MacBook Air First Impressions and Notes

[Goldcard]

Well, I've my Air for almost 48 hours now. The battery max capacity when I originally bought it was at 97% of what coconutbattery stated it should be. Is coconutbattery reliable for this information because now it states it is down to 94% capacity after only three cycles!!! I'm kind of nervous so I may call tech support in the morning but curious on what others had on their Airs.

Other than the battery factor this computer is absolutely amazing! Great feel and great performance so far! Hope everyone else is enjoying it just as much as I am!

 

[stevin]

Well, I've my Air for almost 48 hours now. The battery max capacity when I originally bought it was at 97% of what coconutbattery stated it should be. Is coconutbattery reliable for this information because now it states it is down to 94% capacity after only three cycles!!! I'm kind of nervous so I may call tech support in the morning but curious on what others had on their Airs.

Other than the battery factor this computer is absolutely amazing! Great feel and great performance so far! Hope everyone else is enjoying it just as much as I am!

Got my MBA yesterday. Havent used it a full 24 hours yet... It arrived with 98% battery health (iStat Pro) and 4 charge cycles (which i thought was very strange)

All I've done is charge it to 100% and now i'm using it trying to calibrate it... (fully discharge it) battery has dropped to 44% so far and health has dropped to 97% ALREADY!!! AFTER A WHOLE DISCHARGE!

do i need to talk to a genius about this? is it a common problem?

I'm sitting next to my "fat" white macbook right now. it has 60 charge cycles and is still at 100% health

 

[nyzballa12]

I used my friend's today and I was amazed! I thought it would be not of the best feeling because of the small size factor but I was blown away by performance! Sleek design with elegance and the size is just amazing!

 

[1NewAppleFan]

Overall I am very happy with my MBA SSD. I bought it the first week that it came out, and all I can say is that I am impressed with this laptop. I feel like this machine was made just for me. I am always working in a different location, and it is so small I feel like I am only carrying around a paper notebook. I would consider myself a power user because I always have 10 applications that I am running. I never have any problems with the workload. The only thing I do notice is that if I have the laptop on my bed, or lap and close off the air vents that the computer starts to get sluggish when the temps get up there. I also purchased an invisible shield for the entire laptop that I consider a great investment. Just like the iPhone the MBA is anodized aluminum that can be slippery to the touch, and the invisible shield solves that problem. Unfortunately I did drop my MBA SSD on the concrete but it survived. When I have dropped laptops in the past, I have had hard drive problems shortly afterwards. Overall I am really impressed. I really wonder what the second generation of MBA's will be like?

 

[ZZEPPOSS]

My (ever-challenging) baby..

Got my MBA SSD since about 2 months now... Used it in reaaally extreme conditions, working my ass of to get some weird projects initiated with a broad dispersed online team, doing my presentations in wild-wild circumstances, fighting against very-very tight deadlines while i was travelling all over europe, all the time... (man!) meaning: catching power outlets in airport corners (hidden behind coke machines) since you're running out of juice quite rapidly (multi-multi-tasking, you know), chasing wifi connections in pubs (wifi reception is so-so), working in sharp daylight circumstances (cote d'azur, both fantastic -cote and mba-) etc... etc... and i must say: i just LOVE her! she's such a beauty! and she's mine-min-mine, she says... ha!
She's challenging me with that one fantastic lesson: How to manage my digi-life while travelling ultra-ultra-light... (less weight, less space, less power, less battery...) and that challenge feels great!
=;\

PS. the only stupid little thing that went really wrong is my f**&king isight camera.. it doesn't work any longer.. i tried "Resetting an Apple portable's System Management Controller (SMC)" (see: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1411?viewlocale=en_US) but that didn't change a thing... anyone a clue, out-there???? HELP!!

 

[ajohnson253]

Got my MBA yesterday. Havent used it a full 24 hours yet... It arrived with 98% battery health (iStat Pro) and 4 charge cycles (which i thought was very strange)

All I've done is charge it to 100% and now i'm using it trying to calibrate it... (fully discharge it) battery has dropped to 44% so far and health has dropped to 97% ALREADY!!! AFTER A WHOLE DISCHARGE!

do i need to talk to a genius about this? is it a common problem?

I'm sitting next to my "fat" white macbook right now. it has 60 charge cycles and is still at 100% health

what differences do you feel with your MBA compared to ure white macbook? I currently have the 2.4ghz and am thinking of exchanging for a macbook air, it hasnt been even 2 weeks yet but I want the LED display and the multi touch and I do love the look of the book itself.

I do basic things surf the web, download music, some documents for work. not much

 

[w00tini]

The screen on the Air is reason enough to upgrade from a vanilla MB. Throw in the fact that its super light and portable and you've got a really nice setup. I'm half a year into owning mine and could not be happier!

 

[ajohnson253]

The screen on the Air is reason enough to upgrade from a vanilla MB. Throw in the fact that its super light and portable and you've got a really nice setup. I'm half a year into owning mine and could not be happier!

Thats exactly what I am thinkin. Cant go wrong with one of the best screens on the Market and backlit keyboard and Multi-touch.

