Honest question, why is thiness of MBA appealing?

[mobilehavoc]

So I'm not here to troll or start a flamewar by any means but I'm trying to decide on a new laptop shortly for my wife and was considering buying an Apple notebook...currently have a Sony VAIO SZ for myself which I absolutely love.

So she can't figure out, neither can I the real advantage that the MBA has (if it does) over a regular Macbook. I think Macbook Pros are out of the question because she wants something portable. I guess for the owners out there, what CAN you do with a Macbook Air that you CAN'T do with a Macbook. Everything I've read and seen indicate it's rather the opposite...MBA is limited when compared to Macbook.

Sure the MBA is thinner and lighter but is that really it? My wife isn't a body builder but even she said she doesn't mind carrying an extra 1lb of weight and an extra inch of thickness.

So honestly, what sold you on the Macbook Air as opposed to a Macbook. I'm having a hard time figuring this one out.

 

[ahaxton]

So I'm not here to troll or start a flamewar by any means but I'm trying to decide on a new laptop shortly for my wife and was considering buying an Apple notebook...currently have a Sony VAIO SZ for myself which I absolutely love.

So she can't figure out, neither can I the real advantage that the MBA has (if it does) over a regular Macbook. I think Macbook Pros are out of the question because she wants something portable. I guess for the owners out there, what CAN you do with a Macbook Air that you CAN'T do with a Macbook. Everything I've read and seen indicate it's rather the opposite...MBA is limited when compared to Macbook.

Sure the MBA is thinner and lighter but is that really it? My wife isn't a body builder but even she said she doesn't mind carrying an extra 1lb of weight and an extra inch of thickness.

So honestly, what sold you on the Macbook Air as opposed to a Macbook. I'm having a hard time figuring this one out.

It's not even funny how comfortable it is to bring around with you. Comfortable as heck!
Shoot I wouldn't mind walking 12 hours at the Magic Kingdom with my MBA.

 

[NAG]

Pick up a text book. Now pick up a magazine. Which one would you prefer to carry around? If you don't care the buy a macbook and stop trying to make everyone agree with you.

 

[BPerdeck]

Pick up a text book. Now pick up a magazine. Which one would you prefer to carry around? If you don't care the buy a macbook and stop trying to make everyone agree with you.

exactly! wow, that was perfectly described, well done.

 

[MazingerZ]

I travel to Asia to the tune of 150,000 miles per year. I used to have a Dell Latitude X1 that I used as my primary travel computer. But it wasn't OSX so I started using my MBP 15" for all of last year. Now, I'm ready for a lighter and thinner notebook to carry and with OSX to boot, so it's the MBA for now.

With my Amazon Kindle, IPhone(no extra Ipod to carry) I've pretty much cut my travel bag weight to about 8-10lbs total. My back sure appreciates it.

 

[ahaxton]

I never really liked to use my previous notebook as a mobile laptop. Most of the time it would stay somewhere. MBA is like an attachment to my body now like a cell phone. You should see it in person. It really is incredible to think at how you would never give it a second thought to bring along your MBA.

 

[Eric Piercey]

The MBP is actually still quite portable and much much more versatile than the MBA, but then -they're not in the same class.

The MBA is all about lightness with style. Its the perfect laptop for email, word processing, browsing and chat, and looking hip of course. It's near useless though for pro's who actually put the MBP to work and require all the ports, storage, processing power without the heat, etc. We could add another 5 pounds to MBP and it would still be considered quite "portable" especially to say video editors in the field etc. (the can't very well haul their Mac Pro onsite at 50 lbs afterall)

Two different laptops entirely.

 

[diabolic]

Everyone who has seen my MBA so far has been amazed and several of them are now planning to buy one. Once you hold it, you'll understand the appeal.

 

[Transeau]

Okay... Look at a Lane Bryant ad...

Large woman, but pretty... Macbook Pro

Now, look at a Victoria's Secret ad...

Any questions?

 

[SteveSparks]

Pick up a text book. Now pick up a magazine. Which one would you prefer to carry around? If you don't care the buy a macbook and stop trying to make everyone agree with you.

Now put that Bridal magazine down and pick up a MacBook Air. Which one weighs less and is more useful!

The Macbook Air.

 

[motulist]

I didn't get the point of the mba either, until I lifted one up at the apple store. I only had time to check it out for a few seconds, but I instantly understood that the mba was a very different laptop.

