Could This Be Your Next MacBook?

[Michael Knutson]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://blog.laptopmag.com/macbook-air-hands-on#axzz12wF0xEga' target='_blank'>http://blog.laptopmag.com/macbook-a...n#axzz12wF0xEga</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"They're a dynamic duo indeed. We just went hands-on with the new 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air and wanted to share our first impressions.&nbsp;At 2.9 pounds, the 13-inch Air is about 1.5 pounds lighter than the&nbsp;</em><a class="kLink" href="http://blog.laptopmag.com/macbook-air-hands-on" target="undefined"><em>MacBook&nbsp;</em><em>Pro</em><em></em></a><em>&nbsp;with the same size display and it comes with a higher-resolution 1440 x 900 display.The 11-inch Air weighs just 2.3 pounds and goes with 1366 x 768 pixels. Both models measure from 0.16 to .68 inches, which is very svelte. &nbsp;You now get a glass trackpad for gestures and you still have a full-size keyboard, but it&rsquo;s not backlit."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/lpt/auto/1287629870.usr17748.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>Could this be near-perfection in a less than 3-pound package? Apple is getting very, very close. In my opinion, the only thing lacking is a backlit keyboard, the tradeoff:&nbsp;much better battery life (5-hours on the smaller, 7-hours on the larger). And, the little annoyances are gone, the power connector is normal, and there are two USB ports. Oh, one other little nit to pick, no internal SD drive on the smaller model, but I have a whole drawer full of USB SD readers. For my frequent work travel, lightness and travel-ease trumps almost everything, so I will be replacing my Lenovo Thinkpad X100e with the 11.6-inch model. In fact, it's already ordered. Being an old-timer in computing, I can live with a 64GB SSD. Thoughts, readers? Is this a compelling laptop?</p>

[Michael Knutson]

and, I'm already using Dropbox for keeping all my documents "in the cloud."

[Jason Dunn]

and, I'm already using Dropbox for keeping all my documents "in the cloud."

Does Dropbox have a "cloud only" storage model? I thought it pushed all contents down to a folder on your computer...

I'm really surprised you can live on 64 GB...I take it you don't have many photos/music, etc?

[Dyvim]

Did you splurge for extra RAM? I'm curious to learn your impressions of the 1.4 GHz CPU.

Looks like a great travel Mac though!

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

64GB is fine for a notebook; my Thinkpad with its 160GB drive isn't even at 30% full.

Well, it does look nice, but the thinness means that the width and depth are bigger than many 11.6" notebooks/netbooks. My issues with fitting small notebooks is with their width, not thickness, so looks like Apple has missed this one with me (again) :P.

[Jason Dunn]

64GB is fine for a notebook; my Thinkpad with its 160GB drive isn't even at 30% full.

I don't understand how that's possible for someone whom I know is a photographer... :eek:

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

I don't understand how that's possible for someone whom I know is a photographer... :eek:

I don't store my photos on the notebook; they live on the desktop and backups.

BTW, the notebook I compared against was with a Thinkpad X100e. :P

Also, what is disappointing is that the SSD is in multiples of 64GB; the best mainstream SSDs I've seen are in multiples of 60 (OCZ's Vertex series) and 80 (Intel's X25M/X18M series).

[Michael Knutson]

I have a 27-inch iMac with 1TB hard drive (2TB backup), and 8GB RAM - this is where all my media files live: music, photos, video; and they get streamed to my AppleTV (or elsewhere) as needed/desired. Dropbox does copy everything locally, but I only keep things there that I use often (<500MB), so the 64GB is still sufficient.

My guess on the 60/64 size comments, that the 64 will show up as 60 after 'overhead' is subtracted ... But my first PCs were floppy-drive only, so I can manage, or at least I think I can. OmniDisk Sweeper is a good (free) utility to have, as it allows easy disk management on a Mac. Like TreeSize in Windows.

I do like my X100e, but it's about a pound heavier than the MBA ... I didn't think about the width issue.

[randalllewis]

I'm sorry, but Apple's fixation on thin certainly should be a case study for sociologists. The new Air models are indeed physically attractive and prove my long held contention that Apple is really not a technology company at all, it is a design and marketing company.

I don't doubt the Air will sell and will be aggressively advertised. I am certain it is well made and- within the severe limitations of its hardware- will work fine. It is clearly a limited functionality notebook. It can't be a netbook because Steve Jobs hates netbooks.

