First MacBook Air Reviews: Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, USA Today

[kingtj]

Games needing the CD

Yeah.... or find a decent "no CD/DVD" crack for the games you play.

Seriously, the business of requiring the disc in the drive at all times to play modern games is utter B.S. There was a time, long ago, when it was justified - because the 650-700MB of data a CD held was potentially more than the total space you had on your hard drive.

But doing it just for the sake of "copy protection" amounts to treating one's customers as criminals. With most of the Internet multi-player games, they're designed so you can't play online without a valid CD key code (checked against their database of valid keys on their server), so that seems like plenty of copy-protection right there, in a form people can respect.

But games that have an "install procedure" that amounts to dragging and dropping the whole folder from my DVD to my hard drive - and *then* they still require the original disc in the drive? I'm simply going to avoid buying any of them unless/until I see somebody has a "crack" available for them.

Not likely to work over the shared DVD, your key DVD needs to be in place at all times so you may need to get the optional DVD drive.
Nobody has an Air so hard to tell, but I bet you need to buy the optional drive.

 

[celavato]

People, and technology reviewers especially, need to seriously embrace the fact that their opinions, and their "gut instincts" in these matters are far, far removed from the consumers.

Virgil-TB2 is a righteous dude. Lots of tech-savvy people seem to lack the ability to put themselves in the shoes of the average consumer.

 

[winterspan]

wake me up when this is a face-up tablet with full screen multi-touch with typing on screen.....

I think that's a terrible idea.. I challenge anyone who actually thinks this is actually feasible to stop what you are doing, and "type" on your desk right now. Not only is typing on a desk or glass screen surface with no "give" akward, and even painful, but it would lead to carpal tunnel faster then you can type out an email. I mean really, give it a try and see what I mean...

I don't see such an idea working, unless they just implemented a touch keyboard the size of the iphone's "wide" typing method. Thumb tapping seems to work much better and offers at least some typing ability for a tablet. I know that Apple had a few patents to the effect of a touch screen with some sort of collapsible "spring" mechanism to give the feel of a real keyboard, but I would be surprised if something to that effect makes it out of the laboratory anytime soon.

That said, I don't know if the tablet form factor will ever be useful as a producitivy machine, or if they will always be relegated to a secondary "entertainment" role. I'm sure Apple is cooking up some great things in the interface world, but as of now, Apple's multi-touch implementation seems to be more of a "wow" feature, than anything that is really useful. (I hope I'm proven wrong so we can all be propelled into a minority report future. lol)

This is really the killer, in my view -- no 3G mobile broadband integral, and no WiMax either! All Mac laptops need this option at least BTO, not taking up a card slot either! The single carrier restriction argument is bunk, as you could bundle a combo radio with HSPA/EV-DO/WiMax, and all bases would be covered.

Apple could have added 3G from Sprint, the fastest network, and just let users that would have wanted to use other networks buy dongles. They limited users of the iPhone to AT&T, so why the sudden change of heart?

....... If size and weight are the most important aspects of the MacBook Air (as they should be for any ultra-portable), building in a card or a slot for a card would only make it larger than it 'had' to be.

@liberty4all: I don't think many care about WiMax, at least not yet. With Sprint's new CEO and their continuing problems, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Xohm wimax buildout delayed.

@Digital Skunk: Sprint is not the fastest network. Verizon and Sprint both share 3G/EV-DO and I believe Verizon has a larger buildout area, especially in the suburban/rural market.

To save weight and volume, Apple should have offered a BTO for a builtin AT&T 3G UMTS/HSDPA chip *or* Verizon/Sprint 3G CDMA/EVDO chip and just let people choose which one they wanted, like how Dell does it. I still would have preferred to see a small "34" expresscard slot, however, and I think that would have been the best compromise between size, expandability, etc. It would have allowed other expandability options besides 3G data cards as well.

They let you take 1 battery in the MacBook and 3 spares in the plane???? Your bag must weight a ton. How you keep all 4 charged?

Didn't they change the rules restricting the number of batteries. They say it takes 3 minutes to swap out, but I am trying to see you explain that thing in the x-ray to airport security and then why you are disassembling your laptop at 10,000 feet......

I'm 99% sure the FAA recently announced that you CANNOT BRING SPARE LI-ON BATTERIES ON BOARD AIRPLANES! You only get the one in the device and no extra. I don't know if Jobs knew about that or not (i doubt it),
but it seems to blow that drawback right out of the water.. at least for now.

