Zardon

Read The Review Here
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It is not often we review a Macintosh product on DriverHeaven and although we are late to the table we felt it would be an interesting novelty for our readers to have a look at probably the sexiest laptop ever made, the MacBook Air.

Falstaff

dont know about sexy, I didnt sport wood when I tried one out, but I guess a small chub is a concession. LOL

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Zardon

you mean you didn't get aroused? dear god man, i thought you were a designer. Nicest piece of hardware ive tested in a few years. I think it has reaquainted me with OSX as well which I always loved and left alone for a year or so. What a brilliant OS that is.

I loved it so much I am actually going to get one, can't say that happens often in this job.

Falstaff

Just had my eyes on the Mac Book Pro, the demo we had at the store was cute enough, but I just wanted more of a footprint, nothng against the air like quality of the baby Mac.
I'm in pre-viagra right now, wieghing my options, so for good measure I just wanted something that would play DVDs for four hours (unlike my Dell or Toshiba) without burning my lap in the airport when my flight is delayed. LOL
If Mac had an ebony version that might push the envelope of commitment for me, but until then..
sigh.....
I wonder if you could paint the darn thing black and then reasemble it.
hmmmmmm

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Zardon

Yeah, everyone will have different tastes and requirements. Personally I love something small so I can take it onboard an airplane in cabin luggage and not know im carrying it. Most of the connectivity the air is "missing" I never use on the move anyway so its not important.

I played with an Asus EEE for quite a while but i found I couldn't live with it, its just too small and fiddly, perhaps my hands are too big. I also didn't like the screen. the 10 inch version is better but I am not sure if I am still sold.

The Macbook air, has the benefits of having a 13+ inch screen, with full sized keyboard so you can type at full pelt, but it is also so extremely thin and light that you can slip it into a shoulder pack without even knowing you are carrying a laptop. It may not be an issue for a lot of people who use laptops at home, but when you start moving around it becomes important.

When you combine the weight, the styling with the screen quality and battery life it is hard not to be impressed. Obviously the price point will put a lot of people off, however the fact is has OSx is a huge selling point for me. I love playing with operating systems and I had marginally forgotten just how nice OSx is. Installed all my business apps on it such as office 2008, Photoshop, dreamweaver as well as ftp, newsgroups, par, rar clients. Its very versatile if you spend some time.

I have a lovely little sony as well, however the sony feels massive now, even though its around the same screen size.

BlueMak

First the bad things, too few connections, no optical drive, impossible to change the battery on your own.

The good, just look at it! LED screen, good specs for what it is.

If I could afford to buy one just for fun, I would. As main notebook, while not too expensive, there is not enough hardware for me.

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Lowfat

Very good review. After reading this review I keep glancing at my MacBook Pro and noticing how damn thick it is (Although it is still tiny compared to most other notebooks out there) . I think the Air is a damn sexy notebook, and if I were in the market for an semi-powerful ultra-portable, I would have no problem buying one in a heartbeat.

It seems the Air gets a horrible wrap on most techie sites, but most people don't realize that the Air isn't meant for someone who only owns one computer. It is meant for a professional who needs a computer on the go, and one that doesn't weigh 5+ pounds.

As for the optical drive? I can count the number of times on one hand (all for Handbrake) I've used the optical drive in my MBP.

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Customgamer1

Yeah nice review, but am kind of surprised you liked it.


Yeah it looks nice, but is it something I could see myself buying for $1,700 US not a chance.

For the basic traveling I guess it would work, but for even the slight "power" user it would be wasted money. can't even hook up a mouse and Ipod together without a usb hub...

IMO I would get a lenovo. Around the same price, but with an optical drive, memory card reader, more usb ports etc.

I guess if you buy this laptop the 1 and ONLY reason you are doing it is because it is small. I mean come on if you want anything else out of this laptop it will let you down and let you down bad lol.

Again other than it's looks the lenovo is thin as heck and with more features makes it a better buy along with the other companies that are starting to come out with thin laptops.

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Lowfat

The Lenovo X300 starts a hell of a lot more expensive than the Air, and comes with significantly less. The X300 starts @ $2050, and it doesn't even have an optical drive. To get one with an optical drive it starts @ $2125. The Lenovo has more features? Guess again. Less ram stock, 400MHz slower CPU clock.