What Programs do you run on ure air? notice any lag?

 

[ajohnson253]

What are you talking about, Lekun?

The Airbook has either a 1.6 or a 1.8GHz processor, whereas the Macbook has either a 2.0 or 2.2GHz processor.

The Airbook has a 4200RPM drive (an iPod drive with a max of of 80GB, no less), whereas the MacBook has a 5400RPM (a standard 2.5 inch notebook drive).

Now, the Airbook does have the option of a 64GB Solid State Drive, however, the implied speed such a technology promises isn't followed through, and it turns out the SSD in the Airbook is one of the slowest SSD's out there.

also dont forget about the white macbook with 2.4 ghz

 

[Kittychan]

Everyone seems to have SSD macbook air. I am considering just to get a 80GB one as I cannot afford SSD.

Any major drawbacks with the Pata Drive ? and yes I am getting the refurbished macbook air ... Please help

 

[netdog]

Everyone seems to have SSD macbook air. I am considering just to get a 80GB one as I cannot afford SSD.

Any major drawbacks with the Pata Drive ? and yes I am getting the refurbished macbook air ... Please help

Other than a slight lag during disk intensive functions like loading a program for the first time since boot, no. The speed of the SSD in those situations is really nice, but the 1.6 is great too. I have had both.

Cold boot time is a bit slow, but just sleep the notebook rather than shutting down.

 

[darwiniandude]

I am considering just to get a 80GB one as I cannot afford SSD. Any major drawbacks with the Pata Drive ?

Don't worry about it. The PATA drive is still fast, and Snow Leopard betas (the next version of the OS, not yet finished) absolutely FLY on the air with the 80gb.

For me, price was the main reason i didn't go SSD, but battery life is similar, and although app launch times are better with the SSD, write times are WORSE. I run Logic Studio on the Macbook Air, and the extra write speed of the PATA made this possible. The Extra 20gb storage is good.

When you get it, wipe the drive, do a custom load without the extra languages, fonts and stuff, that'll save you 4gb. Run monolingual and take out other languages and PPC code, that makes more space and makes it faster, more like snow leopard.

I love my machine, the best computer i've ever had... and the last one was a Macbook Pro 17 1920x1200 4GB ram 250GB drive.

I'd never go back to a 'big laptop' again.

And as for the 1.6... this is still WAY WAY faster than any G4 machine made, and The lowly macbook air runs rings around my 1.6 G5 Tower with 2GB ram, so yeah, the Macbook Air is great.

 

[Kittychan]

Don't worry about it. The PATA drive is still fast, and Snow Leopard betas (the next version of the OS, not yet finished) absolutely FLY on the air with the 80gb.

For me, price was the main reason i didn't go SSD, but battery life is similar, and although app launch times are better with the SSD, write times are WORSE. I run Logic Studio on the Macbook Air, and the extra write speed of the PATA made this possible. The Extra 20gb storage is good.

When you get it, wipe the drive, do a custom load without the extra languages, fonts and stuff, that'll save you 4gb. Run monolingual and take out other languages and PPC code, that makes more space and makes it faster, more like snow leopard.

I love my machine, the best computer i've ever had... and the last one was a Macbook Pro 17 1920x1200 4GB ram 250GB drive.

I'd never go back to a 'big laptop' again.

And as for the 1.6... this is still WAY WAY faster than any G4 machine made, and The lowly macbook air runs rings around my 1.6 G5 Tower with 2GB ram, so yeah, the Macbook Air is great.

When you say wipe the drive ..... Does it mean I have to use my cd drive from iMac to install leopard in my Macbook Air ? I would think it will be a slow and painful process

 

[darwiniandude]

When you say wipe the drive ..... Does it mean I have to use my cd drive from iMac to install leopard in my Macbook Air ? I would think it will be a slow and painful process

You don't HAVE to do this, but I chose to do it as you can save a lot of space by leaving off languages, printer drivers (3GB worth!) and fonts for other languages.

Yes you will use the iMac's drive, use the 'Remote Install Mac OS X' application on your iMac, put the MBA disk in there, and follow the prompts. They both need to be on the same wifi network.

Now I have an 802.11n wireless router, took about an hour to install or less. If you have 802.11G, it will be painfully slow you may want to allocate plenty of time or borrow a USB cd drive from somewhere.

 

[Kittychan]

You don't HAVE to do this, but I chose to do it as you can save a lot of space by leaving off languages, printer drivers (3GB worth!) and fonts for other languages.

Yes you will use the iMac's drive, use the 'Remote Install Mac OS X' application on your iMac, put the MBA disk in there, and follow the prompts. They both need to be on the same wifi network.

Now I have an 802.11n wireless router, took about an hour to install or less. If you have 802.11G, it will be painfully slow you may want to allocate plenty of time or borrow a USB cd drive from somewhere.

Got airport extreme here so it should be sweet !!! Should I get the super duper drive ??? Also what kind of usb hubs do I need ???

 

[conshok26]

i finally got mine set up and it's really great. a perfect size. weight is unbelievable. i've had no issues with speed. low temp and good fan speed.

