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Apple MacBook Air 13.3" Laptop (1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, 2 GB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive) | 
| Brand: Apple
Category: Personal Computer
List Price: $2,099.00
Buy New: $2,094.00
You Save: $5.00
Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 319
Media: Personal Computers
Size: 80 GB ATA Hard Drive
Shipping Weight (lbs): 7.3
Dimensions (in): 16.5 x 12.5 x 5.2
Model: Z0ER
ASIN: B0006HU4NK
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Features:
| • | 1.8 Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 4 MB shared L2 cache; Intel GMA X3100 video processor with 144 MB shared memory | | • | Thinnest, lightest MacBook ever includes multi-touch trackpad, built-in iSight webcam, and up to 5-hour battery life | | • | One USB 2.0, built-in Wi-Fi (802.11n draft plus 802.11b/g), Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, Micro-DVI video output with adapters | | • | Preloaded with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard operating system and iLife '08 suite of applications | | • | 13.3-inch glossy LED-backlit screen; 80 GB hard disk drive; 2 GB of RAM (maximum capacity) |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Product Description
With the MacBook Air, Apple has created the world's thinnest laptop--measuring an unprecedented 0.16-inches at its thinnest point (and 0.76 inches thick overall). Apple also introduces its vaunted multi-touch technology, found on the iPhone, to its laptops with the MacBook Air, enabling you to pinch, swipe, or rotate to zoom in on text, advance through a photo album, or adjust an image via the oversized trackpad. Despite the its slender shell, the MacBook Air doesn't skimp on the specifications. It includes a 13.3-inch LED-backlit widescreen display, full-size and backlit keyboard, and a built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing. The MacBook Air is powered by a custom-built 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, which provides an optimized, multithreaded architecture for improved multitasking performance. Other features include 2 GB of RAM, an 80 GB hard disk drive, Wi-Fi connectivity via 802.11a/b/g/n standards, a micro-DVI video output (with included adapters), and up to a 5-hour battery life. It comes pre-loaded with Apple's Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard operating system, which adds over 300 new features including easy backup of your most important data via Time Machine, a redesigned desktop that helps eliminate clutter, and the newest version of the fast-loading Safari web browser. It also comes with the iLife '08 suite of applications, including iPhoto, iMovie, Garageband, and iTunes. 
Amazingly thin at just 0.16 inches at its thinnest and 0.76 inches at its thickest point, the MacBook Air weighs just 3 pounds. | Apple's Thinnest Laptop Is Also Its Greenest
The MacBook Air embodies Apple's continuing environmental progress with its aluminum enclosure, a material highly desired by recyclers; Apple's first mercury-free LCD display with arsenic-free glass; and brominated flame retardant-free material for the majority of circuit boards as well as PVC-free internal cables. In addition, the MacBook Air consumes the least amount of power of any Mac, and its retail box, made primarily from 100 percent post-consumer recycled material, is 56 percent smaller by volume than the previously smallest MacBook packaging. Design
The thinness of MacBook Air is impressive, but even more impressive is that fact that there's a full-size notebook encased in the 0.16 to 0.76 inch of sleek, sturdy anodized aluminum. This svelte, 3-pound laptop has a vibrant, energy efficient 13.3-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, and its spacious trackpad offers multi-touch gesture support for pinch, rotate and swipe--making it more intuitive than ever to browse and rotate photos or zoom into web pages in Safari. It also features a full-size keyboard that's backlit, making it ideal for dimly lit environments such as airplanes, studios or conference halls. It includes a built-in ambient light sensor automatically adjusts the brightness of the keys as well as the display brightness for optimal visibility. One of Apple's most celebrated innovations is the MagSafe power adapter connector, which offers a magnetic connection instead of a physical one. So, if you happen to trip over a power cord, you won't send the MacBook Air flying off a table or desk--the cord simply disconnects, without damage to either the cord or the system. Optical Drive