Why would an Air let you down? It is more powerful than the X300, and a 1.6GHz C2D is plenty powerful enough. It is NOT A desktop replacement, which is what most peoples arguments are about.

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Zardon

Did you read the whole thing? I think I made it clear enough exactly why I like it. Unfortunately like a lot of things on the net, there are many "review" sites misplacing this unit. It is not meant to be a primary computer for a user. As an ultraportable I stand by the fact that it is the single most desirable unit I have used for computing on the go.

Many people think the same thing, and am i certainly not trying to change anyones' opinion. That said, I think a lot of opinions on this laptop are clearly misguided. It is a very specific market and it just so happens it targets myself perfectly.

This is noted in the review. You merely need a bluetooth mouse which are widely available from Apple and even PC manufacturers. Let's be honest, if you are sitting in an airport or on the move, how many times would you realistically need more than a mouse? Even if you needed to use the superdrive or an external hard drive and you use a bluetooth mouse, you need no hubs etc. As for the power I don't agree, it has a dual core intel 1.6ghz processor. I know many businessmen who use IBM thinkpads with much weaker processors and I have used this unit extensively in testing and I never found it had a problem with surfing, office work, or even photoshop use for image editing on the move.

Really? I have a lenovo here and I prefer something like the Sony TZ (by a long shot). Obviously this is your personal taste and I can't really argue it.

Again, read the review thoroughly and come back to me if you still think the same thing. I think this laptop, like windows vista is getting some pretty unfair criticism from reviewers who really should know better. For what it is designed to do, it does wonderfully well.

Of course other companies are coming out with thin laptops. I have three or four upcoming models in here for testing right now. If you said to me "pick one of these" I would still pick the Air. As an overall package in the ultraportable environment I don't think there is anything to touch it. Even if you MUST use windows, it is easy enough to install bootcamp on it and run vista.

At least the review has people talking and hopefully some agree with me that the Macbook Air hasn't fully deserved the criticism it has received. To properly review a product you have to be aware of the exact position in the market the unit is designed for.

LukeK

Lenovo? Christ its slow as hell, ive got one - those ultra low voltage CPU's are useless for most tasks (very little L2 cache either - does the 1.6ghz in the air have a few meg of L2 Z?). Wouldnt recommend the Lenovo I like the look of the mac, not sure I would like OSX though im too used to Windows. 1.6ghz dual core is ideal for mobile work, won't drain a battery that quick but as enough power to tackle most jobs. Its cool the way the Air has a special version of the CPU, didnt know that. Impressive.

Zardon

Yes 4MB of shared L2 cache.

IvanV

Uhhh... It's beautiful! And thin... and so light too... but I guess I'm more an engineer than a designer type and some things just get to me.

Usually, it's a bad thing when USB ports on a laptop are so close that they sometimes can't be used at the same time. Here, we have only one USB port, and still it can't be used at all times, i.e. with all devices (what is it with Apple and inconvenient connectors?!). Four external drives aren't much of a sample, but if it's anything to go by, for around 25% of devices, one will need some sort of extension cord. Also, as the reviewer said: "the £65 superdrive is not just an optional extra, I feel it is a necessary addition". That being the case and considering that this isn't a cheap device like Eee, why wasn't it bundled with the laptop? It seems to me that although the product itself isn't, the company is a little cheap. Yet, it's still a very appealing machine.

That brings me to the point where I more or less agree with almost everyone about Air's being the perfect second laptop, but alas, from my monetary perspective, I can't help but wonder how many $1700 laptops one needs? I guess I'm just not a part of the target audience. Keep everything inside as it is, but don't solder the memory, add a couple of more connectors (even if most of them won't be used most of the time, once in awhile I'll need them, and I'll be really glad they aren't missing, or, better yet, I shan't, as the thought of laptops without connectors won't even be on my mind) and slap an internal DVD drive even at the cost of making the device a few mm thicker and a couple of hundred grams heavier (which would still make it a reasonably small and light device) and you'll make me happy. Well, I suppose that I have just described something like the 13" MacBook or a nice PC laptop.

P.S. I liked the review a lot, the attention to details was very nice and it was well pointed out what the device was meant to do, so that people could easily say if this was a laptop they'd be happy with or should they look elsewhere.