I have a 15" powerbook (aka macbook pro for you newbies) and it's a totally different beast than the mba. With my powerbook, it often feels like a hassle just to move it from one room to the other, so I often keep it sitting in the same spot for awhile. Why? I'm not quite sure why. Part of it has to do with moving the power adaptor and plugging it in, which would be the same with the mba, but when I lifted up the mba it felt very different. I could definitely see myself moving around with the mba more than I do with my powerbook.

 

[kuwisdelu]

The MacBook Air offers you nothing over the MacBook in terms of performance. It offers you a lot in terms of ease (and even joy, it sounds like) of portability. So you just need to ask yourself what your wife intends to do with her computer and how she'll use it.

Will she be doing a lot of professional-level editing of photos, movies, music, etc., on-the-go? Does she need lots of power in a laptop? Does she want a desktop replacement in a portable package? Buy the MacBook Pro!

Will she be watching a lot of DVD's or listening to CD's on this computer, or is she used to the iPod mentality of ripping everything beforehand? Will she need some major power from time-to-time but not at the level of the MacBook Pro? Is she bad at (computer) memory management and use hundreds of GB? Is money an issue? Would she like a laptop strong enough to be a desktop-replacement? Does she mind consciously carrying a laptop? Buy the regular MacBook!

Will she do little more than surf the internet, compose documents, and check email, and light photo management for the most part? Will she do some amateur-level photo/music/video editing only on occasion? Does she mind keeping her files well under 80/64 GB? Do either of you mind spending that much? Does she not use a lot of ports? Would she like a laptop she can carry around and completely forget she's carrying it? Does she want something that's small without sacrificing screen or keyboard size? Does she want something that's less of a "I have to lug my computer..." and more "I get to bring my computer "? Does she want the prettiest computer out there (subjective, of course...)? Buy the MacBook Air!

I tried to be pretty objective on each, except for the pretty thing of course.

 

[noodle654]

Its sexy and you can say to your friends "My computer is the thinnest and is only .76inches thick!! BEAT THAT!!"

In all honesty, its light and thin and for people that travel, light and thin is perfect.

 

[MazingerZ]

One other thing that I considered why I chose a MBA and not a Macbook is the Macbook looks a little unprofessional in a work/meeting setting.

 

[ddd269]

I venture to say that most MBA owners already have 1 or 2 other macs... Even other mac notebooks. Maybe even 4 or 5 like me. In our household we have 4 macs (iMac, MBP, 2 MBs and now the MBA + 2 PCs for gaming).

The MBA is not suitable as an only computer (MacBook, maybe). Instead, it's a "supplemental" notebook for everyday, routine, computing work. It's a notebook that fills the gap for everything else you do other than work, edit video(music), play game. I don't know about you guys, but about 80% of my computing need doesn't require fast processor, large storage, or a large screen. This is the exact notebook that I dreamed about every time that I took my MBP to bed to check email, play poker, chat, etc.

Sure it can't do video editing or play DVDs, but how often do you do that on a notebook?

Here's a crazy thought... After I've used my MBA for 2 days, I'm wishing it was a bit lighter still! I think i got spoiled by the lightness.

If's it's going to be your wife's only computer... Get a MacBook for her. You can even install Windows, so she won't get OS shock.

Good luck

 

[aiongiant]

Pick up a text book. Now pick up a magazine. Which one would you prefer to carry around? If you don't care the buy a macbook and stop trying to make everyone agree with you.

well said hehe

 

[kuwisdelu]

The MBA is not suitable as an only computer (MacBook, maybe). Instead, it's a "supplemental" notebook for everyday, routine, computing work. It's a notebook that fills the gap for everything else you do other than work, edit video(music), play game. I don't know about you guys, but about 80% of my computing need doesn't require fast processor, large storage, or a large screen. This is the exact notebook that I dreamed about every time that I took my MBP to bed to check email, play poker, chat, etc.

To the contrary, it's quite suitable as an only computer for some people (with the Superdrive, of course). It's not suitable as an only computer for most of us, particularly those who are calling it underpowered. It's certainly underpowered for the needs of many, many people. But there are plenty of people out there who are getting by computing on much less. The people obsessed with specs here would have us think that the majority of people have Photoshop, Final Cut, and Logic all running at the same time while playing Bioshock at 100 fps, and "need" the power of something like a MBP... but I'm with you, more than 80% of what I do on my computer is easily done on the Air. What most people do is easily done on the Air--check email, surf the web, and compose office-type documents. But it's certainly not a computer for everyone. It makes lots of compromises some people aren't willing to make, but they're compromises lots of people won't notice. For all the outcry about the lack of a user-replaceable battery, the vast majority of users--check out the polls, even on this website--never replace their battery or have ever owned a spare. I know I never have.