Welcome to the New MacBook 'Air'

MichaelPlace

MichaelPlace

Suspended / Banned
Messages
396
Edit My Images
Yes
http://www.apple.com/uk/macbookair/

1.6Ghz intel core 2 duo
weighs only 3 pounds
13.3 inch screen
full backlit keyboard
LED lit screen
80GB 1.8" HD or 64GB solid state
no optical drive

PRICE! oh yes it's got one of those alright - £1199.

p.s. you don't want to know the cost for the solid state version.

So if you need an ultra portable for the out and about shooting. This has got to be the best in ultra portable computing. Even if it is at least £300 over price.
 
I want one...right now!

unfortunately I don't think I'll be getting one anytime soon!
 
I'm in the middle of pontifications about a new light-weight lappy ... :suspect: ... I'm off to check this one out right now ... :D


Thanx for the HU Michael ... :thumbs:


And in the words of the great American ... :suspect: ... politician ... :thinking: ... "I'll be back" ... :D ... to let you know what I'm gonna do ... :shrug:





:p
 
the solid state hard drive is *cough* £649 for 64Gb.

the 1.8Ghz version with the SSHD is just over £2k

i thought time capsule might be garbage but on reflection it's not bad for what you get, 500gb wireless hard drive, Gigabit switch, 802.11n access point, and wireless printing via USB port with the option of adding another external hard drive to it. It even supports usb hubs so you can have another hard drive AND a printer connected at the same time.

Only problem is it needs an ADSL modem... if i could find one with a gigabit WAN port on it - should speed up the home network a bit.
 
air-20080115-192208.jpg
 
but it's still a Mac!:gag:
 
IanC_UK said:
Strangely enough i used to think like that, until i got one lol they arent the evil they used to be lol although still far too expensive ;)
Click to expand...

the are expensive...but compare the Mac with a PC equivalent and they don't stack up that badly to be honest...the only thing really comparable to the Macbook Air is the Sony Vaio TZ series which start at £1200
 
kfridge said:
the are expensive...but compare the Mac with a PC equivalent and they don't stack up that badly to be honest...the only thing really comparable to the Macbook Air is the Sony Vaio TZ series which start at £1200
Click to expand...

Is that not debatable KF ... :shrug: ... the Dell XPS comes out best in class against the Sony ... and is a sweet looker too ... :suspect: ...

... is what I was looking at until Michael pointed me to this beautiful beastie ... :lol:





:p
 
Venomator said:
Is that not debatable KF ... :shrug: ... the Dell XPS comes out best in class against the Sony ... and is a sweet looker too ... :suspect: ...
Click to expand...

yes, it probably is...it's just the TZ was the first one that came to mind :naughty: and Sony usually have a similar ethos to design (although not quite in the same vein as Apple of course!)

I suppose that the Apple vs. PC debate is similar to the Nikon vs. Canon debate and will run and run as long as both are in existence :shrug: It all helps for, hopefully, friendly rivalry :clap:
 
kfridge said:
yes, it probably is...it's just the TZ was the first one that came to mind :naughty: and Sony usually have a similar ethos to design (although not quite in the same vein as Apple of course!)

I suppose that the Apple vs. PC debate is similar to the Nikon vs. Canon debate and will run and run as long as both are in existence :shrug: It all helps for, hopefully, friendly rivalry :clap:
Click to expand...

LOL like i said i bought myself a macbook pro, it was expensive, but as you say if you spec a laptop up woith the same stuff in it they do work out about the same, its just i dont like spending money on computers, i work with them all flippin day lol
 
IanC_UK said:
LOL like i said i bought myself a macbook pro, it was expensive, but as you say if you spec a laptop up woith the same stuff in it they do work out about the same,
Click to expand...

Not if it is compared to this new beauty though Ian ... :suspect:

I spec'd up an XPS with oodles more of everything last night and it was still less than a grande ... :shrug:

So to go for a MacBook Air would not be a buy with the mind ... :naughty: ... it would be with the heart ... :D ... but sorely tempting even though ... :lol:





:p
 
Venomator said:
Not if it is compared to this new beauty though Ian ... :suspect:

I spec'd up an XPS with oodles more of everything last night and it was still less than a grande ... :shrug:

So to go for a MacBook Air would not be a buy with the mind ... :naughty: ... it would be with the heart ... :D ... but sorely tempting even though ... :lol:





:p
Click to expand...

