The Macbook Air

Intel Core 2 Duo processor
2GB memory
64GB solid-state drive1
Built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi2 and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Ships: 1-3 business days
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$3,098.00
 
Total rip off!!! The specs are crap for that price. My $550 pc could whip the crap out of that hunk of junk
 
Total rip off!!! The specs are crap for that price. My $550 pc could whip the crap out of that hunk of junk

Wow, you are a total newb! Your $550 pc does not even have 1/10 of the screen that Macbook Air does, that is a high def LED LCD screen, which is probably around $400 to $500 part of the cost of the MBA, and that is just counting the screen.
 
i really dont get MBA for the following reasons
1)the motherboard only has 3 ports in total and only one usb
2)it doesnt matter how thin you make something because the height and width dimensions are what make carrying around a notebook difficult
3)SSD not ready for prime time
4)very low voltage proc

never the less it "rethinks what it means to be a notebook"
 
i really dont get MBA for the following reasons
1)the motherboard only has 3 ports in total and only one usb
2)it doesnt matter how thin you make something because the height and width dimensions are what make carrying around a notebook difficult
3)SSD not ready for prime time
4)very low voltage proc

never the less it "rethinks what it means to be a notebook"

That is because it doesn't apply to you, read my previous post where I outline who it would be useful too. You are a gamer most likely or an average PC user. You don't need extended battery life to do work in the field.
 
I think the mba is a complete joke. My best friend who is a huge mac guy tells me that the mba only has 1 usb port and limited storage with limited options because its meant to be used in conjunction with another computer. Now, I understand the concept but I'm not buying a 1700-3000 laptop only to use it with a 1700 imac or 3000 mac pro. Sorry, I'll use my $600 acer with a 15.4" screen, 2 gigs ram, 160 gig hd, 1.6ghz dual core, 4 usb, 1394, card-reader, etc. along with my desktop for much much cheaper and have much more functionality.
 
I think the mba is a complete joke. My best friend who is a huge mac guy tells me that the mba only has 1 usb port and limited storage with limited options because its meant to be used in conjunction with another computer. Now, I understand the concept but I'm not buying a 1700-3000 laptop only to use it with a 1700 imac or 3000 mac pro. Sorry, I'll use my $600 acer with a 15.4" screen, 2 gigs ram, 160 gig hd, 1.6ghz dual core, 4 usb, 1394, card-reader, etc. along with my desktop for much much cheaper and have much more functionality.

Again it doesn't apply to you. It is not designed to replace laptops, it is designed for those who need real long extended use of a mobile computer in the field, and it does a great job of that. It isn't meant to be a main computer either, hence the connectivity.
 
tlarkin, do you know of any PC manufacturers that provide high quality screens for their laptops? I would like to know for a future purchase.
 
tlarkin, do you know of any PC manufacturers that provide high quality screens for their laptops? I would like to know for a future purchase.

Almost all companies that have BTO (build to order) have options for higher end LED LCD screens. Dell has it, HP has it, I think some of the Sonys may have them. If it supports super high resolutions natively, and uses LED then it is a better screen for a laptop since the LEDs take up less power to run.
 
The laptop is thin. So is the eepc, but the eepc is not as good a performer. The macbook air is overpriced, has really bad hardware for anything but internet surfing, and is just a badly built notebook. You can't upgrade the ram. No cd's/dvd's without an external drive.

Come on. $200 to upgrade from 1.6 to 1.8ghz. They are both slow for dual core processors. The only normal priced option for a hard drive is for an 80gb hard drive. No 120/160/200/250 options. I mean come on. They're the same physical sized drives. I have used 40gb's in two weeks.
 
The laptop is thin. So is the eepc, but the eepc is not as good a performer. The macbook air is overpriced, has really bad hardware for anything but internet surfing, and is just a badly built notebook. You can't upgrade the ram. No cd's/dvd's without an external drive.

Come on. $200 to upgrade from 1.6 to 1.8ghz. They are both slow for dual core processors. The only normal priced option for a hard drive is for an 80gb hard drive. No 120/160/200/250 options. I mean come on. They're the same physical sized drives. I have used 40gb's in two weeks.

Why did you even bother posting here? You don't know anything about Macs, and you totally fail to see what the MBA is. For one, solid state HD are not cheap. 2 It has a high quality LED LCD screen. It is light weight and compact.

It is not meant to replace a fricking laptop, it is meant for people who need extended field usage with low power consumption, hence the lesser hardware. Also, the hardware will run almost every application just fine, not just web surfing.

Seriously, go take a computer course or read some books.
 
I know that SSD's are not cheap. That's why I said they should offer options like a bigger hard drive. --The eepc is about 1/10th as expensive, and it is meant for people who need extended field usage with low power consumption. You can get a good laptop with much better specs, and a dvd burner, better everything, at the cost of 2-3 pounds. You get better performance, price, and upgradability options with any normal laptop.

-- It is small, and has a good screen. That's all that macbook enthusiasts tell people. Come one. The screen loads faster, and is a little brighter. That doesn't justify the missing dvd burner to lose a few tenths of an inch.

Will the hardware burn a dvd (external) while watching a quicktime movie? Will the hardware play any modern game? I know it's not a gaming computer, but a game from 2006? Will the computer encode a movie while listening to songs and web surfing? Any $1700 laptop that can "run almost every application fine" should be able to. Post some videos of it.

A $1700 laptop with specs from years ago, and no optical drive sounds like a novelty computer. I doubt people in the construction or business field would get something like this. Say they want to show a powerpoint as macs "run microsoft office so well" from a cd. Bringing a little external box around and having to set it down nicely to avoid breaking or scratching it is not for these types of people.

