Bought a MacBook Air!

wow i never thought anyone would actually want that pos

 

Why do you think its a POS?

 

Cool. Let us know how it works for you after you get a little more time on it.

Tom

 

If I named mine, I'd call it "brick", or perhaps "cement block".

Tom

 

The Air seems like a nice machine, but I think it would be hard for it to be my primary/only computer. It just seems like too little HD space considering my storage needs these days. I think I'll just get a bigger envelope.

 

Because he doesn't have one and can't afford one... Sour grapes anyone? :lol:

 

Get yourself one of those 2.5" USB powered external hard drives. They're really tiny and will give you a handy place to put all that stuff that you don't use every day. I'd hazard a guess there's a good chunk of stuff like that.

 

Lucky!

 

I'm going to be getting a 1 T timecapsule and attaching it to my airport. I'll be backing both the laptop and desktop to the Timecapsule and keeping archived files on there. That will free up quite a bit of space.

If I had an MacAir I'd get a timecapsule for storage and the external drives for installations and burnings.

I'd like to hear how it holds up over the next few months. The only thing that concerns me is if it's sturdy enough for every day use.

 

The Air is just that. Full of air. It's for those who want to look cooler then their pen holder will let them.

I mean, it has but one USB, no Ethernet connection, no optical drive, no fire wire; the battery can not come out and be replaced by the consumer.

The list of its shortcomings is long. The only thing it has going for it is looks.


No, I am not jealous. But I am annoyed that Apple would put this out as a MacBook. Within two days of my brother having it, he went back to his Mac Pro. Said it was too slow, that the lack of storage was a problem, and that the lack of more then one USB was a hardship.

It's a toy. A shiny, light, toy. And I pity the fool who takes this thing and tries to do real editing of video or music on it; heck, it only has a mono speaker too! Every time I think about this machine, I think of things that bug me about it.

Would I take one if it was given to me? Sure. But I would never pretend it was my main machine, any more then I would pretend my Apple TV is my full time DVR.

 

But is really is thin...
On the other hand, no ethernet connection is unheard of these days. Makes the device rather uninteresting for professional users in my view.

But maybe this is just the first of a kind, and Apple will fix these issues in a second iteration? I do like it when a company tries to push the limits.

 

its not a cost effective product. your easily paying 500 bucks for the fact that its new/thin/futuristic

not to to mention the lack of a cd drive or ethernet connection. While I realize these things are on the way out there far from gone yet.

but back to the price, you can get a much better product for the same amount of money. thin ones too

 

It was never intended to be one's main computer. It is more suited to one who frequently travels and is tired of lugging a 6 pound-double the size computer. But that is where perhaps will be its shortcoming in future sale volumes.

I have been using Macs nearly exclusively since 1987 (I'm one of the reasons Steve Jobs gets to travel in a G4!). But being in the business world I still see a near lock on Windows PC's. I still to this day at trade shows and conventions get the comments with my trusty ibook such as "Oh, is that a Mac? Do you like it? Will it run any useful programs? Hmm, I hear they are real expensive...".

So I just don't envision the typical suit and tie business traveler to embrace the Mac Air of which it appears that is its targeted market. Even companies that have Macs most likely use them in just the graphics and ad departments. The accounting department and the execs (the guys who travel) in the front office still use Windows.

Plus, give Dell and Sony a year. They'll have one just like it out soon.

Rick
#4 2006

 

Or even cheaper, get an empty enclosure for one, and stick the hard drive from the old Pro in it!

 

I do not know, the specs on the macbook air (at least in terms of expandability) easily puts it on par with the Commodore 64 portable.

 

TJ, it has much more going for it than looks. When i was still in school, i had a similar laptop from Dell - not quite as thin, but you could complain about all the same things about it. Despite that, i loved the guy - my campus had full wi-fi coverage, so i never had to plug it into an ethernet port. 95% of the time i used it, i wasn't in my room, so i didn't have to have anything plugged into the two USB ports except for my portable mouse (much better for many things than a trackpad... but thats another discussion). When i needed a disc drive, I could connect to the one on my desktop and use it (Although that took a bit of work to do at the time) - and that wasn't very often. For the most part, I spent a day installing software, then all i needed was files from classmates, which would come over e-mail or through a flash drive...

In the end, the "shortcomings" of the computer didn't effect me one bit. I never missed any of those things you talked about this computer not having. This computer isn't for everyone. There are many people out that who have a legitimate need for some of the things that you mentioned (and still more who feel they have a need for some of those, but really don't). And there are people out there who value size, weight, and portability over all of those items you listed.

All that being said, i don't plan to get an Air. In my current situation, i don't need a lot of portability (my laptop, for the most part, stays at home). I have a very nice Macbook that is portable enough for the one or two times a month i might take it out of the house. For my current situation, the things you mentioned it not having aren't really necessary, but also not something i want to give up - but i am willing to see where the appeal of this laptop is, and the niche of people that will find it an excelent machine for their use.

 

If your bashing the macbook air because its not suitable to be a main mac, then I guess you should go back to your awesome Dell with that Vista crap or whatever it is on it. Have fun with that.

The MBA is not intended to be a main mac. Its intended to be a 2nd on the side puter. Traveling, living room web surfing, etc. No ethernet because....dont need one if your out traveling, or surfing the internet sitting in your recliner in the middle of your living room. Its not inteneded for the kind of professional use a MBP is, obviously.
"But oh noes! it has no CD-ROM!" O M G, are you ****ing seriously complaining about that? What technically savvy person even uses CDs anymore?!?! If your got the macbook air for its intended and designed use, you would never even think twice that it has no cdrom. You would probably just be mounting .iso's over the network. Also, OMGWTF you hax! Is that a 4 gig flash drive? Wth is that thing? ....my point exactly. If you have any complaint about the macbook air other than the price, I'd like to welcome you to the technology of 2008.

The ONLY con with the PC right now is its price. That will be healed over time.

 

Wouldn't the Eee PC or a Nokia N800 be better at that? Smaller, cheaper, and yet... more expandable?