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If Apple releases Net-book at MW 09 will you buy?
- Thread starter McGilli
- Start date
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I wouldn't. I've already got too many laptops as is, and if I want to use a small one, my 12" Powerbook gets the job done. Any smaller than that, and it would drive me nuts. The 12" is a full featured computer with a full sized keyboard and perfect sized screen.
When the iPhone 3G was released in Finland, I was contemplating between buying a netbook or an iPhone. The iPhone won because I also wanted a new phone that wasn't a total usability nightmare (like my old little Samsung was). It has been a good choice so far.
Now my needs are different so I'm considering a Macbook Pro for a laptop. I want something to serve as a second computer. For that a netbook would almost work but I feel they're too slow and limited (though that's a problem I see with the Air as well except it doesn't have the size benefit).
Now my needs are different so I'm considering a Macbook Pro for a laptop. I want something to serve as a second computer. For that a netbook would almost work but I feel they're too slow and limited (though that's a problem I see with the Air as well except it doesn't have the size benefit).
I would buy an 11"-12" MBA in a heart beat. When the MBA came out I was shocked that it was 13.3" 3lb and considered an ultra portable.
Apple Netbook
I'd buy a Apple Netbook, for sure. I'd be compulsed to add to my Apple colection!
I'd buy a Apple Netbook, for sure. I'd be compulsed to add to my Apple colection!
air not full-featured?!
Ahem, and since when is it not? Besides not having a DVD drive (haven't missed it), no firewire (haven't missed that either), I am not sure what exactly it is missing. Spare me the comparison to a macbook, as actually my choice was between a pro or the air. For me the air was perfect, as portability and weight were worth the price of the ticket (and the trade-offs, such as they were).
I run Quark, pshop, etc, with no problems whatsoever. I did not buy it as a workstation, as laptops sorta suck for extended periods (at least for what I do). However just last week I had a power supply go down on my workstation, and I was waiting for about 5 days for the repair. It was no big deal, I just plugged my drives (both firewire & usb2 interfaces) into my air and I was working. My biggest gripe was the lack of screen size, followed by the lack of daisy-chaining of my external drives...
Also I run my Optoma projector with no problems whatsoever. When traveling it has everything I need to work while on the road. So, what exactly am I missing? I don't get all the trolls and naysayers about the air, if you don't like it, don't buy one... as perhaps the product doesn't meet your needs. But, as a professional, the air fit my needs perfectly.
On topic, if Apple released a netbook, I would probably buy one of those as well...
Sorry to be cranky, but I don't see what I am missing that is not worth the gains I get with the air...
cheers,michael
Ahem, and since when is it not? Besides not having a DVD drive (haven't missed it), no firewire (haven't missed that either), I am not sure what exactly it is missing. Spare me the comparison to a macbook, as actually my choice was between a pro or the air. For me the air was perfect, as portability and weight were worth the price of the ticket (and the trade-offs, such as they were).
I run Quark, pshop, etc, with no problems whatsoever. I did not buy it as a workstation, as laptops sorta suck for extended periods (at least for what I do). However just last week I had a power supply go down on my workstation, and I was waiting for about 5 days for the repair. It was no big deal, I just plugged my drives (both firewire & usb2 interfaces) into my air and I was working. My biggest gripe was the lack of screen size, followed by the lack of daisy-chaining of my external drives...
Also I run my Optoma projector with no problems whatsoever. When traveling it has everything I need to work while on the road. So, what exactly am I missing? I don't get all the trolls and naysayers about the air, if you don't like it, don't buy one... as perhaps the product doesn't meet your needs. But, as a professional, the air fit my needs perfectly.
On topic, if Apple released a netbook, I would probably buy one of those as well...
Sorry to be cranky, but I don't see what I am missing that is not worth the gains I get with the air...
cheers,michael
I've already listed the many feature the Air doesnt have. Its great that the air offers you everything you need, but the fact that its good enough for you doesnt change the definition of "full featured." Compare it to every other laptop on the market (not netbooks, the air is not a netbook) and you will see that it lacks in most areas. Sure, some people dont need those extras features, but the definition of Full Featured doesnt change based on what the Air users like/dislike. The point is that it was designed to not be full-featured and calling it so would be incorrect.
