Walt Mossberg Reviews the New MacBook Air

[linux2mac]

The new MBA is the future of laptops. I am looking forward to replacing my giant 13" MBP (compared to the MBA) with a new MBA. Congrats again SJ !!

I can't wait to see all the HP and Dell copy cats bring their crap to market - LOL!

 

[frankly]

The new MBA is the future of laptops. I am looking forward to replacing my giant 13" MBP (compared to the MBA) with a new MBA. Congrats again SJ !!

I can't wait to see all the HP and Dell copy cats bring their crap to market - LOL!

I can't wait to see the new features in the MBA (Flash storage, instant wake, 30-day standby, etc.) make their way into the entire MBP line. Those will be incredible machines.

 

[nutjob]

As I've said before you think that the world revolves around you so if the iPad is not capable of doing the things that YOU need to do for work then it is a toy. The fact that it IS capable of doing the things that plenty of other people do for work never enters into your mind. It is like other people do not exist to you. I have given you example after example of things that I use the iPad for AT WORK on a daily basis and yet you dismiss it every time as if I and the people I work with do not exist.

I work in higher education. Our spreadsheets do not contain macros. We do not use Photoshop. We do not use SketchUp.

We do load textbooks onto it. I can carry around dozens of textbooks in a device with full color photos, embedded videos, etc. that weighs less than 1 actual textbook. One can walk around a lab grading programming assignments or dissections and entering the grades into an iPad. They would never try to walk around the lab carrying a MBP. People that used to carry legal pads to meetings now carry their iPad which not only has the previous meeting minutes, the new agenda, but also allows them to take notes on it. We do this EVERY DAY. It isn't some sort of fantasy as you seem to think.

Let me repeat this and try to read it slowly. The iPad MAY NOT WORK FOR YOU. That does NOT mean that it doesn't work great for others.

I own a MBP and an iPad. I use the MBP for tasks that it is great at and the iPad for tasks that it is great at. The iPad is a great device that fills a great many needs for many people. The fact that it does not fill your needs is irrelevant. I don't think I can make this any clearer. DO NOT buy one. YOU do not need one. For the love of Pete, stop thinking that you need to force the rest of the world to live in your tiny view of it.

You are clearly avoid the point because you know I'm right. Obviously this is not about me or you, two people do not represent the range of users of computers out there. How many times do I have to repeat this? The fact that you keep on going back to this in a weak effort to prop up your argument just makes your argument look really bad. You're not everyone. Do you understand that? Do you understand anything I say? Why don't you answer my points?

The fact is that the ipad does very little compared to a small laptop. It doesn't matter that you can find a use for it, for most people wanting to do work it does very little other than internet browsing, playing music and the like. By comparison a small laptop like the MBA 11.6.

Why won't you address that point, that for most people who do work the ipad is useless? Because you have no answer. The ipad is a toy. The ipad is heavily hyped and it's not useful for people to do work on.

 

[KnightWRX]

I can't wait to see the new features in the MBA (Flash storage, instant wake, 30-day standby, etc.) make their way into the entire MBP line. Those will be incredible machines.

Let me help you on one point, the MBPs already have instant wake. The new MBA isn't anymore instant than the MBPs. The standby time though is quite amazing. It litterally doesn't drain the battery at all.

 

[frankly]

Let me help you on one point, the MBPs already have instant wake. The new MBA isn't anymore instant than the MBPs. The standby time though is quite amazing. It litterally doesn't drain the battery at all.

Thanks, but I didn't need your help. The difference between the MBP and the MBA is that the MBA can instantly wake even after sitting for hours. The MBP has to spin up the drive and copy the contents of RAM from the hard drive back to RAM. This does not happen in an instant. The backlighting turning on does not mean the computer is awake and ready to use.

 

[KnightWRX]

Thanks, but I didn't need your help. The difference between the MBP and the MBA is that the MBA can instantly wake even after sitting for hours. The MBP has to spin up the drive and copy the contents of RAM from the hard drive back to RAM. This does not happen in an instant. The backlighting turning on does not mean the computer is awake and ready to use.

I owned a MB unibody before my MBA. Trust me, the only time I had to wait was when I had drained the entire battery and the laptop had gone into hibernation rather than stand by. Maybe your power management settings are wrong ?

