Hello,
I just wanted to share my opinions/impressions of the Macbook Air. There are so many differing opinions online and I've found that user opinions seem very valuable. I've had the Macbook Air for just under a week (granted not quite that long, but long enough for a few opinions). I purchased the 1.6 version with a the standard harddrive. I just couldn't justify the extra grand on an SSD. For about $179 I also picked up a 750mb Mybook as a back-up drive for all my photos and music.
I chose the Air for a few reasons (after exhaustive research/debate). The first is just the simple fact that it's really quite sleek and it fascinated me (that was the big debate, form over function). That leads me to the second reason, the Air meets my needs. I really thought about what I needed in a laptop and what I use it for (and yes this is my primary computer after having used a 20" imac for quite a while). I use my laptop for surfing the web, mail, itunes and storing photos. I don't process photos or videos and don't need the higher-end specs of the macbook pro. I also haven't used the DVD drive in my imac for over a year so I didn't want or need the drive.
After comparing the screens of the macbook air, macbook pro and macbook, I really felt like there was a clearer picture on the air. Could be my imagination but I really thought the air looked better.
After using the air for a while, I really like the following features:
1. Backlit keyboard - works very well when surfing the net in bed (may sound funny but I've found it convenient)
2. Full size keyboard - I've had subcompact PC laptops before (sony U1) and the mini keyboards drove me crazy.
3. Ease of connecting to the external drives (common to all mac's I'm sure)
4. Speed - many people have complained of the slow speed but I've not really had that experience. The system has been quite quick and startups and load times are fine. Even when installing multiple programs, surfing the web, and downloading bittorrents simultaneously, the system was able to keep up quite well and didn't overheat or shutdown.
5. The fact that the laptop is relatively "green" is a plus. Not a huge point, but it doesn't hurt either.
6. Speedy Wifi. I have quite a quick cable network and a wireless printer. Both work quite well and were extremely easy to set up.
7. The gesture functions for the trackpads are quite nice and easy to get used to.
Now for the less-than ideal points:
1. The backlit keyboard sometimes stops working and I have to hit the manual button on the keyboard. That seems to reset the program to work again. I have double-checked the settings and have it set to never expire but for some reason it does.
2. The auto-adjusting brightness of the screen is both a pro and a con. I've noticed in dimly lit rooms that if I move the laptop (like while typing), the screen can dim and lighten if the light hits it just right.
3. The bottom of the laptop does get hot sometimes. It's never shut down or overheated but I've registered temps of 82C during full loads.
4. The fact that time machine can't backup to a network drive (though I've heard rumors that there are programs in the works to correct this).
5. Obviously the lack of expandability is an issue but I knew that going in and this is not a concern.
I just wanted to share my opinions/impressions of the Macbook Air. There are so many differing opinions online and I've found that user opinions seem very valuable. I've had the Macbook Air for just under a week (granted not quite that long, but long enough for a few opinions). I purchased the 1.6 version with a the standard harddrive. I just couldn't justify the extra grand on an SSD. For about $179 I also picked up a 750mb Mybook as a back-up drive for all my photos and music.
I chose the Air for a few reasons (after exhaustive research/debate). The first is just the simple fact that it's really quite sleek and it fascinated me (that was the big debate, form over function). That leads me to the second reason, the Air meets my needs. I really thought about what I needed in a laptop and what I use it for (and yes this is my primary computer after having used a 20" imac for quite a while). I use my laptop for surfing the web, mail, itunes and storing photos. I don't process photos or videos and don't need the higher-end specs of the macbook pro. I also haven't used the DVD drive in my imac for over a year so I didn't want or need the drive.
After comparing the screens of the macbook air, macbook pro and macbook, I really felt like there was a clearer picture on the air. Could be my imagination but I really thought the air looked better.
After using the air for a while, I really like the following features:
1. Backlit keyboard - works very well when surfing the net in bed (may sound funny but I've found it convenient)
2. Full size keyboard - I've had subcompact PC laptops before (sony U1) and the mini keyboards drove me crazy.
3. Ease of connecting to the external drives (common to all mac's I'm sure)
4. Speed - many people have complained of the slow speed but I've not really had that experience. The system has been quite quick and startups and load times are fine. Even when installing multiple programs, surfing the web, and downloading bittorrents simultaneously, the system was able to keep up quite well and didn't overheat or shutdown.
5. The fact that the laptop is relatively "green" is a plus. Not a huge point, but it doesn't hurt either.
6. Speedy Wifi. I have quite a quick cable network and a wireless printer. Both work quite well and were extremely easy to set up.
7. The gesture functions for the trackpads are quite nice and easy to get used to.
Now for the less-than ideal points:
1. The backlit keyboard sometimes stops working and I have to hit the manual button on the keyboard. That seems to reset the program to work again. I have double-checked the settings and have it set to never expire but for some reason it does.
2. The auto-adjusting brightness of the screen is both a pro and a con. I've noticed in dimly lit rooms that if I move the laptop (like while typing), the screen can dim and lighten if the light hits it just right.
3. The bottom of the laptop does get hot sometimes. It's never shut down or overheated but I've registered temps of 82C during full loads.
4. The fact that time machine can't backup to a network drive (though I've heard rumors that there are programs in the works to correct this).
5. Obviously the lack of expandability is an issue but I knew that going in and this is not a concern.