Welcome to the New MacBook 'Air'

kfridge said:
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?
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I would tend to agree with this. I have repaired laptops for years and it is rare that processors get upgraded. In my experience most of them are soldered to the main board anyway. A lot of them are not, to be true, but they tend to be to ones built on generic chassis (or specialist/high end) rather than the branded ones. Also it is often more difficult to find the correct replacement and with quite a few of them the speed of the FSB and multiplier are set by cutting tracks. Even taking a lot of laptops apart is a problem for most people due to the way they are put together to be non expandable and use proprietary components. The laptop I am currently typing on for example is an Apple iBook 1.33. To change the hard drive requires (if I remember) about 25 steps and quite a few of them include "and be careful not to damage this connector" or "this wire is stuck along the bottom of here" etc I do not have a problem with the battery being inside as it is rare for people to buy a second battery (even more rare if like it says it lasts 5 hours) and they tend to last 2-3 years anyway. The cost of the battery should be less if it is not cased and so the cost of installation plus battery should not be much more than the cost of a new battery (you don't have to really send them back to apple). If you look at the ipod you can get replacement batteries for under £10 and there are plenty of tutorials on the internet saying how to do it. Lastly having a removable battery will tend to increase the weight and size due to there having to be case between the computer's insides and the battery.

All in all it does look like a nice machine but it is spoiled for me by:

* The lack of a wired network socket (not a deal killer but a shame)
* No firewire (total pain - I like target mode for computer backups etc) plus firewire is MUCH quicker than USB2 in reality.
* Only one USB2 port!

I have a 12" iBook and that is very portable. I would have liked Apple to bring out a 12" titanium Macbook pro with the option of a solid state drive and with all the normal Macbook pro connectors such as 2/3USB, 1 fw800, 1 fw400, ext monitor, power and headphone.

UPDATE: I didn't notice the mention of a price for the replacement battery of $125! I am surprised that this price is already shown but if it is true as described then it is VERY good value. Most genuine batteries for laptops are in the region of £100. So $125 should fit into this price point when you take into account rip off Britain pricing and VAT.
 
I would have liked Apple to bring out a 12" titanium Macbook pro with the option of a solid state drive and with all the normal Macbook pro connectors such as 2/3USB, 1 fw800, 1 fw400, ext monitor, power and headphone.
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Well that's two of us now at least. What do you reckon our chances are? :lol:
 
cowasaki said:
* The lack of a wired network socket (not a deal killer but a shame)
* No firewire (total pain - I like target mode for computer backups etc) plus firewire is MUCH quicker than USB2 in reality.
* Only one USB2 port!
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Agree with the above...one USB is a bit limiting, Firewire - Apple invented it, you'd think they would have included it! The wired networking can be solved by an USB ethernet adaptor that is available, limited to 10/100 but that's fine for most people.
 
Amp34 said:
Ah ok, so just standard res then, it looke a lot higher in the pictures.:)
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Knew I'd seen something about it somewhere ... :D ...

Supported resolutions: 1280 by 800 (native), 1152 by 720, 1024 by 768, 800 by 600, 800 by 500, 720 by 480, and 640 by 480 pixels at 16:10 aspect ratio; 1024 by 768, 800 by 600, and 640 by 480 pixels at 4:3 aspect ratio; 720 by 480 pixels at 3:2 aspect ratio
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If that little lot makes sense to anybody ... :gag:




:p
 
Venomator said:
... 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:


:p
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Processor being 'fixed' not an issue- however RAM is also soldered in - therefore not able to upgrade!

:)
 
Venomator said:
Quite right ... :suspect: ... and that's just what I meant too ... :lol:
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Yes the RAM being soldered in is a problem. 2Gb is enough now for the types of things you are likely to do on a laptop of that nature but in a couple of years time!

Yes I would say its nearly there but it is a niche market and there would be a weight penalty in the SO DIMM slots and SODIMMS rather than just soldering the RAM chips straight to the main board. Plus the thickness is only possible by getting rid of anything not absolutely necessary.

