MacBook Air: Regarding What's "Missing"

[hippo206]

Well, for starters, a replacement battery for a MacBook Pro also costs $129. Admittedly, the MBP's battery is more complicated, since it has a nice metallic enclosure and a button with little LEDs that shows you how much charge the battery currently has (which is a GREAT feature, BTW), while the MBA's battery is likely just some cells wrapped in a plastic membrane with a small power lead running off of it. But then again, that $129 includes the cost of installation (labor). So I think it's an even trade-off.

As far as asking to share someone else's CD/DVD, the problem there is that that person has to install the Remote Disc software... which comes on the MBA's installation discs. If you don't have them with you, or if the software isn't available from the Apple web site, then they wouldn't be able to share their drive to begin with.

I would imagine that Apple did some surveying and usability testing and figured out that ultraportable laptop users use their CD/DVD drives "x" percent of the time, where "x" is a small enough number that the advantage of not being burdened with the additional weight of an optical drive grossly outweighs the disadvantage of not always having it with you. And for those times when you do need an optical drive, there are software (free) and hardware ($99) solutions available.

With the battery I guess im also factoring in the annoyance of having to potentially lose your laptop just to replace the battery whereas in the MBP I can do it myself.... altho im not sure if the replacement is done in store, but if it is I know 2 stores in my area where i would trust them to even open the box to the battery.

Also, im sure that the remote disc software is going to be available on the site, but that is besides the point, it was just a off comment that I would find it funny if that ever happened. What makes or breaks a lot of products for me is those off occasions. Those times where for some reason a program isn't running right, so i have to reinstall.... or I'm at a clients house and they don't have wifi and hand me a CD of next weeks target graft sales. Both are VERY rare, but happen... even if it happens once every 6 months it happens... and its important. Like I said, the MBA isn't for me, but I know these forums, and I know the moaning that will eventually happen. I mean damn.... look at all the complaining even tho not a single person here actually has one in there hands.

 

[kamiboy]

about the only two things that prevent me from getting a Air is the lack of optical out and the wedge form. I use my laptop mainly to watch HD movies on my plasma with 5.1 sound through surround system.

In fact Steve lost my interest in the Air the second he mwntined that the air at its thickest part is thinner than that other laptop. That was when I realized that the one thing that attracted me to Apple laptops to begin with was missing on the Air, symmetry.

When looking at the beautiful evenness of Mac laptops I could not understand why all other laptops where so crooked. I mean making the front of the laptop thinner isn't fooling anyone into thinking it is that thin all over the unit.

I reserve further judgement about the Air design aestetics for when I see one upclose. Apple products have a way of wowing you when you see them upclose rather than in photos.

 

[netdog]

This unit is not a DTR, people. Get over it. Buy a MBP or even a MB if that's what you want. It's also not a UMPC. It is a full-sized laptop that weighs three pounds. That really makes it the only laptop of its kind in the market at the moment. It competes against a Sony and Toshiba that have crap keyboards and much slower performance.

In short, the Air is a new sort of laptop altogether. Apple is betting that road warriors and others who need high mobility combined with the ability to do a lot of text work on it (email, spreadsheets, word processing) are going to love it. The Sony and Toshiba are lousy for that. The MacBook is twice the weight. I'm betting that Apple are right. A lot of people will want this kind of portability and quality interface (great full-size keyboard, multi-touch, etc.), and they will be more than happy to pay for it, all for less than the cost of the less impressive competition out there now.

 

[gavd]

I can see why people would like Apple to have included the optical drive in the price, but personally I prefer the way they've done it.

They've stripped the drive out anyway so why not give people the choice of getting one or not? If they had included it, the price would only have been higher anyway so this way people don't have to pay the extra if they don't want it.

 

[Catch]

When looking at the beautiful evenness of Mac laptops I could not understand why all other laptops where so crooked. I mean making the front of the laptop thinner isn't fooling anyone into thinking it is that thin all over the unit.

I doubt that Apples reason for the shape is to "fool" people into thinking its thinner than it is. I would have thought its because in order to make it as thin as possible some parts had to be thicker than others for the hardware inside. Making it evenly shaped would just create air inside the machine for no functional reason... My guess is that the thickest part is as thin as it could be to fit parts inside...

C

 

[clayj]

I can see why people would like Apple to have included the optical drive in the price, but personally I prefer the way they've done it.