Because of the amazingly thin design of the MacBook Air, an optical (DVD/CD) drive was not included. To install software from a disc, you can wirelessly use or "borrow" optical drives on remote PCs or Macs using the Remote Disk feature. This allows you full access to an optical drive without having to haul one around. If you want to have an optical drive for burning CDs and DVDs, you can purchase the optional MacBook Air SuperDrive (sold separately). This multi-format CD/DVD read/write drive is powered by the MacBook Air's USB port, eliminating the need to carry a separate power adapter. Networking
The MacBook Air doesn't include wired Ethernet networking, and instead relies solely on Wi-Fi to connect to your home network as well as wireless hotspots. The built-in 802.11n wireless networking provides up to five times the performance and twice the range of 802.11g, but it's also backward-compatible with 802.11a/b/g routers, enabling you to communicate with the a wide variety of Wi-Fi resources. It works seamlessly with the optional AirPort Extreme base station as well as Apple's Time Capsule Wi-Fi base station/hard drive--both of which include 802.11n capabilities. If you don't have access to a wireless network, you can use an optional USB Ethernet Adapter (sold separately) Use the built-in Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) wireless technology to connect to your PDA or cell phone, synchronize addresses, or download pictures from your cell phone. You can also use a wireless headset for iChat audio chats and VoIP calls as well as quickly share files with a colleague. Video Conferencing with Built-in iSight
Artfully placed in the display bezel is an iSight camera, which enables easy video conferencing as well as allows you to snap pictures of yourself and create video podcasts. Using the iChat AV application, video conferencing is integrated into your iChat buddy list, so initiating a video conference is a breeze. iChat also lets you hold audio chats with up to 10 people and provides high-quality audio compression and full-duplex sound so conversation can flow naturally. For video podcasting, you can record a short clip using the iSight camera, then use iWeb to create a video blog entry or post your GarageBand-recorded podcast. Display and Graphics
The MacBook Air includes a vibrant 13.3-inch LED-backlit display and a full-sized keyboard. | Whether you're working on a Keynote presentation or watching a movie before you catch a flight, every document, video, and photo on your MacBook Air will look sharp on the glossy 13.3-inch widescreen display. With pixel-perfect 1280-by-800 resolution, it's great for viewing and working with media. Video is powered by the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100, which provides 144 MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory. It features Intel Clear Video Technology, which delivers outstanding video playback with sharper image quality, increased clarity, and enhanced visual quality of interlaced content on progressive displays. Hard Drive and Memory
For storage, this MacBook Air comes with an 80 GB Parallel ATA hard disk drive (4200 RPM). The 2 GB of PC5300 DDR2 RAM (two SO-DIMMs of 1024 MB) has an industry-leading 667 MHz speed, and it maximizes the capacity for this laptop. Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
Custom-built to fit within the compact dimensions of the laptop, the MacBook Air is powered by a 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with a super-fast 800 MHz front-side bus (FSB), and an enormous 4 MB of Smart Cache, an L2 cache that can be shared between the cores as needed. (An L2, or secondary, cache temporarily stores data; and a larger L2 cache can help speed up your system's performance. The FSB carries data between the CPU and RAM, and a faster front-side bus will deliver better overall performance.) 