What I hope we can avoid is anyone claiming it is somehow innovative. The first netbook I owned had a 128Gb SSD. And making something thinner isn't innovation unless you have made some breakthough that stands out. I have an HP notebook that is less than one inch thick and under 4 pounds. Getting one more pound and a few more millimeters off the device doesn't make it a better product. At some point, the reductions in weight and size become so small as to be meaningless. It becomes more of a "we're doing this because we can" thing that does not add an ounce of meaningful usefulness for a consumer.

[Jason Dunn]

What I hope we can avoid is anyone claiming it is somehow innovative.

I agree with you that Apple is getting a bit carried away with things being thin - hell, the iPod Touch 4G is actually harder for me to hold than my Touch 2G because they made it even thinner (7.2mm vs. 8.4mm). I'd have preferred it to remain just as "thick" and had better battery life instead.

But...when I looked at the guts of the Macbook Air - the way Apple re-thought the motherboard layout, skipped the SSD casing and mounted the chips on the motherboard, and made most of the space for the battery - I couldn't help but be impressed. Not upgradeable in any way, sure, but some damn impressive engineering went into that. It makes all the PC OEMs look pretty clumsy in comparison IMO.

[randalllewis]

I am certainly no expert on motherboard design, but I believe PC OEM's have been doing similar things to what you describe with the Air, though not to the excessive extremes of Apple. My humble HP dm3 (the new, 3000 series) has a reconfigured motherboard with all the heat producing elements moved to under the keyboard as part of HP's effort to keep cool. It works. Maybe this isn't as clever as what Apple did, but at least I can upgrade the memory and the hard drive if I want.

[Deslock]

I'm sorry, but Apple's fixation on thin certainly should be a case study for sociologists. The new Air models are indeed physically attractive and prove my long held contention that Apple is really not a technology company at all, it is a design and marketing company. It's more accurate to call Apple a tech company that emphasizes design and has effective marketing.

I don't doubt the Air will sell and will be aggressively advertised. I am certain it is well made and- within the severe limitations of its hardware- will work fine. It is clearly a limited functionality notebook. It can't be a netbook because Steve Jobs hates netbooks.
Steve Jobs complained that Netbooks are slow and have tiny screens and keyboards. The MBAs do not suffer from those annoyances. I see them (especially the 13.3") as being less limited than most netbooks, despite not being upgradable.

What I hope we can avoid is anyone claiming it is somehow innovative. The first netbook I owned had a 128Gb SSD. And making something thinner isn't innovation unless you have made some breakthough that stands out. I have an HP notebook that is less than one inch thick and under 4 pounds. Getting one more pound and a few more millimeters off the device doesn't make it a better product. At some point, the reductions in weight and size become so small as to be meaningless. It becomes more of a "we're doing this because we can" thing that does not add an ounce of meaningful usefulness for a consumer.
The HP dm3 3010 is a great laptop, especially for the cost. However, it's 72% and 37% heavier than the 11.6" and 13.3" MBAs and has an inferior GPU. Also, its screen resolution is only as good as the 11.6" MBA's. That's not important to most, but it is to some. Likewise for the Macbook's oversized multi-touch trackpad, mag-power-connector, and tiny bricks.

I tried out the new MBAs today. The unibody construction is really solid (as expected) and the near-instant resume is sweet. It may seem insignificant, but I bet the 2-3 seconds most laptops take would be unsatisfactory after becoming accustomed to the MBA.

If I were getting one, I'd choose the 13.3" because:
Longer runtime (based on my time with them, the MBAs should exceed their battery rating, consuming <7W for light-moderate use)
1.4 GHz Core2Duo is OK, but the 1.86 GHz is a bit zippier opening apps
The 11.6's DPI is a little too high
The 13.3's extra resolution is more livable for real work
My complaints are:
No TRIM support in OSX
No backlit keyboard

Anyone not interested in OSX but also wanting something lightweight (that's better caliber than a netbook) should also check out the Sony TZ, Panasonic Touchbooks, and Toshiba R700. None of these laptops have exactly the same combination of features, and any could be the best choice depending on one's needs.

[randalllewis]

The HP dm3 3010 is a great laptop, especially for the cost. However, it's 72% and 37% heavier than the 11.6" and 13.3" MBAs and has an inferior GPU. Also, its screen resolution is only as good as the 11.6" MBA's. That's not important to most, but it is to some. Likewise for the Macbook's oversized multi-touch trackpad, mag-power-connector, and tiny bricks.



I'll leave the debate for another day whether Apple is a technology company or a design and marketing company. But I must respond to your comments on my HP dm3.