They've stripped the drive out anyway so why not give people the choice of getting one or not? If they had included it, the price would only have been higher anyway so this way people don't have to pay the extra if they don't want it.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

Those are the magic words: Make it optional. If Apple had included the SuperDrive internally, (1) it'd cost more, (2) it'd weigh more, and (3) a lot of us would be grousing about how it was unneccessary for it to be in there. The same is true of the (not there) Ethernet port, or the (not there) FireWire port, or the (not there) extra USB ports... if you don't need it, get rid of it.

 

[lasuther]

I think the OP brings up good points. Some people have tried to compare the MBA to ultraportables, which I don’t think is fair. First of all, the MBA isn’t an ultraportable. Honestly it isn’t any more portable than the current MacBook. Also, compairing Macs to PCs doesn’t really mean anything. Windows sucks so much; I would never consider buying a PC even if the hardware was better.

I think the MBA is a fine computer. My problem is I think the current MacBook is a much better computer.

No Ethernet:

I travel a lot for work. There are some hotels that still use Ethernet. I was at a Holiday Inn where the wireless reception was so bad I ended up using Ethernet. Also, there are many customers that I can only use Ethernet in their plants to connect to the internet. Not having one built in is slightly annoying, but not a huge deal.

No built-in optical drive:

There have been many times where I was at my families or friends, grabbed a CD with pictures burned on it, tossed it on my MacBook, and made a slideshow that amazed everyone. Or grabbed a CD at a friends how to put on the MacBook. I’ve also used my MacBook on plane trips to watch movies. I’ve taking the MacBook to lan parties for video games (WC3, SC, WoW). Not having a built in optical drive can be a big deal for people who travel a lot and burn presentations. While the external is a option, it is clumsy, adds weight, and makes the footprint bigger than the current MacBook.

[Not enough disk space:

80GB is small, especially if you use iPhoto and iTunes a lot (and isn’t that one of the best parts of owning a Mac?). 4200RPM is slow. You can easily add a 160GB 7200RPM drive into a MacBook. That is a big deal.

Not enough CPU power:

You don’t see people complaining that minis are underpowered because most people don’t own minis. And they only cost $600. Its true 1.6GHz will probably take care of most people, but the MacBook gives you 2.2GHz with a significant price savings. And it’s not just the CPU, MacBooks can get 4 Gigs of RAM, the MBA gets 2 Gigs. The MBA is outdated the week you get it.

Not enough FireWire/USB ports:

You are at a friends house. You need to take data from a USB drive and burn it to a DVD. Or you are at a customer. You are plugged in to Ethernet and need to get pictures downloaded from your camera. Just having an iPod charging means you have no available USB ports. And that is a big issue. Not to mention, this would be the computer where you needed an external harddrive. The solution is to have a USB hub, which is clumsy, adds weight, and increases your footprint.

No removable battery:

Laptop batteries die all the time (I’ve replaced mine 1 year in). None removable battery isn’t a problem if you have an Apple Store near by. But many people don’t, and not being able to have a battery delivered so you can get your computer going could be a big problem for some people.

The MBA is a very sexy computer and will sell some models just on that. Also, there will be people with iMacs, MacBooks, and lots of money who want another computer with massive sex appeal.

The MBA answers the problem most people weren’t having: that MacBooks are over powered, over featured, and thick. For 99% of customers, the MacBook provides a more powerful computer, with more features, that will last longer, is a lot cheaper, and has the portability of the MBA. The MBA is a fine computer, the MacBook is just a better one.

 

[netdog]

The MBA answers the problem most people weren’t having: that MacBooks are over powered, over featured, and thick. For 99% of customers, the MacBook provides a more powerful computer, with more features, that will last longer, is a lot cheaper, and has the portability of the MBA. The MBA is a fine computer, the MacBook is just a better one.

The MacBook is heavy and has a mediocre display. Many are also not fond of how both the black and the white models look grungy after using it for some time. The MacBook is great for the price, but it has plenty of shortcomings.

Don't confuse your needs and problems with those of others. Glad you like your MacBook. It is a great little laptop.

 

[ic1]

. . . The only three things i would miss would be . . . a kensington lock and . . .

Yeah, it's there: http://www.apple.com/macbookair/features.html

The one truly critical feature on something you can slip into a messenger envelope.