The innovative now-you-see-it, now-you-don't port hatch flips down to reveal (and closes to hide) all the ports you really need: a USB 2.0 port, a headphone jack, and a micro-DVI port. | The Intel Core 2 Duo's 128-bit SSE3 vector engine handles 128-bit computations in a single clock cycle, accelerating data manipulation by simultaneously applying a single instruction to multiple data. And its two execution cores are designed to share resources and conserve power, helping it to achieve higher levels of performance since it uses fewer watts. And with 4MB of shared L2 cache, the MacBook Air is a multi-tasking monster. With such substantial L2 cache, data and instructions can be kept close to the two processor cores, greatly increasing performance and allowing the entire system to work more efficiently. And, because the processor cores share the L2 cache, either can use the entire amount if the other happens to be idle. Other Features
- DVI output using micro-DVI to DVI adapter (included)
- VGA output using micro-DVI to VGA adapter (included)
- Composite output using micro-DVI to video adapter (optional)
- S-video output using micro-DVI to video adapter (optional)
- Analog audio output/headphone out (minijack)
- Built-in mono speaker and omnidirectional microphone
- Integrated 37-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery provides up to 5 hours of battery life
- Built-in full-size keyboard with 78 (U.S.) or 79 (ISO) keys, including 12 function keys, 4 arrow keys (inverted "T" arrangement), and embedded numeric keypad
- Supported resolutions: 1280 by 800 (native), 1152 by 720, 1024 by 768, 800 by 600, 800 by 500, 720 by 480, and 640 by 480 pixels at 16:10 aspect ratio; 1024 by 768, 800 by 600, and 640 by 480 pixels at 4:3 aspect ratio; 720 by 480 pixels at 3:2 aspect ratio
Preloaded with Leopard, you'll enjoy enhanced productivity and a clutter-free desktop (thanks to the redesigned 3D Dock with Stacks). | Preloaded with Leopard and iLife '08
The biggest Mac OS X upgrade ever, the Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard operating system features over 300 new features, including: - Time Machine, an effortless way to automatically back up everything on a Mac
- A redesigned Finder that lets users quickly browse and share files between multiple Macs
- Quick Look, a new way to instantly see files without opening an application
- Spaces, an intuitive new feature used to create groups of applications and instantly switch between them
- A brand new desktop with Stacks, a new way to easily access files from the Dock
- Major enhancements to Mail and iChat
Leopard's new desktop includes the redesigned 3D Dock with Stacks, a new way to organize files for quick and easy access with just one click. Leopard automatically places web, email and other downloads in a Downloads stack to maintain a clutter-free desktop, and you can instantly fan the contents of this and other Stacks into an elegant arc right from the Dock. The updated Finder includes Cover Flow and a new sidebar with a dramatically simplified way to search for, browse and copy content from any PC or Mac on a local network. Time Machine lets you easily back up all of the data on your Mac, find lost files and even restore all of the software on their Mac. With just a one-click setup, Time Machine automatically keeps an up-to-date copy of everything on the Mac. In the event a file is lost, you can search back through time to find deleted files, applications, photos and other digital media and then instantly restore the file. The MacBook Air also comes with the iLife '08 suite of applications that make it easy to live the digital life. Use iPhoto to share entire high-res photo albums with anyone who's got an email address. Record your own songs and podcasts with GarageBand. Break into indie filmmaking with iMovie and iDVD. Then take all the stuff you made on your Mac and share it on the Web in one click with iWeb. What's in the Box
MacBook Air, MagSafe power adapter, Micro-DVI to DVI adapter, Micro-DVI to VGA adapter, cleaning/polishing cloth, install/restore DVDs, printed documentation
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Go Go steve jobs! July 2, 2008
James Makasiar (Millersville, MD USA)
It had to take the wonder kid of my generation to think of an untralightweight laptop that you can carry with you anytime. I did not have to consider other smaller units like the hp mininotebook which is miles behind in speed and capacity, etc.
The single usb port should not be a prob. I bought more expensive laptop units in the past and and all pale in comparison with my MBA. I am certain a 2.0 or 2.4 ghz will be in the market soon, but i cannot wait.
Brill (but a mistress not a master compared with other Apple laptops)! May 27, 2008
Siriam (London United Kingdom)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have been a user of Apple for over 18 months having lost my cool with the endless crashes and poor launch of Vista proving to me Gates & Co were losing it. I started with the Mini Mac, buying a Mac Book and an i Mac in a short period afterwards and I cannot get my kids off them now at home!
All that kept me going with a Windows system was I needed an ultra-portable laptop given my travel by air a lot and the Sony Vaio I had was fine for this purpose. With the launch of the Air I at last had the missing piece.
After 6 weeks using with the 1.8 Ghz upgrade, I am very satisfied and suspect I will never be going back to Windows based laptops. I do not propose to repeat others comments on its features but would comment on a few aspects that any buyer should consider:
1. The item as with all Apple models is beautifully designed. Be prepared to invest in a safety sleeve for travel and avoid scratching the aluminum cover - I found the Huzzk range the best for the job with their "open up and zip around" and rubber stud design cover design perfect for this model.
