Before the whiners get here....
All the naysayers almost had me canceling my order in the long wait period between the announcement { I ordered the morning after } and the deliveries.
I have used this every single day now since I got mine, the week they started shipping. And some comments:
One - I fondle it as much as I did my wife when she was new too, this is just a VERY sexy machine to hold, use and show off.
*Ahem* Well, I don't fondle mine, but I do get interesting reactions from people. On top of that, it's very light and the thinness works very well from a portability perspective - I've owned a PB12 in the past and I think the thinness is more valuable than the thicker, shorter form factor. This is like sliding a legal pad into my briefcase.
Two - My needs are mostly surfing, writing, and light graphics, but I have done a few conversions into H.264 renderings that went acceptably. And frankly, in the real world uses, I really can't tell much, if any, differences between the operating speeds between my 1.6/80 MBA and my 2.4 iMac, late 2007.
My most recent previous work system was a first gen MBP15, with the 2.0 Gig CPU and 2GB of RAM. The performance between that and the MBA ranks at least equal, for most work tasks I think the MBA is faster. The only time that's not the case is if I am doing anything where the Intel graphics slow me down.
My workload consists of standard office-type tasks (email, docs, spreadsheets, presentations) plus some network engineering (various network tools, plus an XP VM in Fusion, with Visio and Project), some lightweight development, some iTunes, and websurfing. Works great for everything I mentioned. Once again, the form factor is a great boon to one on the road all the time.
Note that I haven't had any of the fan issues some complain of - mine spins up under a graphics load but I have not (knock on wood) seen the performance issues accompanying that which some have reported.
When you combine this with the new Time Capsule/Machine for wireless storage, and I use this for my "sometimes files" that I really don't access constantly too, it is plenty of storage. And if you need "more" you can grab a tiny little external like I have with 80GB that weighs maybe five ounces.
I carry an external 250GB WD usb-powered drive. I carried it with me before the MBA so that's no added inconvenience. I rarely go to it for anything, though - the 80GB drive is really pretty much all I need for work items. Once in a while I will swap project data back and forth, but that's about it. This is more about workflow than anything for me.
I bought the external CD drive, but frankly now, I wonder why I did. If you get this wireless thing, and REALLY understand this, you really don't need a CD reader if you are normally around other machines, since "borrowing" their DVD readers is fast, easy, and works just fine.
Not sure I agree here - when I need to use a CD it's nice to have the drive. Personally I still maintain this should have been included in the box.
As for all the "lack of ports" whiners, I bought an external hub for $20 bucks, and have used it a few times when needed. And I have the Ethernet dongle too, but i actually pulled it off, and now just used wireless since I got the Time Capsule, it is every bit as fast for what I do wirelessly as the hardwired direct was.
Could not agree less. One more USB port would make a world of difference. I too carry a micro hub, but this fails me on occasion: I want to use my external drive plus ethernet - oops, can't do it. Or my Superdrive plus external drive - once again, fail. One more USB port and this problem is solved.
All in all, I AM VERY SURPRISED that I have had zero "Buyers Remorse" and daily I'm loving this thing more and more.
I rated it perfect, but it's not quite. In general though, I recommend the MBA depending on how you plan to use it. It is not a leatherman do anything tool, but it's a pretty good Swiss Army pocketknife with a screwdriver and can opener attached! It works great for me as my primary work system, but I'm sure I would be disappointed if I were trying to use it as a gaming rig as well - it doesn't serve that purpose well. Of course for that I have a desktop syste at my house.
But for work, the MBA is my tool of choice now - and I don't regret it.
