well. The biggest issue is the lack of a CD/DVD drive for gaming. I did get the USB external drive but it would still be nice to not have to lug the thing around for games. I tried to get HOMM V to work (Mac native) but had some issues with the graphics. Right now I'm trying to install Shadowbane to see if I can get it running (that should be interesting).
All in all I'm very pleased and really enjoying the MBA. I know this is certainly not the unit for everyone, but I think anyone who likes tech can appreciate how well engineered of a product this is. Realizing this is still the "honeymoon period", I'll have to reassess after a month and more, but as with the iPhone, I don't think I'll be feeling the buyer's remorse as I have with many other electronics I've purchased in the past.
Well, I don't actually have mine yet (1TB). But yes, you can easily partition the TC for separate backup and storage partitions. Its more of a Time Machine (backup software) thing than a Time Capsule thing. You could also create separate partitions to backup separate computers.
And you didn't ask but, technically, while you can actually access the backup partition for regular file storage, I wouldn't.
Which brings up what you should be storing on the TC. Time Machine will protect you against deleted files, data file corruption, that sort of thing. But if you had a catastrophic disk failure on the Time Capsule unit, you'd not only loose the storage files but also the backups.
If something is irreplaceable, never back it up to the same disk that the original file is on.
In MacBook Pro yes but in Air it's F5 and F6 (you can verify this from the keyboard pictures in Apple.com). There's apparently no dedicated key to turn it on and off (F8 in MBP).
For reference: about adjusting the backlit keyboard
Personally, I think that if you buy the Air you really should buy the Superdrive too. Even though I have other computers that if I need to use the Remote Disk I can, it sure was handy yesterday to reload Office by popping on the USB drive. I think it's Windows security that won't let you load remotely and not the Apple remote disk program.
Typical time to Rev B?
There are often issues with any new computer line so I'm wondering how long it generally takes to straighten out the kinks (assuming no fatal flaws etc).
Any ideas on the typical time to Rev B or at least a sensible time to leave it before ordering an MBA if not in a particular hurry? (based on the community's experience with previous Macs). Thanks
There are often issues with any new computer line so I'm wondering how long it generally takes to straighten out the kinks (assuming no fatal flaws etc).
Any ideas on the typical time to Rev B or at least a sensible time to leave it before ordering an MBA if not in a particular hurry? (based on the community's experience with previous Macs). Thanks
Can someone tell me....
how far the clamshell opens on the Macbook Air? My Macbook stops at about 120 degrees and I sometimes find situations where I wished it opened further. My small Sony Vaio almost opened to 180 degrees and that was useful occasionally.
Also, for those with improper ergonomic typing styles like me, how does the front edge feel on your wrists when typing? My Macbook edges are very sharp and uncomfortable when I type.
how far the clamshell opens on the Macbook Air? My Macbook stops at about 120 degrees and I sometimes find situations where I wished it opened further. My small Sony Vaio almost opened to 180 degrees and that was useful occasionally.
Also, for those with improper ergonomic typing styles like me, how does the front edge feel on your wrists when typing? My Macbook edges are very sharp and uncomfortable when I type.
They are sharp, too. Sorry, so far that's my only rub on the machine. The keyboard seems to be a bit further back than the MB. One nice thing is it's light enough to balance it into a decent position to not get the rubbing on edge.
The clamshell doesn't open as far as the MB, but close. It is so light that opening it any further would make it quite dipsy which is why I think they designed it hat way.
Oh, I did lightly sand down that nasty sharp lip on my MB but don't think that's an option on the Air...
I dont remember the last time I used a drive
Me not so much either - just when you really need too...
I've been using Office X forever. Just never got around to upgrading something that was working fine. After using migration asst. to new Air all my old non UB app's icon's showed up as exe unix icons and none would work so I was kinda' forced to reload the new office '04 I've had forever. It was a lot easier plugging into usb than turning on other computer. I also do on occasion use handbrake to covert some of my dvd's when traveling or for ipod transferring.
That's not possible on an SSD model, so I assume you're talking HDD version, right?
Why wouldn't it be possible on the SSD model? It has a fan too. But yes, I'm talking about the HDD version.
What gets me is that anyone here could have more features/functionality by getting a macbook and then placing an SSD in there. At least this way - the computer itself won't be crippled in terms of functionality and it'll be much faster.
How about the LED Backlight feature, or the Backlit Keyboard feature, or the 3lb weight feature? or the Aluminium case feature? or the Multitouch trackpad feature?
Or awesome build quality compared to MB's? The MB's have their place - I'll give my old one to my kids...
My first 24 hours
I have used the mba for the past day. Here are some thoughts:
- as nice a most are posting from a physical standpoint. Keyboard nice, case fantastic, screen bright. All good.
- Added handbrake and works great. I am using external superdrive to get movies from handbrake to itunes on mba
- added microsoft office 2008 for mac and it also works fine. Also added microsoft remote desktop to control my work pc. No problems there either
- I use a Verizon wireless usb broadbank card and it works fine. It connects directly to the mba or I can use an extender cable
- issues: fan is louder then I expected. Not crazy loud but more then I would have thought. I want to see if others start reporting this issue or if it is my machine. Ripping dvd's is intense so that might be why it is on a lot.
- The MBA does not see to lay down totally flat on my desk. The from left corner is slightly raised - just enough to make a sound if I press anything on the far left front side of the unit. It is probably the fault of the little round black rubber pads but it is annoying. I will also watch to see if others have an issue. Not a deal breaker but still annoying.
- Overall - happy with unit and I think it will be another apple success - for the right erson in the right environment. If you look at the cost and specs all by itself, the price and feature set are hard to justify. If you look at it across the entire line of Apple laptops, it starts to make more sense to me.
I have used the mba for the past day. Here are some thoughts:
- as nice a most are posting from a physical standpoint. Keyboard nice, case fantastic, screen bright. All good.
- Added handbrake and works great. I am using external superdrive to get movies from handbrake to itunes on mba
- added microsoft office 2008 for mac and it also works fine. Also added microsoft remote desktop to control my work pc. No problems there either
- I use a Verizon wireless usb broadbank card and it works fine. It connects directly to the mba or I can use an extender cable
- issues: fan is louder then I expected. Not crazy loud but more then I would have thought. I want to see if others start reporting this issue or if it is my machine. Ripping dvd's is intense so that might be why it is on a lot.
- The MBA does not see to lay down totally flat on my desk. The from left corner is slightly raised - just enough to make a sound if I press anything on the far left front side of the unit. It is probably the fault of the little round black rubber pads but it is annoying. I will also watch to see if others have an issue. Not a deal breaker but still annoying.
- Overall - happy with unit and I think it will be another apple success - for the right erson in the right environment. If you look at the cost and specs all by itself, the price and feature set are hard to justify. If you look at it across the entire line of Apple laptops, it starts to make more sense to me.
My fan is whisper quiet unless you get a cpu intensive process going - which handbrake is. Mine runs routinely at 2500 but will crank up to 6200 and then you notice it. It's only kicked on while running DU for me.
Mine lays flat on all feet. Guess I got lucky.
One thing; my battery is only showing 93% health - already??
Tried calibrating and it went from 95 to 93%. Looks like I'll go through the SMC reset routine and see if that helps. I would like to have this new machine at least starting with 97-101%.