Apple MacBook Air (80GB) Laptop

Error free, I have all of Adobe's latest software for both the Mac OSX and the Windows side. I used this computer as my transition to MAC. I also run Microsoft Office 2007 on the windows side. I was told that this computer might not handle it, so I got the upgraded CPU. It has performed far beyond my expectations. Coming from a PC this thing is a dream. Super light, Visually stunning and still gets ooohs and ahhhhs every time I pull it out. I couldn't be happier. If I played games (or had the time too) I wouldn't have purchased it. Simply put it is not for everybody. But for the professional on the go, it is the perfect sidekick. I strongly recommend it for anybody that needs a reliable computer that is light, small and easy to use without the "fat".

Let me explain first off that I bought the Macbook Air because I needed something portable for travel. It's my personal computer, not one I use for business. I take it with me wherever I travel, and now couldn't part with it. I look it to Europe a couple of times and was really glad to have it. As a woman, I didn't want to lug around anything heavy or bulky. I use it at home for all the things one normally does: email, pictures, spread sheets, calendar, internet etc. I was a little wary before buying this computer because of its lack of internal dvd drive and only one USB port. I did buy the external DVD for $99, but have only used it a couple of times. When I need access to a DVD, I just use my PC's optical DVD; it works like a charm. Turns out that one USB post isn't an issue. I access my printer through my network. I'm not sure how I'd feel if it were the only computer in the house, but for me it's ideal. I haven't touched the big PC desktop for ages. I know that this isn't important but it is so cool. It's design, ergonomically is very well done. I bought a remote mouse, which I never use either. The touch pad is just as fast, once you get used to using it.

i think that this computer is one of the best out there, it is slim and light with a gorgeous LED backlit screen and it is fast, i know it only has a 1.6 GHz or a 1.8 GHz processor but thats plenty fast, the only time it has ever failed to live up to my expectations is when i have a high GPU game up, but macs are not good for that anyway, the lack of a CD is okay because everything is on the internet now, from office to music. the only bother has been only one USB port, but even then its not that bad. i love this notebook.

3lbs in an aluminum case with thin edges is perfect for day to day use. Completely bullet proof. It's been sat on, spilled on, and tossed across the room without missing a bit. I'm amazed every time I open the lid and its basically on before I can get the fingers to the keys. When I first saw Jobs pull this out of an envelope I really didn't get it... few ports, no DVD, no PC Card slot. For my wife, it was instant appeal. Now, 6 months later I understand. Why burden a laptop with all these drives and ports if you already got them on another computer on the network? It's senseless to load up the mobile unit. Three USB ports (Thinkbook X300) in a 3lb computer... for what? Being able to slide your hand along the couch and snag the Airbook from under the magazines because of the way its housing tapers is outstanding design. Having it turn on instantly when opened is simply good engineering; that should be a requirement for all laptops regardless of other design considerations. If you need a box that will
be everyones first choice for reading Email and surfing the net, this one will be hard to improve upon; expect it to be around the house for at least 5 years.

This was my first mac and I have got to say I love it. Yes its pricey but I got mine on ebay and saved $700.00 I was blown away by how easy a mac is to use, I think I will move all my computers to mac. Its very light but not cheap. I don't think it runs slow but I don't do much but web surfing and Email. I agree that it is not for everyone but for me it is perfect. The macbook would be my pick if I really needed a dvd drive and other ports, you just got to go with what works for you.

Its' only right that i review this after I got the MacBookAir. I read lots of review, both good and bad, and finally made the plunge being a Windows guy all my life. All I can tell you that if it starts up from its sleep mode so fast (hibernation for windows) that I am jumping for joy. Once I close the lid, it's off within 2 sec. Once i open the lid, it's ready in 2 sec. With my old Lenovo, it takes about a minute and a half doing the same, by that time, i forgot what i was going to do trying to. Everything is so quick and flawless.It's instantaneous.The screen is very nice and crisp, making images look much more vibrant. Because the contrast is so good, i have no problem using it outside. The light sensor works smoothly, and the back lit turns on by itself once it gets too dark but you still have the option to control it manually. The USB ports are a little hard to reach and it's quite tight to plug in for some reason that when you are pulling out, have to make sure you hold it by the connector or might risk damaging the cords. Anyway, was told that the battery will take about a week to be fully reach 100%. The charging process is pretty fast, as it should be, an hour will get you up to about 70% and up no problem. So no worries on that. Should the battery go dead, i can get it replaced at the macstore. So that's off the worry list for me since a year from now, that should be pretty routine. The sound of the mba is very low. The keyboard takes some getting used to. The touch pad is a discovery, especially when viewing photos or surfing the web, making it so convenient and more fun. So far so good. The best part is I can carry the MacBookAir as if it was a small folder and go to meetings anywhere. I did'nt buy the casing or anything, because the whole thing is made of aluminum, so very little finger prints to be seen and scratches are hard to come by. So for fun, i carry it around in a brown envelope. The MBA dented my wallet some, but the surprise of those around you when you pull it out of the envelop and flip it open and use it immediately is priceless.