2. The case being aluminum does get very heated especially when resting on top of your knees! Another reason for buying a travel sleeve and investing in one which is thick enough to help on this point - again a reason why the Huzzk range was my choice.
3. The many comments on battery replacement are lacking in understanding that when traveling a lot the key is being able to carry and insert a spare battery. However technology moves on and I have offset this problem by investing in the portable Power Monkey kit which is both small and light plus provides several hours power if a mains supply is not available.
4. On battery life the personal experience and many of the Apple magazine reviews are now also stating the same point, that the Apple batteries seem to take some time to build up to their maximum life/charge, so expect only just over a few hours in early days of portable usage. Whether it makes the 5 hours target remains to be seen but again the Power Monkey option addresses if needed.
5. However much people rave about the looks and the great Leopard OS, be prepared to accept this is an ultra portable and so speed, performance and storage will not be as great as larger Macs (including the Mac Books at cheaper prices) - that is not a criticism just the reality. The beautiful screen and excellent size and feel keyboard however leave all other ultra portables (including Sony Vaio range) in the shade.
Overall I am thus very satisfied and would strongly recommend this model long as you are happy with the above compromises - I just wish Apple in their publicity and claims would accept that in terms of comparability it cannot match the rest of their laptop range but as an ultra portable it is King versus the competition (hence my "mistress" title to this review!)
 I love it May 15, 2008
Zoe (Washington, DC)
I love this computer. It works, and that was about all I needed. I returned a Dell that made me miserable and I'm much happier. I think it is a little slow for watching movies, but other than that, no complaint.
 Both wonderful and terrible and highly dependent on your requirements. April 3, 2008
Adam Dachis (Boston, MA)
35 out of 39 found this review helpful
This is a very in-depth review, so if you want to get to the point I suggest skipping to the last paragraph.
I might not have much to say that hasn't already been said several times over, but I wanted to give my take on this laptop as it's can be a difficult choice to make and perhaps I can be of some help. When the Air was released I thought it was the height of frivolity for Apple, but I've since come to understand it better. I spent eight days getting to know it in the standard 1.8Ghz/64GB SSD configuration and I'm still wavering on whether or not I want to keep it. I'm writing this review on a MacBook Pro that has been configured to be almost the exact opposite of what you'd get with the Air. When I bought the Air I wanted to see if I could handle such immense limitations, being so used to the freedom of maxed out laptops and desktops. As I'm writing this, the answer is "kind of."
The MacBook Air, in my opinion, is ridiculously expensive. It's also ridiculously cool, especially when it's closed. In fact, every time I found something I didn't like and soon closed it to let it sleep, I had difficulty hating the thing because it's just so cool when it collapses to be a thin sheet of metal. Every little nuance of the outer design is elegant and perfect--visually, that is. There are a some hardware flaws that may or may not upset the user, and one that, in my opinion, throws the machine's worth into question. Let's deal with that first.
As someone who thought he used several USB devices, I found that I really do not. I might use two at a time, namely when importing footage from a video camera into the computer and saving it to an external hard drive. An important thing to note is that while the Air is certainly not made for video editing, it manages nonetheless. It can be done and it's not as horrible as one would imagine. Having one USB port also works just fine in pretty much every other case. I did get a tiny hub to use with the Air, but as it's tiny it's not a nuisance to carry and generally doesn't get carried around anyhow. If I'm editing, I'll usually edit at a home (not mine, as I'd use a desktop machine at home). Although it can get by, I would never recommend the air as a video editing machine. This probably goes without saying. Still, it's good to know that it can if it has to (even with Final Cut Studio's lack of support for it's integrated graphics processor).
