Sony was the pioneer in ultralight laptops way back in the day. Today, they still make a smaller and lighter laptop than a MBA 11". Problem with the units has always been worse battery life than MBAs, torque/flex issues with carbon fiber frames, overheat issues on older processors, Windows and NTFS (it's just too much maintenance for me, nothing really wrong with it except that it's built to break after extended use), and non-CNC manufacturing (which leads to inferior build quality). Sony VAIOs also don't really design for human use which has been evident over the course of time. I wish I could go back to the days when Sony was a contender in laptops/notebooks but Apple seems to build the best consumer computing products now. Oh yeah, almost forgot to mention that Apple products are more convergence friendly now than Sony but it wasn't always that way.
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MBA isn't good anymore
- Thread starter UBS28
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This has been done before.
There are many laptops with superior specifications, superior durability, and a lower price.
a) They do not run OSX natively - without reading forums to figure out how to get OSX86 to work.
b) They do not give you the "Apple experience"
There are many laptops with superior specifications, superior durability, and a lower price.
a) They do not run OSX natively - without reading forums to figure out how to get OSX86 to work.
b) They do not give you the "Apple experience"
C'mon. That's purely subjective. Apple laptops have a consistent build quality and attention to detail that few others have. No trade-offs. That is what makes a great product, and not something as subjective as "Apple experience", which is pure marketing.
Agreed. Most manufacturers like Sony focus on gimicks to get people to buy their products, like making it slightly lighter or giving it a processor with more cores. Meanwhile,Apple just makes consistently high quality, easy to use products.
Yes, it is true. Sony has disappointed me a lot lately. It's no wonder why it's in the middle of the financial crisis it is. It used to be such a good company.
The Vaio S series seems to be good, but I think it's outdated now. The Vaio Z was nice, although I didn't like its keyboard and it had some serious issues, but it has been discontinued. The T series of ultrabooks is just crap, I can't like it. The E series is even worse. And the Sony Vaio Duo is one of the most unpractical pieces of hardware I've ever seen. I hope at least the Vaio Pro proves to be something good... but I'm not reading exactly the best reviews on its screen.
apple experience is not that subjective i believe. windows (especially 7) is great, but microsoft does not offer a whole eco-system that works with the rest of their devices (windows mobile phones / tables). the "apple experience" is related with ease of use (i cant imagine working without Spotlight), superior build qualities, and the eco system (airplay, icloud, etc etc..)
yay! competition is the mother of invention and when companies do it effectively it drives quality up and prices down.
Brand loyalty for its own sake is for suckers.
I am looking at buying a Macbook Air providing that it is updated with a better screen, IPS and at least 1080P if not a retina screen all together. It's all good arguing that the Sony has issues but what I want to see is this sort of technology made better in the MBA. If not then I'll probably be looking at some of other Ultrabooks that are on offer.
Based on the Verge's review, it sounds like we should definitely expect battery improvement with the 11" Air; however their comment about the graphic card threw me off a bit. It sounds like we won't see enough of an improvement from the Intel 4000. I know Haswell is not discrete, but I was hoping it would at least be comparable to the Nvidia m335 performance from a couple years ago.
Yup, and thanks to competition, we have the MBA. When there is any real competition, the MBA will get even better in response.
Yep, sorry! That's what I meant. I'm thinking about upgrading to the new Air, but I need just a little more than just the battery improvement.
Touch screens are useless and any windows battery estimates are almost flat out lies. The MBA gets 7 hours of real world use, doing actual work at near max brightness, windows is less than half as efficient as OS X, so you can expect 4 hours of real life battery life with this laptop. This is based on the actual testing, not marketing figures. OS X on the MBA would get 18 hours of battery life if it were tested under some standards.
"MBA isn't good anymore"
Surely you don't actually believe this based on one persons perspective, personal biases & skewed viewpoints. Or even a few reviews for that matter.
I just happen to have quite a bit of experience with new Sony VAIO's over the last few years. Running them side by side with my Mac MBA & MBPr laptops, I find Apple has done the best job of creating well designed, excellent performing computers.