Otherwise, as long as the battery held a charge, it was instant wake as much as the MBA no matter how long it had been sitting there. The only difference is I can let the Air sit for days without draining the battery, the MB didn't last 2.

 

[frankly]

I owned a MB unibody before my MBA. Trust me, the only time I had to wait was when I had drained the entire battery and the laptop had gone into hibernation rather than stand by. Maybe your power management settings are wrong ?

Otherwise, as long as the battery held a charge, it was instant wake as much as the MBA no matter how long it had been sitting there. The only difference is I can let the Air sit for days without draining the battery, the MB didn't last 2.

The normal operation for a MBP is for it to go into this "hibernation" mode by default after x number of hours of non-use. There is a setting that you can adjust in the terminal (not for average users) that will prevent this from happening and keep the contents of RAM in RAM. This will allow it to wake much faster. However, it has the detrimental effect of draining the battery in a day or two of sleep.

The MBA with its use of fast flash storage allows for the computer to go into this "hibernation" mode but recover from it instantly because of the fast speed that the contents can be transferred from Flash back to RAM.

And furthermore there is a difference between the login window coming up instantly and the computer actually being ready to perform all other tasks. The login window comes up pretty much instantly on my older MBP as well but that doesn't mean that everything else is ready to go.

 

[KnightWRX]

The normal operation for a MBP is for it to go into this "hibernation" mode by default after x number of hours of non-use. There is a setting that you can adjust in the terminal (not for average users) that will prevent this from happening and keep the contents of RAM in RAM. This will allow it to wake much faster. However, it has the detrimental effect of draining the battery in a day or two of sleep.

I never changed such a setting on my Unibody MB. Yet it never went to hibernation except when the battery was completely drained.

After 2 years and 500 + cycles, the battery still works for 5 hours on it too for light browsing/low brightness, like it did on day one. This is a 300 cycle battery too. One of the best laptops I've ever had when it comes to the battery. I'm kind of hoping the Air won't let me down in this department (though for now, I can better than the 7 hours it's rated for, I've had it on battery for about 9 hours on a single charge).

And furthermore there is a difference between the login window coming up instantly and the computer actually being ready to perform all other tasks. The login window comes up pretty much instantly on my older MBP as well but that doesn't mean that everything else is ready to go.

Again, my old MB, instant on. By the time I had typed my password, everything was reconnected, including the wireless network. To me, I have really not seen the difference between both computers on this fact.

Apple already had instant on, now they've just added long stand-by time to make sure you can use this instant on at all times.

 

[frankly]

Apple already had instant on, now they've just added long stand-by time to make sure you can use this instant on at all times.

That is really the key.

 

[Regbial]

A keyboard sold by Logitech a few years ago.



The price tags on those 2 items don't particularly scream rich to me. Adding up a base iPad and a base MBA 11.6" is still less than my monthly mortgage, which I cover in less than 2 weeks pay. I'm not even close to rich, I drive a beat up 2003 Subaru and live out in the country, 30 minutes outside the city.

People thinking like you are either very, very poor or just envious you can't just impulse buy something with a 999$ pricetag due to too much debt.

Well I live in Mexico… So…. Yeah the division between poor and rich is really clear here. All the airhead I-live-by-my-dads-fortune stupid superficial "upper class" (I know, I kinda belong in it but I'm different) people here love the iPad, even though they don't know wtf a Mac is, just because it's a "big new thing" and they have to have the latest **** if not people will look at them wierd and that's the WORST THING IN LIFE for them (this is the way they think). /rant I hate living in Mexico!

anyways, by NOW I do see the appeal in the iPad, especially as more apps are developed specifically for it. :/ I still think it's too pricey (especially the MBA), and yeah its too much money for me because I don't have a job, the parents pay everything. (you can't make much money in Mexico without a degree)

 

[zenio]

A couple of things. First Walt really needs to take Apple to task for the paltry SSD alotment. 64GB in the base machine is almost criminal. Worst the increases in prices for uprated SSDs is highway robbery. Apple is certainly keeping stiff margians on these AIRs.

Walt would never write a real review, Steve pays him well for these puff pieces.

Sacrifice a ton of Apple cash? Not gonna happen!

They already have matching wallets

Time to put this Old Cow, and his boy David, out to pasture. AND if you think he's influential in business circles you have no clue.

The business men & women of today, have figured out the tryst between Stevie, Walt & David long ago.

It's only fanboys that lap up this milk.