MacBook air 11" .. anyone got one yet?

PardonTheWait said:
We're completely at odds on this - I think the previous MBA was a complete waste of space and feel totally different about the new one, specifically the 11".

The lack of a 3G slot is, you're right, disappointing. There is, however, the MiFi, which I think are fantastic. If you have one, it doesn't matter what gadget you're taking with you, it'll work with the MiFi. One 3G payment a month, works with all your stuff. My work owe me one and they haven't given me it yet, I want it!

But if you need a proper computer to lug around everywhere, the MBA is now capable of being that, where imo, it wasn't before. Not if you didn't have a spare £1400 to drop, anyway.

It now is actually quite powerful. I haven't had a chance to play on an 11" yet, but the 13" bowled me over. Yes its clock speed is relatively low, but for use in general, it's incredibly snappy. I'm genuinely impressed with it. The SSD storage is very fast indeed. Loading apps, even something like iMovie with the big library of demo HD footage, is as quick as you like. Working in iMovie again as an example is spot on. Ignore the numbers - it's a fast machine.

I'm very eager to see how the 1.4 performs, but honestly I think it'll be faster than you expect. 2gb of RAM yes, but look how fast the storage is. You need a lot of RAM in a machine with a mechanical HDD. The advantage is diminished when your storage itself is solid state and fast as buggery.

I still would never get the 13", I'd just get an MBP. The 11" though, will be very popular and deservedly so.
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I guess we are looking at it totally from a different point of view.

My work, for me, the ipad is great. It lets me email my clients, use it as my portfolio and go online for leisure. Its also my calendar, my notebook and even can use it for directions, and i have done!

My MBP, that i use for making wedding album on the move. I need the storage as i need to keep a set of wedding albums on there go be able to work on it. THe SD card slot is handy too (though i so not use it, as my camera takes CF), the extra 1ghz though makes a difference to me. SSD might be fast but pure brute processing from a photo, CPU would matter more. Plus, 13" is just big enough for me, i found myself using my Ipad to dual monitor with it the other week while i was ay a friend's house for more desktop space.

I guess it is horses for courses. The MPA is nice and i might have considered it if i don't have the MBP but 1.8ghz with 4G RAM on the MBA isn't cheap!
 
PardonTheWait said:
I've just remembered what my main concern is with the new airs. Everything's on the logic board.

Dead RAM? New logic board. Dead HDD? New logic board. Bit worrying.
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Isn't that what the warranty is for though? Just chuck it at an Apple store and say "Fix it".

As for the MBA itself, i'm very tempted. I got my MB unibody purely as a non-gaming, work machine to allow me to do Uni work on - hence why I bought it as 7hrs battery on a 13" screen and a C2D was unheard of at the time.

Now there's the option of shaving 2" off the screen size, losing a load of thickness, and having an SSD on board, it's tempting me to sell my Macbook to fund one. There's no doubt though that it's a lot of money to pay for what is an 11" averagely specced notebook at the end of the day.
 
Tute said:
Isn't that what the warranty is for though? Just chuck it at an Apple store and say "Fix it".
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What about after more than a year? There's Applecare, but that's £200 and three years. So what about after more than three years? It's just a bit of a concern that it's so much a sealed unit, so to speak.

I'm still going to get one, but it's about as far from being something that you can fix yourself as it gets, that's all.
 
Well I guess I don't have that problem at the moment as I get the reduced price Applecare with my purchases, so I just let the Apple store sort it if there is a problem (which, luckily, my MB has been good as gold since I got it).

It's a pain if it's out of warranty, yes, but I certainly wouldn't let it stop me buying one - if I was that worried about it breaking i'd stump up the extra to extend the warranty as long as I had the MBA (I assume Apple offer this as an option?).
 
Tute said:
Isn't that what the warranty is for though? Just chuck it at an Apple store and say "Fix it".
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What happens after the warranty runs out though? A VERY expensive repair unless you take out the extended warranty which increases the initial price further. Didn't realise everything was soldered onto the board until I read it above.
 