Many people conclude that the Air is impractical as the machine does not have an optical drive. If you live by CDs and/or DVDs, then yes, it probably isn't practical for you. I never use my optical drive in my MacBook Pro. If I want to watch a movie, I rip it first. Most people do the same with their music so I don't think it's fair to cite this as a reason you'd need an optical drive. This does assume, of course, that you have another machine with an optical drive. If you don't and you want the Air as a primary machine then you will absolutely need to purchase the optional Super Drive Apple offers. You might think of going with a cheaper drive, such as the ones Lacie makes (which are good), but I wouldn't as even the Air, with it's added USB power, cannot power them. The one Apple offers doesn't cost much more and is worth it if you have no other machine. But if you do and you don't want to travel around with a drive (like me), there's another nice solution that I found worked very well. I bought a few 8GB flash drives, which are comparable to the speed of a DVD (if not faster) and hardly cost anything these days. I loaded the MacBook Air's installation media on one drive and made it bootable so I could restore the operating system or boot from the media while traveling should the need arise. I used one drive to hold a few movies I wanted to watch and another for any vital software I would need to install should I need to ever wipe the Air's drive while traveling. I bought four 8GB drives but only used three to do all of this. For less than the size of three fingers you can easily prepare for the worst and bring along some entertainment. If you want to bring along several more movies and music, an iPod is a good choice. You can always hook it up to the Air and play the movies/music through the machine.
I wanted to save it for last, but it makes sense to address the biggest flaw of the machine now. As I've said, this is not a video machine. It can be a video machine under very specific circumstances, but it is not, apparently, designed for use with any video at all whatsoever. I say this because of how the Air handles heat. The graphics processor (GPU) warms up rather quickly, even if you're just browsing the web. Watching video on the Internet, or even on your hard drive (perhaps something you downloaded from iTunes, generates quite a bit of heat. When the machine grows too hot, the first thing it does is underclock the GPU. Imagine watching a movie at about 1 or 2 frames per second. This is what you can expect when the Air gets too hot. If this wasn't the case, I wouldn't be so conflicted over the machine. I can let go of doing any heavy media work with it, but I can't let go of being able to watch a TV show without it skipping. You can work around this terrible design flaw by giving the air vent plenty of room to breathe. What I did is put the sleeve I purchased under the Air and then rested most of the air on it. I let the back section, with the air vent, hang off the edge so it had space to vent. This worked perfectly when the Air wasn't hooked up to external power. When it was, it became a problem. It was an issue on an airplane, though, and the short power available on the flight may have been feeding more power into the Air than it should have. The Air exhibited some strange behavior when plugged into the power port on the airplane, rendering the trackpad pretty much useless. The Air seemed to hold up just fine, when it had breathing room, when plugged into a normal outlet. Nonetheless, this trick is annoying and is even required when the Air is on a desk or table (though you'd get through a sitcom without any trouble if it's on a desk). The computer should be able to play back an MPEG4 or H.264 file without skipping, throughout the duration, without special treatment. If you have no interest in doing anything with video, watching or otherwise, this won't be a problem for you. I just can't imagine anyone using their laptop these days without watching some sort of video online or on their machine. I see this as an enormous drawback and will be the main reason I return the machine, if I decide to do so (and it is what I'm leaning towards).
But moving on...
Perhaps disk space is a drawback? I thought it would be for me, but I found that I only used about 25GB once I loaded on everything I felt I needed, including my entire music collection (which is only about 9GB and not the norm, I'll admit) and photo library. I also loaded about 3GB of e-mail, Final Cut Pro, Final Draft, Adobe CS3 (without Illustrator and InDesign), Episode, VisualHub, and several other pieces of software. I installed almost every piece of software I have on my MacBook Pro and left off the things I've either never used or used so rarely I forgot I had them. I didn't miss a single thing. I certainly use the majority of my MacBook Pro's 250GB disk and have so much data on external drives, at home, that it would scare you (I never throw anything away), but in terms of what you actually use I'd bet you'll find you can fit it on a 64GB or 80GB drive very easily. You did a few years ago, right? Perhaps you're still doing it. Either way, there's an easy solution. Buy an external hard drive. Some might argue that this is sort of counter-intuitive as the point of the air is to be pretty much non-existent. Adding things goes against that mantra. Well, yes, but again you can leave this drive at home or where you're staying. When you're walking around with the Air you don't need it. When you go back to your hotel, your friend's house, or wherever you're staying, you can pull it out of your other bag (the one you used for clothing, etc.). If you're at home, well, then you certainly have somewhere to put it. Rarely will you have to take it with you and it's not like it's that big if you do. I have a couple of Western Digital 250GB Passport drives (in black, if you're wondering) and they're great. I don't see drive space as a drawback at all. It's a problem easily solved.
