What, no MacBook Air topic yet???

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onion2k
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Re: What, no MacBook Air topic yet???

Post by onion2k »

matthijs wrote:And portability is a big plus. Compact, light, easy to handle. I have a macbook pro and use a macbook once in a while and between those the macbook is much better to travel with, even though the pro is already quite thin. Well, not so thin anymore, compared to the new air :)
I contend that making something thinner actually makes it harder to handle. I bet a MacBook is easier to pickup and sling in a backpack that an Air.
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Zoxive
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Re: What, no MacBook Air topic yet???

Post by Zoxive »

onion2k wrote:I contend that making something thinner actually makes it harder to handle. I bet a MacBook is easier to pickup and sling in a backpack that an Air.
Not to mention, more sturdy, and not as flimsy. (Warning: Guesstimates)
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Kieran Huggins
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Re: What, no MacBook Air topic yet???

Post by Kieran Huggins »

I'm really curious to see one "in the flesh" now. Do you think it's sharp? I might just prefer the form factor of the larger MB's
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Re: What, no MacBook Air topic yet???

Post by matthijs »

Well I haven't had one in my hands. yet :) But I do know that smaller laptops usually are more compact, which makes them more sturdy and easy to handle (weight is a plus as well). My girlfriend always walks around the house with her macbook, showing the house and garden to friends oversees using the build-in iSight.

I do agree with Kieran about the form factor. Maybe it needs getting used to.
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Re: What, no MacBook Air topic yet???

Post by shiznatix »

JayBird: I stand by my libel. Stupidest computer ever.

And seriously, you guys don't use a DVD-rom anymore? Don't you share music/movies/files with friends? If I really like a movie I will give a copy of it to a friend that I know will enjoy it and instead of giving them my USB drive and saying "please don't break this" I can give them a 10 cent dvd with a bunch of awesome movies on it.

Also, backups! Common, I have spindles of backups of my movies/shows on DVD. I tend to spill my beer a lot and if I get that on a DVD, who cares. On a nice external HD thats going to be a terrible situation. Also, a HD failure would result in me losing EVERYTHING while breaking 1 DVD is hardly worth crying about.
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Re: What, no MacBook Air topic yet???

Post by JayBird »

shiznatix wrote:JayBird: I stand by my libel. Stupidest computer ever.
That's fine and i respect your opinion
shiznatix wrote:And seriously, you guys don't use a DVD-rom anymore? Don't you share music/movies/files with friends? If I really like a movie I will give a copy of it to a friend that I know will enjoy it and instead of giving them my USB drive and saying "please don't break this" I can give them a 10 cent dvd with a bunch of awesome movies on it.
No, i don't share movies with friends. Most people come to mine to watch them anyway on the home theatre setup.
shiznatix wrote:Also, backups! Common, I have spindles of backups of my movies/shows on DVD. I tend to spill my beer a lot and if I get that on a DVD, who cares. On a nice external HD thats going to be a terrible situation. Also, a HD failure would result in me losing EVERYTHING while breaking 1 DVD is hardly worth crying about.
Nope, i have about 3TB of network storage in a Raid5 config. If a drive breaks, i just replace that drive and im up and running again with no loss of data, that's good enough for backup for me. Backing up to DVD would just take too long (400+ movies, 2,000+ TV episodes, 10,000+ music tracks and all my family photos).

Breaking a DVD for me would be worth crying about, as it would be my only backup.
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Re: What, no MacBook Air topic yet???

Post by CoderGoblin »

astions wrote:Looks cool, but it has a permanent battery. I think Steve is losing his mind. Why do they refuse to let customers change their batteries?
Because, as with a lot of things nowadays, money is made by services, not the product itself. They give mobiles away because they make their money out the calls etc. Same with cheap printers... money is made on cartridges. Now Apple is once again showing it is concerned more with milking their customers rather than building up and retaining their loyal fan base who have stuck up for them through their rough patches.
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Re: What, no MacBook Air topic yet???

Post by matthijs »

CoderGoblin wrote:Now Apple is once again showing it is concerned more with milking their customers rather than building up and retaining their loyal fan base who have stuck up for them through their rough patches.
What, are you saying Apple wants to make money? And I always thought it was a non-profit, silly me...