What kind of person do you suggest should get a macbook air?
 
I know that SSD's are not cheap. That's why I said they should offer options like a bigger hard drive. --The eepc is about 1/10th as expensive, and it is meant for people who need extended field usage with low power consumption. You can get a good laptop with much better specs, and a dvd burner, better everything, at the cost of 2-3 pounds. You get better performance, price, and upgradability options with any normal laptop.

-- It is small, and has a good screen. That's all that macbook enthusiasts tell people. Come one. The screen loads faster, and is a little brighter. That doesn't justify the missing dvd burner to lose a few tenths of an inch.

Will the hardware burn a dvd (external) while watching a quicktime movie? Will the hardware play any modern game? I know it's not a gaming computer, but a game from 2006? Will the computer encode a movie while listening to songs and web surfing? Any $1700 laptop that can "run almost every application fine" should be able to. Post some videos of it.

A $1700 laptop with specs from years ago, and no optical drive sounds like a novelty computer. I doubt people in the construction or business field would get something like this. Say they want to show a powerpoint as macs "run microsoft office so well" from a cd. Bringing a little external box around and having to set it down nicely to avoid breaking or scratching it is not for these types of people.

What kind of person do you suggest should get a macbook air?

Jumping Jesus catfish dude! The MBA IS NOT MADE TO REPLACE A LAPTOP, HENCE APPLE IS KEEPING THE MB and MBP!

You are a NASA scientist and have to do tests in the field, you want something that will last 6+ hours on one battery, you get a macbook pro. Eeepc is not anywhere near the computer a MBA is.

Again, its not about hardware, it is about features and it is a niche. I already stated that I, myself, would rather have a MBP over a MBA because for my needs I like the MBP options better. If I were a doctor, scientist, or lawyer and needed super long battery life and great reliability (no moving parts) then I would get a MBA.

The screen itself is probably a 400 upgrade on your average laptop, so if you want to compare (which you can't really) then you have to make it the same as close as you can get it.

Apple doesn't use cheap parts, they are like Porsche. You can't go into a Porsche dealer and walk out with one and expect to pay the price of a Ford.
 
What is this about NASA using macbooks? Show me some proof.

I think somewhere in here, it talks about NASA using lenovo notebooks.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=2985312

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You people need to shut up about the screen. It is backlit. Dell notebooks can do that for around $100. I have only seen this in dells, but for a few (1-2.5 pounds) you can have everything better for the same price. A doctor or lawyer can check out dell or hp models with 12 cell batteries, and for 4-6 pounds get better processors, graphics cards, ram, and a similar screen.
 
The people who would go with a MBA usually, most likely, would know a bit about computers. Therefor, they wouldn't be dumbcraps and just only focus on the MBA. For a pricaetag like that, they would of obviously know a bit about whats in it and whats not. Therefor, if they want it, they'll buy it. what ever.
 
What is this about NASA using macbooks? Show me some proof.

I think somewhere in here, it talks about NASA using lenovo notebooks.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=2985312

You people need to shut up about the screen. It is backlit. Dell notebooks can do that for around $100. I have only seen this in dells, but for a few (1-2.5 pounds) you can have everything better for the same price. A doctor or lawyer can check out dell or hp models with 12 cell batteries, and for 4-6 pounds get better processors, graphics cards, ram, and a similar screen.

LOL, yeah, well you see I am a system's administrator by trade and I use this product called Casper from JAMF software...

http://www.jamfsoftware.com/

I have had several conversations via email mailing list of JAMF software with the NASA system's adminsitrator, and they use casper just like I do.

an article of why they dropped windows

Before development of this system, NASA scientists used two or three PCs running four or more applications to run tests on their lasers. Frequent system crashes made long-term tests difficult. When tests were completed, it took scientists several hours to gather the relevant data from each of the applications. It was a full-time job for one scientist to maintain the test system. NASA asked Mink Hollow Systems to combine all of the functionality into a single, stable Mac OS X application.

http://sine.ni.com/csol/cds/item/vw/p/id/510/nid/124100

http://developer.apple.com/business/macmarket/riacsnasa.html

Oh, they also use things like XGRID, but I am not going to explain to you what it is in full detail you can go search that one yourself, and the best part is, OS X server can use Windows machines if they need to for XGRID, which is pretty dope.

Oh, and the Military started switching over to Macs because of the greater security they offer, and the NSA network gets attacked more so than most networks out there.

http://www.wired.com/gadgets/mac/commentary/cultofmac/2003/03/57961

http://gizmodo.com/337077/us-army-to-instigate-wider-mac-implementation

LED LCD screens that support high resolutions are more expensive and they consume way less power which is important for a laptop. Most PC laptops do not boast that high quality of a screen, unless you pay extra for it.

Graphics cards only help in 2 scenarios, gaming and 3D rendering, most of which is not done a laptop, and definitely not by professionals in the field. Please humor me, tell me an application that the MBA couldn't run? You realize that OS X takes up way less resources to run over Vista, and has way lower system requirements. I mean now Macs ans PCs both run x86 hardware so you can compare it. Leopard will freaking run on a G4 867Mhz. Which is like 3 or 4 generations ago. Try to get vista to run on a 7 year old processor, won't happen.

Please stop trolling, and stop posting nonsense. This thread was pretty much dead and you revived it with your nonsense.
 
tlarkin, if I am able to, do you think it would be worth installing Leopard on my Dell? (Using Hackintosh, I believe). I would buy it, of course.
 
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