There may be questions for some if the SSD is faster than a standard hard drive. For random tasks, yes, very much. OS X is good with caching common tasks, such as launching applications you use often, so while application performance is definitely faster via SSD the crappy little 1.8" iPod hard drive the standard model has will not slow you down too much once the Air gets to know your habits. Startup isn't as instant as everyone says, but you can immediately use the machine after startup. I'd much rather have an SSD over a hard drive as the speed increase is very noticeable, but my main draw to the SSD version of the Air was for data security. It's just less likely to die and that is very appealing to me.
Speaking of death, battery life is what you'd expect from an Apple Laptop. In fact, I might call it both better and worse. During my tests, I went to a coffee shop to write for a few hours. I left with about 30 minutes left on the battery, having used it for two and a half hours (give or take ten minutes). I wasn't playing music, browsing the web, or anything at all. I had the wireless off. The only issue is that I was in direct sunlight and countered it with the display at full brightness (which is completely and wonderfully visible). For a battery rated for five hours under wireless use with the screen not much dimmer than full brightness I was a little disappointed that it only made it what I assume would have been three hours without wireless. Nonetheless, I rarely use my laptop without plugging it in so it's good enough for me. Still, I fully intend to use the battery more once they figure out how to make it last a full day. Imagine that...
The power cord is so small you can easily take it with you. Actually, it's really not that small if you think back a few years when we used to have G4s. It's terribly small compared to the existing adapters and the way the mag safe attaches is so much nicer than it is on any of Apple's other laptops. It doesn't fall out by accident, still comes off easily, and doesn't get pushed out of the way by your knee/leg when the machine is on your lap. I hope this is how all Apple laptops are powered in the future.
I have nothing to say about the micro DVI port because I haven't used it. I suppose I could, but I assume it works fine. There's not much to screw up. One thing to note about the ports, though, is that despite the beautiful little hatch they're housed in they are a bit difficult to use. It requires slightly more concentration than the average port when plugging something in. It's not a big deal, but it might be a bother at times.
The built-in speaker is awful, but everyone knows that by now. It's a single channel speaker. If you're the type who watches movies with friends on a 13" laptop this might be a problem. I don't know any people like that who don't do so at home and plug in a pair of speakers they have lying around. If you're by yourself, you have headphones. I wish the speakers were better but I don't see this as a drawback.
The keyboard is a pleasure to type on and the backlight is far more effective on the Air than it is on the Pro. The keyboard also seems to be better-crafted than both the standard MacBook and the the wired/wireless keyboards (I'm typing on a wireless now). I don't know how that could be, but it is. Maybe it's just because it's new and I'm now used to typing on the "chiclet" keys.
While a little heavier than you'd expect, the Air is fairly light. I think the main thing to look at, when considering weight, is if you can safely hold it when gripping with one hand (without fear for your wrist or the laptop's safety, or both). The Air has no problem in a single-handed tweezer grip and your wrist will be fine as well. It is as minimal as they say it is and will pretty much fit into any bag you've got. I thought I was going to need a new bag but found that it fit into an old one I usually carried when deciding NOT to bring a computer. That was a very pleasant surprise.