Ok ok, hold everything! I was about to order one of these bad boys, then I realized... a 4200rpm hard drive? Apple, oh why do you do this to me? ..... What I'd really like to see is 100gb ssd drive for 1799. Or a 100gb regular hd at 7200 rpm for the same price. Guess I'll be waiting. Unless of course real world tests show these 4200rpm drives arent THAT slow. Although my ibook has a 4200rpm drive and it crawls.

Yes, 4200rpm drives are pretty slow, but that's all you get with a 1.8" hdd. Even if they would have squeezed a 2.5" in a larger case, they would never go with a 7200rpm because of the extra heat generated, higher power requirements, and noise.
100GB SSD at the base price? KEEP DREAMING. SSDs are going for $15-20/GB retail.

Check out the huge difference between a 1.8 inch iPod drive and a Samsung SSD 64GB here:
http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/products/flash/Products_FlashSSD.html
(almost at the bottom).
You'd see it when starting up, backing up, copying/duplicating files and what have you.
Added: Hell, try booting your computer from an old iPod. That is how slow it will be. But the SSD will be faster than our current laptop HDD. It has almost no seek times.

Does anyone know what model SSD is in the "Air" and what the read/write speeds are?

 

[gotohamish]

That's a 2.5 inch drive. The MBA uses 1.8 inch HDs and SSDs.

Not going to fit.

I linked it as an illustration of the speed that the technology is developing. 2.5" or not, that drive would also be—[raises pinky to mouth]—a million dollars [or there abouts ;-)]

 

[wizard]

........ Am I missing something?

Truth in advertising!

The more I follow Apple the more I'm starting to believe that Jobs is the ultimate snake oil salesman.

Don't get me wrong I know the AIR has some good points but the amount of BS expelled by Apple to cover up the bad points is just amazing. What is even worst is people don't see that BS, people need to step aside fro the flying BS and look at what is really there with respect to the AIr.

Dave

This doesn't seem to be a bad computer, just a bit more limited than it should be.

I think this is the thing that raises my blood pressure the most with respect to the air. the machine could have had plenty of USB ports if they really wanted them on the machine. Instead they mount a bunch of ports in a trap door that just takes up space.

They spent more time making the AIR look pretty rather than making it practical. Even worst there is plenty of room for a reasonable complement of I/O ports on the machine. In the case of USB it costs them practically nothing to add USB ports as they come with the chip set.

The MacBook Air simply tries to win the game that sony, lenovo, and others are already playing.

Frankly I don't see the AIR even coming close to competing with any thing those manufactures produce. Lets face it looking at the computers form these manufactures is like going to a beauty contest. Each and every contestant looks really sharp but then AIR walks on stage - you are blown away by her beauty. You are instantly transported to a dream land, but then she starts to speak... You suddenly realize there is more missing to the package than you can deal with. You gather your wits together sheepishly, admonishing yourself not to be shallow any more and look deeper.

Air is basically that, a book with a beautiful cover and no printing on the inside.

Think about how much smaller and lighter a non-folding solid tablet would be. No keyboard. No double casing, and no hinge. The MBA's bottom case and a tempered glass screen top, with multi-touch, like the iPhone on the full-featured OS.

I'm all for tablet computers but really think about how useless one that size would be. Tablets belong in the hand.

The cell phone phenomenon may have sprung from ideas prompted by the star trek communicator from the 1960s. This sort of thing would be a real version of the PADD device from The Next Generation. A flat touch screen thin device that doesn't need anything else, but can connect to other devices at will. Bluetooth mouse and keyboard expansion, as well as the MBA's disc-co-opting capabilities and wireless connectivity (BT, WiFi-N, and 3G internal or via BT or USB phone connection), and a dongle port for external video output. Very versatile, connectable, and scalable for various uses.

I'm for the most part glad that I don't watch TV anymore, but then things like this pop up and I have to wonder what the hell you are talking about.

THAT would change the game. The current MBA merely tries, (and might just succeed) to win the old light weight laptop game.

I don't think the AIR has the staying power. It will likely be the hot seller for three months and then die a horrible death.

Dave

 

[AidenShaw]

Round Rock figured it out, but Cupertino couldn't?

- "Jobs told me last week that Apple considered [adding 3G mobile broadband] but that adding the capability would take up room and restrict consumers to a particular carrier. Through a USB modem, he says, you can still subscribe to wireless broadband with your favorite carrier."

