MacBook Air: the best computer for traveling.

[antonioanmar]

I only want to explain it because i find that many people is criticizer with the MBA because the low performance that it offers for photo and video edition.
Really, i think that the main use of this machine is not that, because this is an ultra portable computer. So, i think (or at least i thought) that all the buyers understood it from the beginning, but i have found that it is not on this way.
When i bought my first MBA (it were a rev.A which still work perfectly) i was looking for a machine with no weight, thin and (i think that we do) very fashion. And i found it. It is perfect for the shows with customers, office work, web looking, mailing,...
Later i bought the Rev.B with SDD and really still i am in love with this machine. I never think that carry with my MacBook unibody (it is now my house desktop). And MBA give me everything that i need when i travel.
For the video and photo edition it is OK if you are out of your working place and need to do something "on the fly",but for the big edition i have my iMac.
And if you only need not professional quality edition, it has power enough to do it (my girlfriend use the MBA as her main and only computer, and she is a teacher).

So, i only what to explain that i don't understand the people who speak bad about the MacBook Air. Only i can think that they didn't buy the right machine for their needs.

 

[scottness]

I love my MBA. I think of it as my supplimental machine for use while traveling or out with clients. I do most of my work on an iMac. The MBA is perfect for what I use it for.

 

[jimboutilier]

The MBA really is a fantastic travel machine. Its so thin and light, carrying it in the hand or case is effortless. Its plenty powerful enough for everyday business apps and has a wonderful keyboard and screen you can enjoy using all day long.

Like most notebooks in this class, its not for everyone - but if you can live within its performance and capacity limits, its a terrific option.

 

[musicpenguy]

The MBA is in my opinion the greatest Apple laptop to be released yet. It has plenty of power (in fact faster for general use than the original Macbook Pros a few years ago) -

I think it gets a bad rap for "less features and less speed" but in fact people miss the feature that everyone uses everyday unless it sits at your desk all day -

Feature #1 - Weight
Feature #2 - Thinness

These are two features that vastly outweigh extra USB ports or a DVD drive because I am always using the weight and thinness in my life.

I believe that I will always be using the MBA as my main computer and upgrade revisions as I can. While still having a media server/encoding machine always hooked up and with more CPU power to do video encoding and the like.

But I think Apple Retail Store employees give it a bad name and others that don't actually use one on a regular basis.

 

[Jobsian]

The Macbook Air is the greatest laptop ever manufactured in the history of mobile computing, in my opinion.

The portability/performance tradeoff is the best I have ever seen, still, even 2 years after it was released.

Every single day that passes I'm checking Macrumors, Engadget, DigiTimes and all the Arrandale/Nvidia/ATI discussion in the hope that Apple maintain the Air's pound-for-pound performance champion title with the next iteration.

My dream is for:
4GB RAM
256GB SSD (high performance)
Most powerful ATI card with workable TDP
Most powerful Arrandale possible given thermal envelope (may be another custom micro job)
And the same or another killer design (essential to me wanting one)

Hoping every day.

 

[Jobsian]

Oh and also high-speed interface eg USB 3.0 or Light Peak, though more hopeful than expecting for any of these.

 

[mattwolfmatt]

The MBA really is a fantastic travel machine. Its so thin and light, carrying it in the hand or case is effortless. Its plenty powerful enough for everyday business apps and has a wonderful keyboard and screen you can enjoy using all day long.

The MBA is in my opinion the greatest Apple laptop to be released yet.

The Macbook Air is the greatest laptop ever manufactured in the history of mobile computing

Wow the kool-aid in here is strong . . .

 

[sushi]

My dream is for:
4GB RAM
256GB SSD (high performance)

Yesterday I visited the Ginza Apple store and was drooling over an MBA.

Unfortunately, I do a lot of work with VMware, so I need more RAM than 2GB. Once Apple ups the RAM to 4GB, I may take the plunge.

Of course a 256GB SSD wouldn't hurt either.

Wow the kool-aid in here is strong . . .

Well, it's an Apple based forum. What do you expect?

 

[couto27]

The Macbook Air is the greatest laptop ever manufactured in the history of mobile computing, in my opinion.

The portability/performance tradeoff is the best I have ever seen, still, even 2 years after it was released.

Every single day that passes I'm checking Macrumors, Engadget, DigiTimes and all the Arrandale/Nvidia/ATI discussion in the hope that Apple maintain the Air's pound-for-pound performance champion title with the next iteration.

My dream is for:
4GB RAM
256GB SSD (high performance)
Most powerful ATI card with workable TDP
Most powerful Arrandale possible given thermal envelope (may be another custom micro job)
And the same or another killer design (essential to me wanting one)

Hoping every day.

i prefer a well balanced air , than a high speed air with eat issues.
on the next review,i only expect a better machine.

the air is already fast enough, i prefer
less weigh
resistence to shock
+ battery life


search on ebay and you will find hundreads of mb air with the case/shell damaged

macbook air is for travelers like antonioanmar said, i lost count of how many time the air come in and out of the backpack during a single day, on the plane , train, taxi, underground, on foot, and with the air comes dozens of other gadgets together.

the air is for work use.

so far the iphone 3g has being the most resistence to shock in 18 months of use, the touch screen looks like bullet proof.