The MacBook Air is a controversial machine, and unlike most Apple products, you will either love it or hate it. There is not much middle ground, due to the level of specialization with this machine. There are three types of people who will buy this product. There are the corporate road warriors, who are constantly on the move and want an efficient mac that can keep up with their travel habits. There are the fashionistas, who are just mesmerized by the Air's eye catching design, incredible thinness (less than an inch thick at its thickest), and the Starbucks celebrity status that the Air brings. Then, there are the Apple fanboys, who will literally buy anything with an Apple logo. For everybody else, who prefers to do their homework on a device before they buy it, here are the facts.

Inside The Air:

The Air features an Intel Core 2 Duo chip, that has been specifically designed to fit into the Air's slim chassis. The motherboard is also incredibly small. The battery is very thin, but takes up about two thirds of the machine. It has wireless N, as well as wireless B and G. It has Bluetooth 2.1 EDR. Ironically, even the inside of the Air is sexy. Yes, I took mine apart. Look at the end of the review for the video. The screen, like the new MacBooks and MacBook Pros, is backlit by LEDs, which save power and allow the screen to light up to their full brightness immediately. There are two basic configuration options for the MacBook Air, although both can be customized on the Apple website. For the lower priced, $1799 configuration, you get a 1.6 GHz processor, 2GB of RAM (which is soldered into the motherboard, so you cannot upgrade it), and an 80GB, 4200 RPM hard drive. For a whopping $3098, you can get the higher configuration option, which includes a slight processor bump to 1.8GHz, 2GB of RAM, and a 64GB SSD, (Solid State Drive) that allows faster access to your data and increased durability. It is a shame that the capacity is so low, given the hefty price increase. Like every other Apple laptop, it has no 3G data connection.

The Air's Hardware:

The Air has a plethora of ports including one USB port, one headset jack, and one Micro-DVI port, which are hidden in a fold-down compartment. Joking about the 'plethora' part. It also has a new and improved MagSafe jack, that holds the cord in place better, and keeps it tucked out of the way. On a side note, a normal MacBook or Macbook Pro MagSafe cord will work with the Air, but will be knocked out if the Air is placed on a table. The headphone jack and USB port are kind of hard to get to, because of a small ledge that blocks thicker USB devices and headphones from plugging in. There is no FireWire port, do Target Disk Mode is dead in the water. There is a single speaker in the Air, which hides below the arrow keys on the keyboard. The speaker is actually quite loud, but sounds funny while you are typing, as if your hands are redirecting the sound. There is an iSight camera, which is round, instead of the typical square one that resides in my MacBook Pro. It, like most everything else on the Air, is much smaller. The iSight sits between two small, circular grills, that hide the light sensor (left), and microphone (right). All of this is encased in matte aluminum. Overall, the Air is the epitome of sexy.

Keyboard and Screen:

I personally LOVE the MacBook Air's keyboard. It has everything I love about the MacBook's keyboard, such as the responsiveness, looks, and durability, only its backlit. In my opinion, it is the best keyboard ever made. Nuff' said. The display is a 13.3 inch widescreen display, with the glossy finish. It is backlit by LEDs and looks amazing. There isn't much to say except that it is great.

Performance:

This is the slowest Mac on the market, but is still faster than the PowerBook G4, and other macs of the PowerPC years. Gizmodo's benchmark tests showed it to be "sufficiently fast." The 2GB of RAM was helpful, and I am glad Apple chose to include it. The Intel Core 2 Duo was also surprisingly zippy. The 4200 RPM drive was the real slowpoke. The Air runs OS X flawlessly, but chokes a bit in programs like iWeb, iMovie and Garage Band. Ironically, Adobe Photoshop, Flash, and Illustrator ran almost perfectly. So did Skype, iChat, and Dashboard.

Multi-Touch:

The MacBook Air has a new, larger trackpad that makes it easy to do Multi-Touch gestures just like on the iPhone. Pinching in or out when in Safari increases the text size, while in iPhoto, it zooms an image. If you swipe three fingers left or right while in Safari or iPhoto, it will let you cycle through images/web pages. Rotating two fingers in Preview or iPhoto allows you to rotate images. Just like the MacBook Pros, you can scroll with two fingers, and hold two fingers on the trackpad and click to right click. While Multi-Touch is nice to have on the Air, it works better on the iPhone.