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Alex

Im curious, do you not feel as an engineer, the fact that Apple have produced something so thin as this is a plus point (a feat of engineering even?) I mean I understand your points about connectivity and I agree with them, however i mean if you look at this product they even have a physically scaled down CPU so it fits into this tiny chassis. I am sure keeping everything cool wasn't easy... wasn't there talk about the pure aluminum casing being a virtual heatsink?

IvanV

Well pointed out and yes I do and it was my first impression about it when it came out. But the form was a much greater priority than function. And what I probably don't like even more is that the machine feels artificially limited to the use of a luxurious netbook/status symbol, instead of being a really, really beautiful and practical little thing it could have been. The inaccessible battery and soldered RAM (there may have been some engeneering reason for this - the desire to achieve the right form, but a bit of cleverness they displayed shrinking the thing could have probably avoided this without too much sacrifice to the looks) are not the peak of practicality. If at least Apple gave it two normal USB ports and an Ethernet port, I'd more or less be ok with the connectivity it offers. (Bundle the external drive with the machine and I'll even stop calling them cheap! )

So Air is really close to something I'd have little objection to, something that I'd be thrilled by how well made and beautiful it is. Yet, they created a computer whose primary purpose seems to be to just look pretty and so, as an engineer, or simply a guy that would limit himself to owning only one laptop at a time, I'm not that impressed.

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macbiter

Actually I strongly disagree with Ivan's views. I actually work for Macintosh inside one of their labs and this laptop was one of the most difficult products any company has ever had to design. This is why there have been no laptops to this point as thin as the Macbook Air. And yes before someone "corrects" me there have indeed been a few similar machines in the past, but not on 800 fsb with powerful processors like the Core 2 duo at regular volts. When Apple designed this machine there were compromises to make, such as connectivity, it was impossible to include everything in a shrunken motherboard (the length of a pencil!) as it was. Most laptops would have ultra low voltage processors which compromises the power. (its also easy to include an Atom with something like this, but the team sees this as a much too easy route to take). This machine can handle 720p or 1080p video and has DVI out to a monitor or Television (with correction circuitry for enhanced image).

What a lot of people dont know is the solid aluminum unit actually acts as a heatsink to help the exhaust system keep things under control (the machine is much quieter than any competiting product on the market, still). The reason for the soldiered ram is two fold. 2Gb on OSX for the foreseeable future is more than enough in a mobile environment and two, everything on board is propreitary in some way due to the nature of the size. Nothing was an "ordinary" product by any means, even the processor is a special version that intel worked with Macintosh to produce just for the Air.

All throughout this machine are testiments to the creativity and design ethic that apple ensure that reaches their end product. The design team felt that with bluetooth support, one USB2 connection was more than enough (research has proved that businessmen or enthusiasts on the move rarely use more than a mouse or optical drive - with a bluetooth mouse both are possible without hubs etc). This was never intended as a single "main" machine, but an ultra portable with no usability compromises in regards to performance, keyboard design, and screen quality and size.

Anyone who says it isn't impressive on an engineering level are clearly just biased against the product, there is no other explanation. There is far too much focus on "one usb port", most people who buy these machines don't need 4 USB ports, a CD drive (to add more weight and size) etc. Its a specific market, and its good to see this site getting the review done correctly. Some of the reviews of this product are so massively wrong I find it baffling. I read one site comparing the performance to a 2.8ghz extreme edition cpu! Funny thing is, that most people assume because its a macintosh that its underpowered, it is actually considerably faster than the Sony TZ, lenovo and other ultra portables available.

swissfondue

I agree. I wrote a review a while back from the view point of a user. The MBA is a beautifully engineered notebook. I'm still very happy with mine and carry it to and from work everyday in a shoulder bag.
Here is a link to the review: MacBook Air: User Review | notebooks.com

Zardon

Very well written indeed, if you would like to do some freelance work for us, drop me an email.

IvanV

Macbiter, I appreciate what you're saying. As I wrote in my first post in this thread, I'm obviously not a part of the target audience, being more into something like the 13" MacBook (which could do as one's only laptop) and Air is a different product, so I was mostly just stating why Air isn't for me.