 

[MultiFinder17]

I never thought I would want a MacBook Air originally. When they first came out, I played with one in the store and thought "Man, this is nice and thin. And light too! Shame it's so weak power-wise." I decided to stick it out with my 12" PowerBook a bit longer. When the Revision B came around, I again seriously considered it, but decided against it because I would be buying the base model, and I refuse to pay over $1000 for something running at 1.6GHz. When the Revision C came to be, the PowerBook was getting quite long in the tooth, and I again went to the store, this time with the intention of walking out with either an Air or a 13" MBP. I would up deciding on the Air, but also decided to wait a bit until some used sellers started selling them. I got my Revision C 1.86GHz 'used' but still brand-spankin-new for $1200 (that's with shipping and tax), and I couldn't be happier. It's amazingly fast, it's super thin, it's extremely light, it's the best computer for carrying around in my bag all day, and considering that my laptop spends about 50%-60% of its time out and about in my bag and over my shoulder, I couldn't be happier

 

[milton.sheaf]

macbook air: as powerful as the asus eee but 10x the price. brilliant.

 

[ctrack52]

MAC People

Wow the kool-aid in here is strong . . .

Actually, most of us enjoy our Macs 'cause we have been to the darkside and decided not to stay there....all kidding aside, Macs seem to work reliably, viruses are extremely rare, they are generally well made and pretty much accomplish all computing tasks rather well. As for the MBA I recently purchased one after looking at all that was offered on the Windows side. I can safely say it was the best choice for me, weight, screen size, and portability. Some Win Machines come close but the OS really kept me from going there. Welcome to the MAC world!

 

[milton.sheaf]

Welcome to the MAC world!

are we talking womens cosmetics now?

 

[ctrack52]

are we talking womens cosmetics now?

Reading too much into it.....

 

[stoconnell]

Reading too much into it.....

MAC is a brand of cosmetics (www.maccosmetics.com); whereas, Mac is a common abbreviation for a popular line of computers by a certain manufacturer of computers, consumer electronics, software and services

 

[antonioanmar]

1.- It's clear that all us we understand the reason because MBA exists. Ultra-portable Mac computer which offer you whatever you need when you are "on the way". It isn't a desktop computer, so it is crazy to compare with one of them. On the last times many people what to buy one portable to use it like desktop. And, perhaps, a Macbook cold be it. But not our loved MBA.
2.- If you are interesting about MAC cosmetics, only search on Youtube the word "MAC" and you will see that a massive quantity of videos are not Apple Mac, they are about "how to use the make up"
3.- Asus eee is cheaper, of course. But really i pay happy the difference to use Snow Leopard instead of Windows or Linux. And no possible compare about the screen or keyboard.

 

[three]

Even though my MacBook Air gives me annoyances, I still love it. It's thin, still amazingly beautiful after all these years.

 

[stoconnell]

So, i only what to explain that i don't understand the people who speak bad about the MacBook Air. Only i can think that they didn't buy the right machine for their needs.

I couldn't agree any more. I think some people buy the MBA with the wrong set of expectations and/or use cases. For my needs, my Rev B MBA is nearly ideal; sure it has a few issues, but those pale relative to its advantages. I went into the purchase with my eyes open.

 

[jimboutilier]

macbook air: as powerful as the asus eee but 10x the price. brilliant.

Well the Asus eee PC are fine netbooks. But the limited screen resolution, cramped keyboard, and single core CPUs hardly make them all day useable for real work. And while the MBA really is several times as expensive as an EEE pc, so are most ultra portable PC's and thin and light PC's.

Netbooks are great for what they are and if thats all you need you can save a lot of money. But if you really need a Notebook, a Netbook is just going to be a frustrating waste of money. In fact if you need an ultra portable or thin and light Notebook the MBA can be great but if you really need a desktop replacement Notebook the MBA is going to be a frustrating waste of money for you.

 

[jimboutilier]

Wow the kool-aid in here is strong . . .

Indeed it is. The vast majority of people spending $1000 or more on a PC choose Apple more than all other brands put together. Moreover Apple's customer satisfaction and retention numbers are the highest in the industry, year after year.

Now that could just be brand image or creative advertising. OR it could be the ownership experience is better. For me its the ownership experience but I can't speak for everyone.

And the purpose of equipment in a tag line is not to brag about what products you own but tell other what equipment you have experience with when you are asking or answering questions.

 

[nok123]

Agree wholeheartedly. I bought an Air rev. C three weeks ago and am very happy with the purchase. I travel a lot -- and this is a fantastic laptop on the road.

I went from a Thinkpad to the Air. While I'm still learning how the Mac OS works, it was a pretty easy transition.

 

[Gadgetman99]

I use the MBA as my main (and only) machine now. For most of us, it is more then enough. The nice thing is, it can be used as a netbook too, but with full size screen, dual core CPU and full keyboard. I used to have a laptop and netbook. Now I just have the MBA and it does all I need.

 

[darngooddesign]

...The nice thing is, it can be used as a netbook too...

I never understand what something like this means. How can a laptop be used specifically like a netbook?

FWIW I think the Air really is the best laptop for traveling, just down to its size and weight. However, if traveling for you involves being in sketchy locales where there is a greater chance of being mugged because you are using a laptop in public, or your computers see more abuse then honestly, a used, $400 MacBook is the best computer for traveling.

 

[calderone]

Yeah, it is a great notebook for travel when your hinges don't snap violently and randomly.

 

[antonioanmar]

Yeah, it is a great notebook for travel when your hinges don't snap violently and randomly.

Of course, the hinge problem exists, but as we all know Apple accepted that this is a factory problem and they repair it free.
At least on spain the number of hinge problems is not significative. I only know one person in Spain who had this problem, and they did repair his MBA quickly and 100% free.

On the other hand, i am happy to find that many of us think that it is a great computer, and when we speak about "i wish if next rev. will include more RAM and so on" it is not different than when the MBP owners want that the next version of that computers will include more power.

But really, my Air is the computer that i use mostly of the time.