However, if apple did release a netbook at MW that is priced to compete with the rest of the market i may consider one, but knowing apple they will charge 2x as much as everyone else which means i wont even consider it, id rather just buy a Wind and hac it.
I'm sorry, but I don't think I'll ever be in the market for a NetBook.
They are just too small for my taste. I already have bad eyes anyway... I can't view anything smaller for everyday use as a laptop!
The MacBook Air is perfect for me. Thin, portable, and beautiful. It's a great size for me to do my everyday things.
They are just too small for my taste. I already have bad eyes anyway... I can't view anything smaller for everyday use as a laptop!
The MacBook Air is perfect for me. Thin, portable, and beautiful. It's a great size for me to do my everyday things.
First off, feel free to call me a "zealot" or a "fanboy, which I am not (to a point).
That being said, I didn't care one what Dell, Toshiba, Sony have to sell... because I am strictly 100% a mac environment. I don't even have a windows emulator, as all my apps are mac based. I have a publishing and advertising company, and everything either comes in as a mac formatted doc, or as a PDF where the platform doesn't matter.
I quickly read through the thread again, but didn't see the magical benchmark for what comprises "full-featured" as mentioned. I can guess what they are though... bigger HD? more ram? faster processor? dedicated video card?? 8 USB ports & 4 firewire 800 ports???
I am not attempting to raise my choice for a laptop to full-featured in an attempt to psychologically enhance my "manhood" (I would buy a corvette if I was worried about that, lol).
I have been using macs since the plus (yikes), and have had MANY macs over the years. Some good, and some not so hot. There have only been a few that I could say were among the best I have had... an 840AV, a tireless g4 pro system, a 24" iMac that lured me away from the "pro" platform, and my air... which despite it's trade-offs is one of the best I have had. Detractors liken the air to the cube... however it is worth pointing out that few subsequent spin-offs ever came of that. However you only have to see the new direction with the glass-books (pro & macbooks), that apple learned a few things with the air.
Admittedly I agonized for a bit when I was making my decision, and went into the apple store twice as I tried to decide if it would serve my needs. I have had 6-ton laptops before, let me tell you they only get heavier when you are lugging them around. Ever pick up a 17" laptop before? Yikes...
Maybe you are someone who works on both sides, and not a troll (I know lots of folks who have both), but not me... so there would be no point in looking at the other offerings in the larger world.
cheers,
michael
Your sarcasm makes me think you are a bit of a fanboy
Regardless...
Since you were unable to infer it from what i typed, "full-featured" is a laptop that has the same features as the average laptop on the market. The air does not have features that are the same as 90% of other laptops on the market. Just because it fits your needs does not qualify it as "full featured."
Im not sure where you coming from when you bring other computer manufacturers into this, but even compared to the MBP and MB the Air is not what one could consider "full featured." Sure, it may have all the neccesary features to work for you, but that doesnt change the fact that it is quite obviously lacking features that 90% of other computers have. How you fail to understand this is beyond me.
I actually do "work on both sides" as you put it. I use both windows and OSX because both OS's are great and offer something unique. I dont post things just to cause a ruckus, but sometimes people need to get away fromt he thought that apple is the only company in the computing industry that matters. I've used Linux extensively in the past and i regularly post on the ubuntu forums about how OSX and Windows arent 100% evil and are actually usable by the other 99% of the population. Much like everything else in life, OS's should be taken in moderation. Commit yourself too much to one and you quickly lose sight of what the rest have to offer.
I really didnt read the rest of your post because i didnt think a summary of your computing life was really relevant to the debate.
Michael,
I more or less came to the same conclusion on tne MBA, but from a different perspective.
I started a somewhat quixotic quest for a new personal laptop back in September which has gone through quite a few iterations since then.
1. Acer Aspire One netbook
2. HP 2510 tablet
3. HP dv3510
4. Macbook 13" 2.0ghz
5. early 2008 15" MBP 2.4
6. MBP unibody 2.4
7. early 2008 15" MBP 2.5
8. MBA rev b SSD
I'm really a "Windows Guy", but I've used Macs previously and the VM/bootcamp situation makes the current Macs more or less OS-neutral, as far as I my needs go.
Originally I wanted a machine that was small and lightweight, yet capable. I also wanted it to be constructed well so as to hold up to the wear and tear of my commuting activities.