Buying a Mac is so much more than the actual hardware though. You need to decided if you want OS X or Windows really :)
 
I suppose that the Apple vs. PC debate is similar to the Nikon vs. Canon debate
Click to expand...

Kind of, except these days you can load your mac with windows and have it boot up like any (rather expensive) PC would.

If I could by a Nikon and use my Canon lenses with it, that'd be pretty cool. :D
 
Well.............

Thanks for that, I might just have to have a look at it :D

While I was there I also found an update for my iphone too which has finally added some bits that should have been there from the start.....so thanks again :D :thumbs:
 
Matt. said:
Buying a Mac is so much more than the actual hardware though. You need to decided if you want OS X or Windows really :)
Click to expand...

Oh I know ... they a beautiful items ... and I don't think needing Windows is an issue is it as Mac's cope quite well with both ... :shrug:

dazzajl said:
Kind of, except these days you can load your mac with windows and have it boot up like any (rather expensive) PC would.
Click to expand...

DigiFailed said:
While I was there I also found an update for my iphone too which has finally added some bits that should have been there from the start
Click to expand...

Ditto DF ... :D ... just gonna update ... ;)



:p
 
If I sneezed would the screen break?
 
A love the way macs work, well worth the extra money I think for the hassle free useage.

A friend of mine as a pc, a Mac Mini and a Powerbook. He needed to print something recently that was on his powerbook...imagine his amazement when he hit the print button without thinking and it started printing via the Mac Mini that was connected to the network that has the pc that the printer is connected too! lol He has never set the printer up with either of the Macs, only the pc. Yet they still managed to talk to one another, find the printer and get things going.
 
Richard Peters said:
A love the way macs work, well worth the extra money I think for the hassle free useage.

A friend of mine as a pc, a Mac Mini and a Powerbook. He needed to print something recently that was on his powerbook...imagine his amazement when he hit the print button without thinking and it started printing via the Mac Mini that was connected to the network that has the pc that the printer is connected too! lol He has never set the printer up with either of the Macs, only the pc. Yet they still managed to talk to one another, find the printer and get things going.
Click to expand...

You know I think that may well be a very large pf why people love or loathe them.

If you like to be in total control of your IT stuff, set every possible option and optimise the whole thing just the way YOU want it....... Stay away from a mac, it's not for you.

If you want to hit print and have a piece of paper appear but you don't give a hoot how it happened and you want to be able to get online without calling your mate that knows about computers, get a mac.

:D
 
Venomator said:
Not if it is compared to this new beauty though Ian ... :suspect:

I spec'd up an XPS with oodles more of everything last night and it was still less than a grande ... :shrug:

So to go for a MacBook Air would not be a buy with the mind ... :naughty: ... it would be with the heart ... :D ... but sorely tempting even though ... :lol:





:p
Click to expand...


I'm hoping to get an XPS in the next week.:thumbs:

The Air does look beautiful (a first for apple IMO) and I would be tempted (especially if it has the standard student discount!) but it's got a few downfalls from what I can see. mainly the lack of a disk drive (although I can see why it isn't there) and the HDD, 4200rpm:(. Just as a side, what is the resolution of the screen, it looks quite high?

But still oh so tempted.:lol:
 
yes, i suspect the pictures are all done up nicely for marketing purposes. macs tend to have slightly lower res than lots of competitors oddly, the 15" is 1400x900 where as others out there run up to 1600x1000 (roughly) without any detrimental effects...maybe there's an update in the pipes for the mbp's that they're holding off until the 'wow' of the Airbook has died down. tbh airbook looks silly, just an oversized iPhone if you ask me. The major drawback though with pc's is Vista. its pants. at least with some dell builds you can opt for xp still but then some of the better laptops you can't plus battery life on macs seems better too.
 
Amp34 said:
Ah ok, so just standard res then, it looke a lot higher in the pictures.:)
Click to expand...

If I am not mistaken, I am sure I picked up somewhere in the detail that the Air is flexible in this respect and can cope with other resolutions ... :shrug: ... I am sure to be corrected if I have it AAF again ... :D

Ditto ... I also think I picked up a couple of other minus points from the various blurb out there ... :suspect: ... the battery is fixed so cannot be changed and the Processor is soldered in making it somewhat challenging to upgrade if/as/when it was required ... :shrug: ... not sure why Apple do this (same in the iPhone too) ... :thinking:


Still a beautiful slice of computing and maybe just too tempting to resist ... :naughty:



:p
 
I suppose that's the only way they could fit everything in, and besides a custom processor would probably be very hard to replace? The battery was another thing that hit me too, after the Ipod I would be very wary with Apple and internal batteries, way too expensive to replace.
 
