When I read the weblogs about Apple's announcement about the new MacBook Airs and wanted one immediately.
I've always been a Windows guy. Except from 2002-to late 2006ish, technically. I bought the new dual core quicksilver power g4 mac when it came out in 02.
I had my problems with the mac then. They released their first version of OSX and it could dual boot with OS 9.
But I always kept a windows desktop handy just in case and back then not a lot of programs were compatible, I used it mainly for its photoshop/final cut prowess.
I've been building my own computers since I tore one apart in my dads office when I was in..the 3rd grade.
Anyways, prior to this I used to have a Sony Vaio but before that I bought the Adamo 13 when it first came out. I went through 7 Adamos because the logic board they custom made was pretty ****ed up. I still have one sitting in its box that I have to send to Dell so they can repair it but after 7 I kind of lost the heart to send in another, and thats why I bought the Vaio in March of this year.
Here is a review if you would like to read but I just wanted to reiterate what most people have been saying that this is a beautiful computer that can handle its own share of programs. Especially the resolution on this computer makes it worth it than any other 13 inch computers.
FYI, I use this machine mainly for Windows 7.
When I first bought it I wrestled with reinstalling mac osx and windows 7 like over 10 times to get it right.
Finally I settled on running Mac with only 15 gbs and using the rest for Windows. This avoids the long boot up into windows directly after completely deleting the Mac partition.
I don't know if people were more successful than I am but I went through 5 usb sticks to make them bootable but the mac didnt read them so I used an SD card and made it bootable and it worked.
_
The screen
Is extremely bright compared to my Vaio and Adamo. The Adamo was bright but I believe this to be significantly brighter albeit the Vaio was a matte screen instead of a glossy one. The extra screen real estate is always welcomed, prior to this I was looking at the Envy but from what found out they removed the option of having a higher resolution screen so I stopped looking there. It's to the point where I can still use the computer on the lowest and I mean lowest like only one away from off and still use it and sometimes the screen is too bright for me. The whites make me squint my eyes. But the display is gorgeous overall.
ALSO I love that they TOOK OUT the BLACK BEZEL. I would have gotten the macbook pro 15s maybe a year ago if they didnt have the black bezels but finally it is not black. I thought the black bezels were ugly as with the keys on a SILVER computer, would be find if the whole computer was dark but yeah. I can manage just black keys and the silver bezel.
The keyboard
is slightly disappointing because of the lack of backlight on the keys.
Also since I am using it as a Windows computer the change in the keys are hard to get used to but I used SharpKeys to change the registry on the keys for options and alt and have added page up/down, home and delete keys by using the f8-f10 keys and have worked for me.
People might flame me for buying a mac and installing windows but I am willing to make a compromise for a better built (in my opinion), thinner and cooler looking computer.
So for the most part, the keyboard is ok but loses points on the backlight and I am not marking points off for the orientation because it was my decision to use Windows on it.
The fan
is loud, when youre running windows 7. But to be fair it is not as loud when youre running Mac. It's loud enough to hear and notice on windows boot. For the most part the computer doesnt get too hot or anywhere near as hot as the macbook pros I have used that my friends have. Not a big deal.
The graphics
seem to be ok. The bench marks are up there so you can read those. All I do is play Starcraft 2, pokerstars and watch movies.
Most movies are fine but mine had trouble playing the mkv versions of 1080p movies. Anything below that runs well without a hiccup and you can do multiple things at once. The fan will kick in though.
The speakers
I love. On ultraportable computers the speakers literally suck @$$ and I know because I've used the Adamo and heard some others while shopping. While the BASS is not that great, the macbook air is EXTREMELY loud. For some reason though, the maximum seems louder on windows that in mac. And the most important of all it doesnt sound TINY. Its hard to explain this but its loud and decently full sounding. Most of the time I use my ultrasone or sennheiser headphones but when I get tired and just want to use the computer, its still adequate and fufillingly(?) loud. I never knew that the sound was coming out of the speakers. I think its truly genius.
