New MacBook Air - Perfect !!!

[Barbie]

It's a stunner.

Came today (paid for yesterday), the speedy 128 GB SSD version MacBook Air.

As far as I can tell, there aren't any 'lines' on the screen, the fans remain super quiet and it's an unbelievable computer !!!

The price was £1300 ($1920) on eBay, brand new in box and sealed (that's a saving of 26% off the Apple retail price !!!)

Is everybody pleased with their Airs?

Barbie.

 

[MacDawg]

Congratulations!

Quite a deal you got there too!


Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[Barbie]

Congratulations!

Quite a deal you got there too!


Woof, Woof - Dawg

Thanks a lot !!! Do you have a MacBook Air too?

The Air was bought from the seller 's_electronic'. It seemed risky at first (with the huge discount and paying by 'cash deposit'), but he had great feedback.

A pleasant experience leading to a pleasant computer !!!

Barbie.

 

[MacDawg]

Nope... I have a MacBook Pro
But I have used Macs since 1987 and loved them all

The Air is a great machine and you will love it
Almost all of my eBay experiences have been good too
You did your homework on the feedback and you were rewarded with a great deal!

Welcome to the MacRumors community and don't hesitate to ask questions!


Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[Barbie]

Nope... I have a MacBook Pro
But I have used Macs since 1987 and loved them all

The Air is a great machine and you will love it
Almost all of my eBay experiences have been good too
You did your homework on the feedback and you were rewarded with a great deal!

Welcome to the MacRumors community and don't hesitate to ask questions!


Woof, Woof - Dawg

The MacBook Pro is a cool computer, I must admit !!! The only reason I decided on the Air instead of the Pro was simply the SSD drive and the thinness. Is your Pro a unibody?

Barbie.

 

[andreab35]

Congrats on your purchase!

I have a Rev. B myself, except without SSD, and it is a pure beauty that is a great performer!

 

[dudeitsjay]

Really good deal. Wish I waited a couple months longer and got prices like that =[

 

[terryrocks]

I just got mine today from Amazon and the screen is perfect!!!
I had seen some screens at the Apple Store in display that did have the gray line issue, so I am very relieved

However, I am hearing an intermittent ticking noise that is making me nervous - i hope there isn't something wrong with the hard drive! Any suggestions?

 

[GeekGirl*]

I bought a refurb A for 999.00 best Air I had, even better then my line ridden B. The ticking is not a good sign sent my first one back because of it.

 

[Apple all life]

I just got mine today from Amazon and the screen is perfect!!!
I had seen some screens at the Apple Store in display that did have the gray line issue, so I am very relieved

However, I am hearing an intermittent ticking noise that is making me nervous - i hope there isn't something wrong with the hard drive! Any suggestions?

Bomb? lol

 

[blackhand1001]

For those who are interested the grey lines on it are from poorly set screen inversion voltages. Depending on the pattern chose by the manufacture, a lot of laptop use row by row, you get these weird artifacts. Its referred to as dot scrawl because most lcd use a checker like pattern for inversion so when its poorly set it looks like dots running across the screen, especially on midtones. Some will suffer from this while others won't.

Heres an article that explains it in more depth.
http://www.techmind.org/lcd/
Scroll down to inversion.

Heres a portion that explains the problem with some macbook air screens, but the article goes into depth about the problem in lcd's in gereral and why it happens so its still a good read.

Laptop LCD screens tend to be optimised for lower power, with some relaxation of image-quality criterion. As well as (often) lower brightness and less saturated colours, laptop screens usually use a 'row inversion' (aka 'line inversion') scheme rather than the dot inversion now universal in desktop screens. If you look closely at a row-inversion LCD, particularly if it is showing a fairly plain, mid-brightness colour, you may see a slight horizontal line interference pattern on alternate lines, which may appear to drift up or down the screen. This is also not uncommon on colour mobile-phone displays, or personal DVD players.

 

[Tronzak]

I just got mine today from Amazon and the screen is perfect!!!
I had seen some screens at the Apple Store in display that did have the gray line issue, so I am very relieved

However, I am hearing an intermittent ticking noise that is making me nervous - i hope there isn't something wrong with the hard drive! Any suggestions?

I'm a new owner of a MBA Rev. B and am also hearing an intermittent ticking noise emanating from underneath the delete key (or thereabouts). Glad I'm not the only one but was wondering if I should exchange it while I can. Or is this considered normal?

