According to NPD, the MacBook Air is the best selling ultrabook in the US

[Brandon263]

The MacBook Air had 56 percent market share in the thin-and-light laptop market from January to May.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-5...-rules-thin-and-light-laptop-market-says-npd/

 

[James717]

I'm really not surprised.

ASUS, HP, Sony, Lenovo, Samsung, ACER and Toshiba makes great ultrabooks, but are so diluted and "similar" that it's really hard for any of those to have a clear winner. But Apple is just better across the boards that based on brand recognition, it's the easiest as well as the the safest choice among the sea of average ultra books.

I used IBM X-series for many years (a decade ago) and it was by far the BEST ultra book around. Then Air came out and IBM got taken over by Lenovo (China based company) and good as they are, their think tank sank and nothing new came out ever since.

I also used a Toshiba, ACER, and all those other ultrabooks. The Mac Air wins hands down. Although those ultrabooks do have a few benefits here and there.

Right now, I am playing with my colleague's Sony ultrabook. 13 inch, touchscreen, awesome graphics, ultra slim, ultra light, capable of all those nifty editing softwares. But truth is, I still wouldn't buy a Sony with my own money. It's great. But not time-tested great. Just fun for now. A novelty thing.

I'm not surprised Air gets 56% of the World's ultrabook sales. It's like the iPhone. Great phone. But if you were to buy an Android, you've got like 10 choices. Really a headache to find the right Android. But the right OS? Apple it is!

 

[d3vilsadvocate]

I had Sony laptops, Dell, a Asus Zenbook, a HP netbook and many more.

The build qualy in all of these devices was severely lacking (yes, that includes the Zenbook). No-one seems to get the fan handling right (not sure what's so difficult about copying Apple's 2000RPM min always-on and inaudible fan solution) and no-one seems to get touchpads right either. With the new haswell MBAs doing so well with in terms of power, there's another thing that sets Macbooks apart from Wintel laptops.

Oh and not to mention that Win8 just sucks, plain and simple.

I've been let down so many times by other producers, I'm sure others feel the same and just go down the Apple route. Dell anyone? I'd be surprised if they are still around in five years to be honest, which is a bummer because their monitors are really good

 

[ctyrider]

No surprise here. I will argue that the Haswell 13" MBA is the best laptop ever made.

 

[tim100]

No surprise here. I will argue that the Haswell 13" MBA is the best laptop ever made.

not retina. so it cant be best laptop even in apples line up

 

[ctyrider]

not retina. so it cant be best laptop even in apples line up

Yes it can, and it is. Lack of retina display is well offset by half a day battery life, excellent performance and ultra portability.

 

[ET iPhone Home]

The MacBook Air had 56 percent market share in the thin-and-light laptop market from January to May.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-5...-rules-thin-and-light-laptop-market-says-npd/

I never thought to consider my MBA was an ultra book. I thought if the processor was ULV, then it would classify it as an ultra book, otherwise, I consider my 2011 MBA to be a dual core i5 notebook.

 

[ET iPhone Home]

By the way, it addition to my MBA, I'm purchasing the new Sony Vaio Pro 13 Haswell Ultrabook: Check it out.





I believe this is the best ultra book.

 

[hockeyfanatic]

Yes it can, and it is. Lack of retina display is well offset by half a day battery life, excellent performance and ultra portability.

you can get the mba 4/128/13 and ipad retina for about same price of just mbpr 13. the mba is ok with out retina. Ipad is not. imho
mbpr 15 is awesome desktop replacement/workhorse if needed, be careful with config for $$

 

[Riker88]

No surprise here. I will argue that the Haswell 13" MBA is the best laptop ever made.

The only thing lacking is a 1080p display on the 13 inch. No need for Retina - over rated in a small screen.

 

[zipur]

The only thing lacking is a 1080p display on the 13 inch. No need for Retina - over rated in a small screen.

