Living With: The MacBook Air
Say hello to the first in a new series of quasi-regular reviews from Giz AU: we like to call it, “Living With”.
Because, put simply, most reviews you get out there on the interwebs have come from the reviewer using a device for a few hours, maybe a couple of days before they pen their thoughts. And when it comes to gadgets, sometimes you need a bit longer to really come to grips with all the cool features, pesky bugs or even the whole purpose of the device in the first place.
And seeing as how I’ve been playing around with the MacBook Air for a couple of weeks now, I thought it would be a great place to start. Hopefully it will help you decide whether the MacBook Air is the notebook for you:
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Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
It seems like this is one of the few reviews that is independent from its high cost, do you think the price will come down? it’s not like apple to do that, look at the MBP, lol. also, correct me if i’m wrong, but along with a sim card slot woulden’t it also need a cellular attena? is there really room for that? they can put the spot in an easy to reach place, behind the battery. (lol)
Useful info, cheers
@Alex – the price will come down eventually. You cite the Macbook Pro, which is their top of the line machine – but look at the Macbook. It was $2,099 for the basic specs at launch – now it starts at $1,499.
You’re also right about the antenna. I’m not an engineer, so I have no idea how it could be put in, but hell – they could add a millimetre to the Air and nobody would care if it meant always on internet… I think generally though they’re located in the frame of the monitor…
What?!?
As I am typing this on my Macbook Air that I got a month or two ago for me it only takes me 20-30 seconds to shut down and that is with Vista! And I have the base model 2.6ghz and the non SSD. Personally it is great but it is even better with the Telstra Sierra Wireless USB Modem. It is the best! And no I do not work at Telstra. Get your MBA checked out at an Apple Store.
Can’t wait for a potential Macbook ProAir
I want the thin and light form factor with the guts neeeded to perform complex audiovisual editing
Apple could add a sim card tray, Apple could do this, Apple could do that. True, Apple could add many features and do many things, however, they’re keeping in mind that, at the moment, mobile network providers charge an arm and a leg for data. Take Telstra for example, $99.00 for 3gb? Pleaseee… only a dick*@#! would spend that much money to use the internet via a careers overpriced and painfully slow, data service. Internet via wifi/wimax/celular without interruptions, in theory, is great, however, no-one is ready for it until certain w@nkers stop over-charging and under-delivering. I’m certain Apple has 100 x prototypes of tablets, ultrathin pro laptops, pda’s etc, but its all about the timing and when certain components become available at reasonable prices.
But having said that… just a reminder…
Apple is King… (but you all knew that anyway)
Pantic – over – n – out
fine article nick, just wanted to point out that you rarely need to shutdown the Mac or boot it. OSX is based on UNIX, and it is designed to stay on 24/7/365. When you’re done using it, simply close the lid when you want to use it again, open the lid.
Sweet!
I think the whole booting up / shutting down routine is a bad habit reinforced from the PC world not the Mac world. Macs have always been much better at sleeping and waking up.
So do yourself a favor and simply sleep or close the lid when you are done, and it will save you a lot of time since it is designed to work that way.
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You write, ” Another brilliant inclusion is two plugs for the charger – one that plugs the transformer straight into the wall and one that adds a couple of metres of cable. “
This “feature” comes on all, and I do mean all, Mac laptops. It has been for many years now, even before the MagSafe adaptors were out.
nice review,
can you provide more info on sound? for example I am bored and want to watch some movies during my trip, howz the sound quality?
I’m holding out for the the Atom-based Eee PC, but then again I’m one of the people who can’t live without a few of the things the MBA doesn’t have. And I’d still sorely miss an optical drive, even if it’s just a reader & not a burner (for travelling, DivXs on DVDs is how I roll, baby).