I suppose the only alternative would be to get extra cover ... :shrug: ... as long as it covered things like the battery for the extra term over their normal guarantee period ... :suspect:




:p
 
Is this the one that only has one USB port?

Macs sound so limited compared to PCs, you don't have to keep buying separate gear for the Pc's like you do with Macs.
 
Tsukiyomi said:
Is this the one that only has one USB port?

Macs sound so limited compared to PCs, you don't have to keep buying separate gear for the Pc's like you do with Macs.
Click to expand...

What are you talking about? You can take a Mac out of the box plug it in and it works. The hardware and software come from the same supplier and are designed to work together. "don't have to keep buying seperate gear", this makes no sense. As a convert to the Mac for about 18 months and a PC user since DOS that comment would point towards the PC more! The number of times I have upgraded one thing only to find that something else packs up or doesn't have the drivers so I have to either un-upgrade or buy something else. My scanner wouldn't work with Windows 2000. Video Camera with Vista. Web cam with XP etc etc

This is a specialist product which is not suitable for everyone. I for one wouldn't buy one due to lack of a built in optical drive, only one USB and no firewire (this is criminal from Apple!) BUT it has filled a niche. It is NOT expensive, just compare it with a TOP brand PC product like a newly launched Sony Vaio ultra portable.

Macs being expensive is a popular misconception usually put about by PC fanboys and which then sticks. You can buy a Macbook for under £700 which compares with a decent branded laptop from another tier 1 supplier like Sony. The same with the Macbook pros. As for other Apples the Mac pro at £1749 for an 8 core Xeon workstation... find a PC equivalent for less than £3000 and I will be shocked. Plus the added advantage that ANY modern Mac will you Windows as well!

I use PCs and Macs all the time and own numerous machines from both camps so I have no axe to grind. I have however chosen to use an Apple laptop and my main machine is a Mac pro - by informed choice.
 
One thing about the macbook pro that I was pleased with was the build quality... none of this flimsy creaking noises like with dell's laptops (which are otherwise amazing value)...

I was going to choose an IBM lenovo because they are built so well but I thought sod it and decided to give the macbook a try. We'll see... its impressive so far but I really miss paintshop pro. I don't really want MS software on it if I can help it but I did read that vista and Xp both run faster than the equivalent PC laptop... I don't know, but I'd say anyone who argues one is better than the other is probably worth ignoring just like canon vs nikon.
 
I am sure someone else could come up with the same arguments for PC's too but ... :suspect: ... please let's not turn this into another Nikon vs Canon thread off-shoot ... :shrug:

I have been learning so much about MACs via this thread and another I really don't want it spoiled by an increasingly heated argument ... ;) ... I might even buy one now ... :eek:



Thanx ... :D



:p
 
theory said:
I don't know, but I'd say anyone who argues one is better than the other is probably worth ignoring just like canon vs nikon.
Click to expand...

It does get a bit tedious! Every time someone brings up a new Apple product for discussion its turns into a Mac v PC thread AGAIN! Both machines have their strengths and weaknesses and we all have the free will to make our own choices! I personally have and use both, I just prefer the Mac at the moment for normal use.
 
Tsukiyomi said:
:gag:Macs must be so puny to need all this portable gear.
Click to expand...

not sure what you mean by all this portable gear...as far as I know there is only the external drive you may want - TBH I'm not sure that many people will go for that option, I don't use CD's that much these days :shrug:

Amp34 said:
I suppose that's the only way they could fit everything in, and besides a custom processor would probably be very hard to replace? The battery was another thing that hit me too, after the Ipod I would be very wary with Apple and internal batteries, way too expensive to replace.
Click to expand...

battery is $125 (not sure of the pound price...) to replace with free fitting, I'll let you make up your own mind if that is expensive :naughty:

As for the processor...its a custom designed one from Intel. Not sure why everyone is banging anbout it not being upgradable...how often have you upgraded a laptop other than bunging in a bit more memory?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top