I'm with you there, I would rather have battery life. That is the key!
I hate searching for a power cable or worried that the battery is gonna die soon. So Retinia -- No.
I also agree with the 1080p out, that is a nice feature to have since there are so few deviced that do TB. I would love to see one TB port go away for that.

 

[scaredpoet]

By the way, it addition to my MBA, I'm purchasing the new Sony Vaio Pro 13 Haswell Ultrabook: Check it out.

I believe this is the best ultra book.

Yeah... no.

The Vaio line has always been a brand of computers that are premium-priced with little actual justification for it. They load their systems up with bloatware (Sony Media Apps, Artrage studio) that has no market share and is stuck in proprietary, Sony-only formats (not even compatible with other windows laptops). The reliability has been iffy, and support has never been good. I've had to tangle with Sony's warranty repair department several times, and every experience was a lousy one.

On top of this the physical design of their laptops (this one included) with the overbrushed metal and ultrasharp 90 degree corners, is that it's perpetually coming from what some guy in the 1980s though the future would look like.

At least they finally got the memo and stopped putting MemoryStick slots in all their computers, and are using SD now. That format never took off.

 

[tmiw]

They load their systems up with bloatware (Sony Media Apps, Artrage studio) that has no market share and is stuck in proprietary, Sony-only formats (not even compatible with other windows laptops).

Sony seems to provide something called "Fresh Start" now where they don't install most of the bloatware. Of course, it costs extra money because they only offer it for Windows 8 Professional, but it's a start.

 

[falconeight]

you can get the mba 4/128/13 and ipad retina for about same price of just mbpr 13. the mba is ok with out retina. Ipad is not. imho
mbpr 15 is awesome desktop replacement/workhorse if needed, be careful with config for $$

That doesn't make any sense. Retina is just a better screen on any device. The Ipad mini and MBA have terrible screens. I have a MBA and yes the batter life is great but the screen is horrible. I deal with it but I still understand the screen is terrible. Pixeled and washed out, its like being stuck in the 90's.

 

[scaredpoet]

Sony seems to provide something called "Fresh Start" now where they don't install most of the bloatware. Of course, it costs extra money because they only offer it for Windows 8 Professional, but it's a start.

And a finish. If I have to pay extra for the "privilege" of uninstalling software that they've foisted on users and does little but take up space, that's a non-starter on principle. You'd be better off going with Lenovo or Toshiba or HP.

 

[ctyrider]

I have a MBA and yes the batter life is great but the screen is horrible. I deal with it but I still understand the screen is terrible. Pixeled and washed out, its like being stuck in the 90's.

No, you don't "understand" anything, although you might think you do. 1440x900 is great for a 13 inch screen, and no one with any sense of objectivity would call MBA display "pixelated and washed out". In the 90s you would be using 800x600 TFT screen, or more likely passive matrix if you were on a budget. But I suspect you aren't old enough to have been using a computer in the nineties to actually remember that.

 

[falconeight]

No, you don't "understand" anything, although you might think you do. 1440x900 is great for a 13 inch screen, and no one with any sense of objectivity would call MBA display "pixelated and washed out". In the 90s you would be using 800x600 TFT screen, or more likely passive matrix if you were on a budget. But I suspect you aren't old enough to have been using a computer in the nineties to actually remember that.

Why use personal attacks to defend your argument. Yes the MBA lasts a long time and the size and weight is amazing. The screen is pixelated and washed out. I am not making that up its a fact. If the MBA came with 8gb, 256 gb ssd, and priced at $999 then it would be a great laptop. $1200 for that screen is ridiculous. This picture is exactly the difference in what "I" see when using a rMBP and a MBA. You might see something different but "I" don't. The pic might not look that different if your not on a retina screen.

 

[tmiw]

And a finish. If I have to pay extra for the "privilege" of uninstalling software that they've foisted on users and does little but take up space, that's a non-starter on principle. You'd be better off going with Lenovo or Toshiba or HP.

All of them foist software on us, including Apple. It just happens that iLife is a lot better than some of the crap the PC makers have.