 

[ZZEPPOSS]

hey, what I forgot to mention is the fact that this is actually the very first mac that one can reaaally use out there, on a terrace in the sun! —tnx to the superb screen- ha!
and isn't that the primary reason to carry a "laptop" around?

 

[tessie]

trackpad mouse on macbooks

I am a quadrapeligic with only the ability to use my right arm and my fingers are bent with paralysis so I'm wondering how user friendly the mouse is on macbooks. Can you control the mouse easily without having it do erratic things? How is the sensitivity level? Can you use it without having to apply a lot of pressure with your fingers and can you set the mouse for your preference level? You see, I am use to using a touchpad on my Dell and click the left or right mouse button to do what I want with a computer.

Also, does the Mac OS have features to make settings for the disabled as Windows does? Is there such a thing as sticky keys feature on the Mac OS like there is in Windows' Control Panel under "Accessibility"?

 

[Mactagonist]

I am a quadrapeligic with only the ability to use my right arm and my fingers are bent with paralysis so I'm wondering how user friendly the mouse is on macbooks. Can you control the mouse easily without having it do erratic things? How is the sensitivity level? Can you use it without having to apply a lot of pressure with your fingers and can you set the mouse for your preference level? You see, I am use to using a touchpad on my Dell and click the left or right mouse button to do what I want with a computer.

Also, does the Mac OS have features to make settings for the disabled as Windows does? Is there such a thing as sticky keys feature on the Mac OS like there is in Windows' Control Panel under "Accessibility"?

The touch pad is large and easy to use. There is plenty of room and you can use your fingers where ever you want to on its surface.

It needs very little pressure and its sensitivity is adjustable. You will need to use 3 fingers together to right click. (two touching the pad, one clicking the button)

OS X has a 'universal access' section of its system preferences. It has a ton of settings for the display, audio, keyboard and mouse. Including sticky keys.

My advice, call an Apple store and tell them your situation. Tell them you want to make a personal shopper appointment to go over the universal access options on OS X and find a mac that is right for you. Talk to a manager, make sure that the person you have an appointment with has a clue when it comes to OS X and its settings for the disabled. Then you will have a personal shopper to walk you through the settings for universal access and a chance to personally try out the touch pad and see if it is usable with your hand.

 

[sirozha]

I am a quadrapeligic with only the ability to use my right arm and my fingers are bent with paralysis so I'm wondering how user friendly the mouse is on macbooks. Can you control the mouse easily without having it do erratic things? How is the sensitivity level? Can you use it without having to apply a lot of pressure with your fingers and can you set the mouse for your preference level? You see, I am use to using a touchpad on my Dell and click the left or right mouse button to do what I want with a computer.

Also, does the Mac OS have features to make settings for the disabled as Windows does? Is there such a thing as sticky keys feature on the Mac OS like there is in Windows' Control Panel under "Accessibility"?

To answer your question about "sticky keys" -- they do exist. There's a whole section called "Universal Access" in System Preferences. This section addresses challenges that people with various disabilities may have.

The "right-click" can be achieved without any clicks -- just tap the trackpad with two fingers. The new Macs (just released) don't even have a button (the trackpad itself is one big button that can be pushed to make a click). However, all mouse actions can be done without any clicks. The new trackpads are made of glass, and they are a lot smoother than the older ones. They are also extremely sensitive. You need to barely touch them to signal a gesture to the Mac, which drives some people (like my wife) crazy because she tries to apply more pressure than needed.

One thing you will need to relearn is how to perform the "delete a symbol," "home," & "end. These buttons don't exist on the Mac. These operations on the Mac can be achieved by using the "control" button with the letters "d," "a," and "e" (which are standard Unix/Linux shortcuts). Selecting a sting of characters and moving them to a new location, while doing text editing, can be done on the trackpad with one finger. So is moving windows around the screen. You need to enable "dragging" and "drag lock" in your trackpad preferences in System Preferences. It took me about 20 minutes to learn how to do this without resorting to physical trackpad clicking, but once you learn, this gestures work flawlessly on the new Macbook glass trackpads. This gesture also exists on the older Macbook, Mackbook Pro, and Macbook Air.

Also, the new Macbooks have a new multi-touch gesture (which older ones don't yet have enabled) that clears the screen off all windows or brings all windows to the screen in the fashion that allows you to choose among the windows. This function is called Expose and can be achieved on the new Macbooks by swiping up or down the trackpad with four fingers. So, this would be a valuable feature to you if you have a good command of four fingers.

Hope this will help you make a decision to migrate from Windows to Mac. This is a wonderful combination of operating system and well-designed hardware.

Take care!

 

[jds4300]

Best Buy $1299 Gen I MBA

Got a GREAT deal at Best Buy and had to say yes! I own an iPhone 3G, iMac and also a Macbook. This Macbook Air purchase was an impulse buy and boy am I happy with this notebook! I purchased the MBA four days ago. This puppy is AWESOME! Its sleek, sexy, gorgeous, and just 3 pounds! I love it!