The touchpad
works well in mac. Too well to the point I am jealous because on the Windows it's a bit stuttery. I do not know why because it is not a hardware issue. I guess its the windows drivers that Apple gives us. But thankfully there is a right click there. To be honest though it is too far to the right and too far on the bottom given the size of the trackpad. But I am still thankful there is a right click at the very least. I found it when I have to drag something using two fingers makes it work the best. If I wanted to drag an icon across the screen, I would click on the icon with my index finger and use my third finger to drag it and it works like a charm. The scrolling gestures work (using two fingers to scroll webpages etc). No problems there.
ETC
The computer itself is nicely built. It is sturdy and does not scratch that much yet. I am waiting for Speck to release a new case for the mba 13.
The webcam works nicely, I use it mostly for GMAIL video chats and skype.
The microphone is on the side, I dont know how well that works but friends on the other end can hear me well.
The ports are slightly disappointing. Would have liked more usb ports, hdmi and such without the need for a display adapter from apple. I am looking to buy it cause I have the 21 inch studio display but wont fit the adapter display port.
The hinge seems sturdy too. No problems there.
___________
Conclusion
I think this is a very portable cool laptop I have seen in awhile. It has enough oopmh to give you what you need if hardcore multimedia projects are not your thing.
I know most people use it for light photoshop, web, mail, movies, music and other light things. Games seem to work on light settings. It's not so bad but it's getting there, depends on what you play.
Also the battery is amazing. One of the more reasons that brought me over the edge was the battery. The screen resolution and battery were big +s. Never tested it running OSX but on the Windows 7 I went as far as 5 hours but I had some juice left over but always plugged it in. That is a big win for me. During those 6 hours I did a mix of video chat, watching movies while surfing the net, or a combination of those 3 and on the rare occasion a little poker added to it.
You can get better spec'd computers for half the price I paid but sometimes plastic just sucks. The thing I loved about the Adamo was that it was metal. I still love the Adamo design but their logic board failed me too many times. Also my MBA does not have the logic board issues that other people are facing.
Anyways, I hoped that gave you an insight into a person who uses the MBA 13 as a Windows 7 machine.
Thanks for reading as this is my first and only post.
I just felt it was necessary because it is a great machine and people who are able should know that they can buy a mac to run windows now. The experience is good enough to have as a primary machine or secondary.
I've always been a Windows guy. Except from 2002-to late 2006ish, technically. I bought the new dual core quicksilver power g4 mac when it came out in 02.
I had my problems with the mac then. They released their first version of OSX and it could dual boot with OS 9.
But I always kept a windows desktop handy just in case and back then not a lot of programs were compatible, I used it mainly for its photoshop/final cut prowess.
I've been building my own computers since I tore one apart in my dads office when I was in..the 3rd grade.
Anyways, prior to this I used to have a Sony Vaio but before that I bought the Adamo 13 when it first came out. I went through 7 Adamos because the logic board they custom made was pretty ****ed up. I still have one sitting in its box that I have to send to Dell so they can repair it but after 7 I kind of lost the heart to send in another, and thats why I bought the Vaio in March of this year.
Here is a review if you would like to read but I just wanted to reiterate what most people have been saying that this is a beautiful computer that can handle its own share of programs. Especially the resolution on this computer makes it worth it than any other 13 inch computers.
FYI, I use this machine mainly for Windows 7.
When I first bought it I wrestled with reinstalling mac osx and windows 7 like over 10 times to get it right.
Finally I settled on running Mac with only 15 gbs and using the rest for Windows. This avoids the long boot up into windows directly after completely deleting the Mac partition.
I don't know if people were more successful than I am but I went through 5 usb sticks to make them bootable but the mac didnt read them so I used an SD card and made it bootable and it worked.
_
The screen
Is extremely bright compared to my Vaio and Adamo. The Adamo was bright but I believe this to be significantly brighter albeit the Vaio was a matte screen instead of a glossy one. The extra screen real estate is always welcomed, prior to this I was looking at the Envy but from what found out they removed the option of having a higher resolution screen so I stopped looking there. It's to the point where I can still use the computer on the lowest and I mean lowest like only one away from off and still use it and sometimes the screen is too bright for me. The whites make me squint my eyes. But the display is gorgeous overall.
ALSO I love that they TOOK OUT the BLACK BEZEL. I would have gotten the macbook pro 15s maybe a year ago if they didnt have the black bezels but finally it is not black. I thought the black bezels were ugly as with the keys on a SILVER computer, would be find if the whole computer was dark but yeah. I can manage just black keys and the silver bezel.
