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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > Macbook air any reviews out there?

Macbook air any reviews out there?
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tkmd
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May 4, 2009, 10:05 PM
 
I'm beginning to seriously look at the 2nd generation MBA. What I am torn about is the HD option of the SSD vs the mechanical HD. All I can find on the web are some reviews of the first generation ssd (which by accounts seemed to have sucked)

I could go with the mech HD and then upgrade to a SSD. But I am not sure if the current model offered by apple is worth it.

BTW this would be a second computer to my MP (so please, I'm not looking at a MB). Strictly presentations, web, email and PDF reading. I wonder if the newer generation ssd improves on battery life and or speed?
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shifuimam
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May 4, 2009, 11:17 PM
 
I'm kind of curious as to why you'd want to drop two grand on a laptop for such basic functionality, when a $300 netbook would do everything you're wanting - plus you can hackintosh it if you really want OS X.
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AKcrab
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May 4, 2009, 11:49 PM
 
Originally Posted by shifuimam View Post
I'm kind of curious as to why you'd want to drop two grand on a laptop for such basic functionality, when a $300 netbook would do everything you're wanting - plus you can hackintosh it if you really want OS X.
I'm not sure why you hang around here since you hate apple hardware so much.

http://www.macworld.com/article/1366...tml?lsrc=top_3
(Not the exact comparison you're looking for..)
     
olePigeon
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May 4, 2009, 11:52 PM
 
MacBook Air gets top marks for performance, size, and even price (when compared to Adamo, Voodoo, etc.), but not having an ethernet jack and only one USB port turns a lot of people away.

I'm not sure why you're against a MacBook, either the unibody or the black plastic one.

A $300 netbook will be retardedly slow as a Hackintosh, and you'll have to deal with a 1024x600 resolution. With some of them, you'll even have to relearn how to type because the keyboards aren't staggered or are too small to 10-finger.

SSDs offer no real advantage over higher RPM mechanical other than that they're solid state; you don't have to worry about the SSD crashing, getting scratched, or heads breaking. They're actually pretty well suited for laptops. The downside being they have a limited write lifetime. Chances are you'll replace the HDD or the laptop itself before that happens, but it depends on how long you think you'll keep the laptop.
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Simon
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May 5, 2009, 03:44 AM
 
Originally Posted by tkmd View Post
BTW this would be a second computer to my MP (so please, I'm not looking at a MB). Strictly presentations, web, email and PDF reading. I wonder if the newer generation ssd improves on battery life and or speed?
For this light type of use I think the SSD will never be worth the extra $500. And unfortunately the SSD will not give you much additional battery life either. The 1.8" HDD is already very low power. 5 minutes maybe.

I see why you'd want a MBA. But if I were you I'd try to keep it fairly inexpensive since you mention only light use. Unless you're seriously loaded $1549 is already quite a lot for just a light mobile companion.
     
shifuimam
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May 5, 2009, 08:10 AM
 
I understand that the MacBook Air is more powerful than a netbook.

However, for "presentations, web, email, and PDF reading", you really don't need a $1500+ secondary laptop...that seems like extreme overkill. I'm just saying that a netbook will meet the needs of such basic use and be significantly cheaper.

WRT keyboards, the HP Mini 1000 has a 95% full-size keyboard - it's very, very easy to touch type on (boyfriend has large man hands and has no problem typing on it). I also don't buy that OS X would run "retardedly slow" on a 1.6GHz Atom, but performance is relative. I find that Leopard is quick and perfectly fine on my 733MHz G4, but I've seen people around here saying that Leopard is butt slow on any G4...it just depends on how you perceive it.

I agree with what Simon said - unless you have scads of disposable income at hand, $1500 is a lot for a secondary mobile device like the OP is wanting.
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ghporter
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May 5, 2009, 09:09 AM
 
Originally Posted by AKcrab View Post
I'm not sure why you hang around here since you hate apple hardware so much.

http://www.macworld.com/article/1366...tml?lsrc=top_3
(Not the exact comparison you're looking for..)
She didn't say she hated Apple hardware, just that for what most people get the MBA for, you could indeed get a very inexpensive netbook.

FWIW, I think the MBA is VERY expensive for what you get, and that perhaps the most appropriate customer base for it should be "road warriors" who are constantly carrying it around. I do not see a significant weight advantage over the basic MacBooks. The MBA weighs only 3.0 pounds, but the MB weighs 4.5...that's 24 oz difference, not counting how much external stuff you would have to lug around to do what you can with a MacBook... (And a MacBook fits in a manila envelope too-it's just not as loose a fit.)

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Simon
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May 5, 2009, 09:23 AM
 
Well its weight is the one big avantage the MBA has over the MB. They're both about the same size (length, width). But the MBA is indeed very light compared to the MB.

If that's worth $500 is another question, but it's one that pretty much everybody must answer for themselves.
     
ghporter
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May 5, 2009, 11:01 AM
 
Originally Posted by Simon View Post
Well its weight is the one big avantage the MBA has over the MB. They're both about the same size (length, width). But the MBA is indeed very light compared to the MB.

If that's worth $500 is another question, but it's one that pretty much everybody must answer for themselves.
Precisely.