Still, despite the fun of it and all the nice little benefits it has I cannot get over the situation with the heat and the GPU. It really ruins the machine for me. I think that, regardless of whether or not this will be a second computer you can make the determination of whether or not to buy fairly easily. If you were once a boy scout (meaning you always like to be prepared) and/or you've recently told yourself that you need to clean, get rid of stuff, or simplify your life, you will have trouble with this machine. There will be things you won't like, perhaps to the end that you won't keep the machine. But if your life, in terms of technology and other things (literal), is already simple and you don't dwell on preparedness too often, you'll probably enjoy this machine very much. If all I did was write, or all I did was write code, or all I did was write school papers and surf the web this would be an overpriced but very capable machine. I kind of saw it as the writer's dream machine, which is why I got it (I'm moving into that field primarily, now), but I have too many interests for the Air to handle. I might just keep it because I'm currently overpaid and I wouldn't mind it as a backup/travel machine, but I'm mostly feeling it was the wrong purchase and I'd be better suited by a cheaper, standard MacBook for a backup laptop (especially since I can mirror the data and I love the black MacBook). While I absolutely hated it when it came out, I've since found that it really is a machine well-suited for certain kinds of people. If you've got the money and intend to be gentle, it's probably a good choice for you. If your laptop is a third arm, I'd suggest holding your breath for a year or two.
UPDATE:
I have good news. I decided to keep it and turns out that I had a bad machine ("had" being the good news). I took it in because the trackpad clicker button didn't work very well and they gave me a brand new machine (very, very nice of them). Not only did that resolve the problem I took it in for, but I no longer get horrible choppy graphics when using the computer on my lap/in bed/when the vents are partially blocked. While I've heard gaming won't survive under those conditions, this is a MAJOR improvement for me. If I could, I would change my rating to four stars. The Air pretty much does everything I'd want it to at this point and the solid-state disk makes the majority of things I do much faster than the standard 5400RPM hard drive I have in my MacBook Pro. I judged the machine too harshly in the review because I thought I had a model that worked properly :). I am very pleased with it now that it can do what it should be able to do. I'm looking forward to finding out if it can even handle some light video editing.
Also, I got a Transcend 32GB flash drive as a supplement. So far I haven't used it for anything than taking a bunch of movies and TV shows along with me, but it's a nice alternative to a traditional hard drive if you don't want the bulk but are concerned about the spacial limitations of an SSD.
My best laptop ever March 3, 2008
Kenneth B. Strumpf (Manlius, NY USA)
18 out of 19 found this review helpful
I've had my Macbook Air for over two weeks now and it continues to amaze me. I bought it to replace an almost 5 year old 17" Powerbook and the first thing that struck me was how light it felt on my lap. It's almost like it isn't even there. I bought the 64 gig SSD version and the second thing that struck me was how cool the computer felt. Literally. My Powerbook would become uncomfortably hot after a while but the MBA remains cool the whole time I use it. This may be a function of the SSD not having any moving parts but it certainly is welcome, especially for prolonged web-browsing on the couch.
Several other things make this my best laptop. First, it wakes up in a snap when I open the lid, although it does take a few seconds to find the wireless network. As others have mentioned, the screen is bright and absolutely gorgeous. I was a little nervous about these 52 year old eyes reading on the small screen but no problem at all so far. Watching downloaded movies and TV shows is a pleasure. The computer is plenty powerful for my needs. I use a laptop for web-surfing, watching videos, Office type applications and making presentations and the MBA is just fine for this. I have an Imac for heavier duty applications like Photoshop and video creation.
Last week I flew with my MBA on commuter planes, the ultimate test for any laptop. It was great replacing my heavy Powerbook with something so light and easy to handle. I didn't do any work on the plane (I find it hard to work while flying) but I did watch videos and the computer opened up sufficiently to allow me to enjoy what I was watching. Plus it was easy to store under the seat for takeoff and landing. And as an added benefit, two flight attendants came up to me to ogle my MBA and chat with me. That never happened when I had a Dell!
I bought the external DVD drive and used it to load some software. The lack of a built-in drive is no issue for me. Neither is the port "shortage". I've never had more than one USB device hooked up to a laptop at a time anyway and I don't need Firewire. So Apple's compromise is no compromise at all for me.
So if your needs are like mine I'd urge you to strongly consider the MBA. It's pricey in my configuration- although I did get the 10% education discount available through Apple- but if you plan to keep it for years like I do it's less of an issue. It's light, stylish, highly functional and fun to use. What more can you ask for?
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