 

[stoconnell]

I'm a new owner of a MBA Rev. B and am also hearing an intermittent ticking noise emanating from underneath the delete key (or thereabouts). Glad I'm not the only one but was wondering if I should exchange it while I can. Or is this considered normal?

Do you have the model with the HDD? The hard drive is under there, so that's probably just the drive heads parking.

 

[Scottsdale]

Congratulations on your PERFECT MacBook Air.

Some people are so worked up over line issue. That other post sure seemed like probably the reason. So from what I understood Apple may have turned down the power for the MBA display causing this? Isn't this good news? Doesn't this mean a firmware update could fix it? Maybe I am way off there.

Do you have the model with the HDD? The hard drive is under there, so that's probably just the drive heads parking.

About the ticking noise. I think you are absolutely correct. I have used nine MBAs now with SSD, and never hear a noise (except fans while watching HD). I have used two HDD models, and I heard little clicks on both. Was like a tick or click, then don't here it for a while, then it clicks once or twice, then may not hear it for half an hour. I definitely heard it with both HDD models I used. I tried out a colleague's yesterday to see if I could live with the HDD as my MBA with SSD was stolen; still cannot decide what to do while waiting for the rev C MBA.

Anyone chime in with the HDD and you know this is the click or tick noise?

 

[King t.]

congrats to your purchase, the MBA Rev:B is a great machine and as soon as the price drops for the SSD's, that's the time i'll replace my 120gb HD

 

[Tronzak]

Do you have the model with the HDD? The hard drive is under there, so that's probably just the drive heads parking.

Yes, it's the 120HDD. I figured it was the drive heads parking so thanks for confirming that. Kind of annoying but probably not worth swapping out for another since everything else seems to be just fine.

 

[iann1982]

Anyone chime in with the HDD and you know this is the click or tick noise?

I have the HD model and yea, it clicks every now and then, just like an iPod classic if you listen really closely.

I'd be interested in what your opinions of HD vs SSD are, I love my Air but it's quite slow booting and opening apps, once they're open it's fine. There's an apple authorised reseller who I've asked to quote for putting an SSD in. will see what they say.

 

[dudeitsjay]

Got the HDD and rarely do I hear any clicks if any at all. If it led any of you to the point of annoyance, something is faulty, or you're super ridiculously picky.

 

[Scottsdale]

I have the HD model and yea, it clicks every now and then, just like an iPod classic if you listen really closely.

I'd be interested in what your opinions of HD vs SSD are, I love my Air but it's quite slow booting and opening apps, once they're open it's fine. There's an apple authorised reseller who I've asked to quote for putting an SSD in. will see what they say.

The speed differences are night/day. The SSD will make your MBA boot in 25 seconds instead of a minute or longer. The SSD will make apps open instantly. The SSD will make the MBA feel like a Mac Pro for common tasks. The SSD will open super large files without taking forever or making your system lock up.

The HDD is only 4200 rpm. People upgrade from 5400 to 7200 all the time for speed and performance boosts. The SSD is performing at something like five to ten times the speed of a 7200 rpm HDD.

Definitely buy SSD if you have a rev B MBA. I have started thinking that the rev B MBA with HDD is ok for the normal light user, but for someone who uses the MBA as primary computer, should definitely upgrade to SSD. If use MBA for business, upgrade to SSD. If use MBA as a novelty, or secondary computer for light email, Internet, and word processor, may be happy with HDD.

Good luck.

 

[qubex]

Congratulations for your "perfect" MacBookAir: what you have there appears to be something of a rarity. Last week I purchased the SSD model from the AppleStore and when it arrived I found the screen to be totally pathetic, by the time I faced the language-selection screen I was already fixed on a moirè pattern of alternating bright and dark lines. Since I was already rather neurotic about purchasing the machine so late in it's expected product cycle I returned it instantly. I'm currently waiting for my refund.

That said, I did take it for the proverbial test drive around the block, and I found it to be quite suitable: the SSD makes the machine exceptionally responsive even under severe load and the keyboard is excellent, perfect for touch typing. Portability is superb, lack of ports (as far as I'm concerned) a complete non-issue.

Now I'm back to neurotically tracking Air rumours hoping that Apple will release a refresh sooner rather than later: black bezel and glass trackpad. My money's just sitting there waiting to be spent.