Wow! My HP must be a brick, weighing 72 percent more than the comparable sized Air! It might have been a more relevant comparison to use the actual weights rather than percentages. Apple's specs for the 13 inch model say it weighs 2.9 pounds. HP's specs for the 13 inch dm3 say it weighs 3.9 pounds in one reference and 4.15 in another. I'll use the heavier to give you a greater break. So the HP weighs 1.25 pounds more than the Air. I sincerely doubt that makes any meaningful difference to a user. In return for that extra tiny pound, I get a removable battery, a much larger, and replaceable hard drive and upgradable memory.

And I don't know where your claim of the Air having superior graphics comes from. My dm3 has a switchable 1Gb ATI Radeon 5430 paired with its Intel i3 380UM CPU. The Air is using nVidia 320M and an older Intel Core 2 Duo. I won't start a war comparing ATI to nVidia. I've used both. I don't think you can honestly claim the Air has better graphics.

We all like to defend our tech choices. I am getting a newer, faster CPU, comparable GPU, twice the memory, far larger storage that is upgradable, and for hundreds of dollars less than the similar sized Air. My original point was not that the Apple is not a good product. It is. My point was that it is not innovative. I've seen nothing to change that opinion.

[Jason Dunn]

We all like to defend our tech choices. I am getting a newer, faster CPU, comparable GPU, twice the memory, far larger storage that is upgradable, and for hundreds of dollars less than the similar sized Air. My original point was not that the Apple is not a good product. It is. My point was that it is not innovative. I've seen nothing to change that opinion.

What's the battery life on the dm3? I like the product, but if the 13.3" Air gets 7 hours of battery life in real-world use, that's quite impressive in my books, even before you factor in the size.

I'm personally ticked at HP for not allowing me to buy any laptop from them in Canada that doesn't have the stupid French/English keyboard with the gimped left shift key. Grr. :mad:

[Deslock]

Wow! My HP must be a brick, weighing 72 percent more than the comparable sized Air! It might have been a more relevant comparison to use the actual weights rather than percentages. Apple's specs for the 13 inch model say it weighs 2.9 pounds. HP's specs for the 13 inch dm3 say it weighs 3.9 pounds in one reference and 4.15 in another. I'll use the heavier to give you a greater break. So the HP weighs 1.25 pounds more than the Air. I sincerely doubt that makes any meaningful difference to a user.
Actually, the HP is 37% more than the 13" MBA, not 72% (that'd be vs the smaller MBA). Though 1.25 pounds itself is not a lot, every little bit helps when you're looking to reduce the total weight of your backpack or shoulder bag. Another way to look at it is that back in the day, some people would pay a premium to get a laptop that weighed 6 pounds instead of 7.25 (or 4.75 pounds instead of 6 pounds). Demand for lightweight and moderately powerful laptops like the MBA, Toughbooks, Sony TZ, and Toshiba R700 has dropped with introduction on netbooks, but there is a market for them.

In return for that extra tiny pound, I get a removable battery, a much larger, and replaceable hard drive and upgradable memory.
Again those features are not important to everyone (though the lack of a HDD obviously limits the MBA to a secondary computer for most users).

And I don't know where your claim of the Air having superior graphics comes from. My dm3 has a switchable 1Gb ATI Radeon 5430 paired with its Intel i3 380UM CPU. The Air is using nVidia 320M and an older Intel Core 2 Duo. I won't start a war comparing ATI to nVidia. I've used both. I don't think you can honestly claim the Air has better graphics.
The DM3 3010s I've seen only have the integrated GPU. That some versions of that model have a dual setup doesn't change my overall point that all laptops are trade-offs. Off the top of my head:

Macbook Air:
Instant resume, extra screen resolution, flex-less unibody construction, lower weight, thinness, mag lock, oversized multi-touch trackpad, smaller brick, OS w/ gestures

dm3 (your version, based on your description):
Cheaper, replaceable battery, upgradable RAM, larger HDD, optical drive, faster CPU, dual GPUs, more ports, OS with more games and apps (though Windows can be run on the Mac)

Each has advantages and are really not in the same class. As I wrote before, "None of these laptops have exactly the same combination of features, and any could be the best choice depending on one's needs."

We all like to defend our tech choices. I am getting a newer, faster CPU, comparable GPU, twice the memory, far larger storage that is upgradable, and for hundreds of dollars less than the similar sized Air. My original point was not that the Apple is not a good product. It is. My point was that it is not innovative. I've seen nothing to change that opinion.
As I wrote before, "The dm3 is a great laptop". Also I do not own an Air, so I'm not sure what defending "our tech choices" has to do with anything. Lastly, I never claimed that Macbook Air was innovative.