First week with Macbook Air

[mikeb-310]

Hi everyone, first post on here and first time Mac user


I was on the fence since the MBA came out and now that I have had it for a week ... have no problems or complants about it.

This is my first Mac computer .... left my Sony Viao laptop for the Air, haven't used it since moving my files over. The difference in weight and size is just amazing and the screen on the MBA ..... only way to discribe it is you have to see it to believe it. Don't know if Apple stores would let you bring your laptop in to compare but if they would do it.

Anyway .... I will post again after the wow factor passes and give a better review. I have more questions because I am new to Mac OS but will post in other forums.


Mike

 

[ScottFitz]

Congrats!! I've had mine 24 hours so far now. Lovin' it. VEry much in the honeymoon period. Kept an eye on the fan speed and temps and so far I've only stressed it to go to max once. Since I'm a bit hard of hearing anyway, it doesn't bother me. A lot of it seems to do with how badly I'm covering up the vents with my lap. I know they had to put the vents somewhere, but so far the heating up was me more than the laptop.

Trackpad single taps are not consistent yet. Probably me. Love the multitouch. I'm getting older and a little reverse pinch and seeing the fonts more clearly is NICE!

 

[AboveTheChaos]

Congrats! I'd recommend using the free tool, iStat. It's a good way to see how your CPUs are doing as well as the temperature. I'm sure you'll enjoy your new toy!

 

[Cheffy Dave]

Congrats, I am sure you will love it,
Welcome aboard Pilgrim!

 

[AstroHouse]

Welcome to MacRumors, mikeb. I'm happy to hear your experience with the MBA. My MBA is coming up on 5 months old (I couldn't resist and bought it on the spot!!) and I have no complaints.

I am a new Mac user and have found MacForums is a great place to find experts to help you with your (our) adjustment to the Mac OS.

I could not be happier with my switch to Mac. I hope your experience is the same.

 

[AstroHouse]

BTW, did you succumb to the PC user in you and buy a SuperDrive? I did. I could not believe that a laptop could survive without a CD drive. What a waste of $$$.

 

[deputylove8]

Welcome to the world of the mac! Like you, I was a convert. Been
a DOS user during my days spent as a youngling, later, was bestowed
with Windows till my early adulthood.

All my life, I was criticising Mac yadaa yadaa. One day, a trip to the Apple store...I was like WHOOOOOOOOOOOA! The imac is sooo sexy! Plus with all my mac friends saying how virus free mac is. Plus, my lappie hangs a gazillion times a month. I thought, why not get a Mac and try it out.

That was 2 years ago. I'm like NO REGRETS! Thank GOD for the MAC. Virus free! With my Windows PC, i format them often due to virus attacks, spywares and all. But thank GOD, with the Mac, I've never had the need to do such things. They dont slow down like windows. Well, it does slow down a bit only..just by a mere few seconds..but hey...I'm loving mine....!

Thinking of getting either an AIR or MB. hehehe. Sob sob. I love the Air. But its still kinda ex for me. Sob sob. Gotta start saving now.

 

[mikeb-310]

No I didn't buy the superdrive ..... I never used my dvd burner on my pc. I use it at the office but the MBA is my personal computer. I would like the time capsule to use to store my itunes movies and use it with my apple tv and not waste all my disk space.

Never thought that a cellphone would get me to buy all this stuff but I have. All started 2 years ago with the ipod nano I bought and then the iphone, now up to 3 ipods, iphone, apple tv, and the MBA.

 

[bluetooth101]

For new MBA owners!

For the new MBA users:

A great software called multiclutch...a must for all MBA users like me!...

http://digg.com/apple/New_App_Lets_You_Customize_Multitouch_on_Macbook_Air_Pro

For more information visit this thread:https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/432921/

To calibrate your MBA colour:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/426699/

I'm using the colour profile from Tofupancake and it look better than ever.Of course there are plenty of profiles around so choose one that suits you.. enjoy!

 

[NC MacGuy]

Glad you're here and happy with your Air.

May you still be in love long after the honeymoon is over!

 

[Clix Pix]

I have had my MBA since the 8th of February.....and I am still madly in love with this thing! I have the 1.8 SSD and have had no problems with it -- either I'm not terribly demanding or the machine just came to me in perfect condition. I love it. I have done day-to-day tasks on it, I've watched YouTube videos on it, I've watched a full-length DVD movie on it....all without any issues.

My journey into the world of Mac began in October, 2005, when I purchased my G5 iMac..... that quickly led to the purchase of a powerbook (I reasoned that if I didn't want to use Windows at home any more, why should I have to use it on the road?) and following that, my first iPod once I figured out what the iTunes thing was all about. Eventually when Apple entered the whole new playing field of Intel, I followed along.....