Mobile Broadband

Use integrated mobile broadband from Dell to access email and the Internet through AT&T, Verizon or Sprint Wireless cellular networks, with download speeds averaging 400Kbps to 700Kbps-about as fast as some DSL connections.

Select options below

• None
  
• Verizon Wireless built-in mobile broadband (EV-DO Rev A) [add $149]
  
• Sprint built-in mobile broadband (EV-DO Rev A) [add $149]
  
• AT&T built-in mobile broadband (HSDPA 3.6) [add $199]

(http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=555&l=en&oc=MLB1935&s=biz)

 

[AppleMojo]

I think this is the thing that raises my blood pressure the most with respect to the air. the machine could have had plenty of USB ports if they really wanted them on the machine. Instead they mount a bunch of ports in a trap door that just takes up space.

They spent more time making the AIR look pretty rather than making it practical. Even worst there is plenty of room for a reasonable complement of I/O ports on the machine. In the case of USB it costs them practically nothing to add USB ports as they come with the chip set.

Yes, it COULD have had 'this' and COULD have had 'that'. But it doesn't. Apple gets to choose, not you.

You don't like it, don't buy it... But why ruin the idea, the concept for everyone else? What's your motive?

Every whiner in here thinks he/she has a better way of building Apple hardware, the Air is no exception.

The machine was designed for freakin' portability. Tell me how portable you are sitting in an airline seat or in a conference room with your clients and you have 6 usb devices plugged in. I would have to think 1 is enough. Need more ports at your desk in your office when you aren't mobile, then use 1 of the million laptop designed USB hubs on the market.

These arguments are so silly, I am wondering if these people have ever been in the real world.

I don't own quite a few new techno-gadgets, but could really care less who wants one or not.

The pointless bashing instead of legitimate concern is driving me nuts.

Unless you are right, and Apple should have called and personally consulted you, as all of the whiners in here are obvious experts in the field of hardware and device design.

Truly, I could only imagine how these devices would work and look.

3 USB ports
2 Firewire ports
1 CD/DVD Drive
1 Hard drive
1 Ethernet jack
1 VGA port
1 DVI port
1 replaceable battery
15" display
Bluetooth
Audio Line in/out
Memory card / stick reader
... on and on...

But wait, these already exist. Go buy one of those!

 

[eddietr]

I think this is the thing that raises my blood pressure the most with respect to the air.

Raises your blood pressure?

Do you think maybe you're taking this computer a bit seriously?

I'm sure I drive a different car than you. Because I probably made different trade-offs. Maybe yours is easier to park. Maybe mine has more back seat space. Or yours has more horsepower or is more expensive or whatever.

Does it raise your blood pressure to think that car manufacturers offer vehicles in different sizes and packages so that you can choose the one that fits you and I may choose something completely different?

Or maybe somepeople may choose to have a minivan in their garage and maybe a more expensive sports car that can barely fit two grocery bags? Does that bother you?

 

[AppleMojo]

I'm sure I drive a different car than you. Because I probably made different trade-offs. Maybe yours is easier to park. Maybe mine has more back seat space. Or yours has more horsepower or is more expensive or whatever.

Or maybe somepeople may choose to have a minivan in their garage and maybe a more expensive sports car that can barely fit two grocery bags? Does that bother you?

I like this analogy and completely agree. Except for the mini-van part... who buys those things? ;-)

 

[EagerDragon]

want some cheeze with that whine?

Guys this machine is being targetted at a specific type of user. It is rather obvious that you are not the target.

If the machine does not fit your needs, don't whine, just don't buy it. That is the best way to tell a company that they are creating products that you can not use.

Need more ports? Get a USB hub or get a different system.

 

[AidenShaw]

I'm 100% sure that you are wrong

I'm 99% sure the FAA recently announced that you CANNOT BRING SPARE LI-ON BATTERIES ON BOARD AIRPLANES! You only get the one in the device and no extra.

The rules are at: http://safetravel.dot.gov/whats_new_batteries.html

There are limits on the number of spare Lithium Ion batteries larger than 100 WHr that you can carry on - but even the MBP battery is only 68 WHr, so it's not affected.

Loose spare batteries cannot be in checked luggage, must be in carryon. It's ok to check the laptop with the battery installed, but not the loose spare battery alone.

Even my 9 cell extended battery for my Dell is under 100 WHr - it's 85 WHr.

