The issue with the keyboard, sight unseen, was not predictable to me. Something you have to try. And no, I did not know the power cord was shorter than my MBA.
Honestly, I could live without the Magsafe, especially if it really lasted ALL DAY, then I wouldn't need to charge it. I literally use my Notebook for probably 12 hours a day, so its gonna sit on the charger at some time. The battery life isn't good enough to do without magsafe! I am sure Apple's wisdom is that "hey, this thing lasts all day, just charge it at night like your iPhone", but that argument falls apart for me! I didn't know that the battery wouldn't last as long as I had hoped.
Also, the VALUE statement I made really could not be assessed until after all of the above were added up and weighed against just keeping my existing MBA. This is not a decision of which NEW macbook to get, I'm saying I'd rather keep the money and stick with my old MBA 2012. And I can afford a new machine at any time, but I don't feel like paying to step backwards in so many ways.
And by the way, I bought a Silver, nobody seems to be clamoring for those. My opinion is that the material is Aluminum and the color should not pretend to be any other material than what it is, in a purist design sense. It's not made of friggin' gold, so why should it look gold? Also, scratch the thing, and guess what color you're gonna see? Hmm... anyway, that was a tangent, but I had to get it out there -- the new colors are pure hype and a diversion from purist good design!