I sort of got caught up with the performance end of things and lost sight of what I started out after. The culmination of that was the last MBP, which I installed a 128 gig SSD for high performance OS/apps and and 250 gig hard drive (optibay) for storage and vmware. But.. it weighed a lot and was bulky.
I checked out the new revision of the Air and was impressed. Much moreso than when I played with the first one when it came out. So, it came down to either the MBA rev b or a Sony viao Z570. The Sony had the MBA beat cold on specs (2.53 GHZ, 3 gig 1066 ram expandable to 4 gig, dual 9300M+integrated graphics, switchable on the fly w/o logging, internal dvd-r, ethernet, etc), plus it was lighter and $500 less.
On paper it was king... in real life, it was the stereotypical flimsy, plasticy, cheesy PC laptop.
So, I ordered the Air, which came on Christmas Eve. I've been loving it. Ok, it doesn't win any performance contests... but I have my overclocked desktop for stuff that needs high performance. The MBA still runs vmware, runs Photoshop/Lightroom, and the one game I play on a laptop: Civ4. It does all of that at a level that is satisfactory given the fact that my bag feels like it has nothing in it.
I don't really care that it doesn't have an internal optical drive... my last MBP didn't have one after I modded it, either! The one USB port isn't a big deal... in the field I'd usually only have one device connected (air card, card reader) at a time and at home/work I use hubs, anyway.
I do wish the battery life was a little better, but now I have chargers everywhere I hang out with a laptop (I also wish they were't $80 a pop).
Perfect? No. Capable, portable, and COOL looking? Definitely.
John
I more or less came to the same conclusion on tne MBA, but from a different perspective.
I started a somewhat quixotic quest for a new personal laptop back in September which has gone through quite a few iterations since then.
1. Acer Aspire One netbook
2. HP 2510 tablet
3. HP dv3510
4. Macbook 13" 2.0ghz
5. early 2008 15" MBP 2.4
6. MBP unibody 2.4
7. early 2008 15" MBP 2.5
8. MBA rev b SSD
I'm really a "Windows Guy", but I've used Macs previously and the VM/bootcamp situation makes the current Macs more or less OS-neutral, as far as I my needs go.
Originally I wanted a machine that was small and lightweight, yet capable. I also wanted it to be constructed well so as to hold up to the wear and tear of my commuting activities.
I sort of got caught up with the performance end of things and lost sight of what I started out after. The culmination of that was the last MBP, which I installed a 128 gig SSD for high performance OS/apps and and 250 gig hard drive (optibay) for storage and vmware. But.. it weighed a lot and was bulky.
I checked out the new revision of the Air and was impressed. Much moreso than when I played with the first one when it came out. So, it came down to either the MBA rev b or a Sony viao Z570. The Sony had the MBA beat cold on specs (2.53 GHZ, 3 gig 1066 ram expandable to 4 gig, dual 9300M+integrated graphics, switchable on the fly w/o logging, internal dvd-r, ethernet, etc), plus it was lighter and $500 less.
On paper it was king... in real life, it was the stereotypical flimsy, plasticy, cheesy PC laptop.
So, I ordered the Air, which came on Christmas Eve. I've been loving it. Ok, it doesn't win any performance contests... but I have my overclocked desktop for stuff that needs high performance. The MBA still runs vmware, runs Photoshop/Lightroom, and the one game I play on a laptop: Civ4. It does all of that at a level that is satisfactory given the fact that my bag feels like it has nothing in it.
I don't really care that it doesn't have an internal optical drive... my last MBP didn't have one after I modded it, either! The one USB port isn't a big deal... in the field I'd usually only have one device connected (air card, card reader) at a time and at home/work I use hubs, anyway.
I do wish the battery life was a little better, but now I have chargers everywhere I hang out with a laptop (I also wish they were't $80 a pop).
Perfect? No. Capable, portable, and COOL looking? Definitely.