The keyboard
is slightly disappointing because of the lack of backlight on the keys.
Also since I am using it as a Windows computer the change in the keys are hard to get used to but I used SharpKeys to change the registry on the keys for options and alt and have added page up/down, home and delete keys by using the f8-f10 keys and have worked for me.
People might flame me for buying a mac and installing windows but I am willing to make a compromise for a better built (in my opinion), thinner and cooler looking computer.
So for the most part, the keyboard is ok but loses points on the backlight and I am not marking points off for the orientation because it was my decision to use Windows on it.
The fan
is loud, when youre running windows 7. But to be fair it is not as loud when youre running Mac. It's loud enough to hear and notice on windows boot. For the most part the computer doesnt get too hot or anywhere near as hot as the macbook pros I have used that my friends have. Not a big deal.
The graphics
seem to be ok. The bench marks are up there so you can read those. All I do is play Starcraft 2, pokerstars and watch movies.
Most movies are fine but mine had trouble playing the mkv versions of 1080p movies. Anything below that runs well without a hiccup and you can do multiple things at once. The fan will kick in though.
The speakers
I love. On ultraportable computers the speakers literally suck @$$ and I know because I've used the Adamo and heard some others while shopping. While the BASS is not that great, the macbook air is EXTREMELY loud. For some reason though, the maximum seems louder on windows that in mac. And the most important of all it doesnt sound TINY. Its hard to explain this but its loud and decently full sounding. Most of the time I use my ultrasone or sennheiser headphones but when I get tired and just want to use the computer, its still adequate and fufillingly(?) loud. I never knew that the sound was coming out of the speakers. I think its truly genius.
The touchpad
works well in mac. Too well to the point I am jealous because on the Windows it's a bit stuttery. I do not know why because it is not a hardware issue. I guess its the windows drivers that Apple gives us. But thankfully there is a right click there. To be honest though it is too far to the right and too far on the bottom given the size of the trackpad. But I am still thankful there is a right click at the very least. I found it when I have to drag something using two fingers makes it work the best. If I wanted to drag an icon across the screen, I would click on the icon with my index finger and use my third finger to drag it and it works like a charm. The scrolling gestures work (using two fingers to scroll webpages etc). No problems there.
ETC
The computer itself is nicely built. It is sturdy and does not scratch that much yet. I am waiting for Speck to release a new case for the mba 13.
The webcam works nicely, I use it mostly for GMAIL video chats and skype.
The microphone is on the side, I dont know how well that works but friends on the other end can hear me well.
The ports are slightly disappointing. Would have liked more usb ports, hdmi and such without the need for a display adapter from apple. I am looking to buy it cause I have the 21 inch studio display but wont fit the adapter display port.
The hinge seems sturdy too. No problems there.
___________
Conclusion
I think this is a very portable cool laptop I have seen in awhile. It has enough oopmh to give you what you need if hardcore multimedia projects are not your thing.
I know most people use it for light photoshop, web, mail, movies, music and other light things. Games seem to work on light settings. It's not so bad but it's getting there, depends on what you play.
Also the battery is amazing. One of the more reasons that brought me over the edge was the battery. The screen resolution and battery were big +s. Never tested it running OSX but on the Windows 7 I went as far as 5 hours but I had some juice left over but always plugged it in. That is a big win for me. During those 6 hours I did a mix of video chat, watching movies while surfing the net, or a combination of those 3 and on the rare occasion a little poker added to it.
You can get better spec'd computers for half the price I paid but sometimes plastic just sucks. The thing I loved about the Adamo was that it was metal. I still love the Adamo design but their logic board failed me too many times. Also my MBA does not have the logic board issues that other people are facing.
Anyways, I hoped that gave you an insight into a person who uses the MBA 13 as a Windows 7 machine.
Thanks for reading as this is my first and only post.
I just felt it was necessary because it is a great machine and people who are able should know that they can buy a mac to run windows now. The experience is good enough to have as a primary machine or secondary.
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. I am also looking at buying this spec MBA with a view of using Win 7 on it (but not as the primary OS).
