Macbook Air - Hot or Not? 11" or 13"

Another hot bit of news I just came across...
MacBook Air may fly through airport security - CNN

The 11" Air doesn't need to be removed form your bag when going through airport security, unlike other laptops. The verdict is still out on the 13 inch model, however.

 

Yes to the specs... As for battery life, I haven't gotten to the point of testing that yet. I was more interested in performance For a vast majority of my laptop uses, a wall outlet isn't too far away. There are probably only 4-5 times a year when i really need to use the batteries beyond an hour or two.

 

Found another case that looks very promising:
http://sfbags.com/products/sleevecases/sleevecases.php

Compared to others, this one seems the most versatile... As a case, it's not that much different than most of the sleeves or jackets - a thin padded wrapper form-fitted to your computer. The optional shoulder strap and "piggyback pouch" provide for times when you don't want to bring another bag along, letting you sling it over your shoulder and carry the brick as well.

 

:bored:

Kidding....it's not like there aren't enough threads to find *something* interesting.

Having read up on the 13" MBP, it seems it may not be getting a faster processor anytime soon. Darn - that's part of the upgrade I was hoping for.

 

More cases/bags... can't believe I forgot about booq earlier!

13-inch MacBook Air bags by booq

If nothing else, we should remember this thread as a great place to find links to laptop bags/cases... all of these vendors make theirs to cover a much broader range than just the Air.

 

I'll agree with that... the auto-migration worked great. It took 4-5 hours for me wirelessly (included programs, files, some media... quite a big chunk of HD space, actually), which was perfectly fine since i was at work while it did it

My new Waterfield sleeve/case is supposed to arrive today (the one i linked to in this post)... I'll be posting a review of it sometime soon!

 

Not interested. At home the Touch is just a music player and a few games and apps that don't use a keyboard. For travel, weight is the critical thing. 3/4 lb is too much when I can write basic emails without a separate keyboard. It's actually easier to "type" on the Touch than on the N800, which uses a stylus.

And I don't think my Touch has Bluetooth anyway.

 

Reviewing the case...

It's definitely quite sturdy - On first impression I don't expect to have any problems with it deteriorating (wear marks, pulled stitches, etc), ever. The padding is what you would expect for a laptop case - enough to protect from accidental drops, but I still wouldn't be willing to drop kick it across the backyard. The metal D-rings used for the shoulder strap and/or "piggyback" additional carrying compartment are solid metal, not cheap plastic like you might have on some bags.

If there's one thing to fault with the case, it's the fit. I was expecting it to be much more snug around the laptop, based on other reviews I've read about it. People have said their cases were too snug at first, but loosened up over the first few weeks. That's definitely not the case here. The case has a uniform thickness of roughly 3/4 of an inch between inner walls. This means it's easy to slide the Air in and out, and orientation doesn't matter - the case doesn't tapper off on one side or the other. And while it sounds like there's too much room in the case, the laptop doesn't rattle around at all - it's held in place without moving.

Overall, the case is about an inch and a half thick, or just barely thicker than my old Macbook Book!

 

Lots of questions!

Yes, I think it'll be sufficient to survive a fall, even on the edge or corner. Actually, i think the computer itself would survive a moderate fall onto an edge or corner without any major damage anyways. The uni-body design means there's no cheap plastic to crack, and the SSD means there are no moving parts to break.

The bag is not stiff. However, when you consider the design of the laptop again... I don't think a stiff bag is really necessary. The aluminum design is going to be harder than any stiff bag, and protect from most blows. A blow with a pointed object hard enough to damage the laptop probably wouldn't be slowed by a stiff bag.

The looks seem just fine to me. The logo is just a yellow W and white F, which does make it a little more obvious then some logo's, but it doesn't really stand out too much or look too bad.

There's no place to carry the AC adapter without the piggyback. The only additional pocket built in is a small slit on the back - big enough for some papers or maybe a thin notepad. However, the piggyback isn't too bad, and gives a few great options. Personally, most of the time I use the case, it'll be inside of another bag. The piggyback can be loose in the same bag, holding all of the computer accessories (mouse, AC adapter, monitor cable, etc). In those situations, I'll be going through airport security, and being able to just pull the case out and run it through in that WITHOUT having to remove the laptop would be nice. The few times I'll use it as it's own bag, I can live with the somewhat odd look of the piggyback.

 

I have bought my first apple product which is a MBA and it's so fast! I have resource hungry programs open and everything runs fine without any lag. I've been a windows user all my life and I'm looking to change that. Definitely worth the money for those who travel a lot.