I am sure a 4Gb version would be easily possible but it would have to be Apple doing it as an option from new.
 
I am sure a 4Gb version would be easily possible but it would have to be Apple doing it as an option from new.
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And I'm sure version 2 or 3 will have more RAM. As you know, apple never seem to drop the price of anything, rather up the spec every 3 or 4 months throughout the life of a product instead.
 
Why is solid state so expensive, what does it offer that a portable hard drive doesn't
 
kfridge said:
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?
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It depends on how long a battery lasts, to me Apple have a bad rep with batteries due to the iPod so it's a bit of an issue. All of this talk about unremovable batteries/processor/RAM is all very well, it may be a little annoying but I very much doubt Apple (or anyone else for that matter) would be able to make something that small without them. When you buy something like the Air you have to take it as is. It may be slightly underpowered in some ways but if you want something better specced get a Mac or normal laptop. If you really need as ultralight and slim a notebook as that then you'll have to put up with it's quirks. It's the same with any other brand IMO.

Ven said:
Knew I'd seen something about it somewhere ... ...


If that little lot makes sense to anybody ...
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That's what it scales down to, a bit like saying your camera can do 3000x2000, 2000x1333 and 1500x1000. :) The important number is the 1280 by 800 (native), which is standard for a laptop of that screen size. The pictures seemed to make it look like it had a higher res than that to me.

SSD also produces a lot less heat but the main reason is that it is solid state, so no moving parts, so it's less likely to break.:)
 
Amp34 said:
When you buy something like the Air you have to take it as is. It may be slightly underpowered in some ways but if you want something better specced get a Mac or normal laptop. If you really need as ultralight and slim a notebook as that then you'll have to put up with it's quirks. It's the same with any other brand IMO.
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Got to agree with that!

Whether you like Mac's or not - it has to be said that Apple have really pushed the boundaries of what is possible with the 'Air'.

I personally think it is gorgeous - and can only hope that my extremely generous father will buy me one soon!!

Perhaps an early birthday present?

:lol:
 
Extermely generous, even with a higher education discount it stands at £1031.:eek: (I checked today:lol:)
 
Dalton said:
I personally think it is gorgeous - and can only hope that my extremely generous father will buy me one soon!!

Perhaps an early birthday present?
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:lol:


NO-ONE ... :shake: ... but no-one has got an extremely generous father who is THAT extreme ... :eek: ... or THAT generous ... :suspect: ...



... surely ... :cuckoo:




:p
 
Venomator said:
:lol:



NO-ONE ... :shake: ... but no-one has got an extremely generous father who is THAT extreme ... :eek: ... or THAT generous ... :suspect: ...



... surely ... :cuckoo:




:p
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I'll take that as a no then!

:(
 
:lol:


If you do find one that extreme & generous let me know cos I'll adopt him ... :D



:p
 
There's an interesting discussion about this on another forum as to whether it's perfect for photographers on the move. This is probably about the best forum to answer that question.:lol:

I think size wise it's brilliant, slightly smaller and lighter than say a Dell XPS M1330 as well as quite a long battery life. But for me the big let down is the HDD which is just too slow at only 4200rpm and maybe slightly too small for longish trips for some.

Any thoughts?
 
:agree: ... :suspect: ... but is 4200 really that much slower in real life terms ... :shrug:



Don't forget it is absolutely stunning too ... :D



:p
 
There's an interesting discussion about this on another forum as to whether it's perfect for photographers on the move.
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Not if you use a leaf digiback and want to shoot tethered it's not. No firewire. :(
 
Must admit - I think it looks amazing but I am happy to stick with my Macbook Pro for now. The time I would really quite like on is when I get a Mac Pro for my daily machine, to then just have the macbook air for when I have to go out places would be great!
 
