The envelope had been lying there on the minimalist desk all throughout Jobs' keynote. The rumours had been clear: Apple is going to launch a subnotebook, a sort of MacBook Mini. Despite the rumours, the collective gasp of amazement was clearly audible when Jobs pulled the MacBook Air out of the envelope. I have to admit, even I was all wowed. Consequently, you can imagine I was delighted when Apple NL agreed to loan me a review unit as soon as they had the MacBook Air in stock. Read on for the review.
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Member since:2005-08-12
Get a thinkpad X series laptop and call it a day. They are "really" meant for mobile roadwarriors. The Air, as Thom pointed out rather well, is more meant for someone with a strictly uptown trek, or never leaves the triangle of starbucks/mall, work, home...and assuming they all have wifi access.
This is one of the better reviews i have read, seemed really objective and balanced, unlike most that sound like adolescent jerkfests.
The Air is kewl, its sleek, and had the ultimate WOW factor rating, but that's where it stops. This isnt the machine you want wandering in and out of businesses,datacenters, on the road. I read that so far only one usb broadband adapter (novatel by sprint I believe) is narrow enough to fit into the USB slot sans using a usb extension cable...another little item you end up carrying.
Member since:
2006-05-22
Good review. I've never been a iShinyGadgets-freak, but the Air has my interest, as I am really pining for something lighter and smaller to carry around to work every day.
However, I'm afraid that the Air might be too "light" for me - in the sense of flexibility. I can't believe they haven't put an ethernet port and modem into it. How much extra space could this take?
Also, the sturdiness is something that will have to be proven in the real world. I would consider the Air for a 'take-it-everwhere' scenario. If I only need to be portable once in a while, I could do with a cheaper and heavier normal laptop. So, I will await the reports during the next months...
For now, I tend to think that the Lenovo Thinkpad X300 (just released, but not yet in EU) might be a better choice for me. Its physical specs are mostly in line with the Air, but it has all the ports, and you just know a Thinkpad can't be damaged by a tank... Unfortunately the price tag is somewhat higher as it only has a SSD disk, which is optional for the Air. But, maybe the shininess and the 'wow'-factor of the Air will win me over regardless.
Time will tell!