This new rule will affect video and pro photographers more than computer users - many batteries for big cameras and lights are over 100 WHr.

 

[winterspan]

Obviously I should have checked out the details further, but I thought of it and quickly wrote something down. I remember hearing a short segment from CNN, but they never mentioned an energy capacity threshold.... thanks for the link...

The rules are at: http://safetravel.dot.gov/whats_new_batteries.html

There are limits on the number of spare Lithium Ion batteries larger than 100 WHr that you can carry on - but even the MBP battery is only 68 WHr, so it's not affected.

Loose spare batteries cannot be in checked luggage, must be in carryon. It's ok to check the laptop with the battery installed, but not the loose spare battery alone.

Even my 9 cell extended battery for my Dell is under 100 WHr - it's 85 WHr.

This new rule will affect video and pro photographers more than computer users - many batteries for big cameras and lights are over 100 WHr.

 

[johnnyjibbs]

- "Jobs told me last week that Apple considered [adding 3G mobile broadband] but that adding the capability would take up room and restrict consumers to a particular carrier. Through a USB modem, he says, you can still subscribe to wireless broadband with your favorite carrier."

"Just like the iPhone.... oh."

Strange that Steve would say that.

 

[iAmLegend]

People hate the MBA because the time spent designing and manufacturing this product for a select few should have been spent improving on products for the majority. The Air is going to be a big flop, and trend whores are not going to get the public adoration they so desperately crave because more people will be criticizing your shiny new toy than praising it. The U.S. Economy is a mess right now, and I don't understand how Apple thought this was a good time to release such an expensive and ultra-limited product. If you own shares in Apple...SELL!

 

[eddietr]

People hate the MBA because the time spent designing and manufacturing this product for a select few should have been spent improving on products for the majority. The Air is going to be a big flop, and trend whores are not going to get the public adoration they so desperately crave because more people will be criticizing your shiny new toy than praising it. The U.S. Economy is a mess right now, and I don't understand how Apple thought this was a good time to release such an expensive and ultra-limited product. If you own shares in Apple...SELL!

Oh, I get it, so this is sort of like a "power to the people" thing or something. Got it. Fight the power, man.

So because you think that a "select few" rich people are buying this as a status symbol, your job is to counter that by talking about how much it sucks so that people will ridicule them instead.

I see.

And of course, since the Air is the only product that Apple sells and the only thing they will introduce in 2008, I might as well dump the stock.

Got it.

 

[bayol05]

I believe that Air will be successful opposed to what a lot of people are saying. Everyone on Mac Rumors is probably a very intense computer user. Think about the millions of other people that really don't use their macs for more than myspace, iChat, and iPhoto. I know a LOT of them. The Air is great for them...as long as they can afford it.

 

[Scottgfx]

...The Air is going to be a big flop, and trend whores are not going to get the public adoration they so desperately crave because more people will be criticizing your shiny new toy than praising it. The U.S. Economy is a mess right now, and I don't understand how Apple thought this was a good time to release such an expensive and ultra-limited product. If you own shares in Apple...SELL!

You flaming hypocrite!!! You have an iPhone! How dare you have a product that has only a limited appeal to the entire cellphone user base!

The economy is going down in flames, and you are messing around with your "Shiny New Toy"! How dare you!

 

[BWhaler]

People hate the MBA because the time spent designing and manufacturing this product for a select few should have been spent improving on products for the majority. The Air is going to be a big flop, and trend whores are not going to get the public adoration they so desperately crave because more people will be criticizing your shiny new toy than praising it. The U.S. Economy is a mess right now, and I don't understand how Apple thought this was a good time to release such an expensive and ultra-limited product. If you own shares in Apple...SELL!

People said the same exact thing about the iPod.

Now, I'm not saying the appeal is the same or as broad, but the MBA serves a purpose and a need and will sell well to those whose needs are met by this product.

But back on point, go read the slashdot thread on the day the iPod was released. Classic geeks talking about specs/price/hating apple and they all got it wrong.

All of them.

 

[mashoutposse]

People said the same exact thing about the iPod.

Now, I'm not saying the appeal is the same or as broad, but the MBA serves a purpose and a need and will sell well to those whose needs are met by this product.

But back on point, go read the slashdot thread on the day the iPod was released. Classic geeks talking about specs/price/hating apple and they all got it wrong.

All of them.

And the worst part is that when they're wrong, they blame it on the "sheep who will do anything Jobs tells them to." Riiiiiiiiiight