Let's get a little more official then
This is just my opinion, but I hardly think Wikipedia can be used as an “official” source of information for anything, as it is not an authoritative source and there are many people that fall in between or outside of those categories. For example, I have been gaming for 25 years and enjoy playing long, involved games and also retro games but only have time for a few hours a week, so I could theoretically fit in the casual, hardcore, or retro categories.
Why would a gamer buy a MacBook Air when there are plenty of better machines for this? Why? Explain. Logically. I want an Apple logo on the back of my display is not a relevant Answer.
As to why a gamer would buy an MBA, I think many would buy it for more reasons than just wanting a shiny Apply logo. One of those reasons, especially for the late 2010 model, is that it is an ultraportable that is capable of running many modern games decently. Yes, there are some PC alternatives in the same size category, and the Alienware M11x has been mentioned. Have you actually used this machine? I had it for six months but sold it to get the 11” MBA.
I already had a larger gaming notebook when I purchased my M11x, but my work changed to involve a lot of traveling and I didn’t feel like lugging around a larger notebook. I wanted something small but relatively powerful and that would be easy to carry around, run all my work applications, and let me game on it every now and then. I have used many netbooks from Acer, Asus, Dell, and HP, and they all left me disappointed.
But none were as disappointing to me as the M11x. First, it is not an ultraportable, and it’s not as small and light as people would think. For an 11” notebook, it’s massive. It’s heavy, thick, bulky, and unwieldy. The power brick and cord is equally massive and I thought I was shipped the wrong one when I opened the box. The screen on the M11x is also terrible. I couldn’t believe reviewers were saying it was great, because it was so dim, black levels were awful, and viewing angles were very narrow. I also found myself a little embarrassed using my M11x in meetings at work, and I didn’t feel the glowing alien eyes were working in my favor.
Then there is the build quality. My brand new machine had a bunch of dirt under the screen, and I wondered how it got out of the factory that way. It creaked everywhere, there were parts that were not assembled together properly, and I ended up going through three screens, two keyboards, and one bottom panel before I had enough. I demanded a replacement machine, which Dell gave me (to their credit, they had great service but the onsite techs were terrible) and then I promptly sold it.
When I saw the 2010 11” MBA, I realized that it was the computer I was waiting for. Here was an 11” computer that finally had a processor more powerful than the Atom netbooks I was used to and was small, light, thin, had a great screen, and even had a decent IGP which could run Mass Effect 2 and a few other of my favorite games pretty well. I waited for reviews and was impressed of the gaming abilities of the little Mac. I researched other 11” options, but at the time I couldn’t find anything that had such a perfect combination of size, weight, footprint, CPU power (for me, better than the Atom), GPU ability, and nice aesthetics. I ordered a 1.4/4/128 11” and not for one second have I regretted it. It was my first Mac and also probably the best computer I’ve ever purchased.
My main priority in purchasing the MBA wasn’t for gaming, and as others have mentioned, I don’t think it should be the first priority. But, why can’t it be a second or third priority? It was for me, and the gaming abilities of the MBA was a deciding factor in my purchase. I wanted to have something thin and light but that could also play some modern games every now and then. When I bought the Air last December there really weren’t many alternatives that fit all of my criteria. While the M11x can game well, it makes too many sacrifices in other areas, and that’s why a gamer may choose the Air instead. I’ve found the 11” MBA to be so capable for my needs that I am using it 90% of the time, only turning on my gaming notebook when I want to play a more taxing game. I have nearly 200 Steam games, and out of the 20 or so I tested on the MBA, there were only a few that didn’t run well. Of course, if my main priority was gaming and I could only have one notebook, I would not have chosen the MBA. I think it’s clear in the design that the main purpose of the MBA is not gaming.
Anyway, apologies for the long post, but I just wanted to share my experience and mention that not all gamers have the question “ But can it play Crysis 2 at 60FPS?” in mind when they purchase an ultraportable. While there are more alternatives available now than last October, I think the MBA in its current iteration has been a fantastic compromise for people looking for an ultraportable that is capable of some gaming but is also small, light, and doesn’t look like a toy. That’s not even mentioning OS X, which I’ve found is so refreshing to use after years of using only Windows.