John
Today I was at Micro Center and so took another look at the various netbooks they have on offer.....I was able to get online (although usually Micro Center has web access blocked) and so went to a site where I had recently posted some photographic images, because I wanted to see how they looked on one of these machines. Heh.... My first-gen MBA beats those netbooks every way to Sunday when it comes to graphics! On my MBA those same images (which I had processed on my Mac Pro and 30" ACD) look good as far as color and clarity go..... On the netbooks, no way! Colors were washed out and detail/definition were lost. That is useful information. Of course if I were to buy one of those machines I wouldn't be using it for post-processing photographic images anyway. I was thinking of this more in terms of using one of the inexpensive netbooks as a way to stash images while still out in the field shooting and as a way of later quickly reviewing them and winnowing out the bad ones. Nope, now I don't think so. IMHO the graphic quality on those machines is not good enough to fairly evaluate an image -- unless it's clearly a non-keeper because it's blurry or not an interesting subject, whatever.
Aside from that I really would hesitate before bringing another Windows machine back into my home. This is now a totally Mac environment and I'd just as soon keep it that way!
If Apple brings out a new netbook, I probably would buy it once I determined that it met the specific requirements I have in terms of planned usage with regard to images, etc. If there is no netbook announced at MacWorld, well, fine, too.....
Aside from that I really would hesitate before bringing another Windows machine back into my home. This is now a totally Mac environment and I'd just as soon keep it that way!
If Apple brings out a new netbook, I probably would buy it once I determined that it met the specific requirements I have in terms of planned usage with regard to images, etc. If there is no netbook announced at MacWorld, well, fine, too.....
I suppose i would only because i got rid of my macbook there cheap and affordable assuming it will be, mainly cause it get annoyed of my ipod as a laptop lol
Sure, there's *some* difference. There's *some* difference between a 12" laptop and a 13" laptop, but it's a difference in degree, not a difference in kind. Netbook --> macbook is a difference in degree; iphone --> netbook is a difference in kind.
As for the fact that the price of netbooks is so much lower than a regular laptop - Ok, sure, but are you really going to make that your only computer? I highly doubt it. So while you could have just a MB(P) as your only machine, if you go with a netbook you'll also need a desktop.
Now, if you
A) already have a desktop,
B) and need more on-the-go functionality than a smart phone,
C) but do not need the on-the-go functionality of a full featured laptop,
then I see why a netbook is a good choice. But that's a lot of "ifs."
Your sarcasm makes me think you are a bit of a fanboy
Regardless...
Since you were unable to infer it from what i typed, "full-featured" is a laptop that has the same features as the average laptop on the market. The air does not have features that are the same as 90% of other laptops on the market. Just because it fits your needs does not qualify it as "full featured."
Im not sure where you coming from when you bring other computer manufacturers into this, but even compared to the MBP and MB the Air is not what one could consider "full featured." Sure, it may have all the neccesary features to work for you, but that doesnt change the fact that it is quite obviously lacking features that 90% of other computers have. How you fail to understand this is beyond me.
I actually do "work on both sides" as you put it. I use both windows and OSX because both OS's are great and offer something unique. I dont post things just to cause a ruckus, but sometimes people need to get away fromt he thought that apple is the only company in the computing industry that matters. I've used Linux extensively in the past and i regularly post on the ubuntu forums about how OSX and Windows arent 100% evil and are actually usable by the other 99% of the population. Much like everything else in life, OS's should be taken in moderation. Commit yourself too much to one and you quickly lose sight of what the rest have to offer.
I really didnt read the rest of your post because i didnt think a summary of your computing life was really relevant to the debate.
Hi, the summary is only relevant in reference to the ones I didn't mention. However, the air is one of my favorites out of many that I have had. As far as the sarcasm, I do tend to be a bit snarky all by myself, which has nothing to do with fanboydom.
I was guessing your criticism of the air was in comparison to all other laptops. Usually Apple has been a bit ahead of the curve, and sometimes uncomfortably so. If you have been around for a bit most of us can remember the hits & misses (the hockey puck mouse, the lack of floppy, the switch away from scsi, the lack of firewire, etc....). Usually Apple gets it right, imo, and also usually there is a chorus of naysayers saying it will never work (ie. the ipod, the iTunes store, etc...).
Somehow I can't believe that the Air only offers 10% of what "all other computers" need/have. I also understand that they had to make concessions along the way for the form of the air. Honestly, what I fail to understand is how folks (especially those who don't own one) feel so compelled to complain about how such and such falls short. When folks do that I always wonder what the motivation is. My motivation I guess, is just to provide a balancing opinion from someone who has one, and is happy (warts and all).