A very happy Mac user here!

 

[ScottFitz]

No I didn't buy the superdrive ..... I never used my dvd burner on my pc. I use it at the office but the MBA is my personal computer. I would like the time capsule to use to store my itunes movies and use it with my apple tv and not waste all my disk space.

Never thought that a cellphone would get me to buy all this stuff but I have. All started 2 years ago with the ipod nano I bought and then the iphone, now up to 3 ipods, iphone, apple tv, and the MBA.

Yep, I started with an ipod after owning several other brands of mp3 players. So, I had something to compare it to. I was blown away. That led to an iMac, which led to various peripherals, which led to an ipod touch, which has led to a macbook air. About to get my son a MBP. Wife is not on board yet. But, we're working on her. Now that the iphone 3g will have exchange email support, I'll be in line July 11th.

 

[clivens]

Need to increase system font

This is my first MacAir as well and I need to increase the system font and can not figure out how to do it. Any ideas? Many thanks.

 

[kylelong100]

to increase fonts, I use secrets. http://secrets.blacktree.com/


I go to safari section and change the minimum size of fonts.
other programs likely have font changes too.

good luck

 

[mikeb-310]

Update : Its been more than a week since getting my MBA


Battery Life: Got 5 hrs on 60% brightness - Should be expected with the small battery and bright display. Using the web and just chatting on IM one night and ended up using it from 9pm to 2am. I was down to 18% left on the meter.

HHD Space: I went with the 80GB - after moving my pictures and iTunes over have 29GB left. If I had to do over would use the guide on here to save space with a clean install of Mac OS X. Didn't think languages would take that much space.


Charging: Appears to take about 2-3 hrs for complete charge

Sleep Mode: Using the % shown about 2% an hour in sleep mode

Programs/Games: Tried playing Engimo - fan was running all the time and was putting out a lot of heat. Not a laptop for gaming or large programs. I wanted to get Aperture but holding off for awhile until I read more.



Great laptop and great purchase - would buy it again. Need the Time Capsule for my iTunes movie library (170GB) so getting that rather than the 3G iPhone.

 

[kuribohbabylon]

I've had my Air for 2 weeks tomorrow and still enjoying the heck out of it. Its just so tiny. Reminds me of my old Duo 230 back in the day, I used the heck out of that thing, wish I had kept it now for nostalgia purposes

 

[shen]

"HHD Space: I went with the 80GB - after moving my pictures and iTunes over have 29GB left. If I had to do over would use the guide on here to save space with a clean install of Mac OS X. Didn't think languages would take that much space."

you can take them off still. monolingual is your friend, give it a google.

 

[mikeb-310]

thanks shen

i am going to try that tonight ..... anyway to uninstall Garage Band (have not music talent or need for it)


how much space does monolingual free up?

 

[mBurns]

Congragulations, enjoy the machine!

 

[glitch44]

anyway to uninstall Garage Band

Finder --> Go --> Applications. Drag Garageband icon to the trash.

 

[fa.ce]

Hi Mikeb,
congrats and welcome on board!

Battery Life: Got 5 hrs on 60% brightness - Should be expected with the small battery and bright display. Using the web and just chatting on IM one night and ended up using it from 9pm to 2am. I was down to 18% left on the meter.

Charging: Appears to take about 2-3 hrs for complete charge

Are you sure about that ?
I've read a 3 -3.5 hours battery life and up to 8 hours to complete charge.
Your experience thrilled me ... i'd like to buy one for me too

 

[idyll]

Congrats!

You know, I've had people ask about whether they feel solid or not and I am always surprised.. The MBA is probably the most sold laptop I've had the pleasure of using. No creaks whatsoever

 

[Tracer]

All of these good battery times make me look forward to the power-savings that the 45NM SFF chips will bring.

Tracer

 

[shootr]

Got mine on Sunday, first Apple ever in 20+ years of home computing.

This thing rocks! The Apple store guy was excellent, I played for a couple hours and was hooked after reading and thinking about it for months.

It's so nice to not have to lug around 5+ lbs. around. The lit keyboard and auto darkening screen is too cool. All the programs are easy to use but have only scratched the surface.

This forum has been a lot of fun to lurk in, but did have a couple questions:

What are considered normal/high/extreme temps (in F please)?

Is it normal after 6+ hours plugged-in continuous use for the cpu temp to eventually rise to 170F on an actual lap (not fabric)?

 

[eggersj]

BTW, did you succumb to the PC user in you and buy a SuperDrive? I did. I could not believe that a laptop could survive without a CD drive. What a waste of $$$.

I don't think it is a waste of money... since I don't have another PC in the house to be accessed by remote disk.

I also use it all the time to rip DVD's using handbrake for importation to iTunes... It was worth the money, and I couldn't see not having it.