Does anyone have an actual working MBA?

[Jayy24]

MBA is perfect for me. I've had mine for around 3 weeks, not a single core-shutdown. you-tube videos and watch .mp4 movies for hours, not a hiccup. Doesn't even get as hot as some are describing.. 60-62C when watching movies.. and fans will blow at 6200RPM during that time, but other than that, the cpu sits at 45-50C and fans at 2500RPM.

No keyboard, mousepad, wobble, dead pixels issues.... none of that. Can't figure out if I'm lucky or just a very select few only come to post their problems while others are too busy enjoying their MBA to post about it.

 

[wkw]

I had a week 2 1.6/hdd that was great. I experienced core shutdown once when using iTunes at my sister's birthday party. It was playing videos using party shuffle. VGA out to a projector. It was probably around 100F in the room which was crowded with people, a/c was broken! Otherwise it was great. With the recent price drop on the ssd model, the iPod touch rebate, and a free SuperDrive, I couldn't resist upgrading. I got a week 9 ssd and it's been trouble free so far. I got a decent price for the 1.6 when I sold it

 

[Sesshi]

As for Sesshi, I'm sorry your machines haven't worked out for you. I use mine in 80 degree weather without a hitch and I've not experienced a single failure or hiccup of any sort (rather unlike my shiny new HP machine running Vista: that crashes Windows Explorer several times a day for unclear reasons).

I find it a constant source of question why people compare Apples against discounted, underpowered Oranges. MBP against experience of some $600 Dell, MBA against some undoubtedly entry-level HP, even if they're being honest about the crashing. Do they subconsciously have that little confidence in Apple machinery? If you are going to draw parallels why not - as I do - stack it up against some actually equivalent competition and see just how it really fares before joining in the circular jerkage?

 

[beatzfreak]

So...after reading a bunch of these threads it seems to me that everyone is having core shutdowns and overheating problems with their macbook airs. I just want to know, is there anyone who actually has had no problems with their air and are completely satisfied with the product?

I got my Air on Feb. 9th, and have never had a core shutdown. Since I stopped obsessing over fan speed and temps, I don't even notice when my fan is on.
I love my Air. So far, it's the best notebook I've ever owned.

 

[Clix Pix]

Do I have an actual working MBA? Sure do!!

Using it right now while sitting out on my condo unit balcony. I've got the 1.8 GHz SSD and never have had any problems with it. Last night I was watching several (short) videos on YouTube and also trying my hand at a couple of games....no problemo. No core shutdowns, no stuttering, no problems, period. Bought this machine February 8th and have been more than pleased with it ever since.

 

[sanPietro98]

I'm completely satisfied. I recommend the MBA to everyone. It is a fantastic machine.

 

[silverblack]

... another 1.6 MBA here (week 1) without any problem at all.

 

[seedster2]

I gave the MBA a brief shot and after a trip to the Genius Bar I decided to swap it for a MBP. I was willing to make compromises on specs but not on expected performance. I think I will wait for V2 or an MBP 12 inch.

Honestly there are some design flaws that were allowed to hit a marketing target for thinnest. Weight and battery life are more consequential to me.

Sesshi: I'm in the market for an ultraportable. I was considering the Toshiba r Series or the Sony. Can you point me in the right direction?

 

[ducatidoc]

bought mine on valentines (bitter pill for the gf, she got flowers, i got an mba) and regularly have core shutdowns when watching hulu on an expanded desktop. i realize this is a rigorous setup, but my 1.2 GHz single core Dell did it just fine. wish my air did as well.....

 

[Jayy24]

It's simple really. If you get any core shut down at all, then your machine is defective. Take it back and swap it out. A 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo can handle a decent load, especially more than what people are claiming that they are doing when they get their core shut downs.

 

[Rondue]

Lord Willing

I haven't had any problems with mine so far. But I think I'll be selling it when my 2.4 GHz comes back from service for a cracked palm rest. So if anyone is looking at buying a perfect condition macbook air soon send me a PM for it will be on the market soon

 

[xerenthar]

yes, hi

 

[Maxiseller]

I don't personally have an Air, but I do have a couple of friends that picked one up at launch and have been bragging about them eversince. Apple product first editions are known to have issues but most are remedied over time. At the end of the day that's what your warranty is for. Buy Applecare!

 

[w208cab]

I have the 1.6ghz not for very long I must say, I use Aperture amongst other applications, have watched you tube and apple trailers have and never experienced core shutdown.

One needs to practice some common sense, if you block the air vents yes it will get hot! will it shut down when it gets to hot yes! thats what its designed to do, I have watched HD content and it plays just fine using vlc or quicktime.

In all honesty I don't know what people expect from this machine it does everything I could ever want and about 95% of what most other people would need at home and in most cases work to would need.

Played warcraft 3 over the weekend, max'd out all the settings and it played without a glitch, did it get hot yes, did it shut down no, all the vents were clear the fan spun up to 5100rpm and no problems.

Used it in bed and blocked the vents you can still brows the net, send email and use word. and it won't get hot will run at 50 degrees C

If you want to edit full feature lenght Hd video using pro apps. Its not going to hapen, Thats why Apple make pro products.