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kylef
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May 6, 2009, 11:33 AM
 
The price of Solid State Drives is coming down and down. Already, we're seeing more space for the same price which means smaller SSDs will have their price tags pushed down. If you're going to get an Air, I'd just get the standard mechanical HDD and an external hard drive to use as a time machine. That way, you are guaranteed to have your data backed up if your hard drive packs up.

My brother has a 1st gen air and it is a very nice machine. Light; agile and somewhat durable (dropped it on some stones from a height .. everything is perfect, with the exception of a ding in the top of the case which is very annoying!)

But I am inclined to agree with what others are saying in this thread: for what you need to do, you are paying a massive price. Heck, you can pick up a new unibody MacBook for cheaper! If I were you I'd consider alternatives unless you really are prepared to pay that extra tag for its thinness.

Originally Posted by olePigeon View Post
not having an ethernet jack and only one USB port turns a lot of people away.
FYI, Airs come with a USB to Ethernet adapter.
     
olePigeon
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May 6, 2009, 04:46 PM
 
Originally Posted by kylef View Post
FYI, Airs come with a USB to Ethernet adapter.
Yeah, but now you don't have a USB port.
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Spheric Harlot
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May 6, 2009, 04:52 PM
 
Originally Posted by kylef View Post
FYI, Airs come with a USB to Ethernet adapter.
No, they don't.

You can BUY one if you need it.
     
CharlesS
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May 6, 2009, 05:21 PM
 
Originally Posted by olePigeon View Post
SSDs offer no real advantage over higher RPM mechanical other than that they're solid state
... and that they have ridiculously faster random access speeds ...

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Laminar
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May 6, 2009, 05:27 PM
 
Originally Posted by ghporter View Post
She didn't say she hated Apple hardware,
Not in this thread, no, but she's made it very clear.
     
ghporter
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May 6, 2009, 05:28 PM
 
Originally Posted by Laminar View Post
Not in this thread, no, but she's made it very clear.
Shall we stay on topic? Good.

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olePigeon
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May 6, 2009, 05:44 PM
 
Originally Posted by CharlesS View Post
... and that they have ridiculously faster random access speeds ...
That's true, if humans were capable of differentiating between .5 ms and .08 ms.
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Spheric Harlot
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May 6, 2009, 05:51 PM
 
Humans may not be, but software is a little more sensitive.

And a failed recording or playback is something most humans can clearly differentiate from one that works.

(Yes, audio tracking is more about sustained data rates, but if you're working with tons of samples/audio snippets, access time definitely helps performance.)
     
kylef
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May 6, 2009, 06:47 PM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
No, they don't.

You can BUY one if you need it.
Must have been an included extra for this then. Hmm, cool!
     
CharlesS
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May 6, 2009, 06:58 PM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
Humans may not be, but software is a little more sensitive.

And a failed recording or playback is something most humans can clearly differentiate from one that works.

(Yes, audio tracking is more about sustained data rates, but if you're working with tons of samples/audio snippets, access time definitely helps performance.)
Another thing that SSDs help a lot is startup/login time. I have Mail, Terminal, DragThing, QuickSilver, and some daemons for apps like Little Snitch in my Login Items. It doesn't seem like a lot to me, but when you add in the fact that there's a bunch of other apps that OS X is starting anyway, such as the Finder, SystemUIServer, QuickLook, etc., it really does end up taking a long time to become usable with a regular hard drive. With an SSD, though, this shouldn't be a problem, since you can launch everything in your Applications folder at once, and they'll still come up pretty quickly (check out some of the videos of this on Youtube - they're quite impressive).

Anytime you are trying to do more than one disk-intensive thing at once with a standard hard drive, it slows things down considerably, to an extent that any Joe on the street should be able to notice it, since the physical drive head can only be in one place at a time. Whenever you attempt to do this, you'll appreciate a SSD.

Plus, the idea of being able to get a drive that can outperform 15,000 RPM desktop hard drives that people pay big bucks for, and to fit that drive in your laptop, is just plain cool.

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msuper69
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May 6, 2009, 08:54 PM
 
I have the 2nd Gen MBA w/SSD.

I used it on the road for the last few months of last year. Great for air travel.

Now I'm staying home and have it connected the the 24" Apple LED display. I've got a USB powered hub and the MBA SuperDrive option.

This works out pretty well in practice but then I don't do much else other than Mail, iChat and Safari. My 50GB iPhoto library is handled well as is some light iMovie/iDVD.

Oh and the very speedy startups/shutdowns (for those rare times) is not a bad thing either.
     
Ph.D.
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May 6, 2009, 10:46 PM
 
The Air seems to elicit love/hate responses. I love mine.

I have a 2nd generation one with the solid-state drive. When at my desk, I use it with the new 24" monitor. I waited forever to replace my ancient 12" powerbook plus an old 17" monitor with something like this, and I couldn't be happier.

Let's get this out of the way: Price aside, sheer performance aside, it's an amazing computer!

Do you need raw crunching, 25 ports, drives and slots, etc? Get a tower.
Do you want a medium-performance near-desktop in a relatively portable package? Get a Macbook or Pro.
Do you need the portability of a netbook but with mostly full-sized features for typical office productivity? Get an Air.

Oh, and definitely go for the solid state drive! An air with that wimpy little "ipod drive" is a slug. With the SSD, it FLYS!

Cheers.
     
   
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