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That's bad luck for the 1 year and 1 day...
That being said, HDD failure is a pretty common occurrence for laptops, and providing you have backups, I wouldn't call that 'died'.
And of course, anecdotal evidence... I Mean, it seems that Apple stuff, statistically, tend to last substantially more than competitors' and therefore have a quite nice resale value.

"I wouldn't call that "dead"*

But anyway, you had a bad hard drive, it happens. I'm sure if he would have asked Apple they would have replaced it; given that people speak so highly of their service, and the fact that it was only 1 day out.
 
If you talk about MacBook Air 2-3 years back then yes, it was ridiculously pricey. However, starting from this year, with MacBook Air receiving the upgrade to Sandy Bridge chips, I do not see them being overpriced at all. It is fast enough and can function well to be one's primary computer. Additionally, the battery life is excellent and the machine looks beautiful.

Among Apple's products, I think MacBook Air and iMac are the most economic choices.

On the side note, I am starting to think that iPhone, iPad and especially MacBook Pro are a tad overpriced, but maybe it is just me :).
 
I really wanted to go with the new 13" MBA but when I compared it with the Lenovo X220 I just couldn't justify the cost. For $1,408 I got:
  • 2.7GHz Sandy Bridge i7 processor (vs. the 1.8GHz max available on MBA)
  • 4GB RAM (which I then upgraded to 8GB through Crucial for another $37.00)
  • Features the MBA doesn't have, like fingerprint login and USB3.0
A 13" MBA with 1.8GHz processor and 256GB SSD would run almost $300 more.

The MBA does have some advantages. I only got 160GB SSD in my Lenovo, and a 12.5" screen with a little lower PPI than the MBA. Weight is about the same, battery life comparable, though MBA is thinner. However for my purposes the faster processor, 8GB RAM, and USB3.0 were the features that tipped the scale for me (I run 2-3 Windows XP VMs at a time). I'd have gladly spent the extra $300 for the MBA form factor and screen if it had been up to the X220's level on processor and RAM.

I don't think it's unfair to say that given a particular set of utility requirements a MBA will pretty much always be more expensive than a similarly-featured Windows laptop. If the MBA has the features you need and you're comfortable paying the premium, you'll get the best-made laptop available IMO. But not necessarily the best value.
 
I really wanted to go with the new 13" MBA but when I compared it with the Lenovo X220 I just couldn't justify the cost. For $1,408 I got:
  • 2.7GHz Sandy Bridge i7 processor (vs. the 1.8GHz max available on MBA)
  • 4GB RAM (which I then upgraded to 8GB through Crucial for another $37.00)
  • Features the MBA doesn't have, like fingerprint login and USB3.0
A 13" MBA with 1.8GHz processor and 256GB SSD would run almost $300 more.

It isn't quite apples to apples, however. First, the i7-2620 used in the Lenovo isn't going to be 50% faster than the i7-2667 used in the Air. It's more likely to be about 20% faster since the Lenovo's i7 Turbo Boosts to 3.2GHz with both cores vs. 2.6GHz for the Air's (that's the most important metric). Second, the screen is a lower resolution. Third, the larger SSD would likely be another $150 on the Lenovo if they offered it. While the Lenovo is certainly a nice PC and has some nice features (e.g. USB 3.0, an IPS option, expandable RAM), the difference isn't quite as dramatic. Plus, that's only after a recent, rather drastic price cut by Lenovo. They initially tried to get $2240 for the system you describe.
 
If you talk about MacBook Air 2-3 years back then yes, it was ridiculously pricey. However, starting from this year, with MacBook Air receiving the upgrade to Sandy Bridge chips, I do not see them being overpriced at all.

This I agree with: Apple has done a much better job with the pricing in this 2011 version. But you don't need to go back that much in time to find MBAs being ridiculously priced. Heck, I paid $1800 for a 2010 MBA with a C2D processor... that was quite a hefty price tag for a C2D!
 
It is definitely overpriced, I took a look at IBM Lenovo laptop 8GB ram, 320GB hard drive, the weight is less than 4lbs, cost $1149.

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/products/Laptops/ThinkPad/t-series/t420s/index.html

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Is the lenovo as thin and light? Does it have 7 hours of battery? Is it made of a solid material like aluminum?

see here http://shop.lenovo.com/us/products/Laptops/ThinkPad/t-series/t420s/index.html

I personally think this is the best deal, IT IS LESS THAN 4LB WEIGHT!!!
 
It is definitely overpriced, I took a look at IBM Lenovo laptop 8GB ram, 320GB hard drive, the weight is less than 4lbs, cost $1149.

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/products/Laptops/ThinkPad/t-series/t420s/index.html

----------



see here http://shop.lenovo.com/us/products/Laptops/ThinkPad/t-series/t420s/index.html

I personally think this is the best deal, IT IS LESS THAN 4LB WEIGHT!!!

Apples to oranges again. First, it has a hard drive, not an SSD. Add a 128GB SSD and all of a sudden it's $1459. If you are trying to prove the MacBook Pro is expensive for what you get, you might have an argument. But this doesn't say anything about the MacBook Air. Second, it is sub-4lbs, not sub-3lbs. The best example given so far is the X220, which is about $150 less than the MacBook Air, roughly comparably equipped.
 
It is definitely overpriced, I took a look at IBM Lenovo laptop 8GB ram, 320GB hard drive, the weight is less than 4lbs, cost $1149.

Lenovo's are fine machines, but the 420s is more comparable with the Macbook Pro 13" than the Macbook Air 13" due to size and weight. It's 33% heavier and 53% thicker than the Macbook Air.

Can't compare a hard drive system with an SSD system. Spec the 420s with a 128GB SSD and you're at $1459, $160 more than a Macbook Air 128GB. Switch to 160GB SSD and you save $60 compared to Macbook Air 256GB -- at the cost of nearly 100GB storage.
 
Why argue?

One either knows their laptop brands & models well or they don't.

If you feel it's overpriced, don't waste time complaining, just don't buy it.

It's as simple as that.

If you're talking resale value, you're buying for all the wrong reasons.

I buy my computers to use & enjoy. I don't care what it's worth used. Not for a moment.
 
how did anyone who bought this as their first mac come to the decision to finally pull the trigger?

Because you won't be able to stop thinking about it until you do. Sure, you can save yourself some money but you'll always have that doubt in the back of your mind.
 
I think Mac is overpriced, my roommate bought a Leveno for $600+ shipped. 500GB, Intel i7, definitely top of the line. You can't do that with Mac. Windows is money for the bang.

Lenovo doesn't come in brushed aluminum nor does it have a SSD to my knowledge.

How can you compare the two?
 
If you're talking resale value, you're buying for all the wrong reasons.

I buy my computers to use & enjoy. I don't care what it's worth used. Not for a moment.

Of course I don't pick my Macs for the resale value.

But it does help if you like to upgrade frequently. It helps to justify the high price for a computer I already want. I sold my (almost 2 year old) MacBook Pro recently for about 800 euro so the 13" air only cost me roughly 500 euro. So in that case, it makes the latest and greatest much more affordable. It helps a lot to look after it though, my MBP was spotless and upgraded as well.

I don't count on it though - laptops being portable they can drop, get stolen, etc. I wouldn't spend the money if I didn't have it.
 
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