 

[alexrmc92]

Why use personal attacks to defend your argument. Yes the MBA lasts a long time and the size and weight is amazing. The screen is pixelated and washed out. I am not making that up its a fact. If the MBA came with 8gb, 256 gb ssd, and priced at $999 then it would be a great laptop. $1200 for that screen is ridiculous. This picture is exactly the difference in what "I" see when using a rMBP and a MBA. You might see something different but "I" don't. The pic might not look that different if your not on a retina screen.

This is a tad misleading, the non retina pic looks like office running in non retina mode on a retina screen. My office looks nothing like that picture on my 2013 MBA.

 

[falconeight]

This is a tad misleading, the non retina pic looks like office running in non retina mode on a retina screen. My office looks nothing like that picture on my 2013 MBA.

It looks just like that on the one I had. Take a screen shot and post it. Here is one I just took off of my retina. I would love to see one from your MBA.

 

[hockeyfanatic]

That doesn't make any sense. Retina is just a better screen on any device. The Ipad mini and MBA have terrible screens. I have a MBA and yes the batter life is great but the screen is horrible. I deal with it but I still understand the screen is terrible. Pixeled and washed out, its like being stuck in the 90's.

I completely agree with you on ipad mini. waste of money.
That's why I didn't mention 'mini' in my statement. The non mini, Does have a retina screen, and will complement the MBA that does not have retina screen.

I do disagree with the MBA statement. The screen is perfectly nice.
The current rmbp 13 is not worth the cost as of now in regards to the mba refresh. The rmbp 15 is, but that's a different category, desktop replacement.

 

[Mezmorizor]

Why use personal attacks to defend your argument. Yes the MBA lasts a long time and the size and weight is amazing. The screen is pixelated and washed out. I am not making that up its a fact. If the MBA came with 8gb, 256 gb ssd, and priced at $999 then it would be a great laptop. $1200 for that screen is ridiculous. This picture is exactly the difference in what "I" see when using a rMBP and a MBA. You might see something different but "I" don't. The pic might not look that different if your not on a retina screen.

You mean a screen looks pixelated when you zoom it well past it's resolution? Who would have guessed?

 

[falconeight]

You mean a screen looks pixelated when you zoom it well past it's resolution? Who would have guessed?

No its pixelated at normal resolution. Lets not be fanboys of our given tech. I would never argue that the rMBP is a speed demon or that it plays games better than any other computer. Mostly because its not true. The MBA screen is mediocre at best. Im not trying to put it down its just the truth. Post a pic of text from your air at normal resolution and you will see the pixels.

 

[ctyrider]

The MBA screen is mediocre at best. Im not trying to put it down its just the truth.

No, it's not the truth. It's just your opinion (which you are certainly entitled to, but it still doesn't make it a fact). You are way too caught up in the whole "retina" marketing hype, so you see what you choose to see. I use my 13" MBA all day long, and the screen is perfectly fine - vibrant, accurate colors, sharp and bright.

As others have pointed out already, the difference between "retina" and 1440x900 screens on 13" laptops is not nearly as pronounced as on retina vs non-retina iPads.

In fact, I would not want a retina display on Air, as long as it comes with all the drawbacks that it brings to rMBP.

 

[falconeight]

No, it's not the truth. It's just your opinion (which you are certainly entitled to, but it still doesn't make it a fact). You are way too caught up in the whole "retina" marketing hype, so you see what you choose to see. I use my 13" MBA all day long, and the screen is perfectly fine - vibrant, accurate colors, sharp and bright.

As others have pointed out already, the difference between "retina" and 1440x900 screens on 13" laptops is not nearly as pronounced as on retina vs non-retina iPads.

In fact, I would not want a retina display on Air, as long as it comes with all the drawbacks that it brings to rMBP.

It has almost twice the amount of pixels. The difference is the most evident difference of any. Post a pic of your MBA's screen with writing and you will see the difference or go to a best buy and look at them side by side.