Hopefully you will take this with a grain of salt though. Despite my love for a bit of snarky sparring, I don't mean any malice...
Apple is not the only computer company that matters, however the world would be more interesting if more of them would think and innovate like they do so well. Personally, I hope they come out with a car...
Long ago, I joked that if Apple went under I would buy a hot dog cart (and switch careers). I once worked in an openly hostile IT environment, where the PC IT folks would offer no assistance, but still tried to gain "control" over our systems (but without understanding or actually supporting them). In the earlier days of professional "desktop" publishing macs were the only option out there. PCs had no standards for fonts or color imaging (unless you considered the proprietary high-end systems like scitex, etc.). Coming from that background I am a bit defensive. I also see the apple often makes things work simpler, and better.
All this history is relevant, especially as one wonders what the future holds for apple, and for life after steve (if he should decide to retire). I joke about the "dark side" often, but honestly I don't care if other folks are happy with their pc's/linexs. Good for them, if they are happy. I personally think apple has a better product, and the tight integration between the hard & software is a big plus. I have helped many folks who have come from PCs to move to their first macs over the years. Teachers, retirees, artists, photographers, designers, etc... not one has ever said it was a mistake. In fact they are usually smitten with how much better it is on the mac side. Things just work...
You are right I suppose about one's OS being taken in moderation, however I still think I would take the hot dog cart over switching at this point, lol. So... about those netbooks... bring them on.... along with a 30" Imac, an appletv that has DVR functionality, and while I'm dreaming... and iPhone for those of us stricken with Verizon.
regards,
michael
Well, they got all the infrastructure in place, with TimeCapsule and whatnot, so they might as well give the MBA a little brother:
MacBook Air Mini, the new member of the Air family. Lighter than Air.
It would probably be somewhere between 9' and 11' (I trust Apple to come up with the best compromise), and they could market it as the "Lightest Laptop Ever".
They will stick a rather potent chip in it, and price it at around $999, to keep their delicious margins (and overall build quality) and not overshadow the big brother. But of course the big brother will also probably take a big price cut. Because of the price and quality, it won't be exactly a Netbook. It's not competition to the MacBook either, because it will lack the ports, the drive and the power.
And I'll buy one.
Why shouldn't they do this? It could be part of a Mini theme for the expo, if the Mac mini rumors are well-founded.
MacBook Air Mini, the new member of the Air family. Lighter than Air.
It would probably be somewhere between 9' and 11' (I trust Apple to come up with the best compromise), and they could market it as the "Lightest Laptop Ever".
They will stick a rather potent chip in it, and price it at around $999, to keep their delicious margins (and overall build quality) and not overshadow the big brother. But of course the big brother will also probably take a big price cut. Because of the price and quality, it won't be exactly a Netbook. It's not competition to the MacBook either, because it will lack the ports, the drive and the power.
And I'll buy one.
Why shouldn't they do this? It could be part of a Mini theme for the expo, if the Mac mini rumors are well-founded.
The Air weighs about the same as those plasticy netbooks. So what would be the point except making it cheaper?
Assuming the specs were similar, would you pay $400 for a Hackintoshed netbook or $800 for the official Apple netbook?
Well...the Apple netbook would be 1/2 the thickness...
I'd get the Apple version, due to Mac OS X.
It depends. I really wanted to get a netbook for my dad, because he is a pilot. I almost got him one for Christmas, but I just couldn't bring myself to buy a PC. I would definitely get him a mac netbook if there under $600 preferable $500. But I'd have to see it.
Well...the Apple netbook would be 1/2 the thickness...
I'd get the Apple version, due to Mac OS X.
That's why I said Hackintoshed.
To clarify, would you pay $400 for an MSI Wind with OSX installed and everything working, or $800 for Apple's official one?
I come to think that the MBA is Apple's netbook, with a high price tag. If the Air's price would come down, those babies would be selling like hotcakes (take for example in Best Buy, when they lowered the clearance price to $1150, they were being sold out on every store).
I've seen so many netbooks out there, not convinced.
So to answer the OP's question, no i would not buy an Apple netbook...
I've seen so many netbooks out there, not convinced.
So to answer the OP's question, no i would not buy an Apple netbook...