Like an anorexic fashion model, Apple's new super-thin MacBook Air has made too many compromises for the sake of being skinny. With such emaciated specs, many are asking: who would buy it?
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Member since:2007-12-13
The price is still notably less than the competition (namely Sony). Sony's super-slim notebook is $2500 with 60% of the battery life and half the RAM. Also, Apple offers the SSD option at ~30% less ($999 versus $1300 on NewEgg, and the $1300 drive is physically more than twice the size).
I'm not saying that I'm likely to be satisfied with a MacBook Air (I wouldn't), but, as far as features and price go -- it's actually very competitive in its market segment.
Member since:2006-01-17
I'm not saying that I'm likely to be satisfied with a MacBook Air (I wouldn't), but, as far as features and price go -- it's actually very competitive in its market segment.
People keep comparing this to Sony's very expensive 11.1" notebook. Why? The better comparison is their 13.3", 3.8 pound Vaio SZ. Whose base model has better features than this Air and is $1400.
Member since:2005-07-06
My gf has one of the 11-inch Sonys. It has a built-in optical drive, fits in a lot smaller spaces than the Air can (partially because the screen's bevel doesn't extend much beyond the screen, and partially because it's 11 inches), has 2 USB ports, microphone and Firewire ports, and both the RAM and HD are upgradeable. If Sony could fit everything into such a small package and still have it be upgradeable (did I mention it has a built-in optical drive?), there's no reason Apple shouldn't be able to (aside from the fact that they want to make you buy a new machine when you realize how tiny and slow the 4200rpm 80GB hard drive is).
P.S. The Sony cost exactly the same as the entry-level Air--it was the slightly older model with Core2Duo 1.6GHz instead of 1.8, and was completely brand-new, including a 2-year warranty.
Edited 2008-01-16 17:58 UTC
Member since:2005-07-06
Newegg must be a ripoff or have old expensive stock. Go to Dell and configure yourself and XPS M1330. I started with the expensive $1499 model. The SSD drive is a $750 upgrade over a 160Gig 7200RPM drive. So the Apple upgrade is actually expensive
Member since:
2005-07-07
I have to agree. It's a really slick looking laptop, but I wouldn't pay that price for it. If it was priced more along the lines of the regular MacBook, I would likely be buying on in the next year, even with some of the things removed, but not for $1799.