As you know, it's a very appealing product, and you've managed to make it comparable to full size and weight laptops with the fully clocked CPU and other essential components, but that's exactly why one can't but feel frustrated upon finding out that such trivial (yet useful) things like connectors are missing, even if there were reasons for the sacrifice. In a way, it diminishes the engineering success in my eyes, as it feels like the success where almost everyone else fails is accompanied by a failure in what is universally done right. It also makes me wonder if someone just gave the team the miniature case already finalized and told them "Let's see what you can stuff into this!", which would make this a truly great feat, but one achieved following the wrong* philosophy.

*A matter of personal preference, I'm aware.

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swimtech

Great review, and I totally agree with the perspective - it's obviously for a computer dependent professional on the go as a second (or even third...) machine - designed specifically to get work done and stay in touch with/work with the office.

One thing this machine is helping to do, and the effect is subtle. It is helping to drive adoption and implementation of wireless networking. Those who travel and use other organizations' internal wired networks know what a pain they are to set up and use - for many reasons. Wireless networks are generally easier and much quicker to set up and use by visiting business contacts. And, the type of individual who carries and uses the Air is likely to be someone worth impressing by having a decent wireless network available.

Oh, and they'll likely have an Iphone or Ipod Touch too - they'll like it if that works too - and be frustrated (even if they don't show it...) if they don't.

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Customgamer1

OK I apologize for my wording last night.

It is a cool laptop because they were able to make it so small and still have the features of a normal laptop. I knew this, but am more thrown off by the price.

Around $1,700 is a lot just for a travel computer on top of the desktop and or laptop you have to buy as your daily user.

Intel and Apple did a great job coming up with this laptop, but it seems the only people willing to buy this are business travilers that have more than enough money already.

The average user looking at this laptop is just not something 85% of the world needs, and have to think it is not selling all that great, but that's a guess. Most people don't want or need 2 computers and in a sense buying this laptop kind of makes you own 2. This has travel in mind and if you travel a lot then this might be for you.

I should have made it clear that I do like the Air, but it is nothing that I would use or buy. Can't say others wont buy it, but not something I am interested in.

P.S. I did not read the entire review. I am sorry for missing a few points about the mouse.

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brutusmaximus

Really? I think you would be surprised, especially with the audience on DriverHeaven which is pretty hardcore enthusiast. That is quite an assumption to make. I know a ton of people with a gaming desktop system who I am quite sure won't carry that around with a 24 inch screen for surfing or email on the move.

Also what is with the "engineer" earlier in this thread saying that the Macbook Air is mundane or not exciting? how the hell can a core 2 duo, 2 gigs of ram on a 800mhz FSB in a pure aluminium chassis 4mm-8mm thick featuring an LED screen and a battery life of 4-5 hours not be a marvel of modern day engineering?!

I thought until today that quite a few of the regulars here were intelligent, but apparenty the dislike for Apple makes common sense go out the window! (unless of course my assumption is right and a lot of it is down to jealously of not being to afford one!!)

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dj_stick

i want one, can't afford it, but i want one

though if i get a notebook in the next 12 months it'll be a macbook or a macbook pro, for various reasons, mostly to do with my audio work

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IvanV

pretty hardcore enthusiast != most people

Also, I did say that there are things about Air that I find exciting and that that was exactly my first impression about it, but in the end it seems more like an engineering exercise that resulted in a flashy gadget then anything else. As you said, there are lots of people who don't want to lug around their gamer laptops so that they could surf and read email on the go, and this is the thing for them, but what was the point of putting a fully clocked C2D, 2GB of memory and all the those creative engineers who worked on it in charge of that task?! To me, it's simply not worth it, and it's not worth the price. (Just like I said, "to me".) In the end I think that Apple did it so that they could brag about it, just like many people buy it because it looks really cool.

Now, about envy... It's a beautiful device, I said so before. If someone gave it to me I'd be thrilled. But if someone gave me an $1800 check that I had to spend it on a laptop, it wouldn't be Air, even if my choice were limited to Apple products. And yeah, I do dislike Apple a bit. Their products are usually quite good on the hardware side, the design is second to none, but there always seems to be some catch. Maybe I'd change my mind if I used Macs more, but those are a costly toys, especially here, with the cheapest iMac which sells for $1099 in the US costing $2011 around here, so I'm staying with the "not worth the money" attitude for now.

P.S. it's not 4mm-8mm, it's 4mm-19mm. And yes, I know, that's still quite impressive.

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Zardon

I know you don't think its worth the money however I would like to make it perfectly clear that it is definitely not just "a flashy gadget", a flashy gadget is something that does very little of worth for anyone.