But serious, I wonder how often a battery really needs to be replaced. Maybe once, after 3 years of use? And then, for 129 dollar you have it replaced, is that so much?

Again, it's quite clear. Apple wanted to make the thinnest notebook. If they had added replaceable batteries, DVD/CD player, more connections, coffee-cup-holders, etc etc the notebook would have been the same size and weight as the other notebooks on the market. Now they have a great product for a specific group of people, looking for a really light and thin notebook.
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Re: What, no MacBook Air topic yet???

Post by Maugrim_The_Reaper »

Look on the other bright side for Apple - whether it's value for money it's still a pretty astounding feat compared to their nearest competitor (Sony TZ) which buys them more word-of-mouth publicity. Maybe people will decide not to purchase a MacBook AIR, but will it make them think about the cool-factor and continuing deserved reputation of Apple for innovation and decide to buy a MacBook instead? I think they will.
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Re: What, no MacBook Air topic yet???

Post by matthijs »

You have a good point Maugrim. The Macbook Air was in all newspapers here. having a small market share means that getting people familiar with the brand is important. I still encounter many people who have heard about Apple computers but still think they are some obscure, specialized computers, uncompatible with anything else. Same goes for Linux, even more so I think.

Recently I read in a paper about a school were all kids (12yrs and up I believe) got a notebook. the first year the school bought Dells. Not happy, the next year they went for some other brand. But then they switched to Macbooks, and apparently they liked those the best. Lucky kids.
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Re: What, no MacBook Air topic yet???

Post by RobertGonzalez »

Like the iPhone (and just about everything else Mac these days) the biggest selling point is the coolness factor. "I have a Macbook Air". "Ooo, so do I. Wanna come over with yours and we can stare at each other's laptops?" "Mm, k!"

I think it is cool. But at the moment, it would not be practical for me just because of the optical drive issue. Yes, I use my drive. I like putting music that I have on CDs into my computer. No, I don't want to wirelessly download them into iTunes on my iPhone then sync to my iAir. Yes, I like to watch movies on my laptop in bed. No, I don't want this bigass square box DVD reader next to me and my Macbook Air so I can watch a movie.

But I have to say this thing is damn cool from every other pespective you can imagine. Mac continues to iDeate and iNnovate. And they put out some cool stuff while doing so.

And I totally agree with JayBird. This is the right laptop for some and the wrong laptop for others. I am not bashing the Air, I am just a little peeved that it doesn't meet my every need for a computer. And since the world revolves around me... ;)
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Re: What, no MacBook Air topic yet???

Post by matthijs »

Everah wrote:And I totally agree with JayBird. This is the right laptop for some and the wrong laptop for others. I am not bashing the Air, I am just a little peeved that it doesn't meet my every need for a computer. And since the world revolves around me... ;)
Haha :)

To be honest I had hoped for a smaller notebook release, 11/12" or something, with solid state drive (affordable please), no optical drive, and looooong battery live. Just as a secondary notebook for traveling. But I can see that 11/12" is too small for some people. maybe if I have had the Air in my hands and have felt the size of it for real I change my mind.

But that's indeed the thing. The first person needs power, the next mobility, the next a bigger screen, etc. What did you hope for or are your needs then, Everah?
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Re: What, no MacBook Air topic yet???

Post by RobertGonzalez »

I think an optical drive is a must for me at the moment. And the fact that the battery is not removable and only has a life of about 5 hours is a big thumbs down for me.

At least with my current laptop I can swap a battery if I need to and I can change the movie out if I want to. With the Air I would either have to connect a huge box so I can watch a DVD, or, as a preemptive measure, would have to move my DVDs to my iPhone/iPod and connect that to my Air if I don't want to put them on the Air, which I wouldn't given the paltry 80GB HDD that comes with it.

That seems like a little too much to do to be able to enjoy entertainment on my machine.
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Kieran Huggins
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Re: What, no MacBook Air topic yet???

Post by Kieran Huggins »

I would still buy one if my Thinkpad wasn't so similar. I was mostly disappointed that it wasn't enough of an upgrade for me to justify :-( I may still buy the next revision if they can widen the gap a little.
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Re: What, no MacBook Air topic yet???

Post by Mordred »

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