Step back & look at the big picture, the computer, it's heritage, the track record of their service centers, et al. You'll find they have a distinct disadvantage compared to Apple.
Why do I buy them? Simple. I'm a technologist that loves to try different laptop's besides my main machines which are always current model MBA's & MBP's.
Thanks to Apples exemplary work, I rely on Macs to make my living & have never been let down. Period.
Surely you don't actually believe this based on one persons perspective, personal biases & skewed viewpoints. Or even a few reviews for that matter.
I just happen to have quite a bit of experience with new Sony VAIO's over the last few years. Running them side by side with my Mac MBA & MBPr laptops, I find Apple has done the best job of creating well designed, excellent performing computers.
Step back & look at the big picture, the computer, it's heritage, the track record of their service centers, et al. You'll find they have a distinct disadvantage compared to Apple.
Why do I buy them? Simple. I'm a technologist that loves to try different laptop's besides my main machines which are always current model MBA's & MBP's.
Thanks to Apples exemplary work, I rely on Macs to make my living & have never been let down. Period.
Err what? Have you used Windows Phone 8, Windows 8 and the current Xbox 360? Clearly a uniform experience/eco-system across all three main Microsoft platforms.
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hey thread!
Thought I'd give my two cents to this whole topic, as a long term Windows/PC fan who's buying a Macbook Air over an ultrabook/convertible hopefully tomorrow.
To me, specs aren't really all that important here. I don't really care if a screen is 1400*900 or 1920*1080, what matters to me is durability. I'm going off to university in September and I want a laptop that, build quality wise, is actually going to last me three years. Apple wins hands down here every time, and if I have an issue, I've got three years of free Applecare.
This swayeed me above and beyond any ultrabook. Knowing in three years I'll have a laptop I'm still happy with, and hasn't broken because of some stupid manufacturer design, and isn't covered because it happened one month after the warranty expired. I've got friends who still use old Powerbooks because they just didn't break. They're a bit clunky and slow, but crucially, they still work and the screen hasn't fallen off. Oh hey Dell!
In terms of the OS, Windows 8 and Mac OS X are pretty much on par, regardless of what the media says, and this is coming from someone who's racked up a lot of hours with both. I think the stance MS is now taking, the hardware-software integration like Apple does is a crucial point, because it really is those little things, like a nice keyboard, and a decent trackpad, that sway me, along with something that's well thought out and well designed.
THIS is why PC sales are dropping - because they suck, not because of Windows 8 or tablets.
I also like Apple's approach to design and ergonomics. It really makes a difference. But that also has to be accompanied by good hardware.
Whose Kool-aid did you chuck? You're generalizing all over the place!
My MBA certainly doesn't get 7 hours of real world use, it's more like 3-5 and it's a 13", it does get 7 hours of almost-didn't-touch-it-use, though.
I think it depends on what you want or need to do. Windows is clearly more messy (e.g. the settings and system tools are a total mess) but besides of that, Windows is a no-go for me, simply because its not UNIX.
On-topic: with new Haswell CPUs, the MBA will have a much improved battery. I don't find these Sony laptops in least attractive - too many compromises. And I believe that 1080p is a way too high resolution for a 13" screen, not to mention the 11" one. It would be nice to have a high-quality resolution-independent scaling here, but up do date, only Apple offers something like it. IMO, 1440x900 is the sweet spot for a 13" display.
Why do you need UNIX? Is there any specific reason?
For most users, Windows is stable and usable enough. I'm very picky and I can't stand operating systems such as Linux (I've found no distro to be barely usable so far) and Android due to the lack of ergonomics and good design. They're just not well-though enough. I like both Windows and OS X, though, and I wouldn't be able to say which one I prefer.
As for screen resolutions, well, I think 1440x900 is too low for a 13" display. Elements on the screen may look like they have a good size, but that's all about it. On a Mac, text will not look very sharp.
Yes, I have to perform complex flexible workflows with large number of text files on daily basis (language documentation research). The UNIX shell is a great time-saver here. And in general, its much more convenient for programming.