Portability:

The Air is extremely thin. Just 0.16 inches at its thinnest to 0.76 inches at its thickest. I'm sure you've heard that so many times you probably don't care anymore, but I just thought I'd throw it in there. You really need to hold the Air in your hand to grasp exactly how thin it is. Its really, really, thin. Holding it in your hands and examining it makes you stare at the MacBook Air and ask "How did they do that?". This morning, when I woke up, I could not find my MacBook Air. I searched everywhere for it. When I finally found it, it was under 3 sheets of paper, next to my bed the whole time. Thats how thin it is. It can be lost under 3 sheets of paper. I doubt you can do that with a MacBook Pro. While the Air feels thin, it also feels sturdy. It is a well built product. I take it to school with me all the time, and it fits nicely in my backpack.

Battery

The battery, while not user replaceable, is very easy to swap out. Just undo about 20 screws, and voila! No glue or solder to worry about. I usually get about 4 and a half hours out of it, with the display turned down half way. Gizmodo has more information here.

Remote Disk:

A copy of Remote Disk is included with the Air's install DVDs. Yes, it has two DVDs. That wasn't a typo. Remote Disk, when installed allows the Air to borrow another Mac or PC's disk drive and use it to install software over a wireless connection. Unfortunately, its slow, takes up a lot of space for the host computer, and requires you to give permission from the host computer via a dialogue box each time you want to use remote disk, making it not so, well, remote. You cannot use remote disk to burn CD's or DVD's, or even listen to them. Its strictly for software. I recommend that anyone getting the Air springs for the optional $99 portable Super Drive. The Super Drive allows you to do everything a normal Super Drive can do. It writes Double layer DVDs at 4x speed, writes DVDs at 8x speed, reads DVDs at 8x speed, writes CDs at 24x speed, and reads CDs at 24x speed. It weighs 3/4 of a pound, and only works with the MacBook Air. No other Macs are supported.

My Rating:

 out of 5

The MacBook Air isn't for everyone, but as far as ultra-portables goes, its good. Very good. This would NOT make a good primary computer though. It simply does not have enough power. If you are looking for a small, portable computer to use for word processing, web browsing, watching movies, and that can handle the occasional bit of Photohop work, then you should seriously check out the MacBook Air. It is a wonderful computer for travel, and an on-the-go lifestyle.

The Macbook Air has caused me nothing but trouble. A horrible laptop for the price.

would be nice for travel but just is not a realistic notebook

I apologize for the question instead of the review, but I'm hunting for a good laptop to take to iraq this fall and haven't seen any reviews that cover this topic yet. I'm looking for speed, good graphics, lightweight (since it has to go into my ruck), DVD/BlueRay drive, memory equivalent to my ASUS desktop, wi-fi, bluetooth, multimedia capabilities, and something that I can trade-in if it is destroyed by sand. i have a 500 GB external harddrive already, so that's not an issue. I can plug a multi-usb port into the one, so that's not really an issue. Apple said they give a 10% military discount and if the Care plan is purchased, there is protection/trade-in if sand gets in it.

My laptop will be in my trailer most of the time, connected to Hajiinet. When people say this is not a desktop replacement, what exactly does that mean? I don't mind externals if they can go in my trunk on teh way over. What is the difference in Solid state vs spinning drive? what makes SS a better choice?

I appreciate the responses.

It's so nice to have a portable machine that still offers a large keyboard and large screen. While the Air is the best ultra portable in the class, it is by no means a primary machine.

I have a 17" MacBook Pro, and I can't exactly carry that around easily. The Air allows me to take what I need where ever I go without the penalty of an oddly shrunken keyboard or a tiny screen.

Ok so it didnt make the "impact at Starbucks or on collage campuses" that some reviewer claimed but....
I love it. I have several laptops, all in the 15" size and have been between desktops for 4 years. I have Dell and Asus with about have about 20k in software on my Asus in just 2 programs, to operate my CNC Machine. I wanted a smaller light weight ultra portable. I went back and fourth on this and even had a loaded Macbook in the shopping cart before I dumped it and pulled the trigger on this. I initially was going to use for email, docs, surfing and onsite customer quotes/bids/presentations but it has preformed so well I have now loaded on of my CNC programs on the XP partition. Flawless! I have not tried to load it down but have used in same manner as the PC and runs just as good.

This is my first Mac (I only had top end Vaios before). It's great - does everything without a fuss. Casing feels strong and classy. Mac OS is years ahead of cumbersome Vista. Lots of fast RAM mean the slower CPU doesn't compromise performance. I use an external monitor in the office, but dont feel limited by connectivity as I have Bluetooth mouse and Apple Aluminum keyboard (as cool as the AIR itself). (Is all the masses of USB, S Video, card readers, etc, loaded onto other laptops really necessary?). Trackpad is excellent. Screen is clear. Backlit keys very handy in low light situations. Wireless is simple and effective. I use a 4gb thumb drive to transfer data instead of a DVD drive.
The only glitches I've had is (Microsoft) Entourage crashing occasionally.
Concerns; replacing the battery if it fails, limited travel of screen opening may cause problems later.