I have taken the Macbook Air yesterday to a company for a presentation. On the way to the presentation I watched a movie, still had 3 hours battery life, did some work in Adobe photoshop, checked email and surfed news sites. When I got to the company, I presented the slides over a DVI projector and then returned home. By the time I got home I still had 1hr 3 mins left on the battery and carrying the unit was a pleasure, it was so light. If you carry it under your arm, it is just like carrying a notepad (which is what exactly a laptop should be IMO).

So while I appreciate some of our pc based audience would like to maybe classify this as an exercise in engineering or something ultimately worthless, I stand by the review in the fact that this is simply one of the most beautiful pieces of hardware I have had the pleasure to review in the last 2 years. So much so I ended up buying one, and trust me with the amount of hardware I see it needs to be pretty damn special to interest me. Is it worth the money? I think its worth every penny, there is nothing quite like it on the market - it is the only ultraportable that I have used which doesnt compromise in the areas I need.

It is great we are having this discussion however because I know im getting more than a few people to rethink their persception of this unit, I have had quite a few emails asking me about several aspects of the review and even a few people who have bought one since i published ! one guy is extremely happy with the purchase. That is why we are here !

IvanV

Sorry, I must sound like a broken record. I really wish I could give it a spin for a week or two, your experience makes me think there's a good chance I'd change my mind.

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Zardon

No it is perfectly fine. I understand the image that Apple have, of generally producing overpriced hardware, but in this case, really I was stunned at how diverse and capable the machine is. I know it is a lot of money however it really is a workhorse for specific tasks. I travel quite often in this job and I absolutely loathe carrying laptops in bags. If you are catching flights, jotting notes and on time scales you want something dependable, light and powerful enough with decent battery life to get the job done.

I appreciate for a lot of people this unit is not the number one choice (this is why it got an editors choice award and not our top gold award) but I really have issues with someone saying its just a gadget. I actually designed, wrote and uploaded this review on the Airbook as a test. Obviously it wasn't as fast as my 8 core Intel V8 system for the job (!), but it is possible to actually do business and everyday tasks with relative ease (the LED screen is marvellous).

Before I received this unit for review I was already in the mindset that it would be rubbish, overheat, have terrible battery life and be an overpriced gimmick, but after spending considerable time with it, it will be my partner for Driverheaven work outside our offices. That really is the highest compliment I can give it.

humonous

I never realised how beautiful this was until I read this review. Would make a great change instead of XP or Vista too. I always liked OSX - its a very functional and reliable OS. This laptop costs a lot of money but it not made of some squeaky plastic material !

Falstaff

I watched our Mac rep here demo the air again and there was a great deal of interest in the Mac book Pro instead, and of course they moved a few more IMACs. Folks fell in love with the desktop versions and wont budge on the IMAC, which to me is odd since the use Toshiba or Dell laptops, preferring sub optimal or middle of the road portables but prefer to keep the large 22 inche desktop Mac at home.
My point is this, the "sexy" little Mac is a tough sell from my point of view and I am afraid the little demo version will remain on display for some time to come until tastes change here locally. I played with it for a bit, but honestly found the two hour battery life a bit of a let down, but then how many other PC portables can boast longer life, even playing DVDs etc.
I am just Joe Cosumer and not really a techie but I do know what I want and I have the bling to back it up. Like I said, give me a black model vs this silver one and I might give it a spin.

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Sandok

The MBA is very pretty and very nicely built but it's utterly crap in my opinion (have used it and I don't understand who could buy this).

If weight is that much of an issue in the 12-13" laptop department, well what can I say... I don't understand it

Forget about OSX because that's nothing specific to the MBA. In between the Air and a normal MacBook, the only real difference is about 1kg of weight, which I can understand, can be a lot for some people. However you get the added bonus of battery life and for those rare instances, a DVD burner / drive. Oh and of course, money

Many people have it and while it is a great work of design, its just a niche too much for me. I totally agree with Zardon that zillion USB ports aren't needed on a day to day basis but personally, I get my DVD drive used a lot but I can still imagine that being a rare occasion. However battery life is more important than slipping my laptop in a manilla folder and in that sense, the MBA just isn't good enough for me.

Doesn't mean I don't want one though It's one of those rare laptops you buy with your heart and not your head