I will buy the MBA when it gets a backlit keyboard. I really like the small, light form but need to be able to see the keys in a dark room (or stage). The sales guy at the Apple store just told me to "crank the screen brightness and tilt the display down to light the keys".Yeah, uh no, the last thing I need in the dark is a brighter screen.
It is one or two generations before the curent moddel, but mine has the SSD and the backlit keyboard. I couldn't live without the backlit keyboard....use it on night flights and in bed all the time.
I'd consider selling my 13" and getting an 11", but not till they put back the backlit keyboard. Can't understand why they did away with it.
You can sometimes find used ones on Ebay or in the Apple refurbished store.
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MacBook Air Evolving Into Mainstream Product?
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Exactly. This is a continuation of the dumbing-down (and I don't mean that in a bad way) of computing. Most people don't need a huge amount of storage or blazing-fast processors. They need a computer for tooling around on the Web, email, basic work tasks like spreadsheets and word processing, and fun tasks like photos and music. If a computer can do all this at a good price, with a very long battery life, and looks great doing it, then it's good enough. Apple was smart to strip out many of the expensive components in order to reduce the price, without reducing functionality for the average user.
Yep seeing these all over campus now, I'm hoping Apple takes some design cues from the Air and adds them to the MBPs, aka no DVD drive and instead fit a dedicated graphics card in the 13in model and remove the glass screen.
I love the idea of the MBAs but flash memory is just too expensive. I bought an 11.6" MBA and enjoyed using it, but the screen was maybe a touch too small (12" would be nicer IMO) and the 64GB hard drive space was unworkable. I had all these ideas about carrying around a mini portable HD with me and connecting it when I needed to, but I quickly realized what a pain that was. So I returned it and bought the new 13" MBP with a 500GB hard drive. Since then I've realized just how nice it is to have a FULL computer with me at all times - no compromises.
It would be great, however, if you were rich enough to buy an iMac to go along with it. Or if you were rich enough to upgrade to a 512GB SSD or something (what is that..like over $1000 extra?)
It would be great, however, if you were rich enough to buy an iMac to go along with it. Or if you were rich enough to upgrade to a 512GB SSD or something (what is that..like over $1000 extra?
)I kinda like the glass screen and the bezel. I know, I know, my opinion doesn't exactly jibe with most MacRumors commenters. But for me the glossy look is nice, and the black bezel frames the screen nicely. The Air didn't look quite as good to me. I'm also not entirely sure that I liked the wedge shape that much. It felt very flimsy, even though I know it's a solid product.
^^^^ This!
It means in the near future I'd be able get high speed disk transfers via a large external drive (or disk array) while still having a small, portable 13" MBA.
Why not future proof it?
I always find it funny that so many people consider their type of work to be the only "real" work that exists. My work, which is extremely real, can be completed just fine on an 11" Air. Or an iPad with a BT keyboard for that matter.
The Air is one sexy product that works quite well. It has the performance to go along with the wow factor. It creates instant lust.
I do not disagree with you. I should have said for "my real work". Obviously there are activities that require mobile computing and can be handled by a phone, tablet, netbook etc. just fine.
Definitely have to agree with you there. We haven't seen rampant advances in software that have outpaced hardware improvements.
The MBA does music, video, internet, email, photos, etc. very well while still remaining small and light.
I was thinking of selling my previous MacBook and purchasing an 11.6" MacBook Air because I loved the size and the form factor is so portable it would be great to carry around. However I remember my not so fond memories of the Lenovo ThinkPad X100e I owned back in November and quickly shot down that theory. The screen was just too small for me, which is why I returned that unit pretty quickly. If the 13" had been in my price range, I would have jumped on that instead. I ended up buying another MacBook which has been great, but the Air is an amazing product and when I decide to upgrade again I will be getting an Air.
An Air is the only laptop I’ll ever buy!
I still have the very 1st-gen (before SSD was economical so I have a plain HD) but it’s enough to run my business off of and do some pretty heavy tasks (Photoshop, Flash, 3D gaming at low detail). The latest models would be just awesome... but I’m waiting for Sandy Bridge before I upgrade.
If someone asked me what computer to get, and I wasn’t allowed to know anything about them, I’d default to recommending a base MacBook Air 11” with 4GB RAM. (Or maybe the 128 SSD, but few people outside of tech forums need more than 64 GB storage so frequently that it can’t be external or wireless. Everyone who can afford a Time Capsule should probably have one!)
Then I’d recommend that if they want a bigger screen, add get a cheap Dell 20-something-inch display and a mouse/keyboard, giving them a desktop experience. Until it’s time to leave the house, when that ultra-compact size is great.
I would generally not recommend the DVD drive. Most people have a DVD player already, and I for one have never needed to pay for a DVD drive in three years with my Air. I do occasionally use Air Disc, though. For free! So I suggest people wait and not get the DVD drive until/unless they need it. (Maybe for re-installing the OS after a catastrophe, if they have no access to another machine with a DVD.)
I still have the very 1st-gen (before SSD was economical so I have a plain HD) but it’s enough to run my business off of and do some pretty heavy tasks (Photoshop, Flash, 3D gaming at low detail). The latest models would be just awesome... but I’m waiting for Sandy Bridge before I upgrade.
If someone asked me what computer to get, and I wasn’t allowed to know anything about them, I’d default to recommending a base MacBook Air 11” with 4GB RAM. (Or maybe the 128 SSD, but few people outside of tech forums need more than 64 GB storage so frequently that it can’t be external or wireless. Everyone who can afford a Time Capsule should probably have one!)
Then I’d recommend that if they want a bigger screen, add get a cheap Dell 20-something-inch display and a mouse/keyboard, giving them a desktop experience. Until it’s time to leave the house, when that ultra-compact size is great.
I would generally not recommend the DVD drive. Most people have a DVD player already, and I for one have never needed to pay for a DVD drive in three years with my Air. I do occasionally use Air Disc, though. For free! So I suggest people wait and not get the DVD drive until/unless they need it. (Maybe for re-installing the OS after a catastrophe, if they have no access to another machine with a DVD.)
The older Air was ok as long as it had an SSD in it. That, and a later revision that didn't suffer as much from the overheating issues. I had the 13 inch NVidia based one with the SSD option and loved it, but it was pretty pricey.
Really happy with the work provided 11 inch. They bumped it up to the 1.6 processor, 4gb ram, and 128gb SSD. It's a great on call system, awesome portability, and still enough power to let me game on the road.
Hit it on the head there sir!
I was giving serious consideration to getting a pimped up 15 inch MBP as a full on replacement for my 4 year old iMac and be mac portable. But thinking about it do I really need that level of power and lug around that much weight when I can buy the cheaper pimped out 11 inch MBA to use in conjunction with my existing iMac.
I'm REALLY taken by the form factor of the 11 inch. Instant on and just sling it in my backpack and go. Want to wait to see if sandy bridge turns up soon in one.