Well ... I thought I had decided in the week and on Thursday I went through the motions of pre-ordering a MacBook Air, instead of the XPS, on-line ... :suspect: ... heart over mind ... :lol:

Anyway ... I finally bottled at the check-out and just saved the basket instead of paying ... :D ... found myself trying to justify to me the benefits of this new gadget over the much higher spec XPS I would get for less money ... :thinking:

Then on Friday I received phone messages and e-mails from an Apple sales guy and just when I was not immediately available to take any of them ... typical or what ... :shrug:


So the upshot is he said he had noticed I had a saved basket was wondering if I needed any help with my order ... :suspect: ... he also concluded his messages and e-mail with the parting shot of wondering if I would be interested if they could do something on price ... :eek:

Guess who is going to be calling Apple sales as soon as they open for business tomorrow ... ;)





:p
 
Keep us informed, this sounds interesting. :)
 
visualisetheworld said:
any news venom about price
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I will be amazed, impressed and shocked if the green man gets anything significant from apple in the way of a discount. My money is on free shipping, some extra goodies, that sort of thing.

Waiting and hoping to be proved wrong............... :)
 
fair enough i have never dealed with apple just i heard that sometimes you can get a discount.
 
you can get student discounts from Apple, and resellers will naturally get a trade discount - but discounts for end users purchasing directly will be limited to things thrown into the deal.
 
Sorry guys ... :shrug: ...

... I am working away from home at the moment but in a moment of uncharacteristic frenzy ... :baby: ... I did order a MacBook Air this morning before I left ... :eek:


:woot: ... :cuckoo:


I'm afraid I don't have all the details with me but the long and the short is that I did the deal on about £2K's worth of Mac poota and bits of software, together with MacCare Protection, at retail (VAT inclusive) prices, for around £1.5K ... :shrug:

Now I don't really know how good a deal this is but I am just happy enough to have taken the plunge into Macdom and now have one ordered and all I have to do now is just wait very PATIENTLY for its arrival ... :gag:


I went for the 1.8gig processor and pre-installed iWork '08 plus Apple Care 3 yr protection plan (it was so cheap it would have been rude not to ... :D) as well as a full Standard version of Office 2008 for Mac that normally retails at around £350, rather than the Home & Student version, as I really must have it for work ...


So there you have it ... phone them up rather than purchase direct on-line ... they are only human and can be pressured a bit more than pootas ... ;)




:p
 
Well congrats on that. :thumbs::clap:

Welcome to the other side, it's eerily almost just the same........

only you'll enjoy it much more. ;)
 
Well done sounds like a good price, did you just ring them up and say i am not sure can you improve on price or ......
 
visualisetheworld said:
Well done sounds like a good price, did you just ring them up and say i am not sure can you improve on price or ......
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Told them I was in the market for a notebook and was just about to push the button on a Dell XPS with loads more gizmos and stuff for much less dosh ... :shrug:


Couldn't have been more helpful actually ... ;) ... much kudos to Apple's staff ... :clap:



:p
 
sounds like a good deal then, did you get aperture with it?
 
I presume that wasn't the SSD version?
 
Amp34 said:
I presume that wasn't the SSD version?
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:lol: ... :rules:

Keeping up with technology does have its limits you know Amp ... :suspect:


As attractive as the thought might be an extra £800 or so could not get past the starting blocks here ... :lol:


Maybe it'll be a cheap upgrade in a year or so ... :naughty:




:p
 
Venomator said:

Told them I was in the market for a notebook and was just about to push the button on a Dell XPS with loads more gizmos and stuff for much less dosh ... :shrug:


Couldn't have been more helpful actually ... ;) ... much kudos to Apple's staff ... :clap:



:p
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I went from a Dell XPS to a MacBook Pro. I love both machines equally though. I think the Dell XPS is a lovely machine that can handle pretty much anything you throw at it and with Linux you're looking at a serious alternative to the Macbooks.

Congratulations on your purchase though :) I love my MacBook.
 
does it play counter strike?
 
full auto said:
does it play counter strike?
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I play Counterstrike Source on my MacBook Pro with bootcamp installed. It runs so reliably that I use it for my Clanbase and Enemy Down matches. I get around 120fps on the non-HDR maps.
 
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