Is the Air as portable as the 12" PowerBook?

[Yr Blues]

I used to have a 12" PowerBook, but it died a few months ago. I currently own a white MacBook.

Is the heat issue with the Rev A Air a real problem?

The great thing about the 12" was that you could throw it in a relatively small bag and not worry too much about it. The MacBook is bit of a hassle, but not by much.

Perhaps someday they can make a 12" MacBook once edge-to-edge screen technology is available to reduce the size of the bezel.

 

[r6girl]

I had a 12" PowerBook and sold it when I upgraded to a black MacBook. I just got the Rev. B Air to replace the MacBook. I still miss my 12" PowerBook and I don't think the MacBook Air is as portable. It is lighter, of course, but it won't fit into any of the bags I used to use with my 12" PowerBook - guess I should finally sell those. If Apple ever makes another 12" model, I'd buy it in a heartbeat...

 

[Yr Blues]

If Apple ever makes another 12" model, I'd buy it in a heartbeat...

I think they'd make a ****-load of money if that happened. Many people, including myself, believe that the 12" PowerBook was the epitome of Apple design.

I'm going to have to go into an Apple store and play around with the new toys.

 

[zer0tails]

believe it or not, despite its thinness the one inch less of the powerbook makes a big difference. It felt more portable to me because of that.

 

[ducatidoc]

my computer previous to the mba was a 12.1" dell inspiron. it weighed less than the mba and had more battery life than the 12" powerbook (and arguably outperformed the mba revA).

as far as portability is concerned, i dont think the size is a big issue. the mba is not much bigger than a piece of paper and so easily fits into a briefcase or bookbag. and in my opinion, i value weight far more in terms of portability than the footprint.

i guess the bottom line is it is truly quite portable, assuming your definition of portable is not "measures 12 inches or less."

as for if apple will debut another 12" laptop any time soon, i highly doubt it. might see a 10" netbook sooner or later though...

 

[CalMin]

Interesting question. My 12" Powerbook is the best computer I have ever owned - and I've had quite a few...!

I had a Rev A MacBook Air. It was awesome, but I never felt it to be a true successor to the Powerbook. It's very portable, but not a compact somehow as the Powerbook. In fact, given the 13" form factor, I felt that I couldn't deal with the compromises for thinness and have just replaced it with a 13" Al MacBook which feels just as portable as the MBA, but not as portable as the PowerBook.

Let's face it, Apple won't release the 12" form factor any time soon so MBA is as good as you're going to get.

 

[munckee]

I'm gonna go against the grain on this one. I find the Air more portable than my old 12". Yes, the 12" fit into a bag slightly more easily due to the smaller size. But I always noticed the weight when I took the Powerbook with me places. It FELT like I was carrying a computer. With the Air, however, I find that its much less noticeable in the bag. Just my 2 cents worth

 

[SpaceMagic]

I'm gonna go against the grain on this one. I find the Air more portable than my old 12". Yes, the 12" fit into a bag slightly more easily due to the smaller size. But I always noticed the weight when I took the Powerbook with me places. It FELT like I was carrying a computer. With the Air, however, I find that its much less noticeable in the bag. Just my 2 cents worth

Agreed. The air doesn't feel like you are carrying your computer around campus. But then when you get into the library to do some work... you have full size, fully capable computer! It's great.

 

[badtzmaru]

my bag alone is heavier than the air. the air's weight is negligible

 

[rikers_mailbox]

My 12" PB is far and away my favorite Mac laptop. It might be a bit heavy by today's standards, but it's still the smallest most functional laptop Apple has produced.

I'm still waiting for another small laptop, but in the meantime I haven't found a need to replace the 12".

12" 1.33 GHz/120GB/1.25 RAM

 

[dal20402]

My 12" PB is far and away my favorite Mac laptop. It might be a bit heavy by today's standards, but it's still the smallest most functional laptop Apple has produced.

I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I don't think the 12" PB was as "functional" as everyone makes it out to be.

It had discrete graphics that barely performed better than the X3100 in the last-gen MacBook.

It had a 1024x768 screen that was like trying to work through a postage stamp.

It could only accommodate 1.25 GB of RAM -- not enough to run Leopard comfortably even without any demanding applications.

I owned a 12" PB for about six months. I sold it because the lack of RAM and the tiny screen made it unusable for me. I got a 15" MBP instead, the week they came out. The 15" MBP was less than a pound heavier, and vastly more functional.

The Air has better graphics, a vastly better screen, and a higher (although still way too low) RAM limit. All it's missing is a few ports. Having said that, I still won't buy one until I can get it with 4GB of RAM. But for me the Air would be more functional than the 12" PB, as well as almost two pounds lighter.

 

[SFStateStudent]

I'll stick with my MBA. Enough said...

 

[hayduke]

I just wish they would shrink the bezel and similarly shrink the base. I think a 13" screen is a very usable size, but the bezel width is f-ugly. Just trim it all a bit and I would be very satisfied (oh, and up the ram to 4GB).