Don't forget as well, that with a standard MB or MBP, you still have the chance of something that's soldered to the motherboard breaking out of warranty, which will still lump you with big bills.
 
Tute said:
Don't forget as well, that with a standard MB or MBP, you still have the chance of something that's soldered to the motherboard breaking out of warranty, which will still lump you with big bills.
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You see my concern though, right?

You have a four year old Macbook... RAM goes - replace the RAM. HDD fails - replace the HDD. Two of the most common failure points are now relocated to the logic board. It's definitely a worry once the machine goes out of warranty. Two VERY major components are now on the board.
 
Didn't realise the HDD was soldered too - thought it was a standard 64GB SSD connected via SATA. In which case I agree, that was a fairly stupid design idea, especially given how HDDs tend to be more prone to failure than other components in a standard system.
 
Heh, the SSD looks like a RAM chip from what I can see online. A very odd, and very proprietary design. It seems Apple really don't want you either a) Opening the case or b) Replacing anything inside of it!
 
I don't think it's so much that, more that it's the only way it's all going to fit in. It's got six batteries in it! I'm sure they would rather have just one, but there's no battery that shape, so six it is. I'm sure they would have wanted an SD slot in there, but if it ain't gonna fit it ain't gonna fit.

Sacrifices have to be made and all things considered I think they've made a fantastic machine.
 
Tute said:
Isn't that what the warranty is for though? Just chuck it at an Apple store and say "Fix it".

As for the MBA itself, i'm very tempted. I got my MB unibody purely as a non-gaming, work machine to allow me to do Uni work on - hence why I bought it as 7hrs battery on a 13" screen and a C2D was unheard of at the time.

Now there's the option of shaving 2" off the screen size, losing a load of thickness, and having an SSD on board, it's tempting me to sell my Macbook to fund one. There's no doubt though that it's a lot of money to pay for what is an 11" averagely specced notebook at the end of the day.
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I don't get how anybody can want one of these when they already have a 13" MacBook, it's really not going to be that much more portable and you're losing a fair chunk of processing power.

Thickness just baffles me, it's not an issue on any MacBook from the last 3 or 4 years, they were never particularly bulky machines so unless you really desire to use a very thin bag then I just don't see how it's much of a plus point.

There's not many bags that the MBA will fit into that the 13" MB/MBP won't. I never look at bags/sleeves only capable of carrying the notebook itself though, I always want space for the power adaptor too, in which case the thickness of the MB/MBP will never be an issue.

Wish Apple just updated the MBPs instead of fiddling with these things, they still don't have much of a place in the Mac lineup.
 
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MacRS4 said:
Is it 'better' than an iPad? Not really, no..... It's just different.
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I'll have to go ahead and disagree with you here unfortunately. OSX vs iOS and there really is no comparison in my opinion. OSX is so much more flexible and offers much, much more than iOS. You can do everything that iOS offers and more besides in OSX, it wins every time in my opinion.
 
K1LLSW1TCH said:
I'll have to go ahead and disagree with you here unfortunately. OSX vs iOS and there really is no comparison in my opinion. OSX is so much more flexible and offers much, much more than iOS. You can do everything that iOS offers and more besides in OSX, it wins every time in my opinion.
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I meant more along the lines that they have slightly different purposes. Like I said, the iPad is a great consumer, but it's not as flexible if you want to create rather than consume.

I've done some initial thoughts on mine with perf stats and some videos here:

http://www.markc.me.uk/MarkC/Blog/Entries/2010/10/23_2010_Macbook_Air_-_First_Thoughts.html
 
PardonTheWait said:
They don't have a place in your Mac lineup.
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Quite.

My work kit now consists of:

i7 MBP 8Gb 128Gb SSD/1Tb SATA + 24" Cinema Screen at home and in the office
MBA 11.6" for general meetings/travel and for media consumption
iPhone 4

Great and very powerful combination. I don't often want to drag my MBP everywhere.
 
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