Just enjoy your machines, stop looking for faults. I compared mine to my MacBookpro 2.2ghz with 4gb ram and a 320gb hard drive and in all honesty could probably sell it, this little air could do everything I threw at it!


Hope this helps.


Happy MacBook Air owner.

100% agree.

 

[Sesshi]

I gave the MBA a brief shot and after a trip to the Genius Bar I decided to swap it for a MBP. I was willing to make compromises on specs but not on expected performance. I think I will wait for V2 or an MBP 12 inch.

Honestly there are some design flaws that were allowed to hit a marketing target for thinnest. Weight and battery life are more consequential to me.

Sesshi: I'm in the market for an ultraportable. I was considering the Toshiba r Series or the Sony. Can you point me in the right direction?

The Sony's - TZ and SZ - definitely feel better built than the Tosh. The R500 is an achievement but it doesn't feel as well built as the Sony's.

Personally the SZ has been a fantastic workhorse for me, although the 1lb weight increase over the Air is quite noticeable in everyday portage, and the TZ - OK so it's quite a bit thicker than an Air with the extended battery, but I really can pull the machine out any time I want during the day without worrying about whether I'll lose power.

I don't have the Z11 yet so I can't say anything about it. Obviously specs-wise it's quite a machine - It's almost a Macbook Pro, but is >2lbs lighter but I'd like to see how long it actually runs on power-saving mode, whether it's as good as the SZ.

At this point in time, if you're after an ultraportable I'd say wait for what Sony has to offer with a refreshed TZ. The ULV chipset is due September, and this time around Sony seems to be first to market with the new Intel chipsets so you might see it Oct. I guess.

 

[Olvenskol]

I find it a constant source of question why people compare Apples against discounted, underpowered Oranges. MBP against experience of some $600 Dell, MBA against some undoubtedly entry-level HP, even if they're being honest about the crashing. Do they subconsciously have that little confidence in Apple machinery? If you are going to draw parallels why not - as I do - stack it up against some actually equivalent competition and see just how it really fares before joining in the circular jerkage?

I only raised Vista because you mentioned it in a way to suggest it is intrinsically more reliable than Leopard. While I do run them on different machines, my experience happens to be different.

My HP is not particularly "entry level": 4 GB RAM, 1 TB disk, 4 core CPU. It was the best HP I could find at my local Fry's (sadly bought, in part, to play Age of Conan well. Fortunately I needed an upgraded machine for other reasons, as the game turned out to be a disappointment). I think I payed $1700 or so for the darn thing.

I haven't done anything much to the machine other than load Office 2007, Visual Studio 2005 and Age of Conan (since removed). It crashes multiple times a day (fortunately, Vista is very good at restarting itself )

All of which means a good deal of nothing: one machine having problems with Vista does not mean Vista is flaky. It just has been flaky for me on the one machine I have it on.

Likewise, your problems with the MBA doesn't mean that's it unusable except in the most basic scenarios. Admittedly, I don't do 3G gaming on it - I'm sure I could stress it if I tried - but for every other task I've thrown at the little guy, it's worked perfectly for me.

 

[Sesshi]

I only raised Vista because you mentioned it in a way to suggest it is intrinsically more reliable than Leopard. While I do run them on different machines, my experience happens to be different.

I don't think you grasped the meaning of my post regarding comparisons. e.g. I run Leopard on dual-3.2 Pros with a mix of 8800GT and FX5600. I run Vista64 on dual-3.2 Dell Precisions with a mix of GTX 280 and FX5600. The Dells are more reliable as an application platform, and also as a hardware platform. While Vista's reliability of course will vary a lot more, it helps to compare Apples with - well, things which are actually better than Apples but run you about the same, or less.

 

[Olvenskol]

I don't think you grasped the meaning of my post regarding comparisons. e.g. I run Leopard on dual-3.2 Pros with a mix of 8800GT and FX5600. I run Vista64 on dual-3.2 Dell Precisions with a mix of GTX 280 and FX5600. The Dells are more reliable as an application platform, and also as a hardware platform. While Vista's reliability of course will vary a lot more, it helps to compare Apples with - well, things which are actually better than Apples but run you about the same, or less.

Fair enough!

In terms of operating system reliability overall, I've been programming various systems since about 1980 (my first home computer was the original IBM PC). I've identified bugs in every version of Microsoft's operating system starting with the first release of MS-DOS. I've sadly never found a bug in any version of Unix, though I have found some interesting behaviors. In terms of Leopard, the Unix portion seems rock solid to me. The stuff Apple has layered on top does have some issues: nothing I've precisely identified yet but definitely I have experienced some bugs. Never-the-less, I spend a lot more time maintaining my XP and Vista machines than I do my Leopard ones.

If the Mac's were stronger as a gaming platform and played more readily with Exchange, I'd probably go all Mac. As it stands, I'm content to run a mix.

 

[AboveTheChaos]

I suffer from core shutdowns. I had the logic board replaced but it still does it. I took it back in but they couldn't replicate it so they wouldn't do anything (not even allow me to swap it for a Macbook or MB Pro). So I'm stuck with it and yes, it does it a lot. As soon as I can, I'm replacing it.

 

[xparaparafreakx]

I have a launch day MBA 1.6. Gets heavy daily use, silent drive and no issues at all

Same here, week 2 machine still working.