Returned my Air...Here's why

[samh004]

I'll bite.

Why is it that no one can mention an issue with an Apple product without being called a troll?

I see nothing that marks the OP as a troll. They bought a system that is advertised as Vista compatible, and they had problems, as many have had, with Leopard and with the MBA - running a Mac version of a VM and running Vista in that. I don't have an MBA, but my MBP is more troublesome in many ways since I went to Leopard. I too hope for 10.5.2 to bring some relief.

Why does that post mark them as a troll?

Good post, however I think if your going to buy a MBA your computing habits shouldn't include running a VM of Vista and opening some heavy duty apps (I count Office here as it's just awful).

The MBA really should be marketed to people that just need to do general computing (not virtualization) tasks when they go on business trips and what not. If you expect it to run other OS' on top of Leopard and have every item in your dock open at the same time, your not the ideal user.

Get a MB, a MBP even, but don't try and pretend this was your attempt at making a switch. You chose the wrong computer for your overly optimistic goals.

 

[zippster]

i have an x61 tablet, 120gb drive,3gb ram and vista and its purely as a work machine(as im not allowed a mac), but when i get home it stays rotting in the bottom of my bag.

as recent convert(home use) to mac i can tell you that all of my macs have been a breath of fresh air compared to any of M$ offerings(although xpsp3 is nice) and although im a MSC &MCSE(11 years)id take OSX anyday over windows.

hell i even run fusion with XP when i work from home

each to there own! everyone is in titled to there own opinion but to come on a public mac forum and start trashtalking osx is asking for trouble!

Macs are like the 'Midus Touch' Everyone at work thats touches mine wants one and quite a few have gone out and bought them

oh and OP piccy attached incase you think im trolling..

 

[deniser]

I bought an HP laptop for my son for college last year. It came with vista installed. I really find vista a very over inflated os. I went to install XP on it for him as they use XP in school. It installed fine but had numerous problems, wireless card and ethernet not working, even after downloading the drivers. It just would not run xp so I had to put vista back onto it. It was made for vista and not xp which was a huge shame.

 

[drchipinski]

I picked up an Air on Saturday morning...I went home and it had 3 stuck pixels, battery issues, as well as the fan issue as well.

I went back to the store, where they exchanged it for me, and the second one is also having fan/heat issues and the battery isn't much better than the first. I am getting tired of being a guinea pig for Apple....

This one will be going back as well.

 

[Catch]

I picked up an Air on Saturday morning...I went home and it had 3 stuck pixels, battery issues, as well as the fan issue as well.

I went back to the store, where they exchanged it for me, and the second one is also having fan/heat issues and the battery isn't much better than the first. I am getting tired of being a guinea pig for Apple....

This one will be going back as well.

Yeah thats a shame. I am hoping mine will not have any issues. Buying rev 1 machines is always a bit of a gamble even though I agree it should not be that way.

C

 

[Techguy172]

The guy didn't like the computer now he's automatically a bad person, He likes vista so now he's a bad person My brother loves vista pick on him and he'll beat the hell out of you. some people like it others don't mac isn't that amazing it has quite a few problems it depends what your doing. I personally hate the Macbook Air My brother who likes vista even likes it He would buy it just to run vista and that would be ideal for him.

It all depends on what you like You guys are losers for saying he's a troll and spreading lies about someone you don't even know.

 

[BongoBanger]

Well if the OP is trolling then he certainly got what he wanted from some of the sillier fanboys on this site. Honestly people, you're not fish; you don't have to mindlessly bite at every worm.

As for the Air, yes there will be defective units, yes Leopard is far from perfect and, yes, Vista is a disappointment but so what? Leopard and Vista are still knd of V1.0 and both need a good bit of work. Leopard is better than Vista just now but we'll see what the SPs do for both - I remember XP being a horror when it came out and being very satisfied with it by the time they'd refined SP2.

As an aside, I love my Lenovo T60 because it's so hard wearing.

 

[Clix Pix]

Two and a half years ago when I bought my first Mac it was because I was tired of Windoze and all the hassles associated with it. The last thing I would ever do is to stick XP or Vista on an intel Mac, especially one with limited space on the HD! That's just asking for trouble.....

 

[Cybergypsy]

Good luck and goodbye, but I would have thrown it on Ebay and made more money......

 

[devilot]

... mac isn't that amazing it has quite a few problems it depends what your doing.

Exactly. I don't quite understand folks who get 'holier than thou' about Apple hardware and let's face it, software, too. I've had quite a many hardware failure (repairs, replacements) and quite a few irritating software blips.

Do I like Apple's products? Yeah, well enough. I like them more than the typical Windows boxes or OS, and so I keep using them.

Do I think they're perfect or flawless? Hell no! But again, won't deter me from using what I like best (thus far).

Well if the OP is trolling then he certainly got what he wanted from some of the sillier fanboys on this site. Honestly people, you're not fish; you don't have to mindlessly bite at every worm.

 

[richard.mac]

so wait lemme get this straight... you bought an MBA, thought it was too hot and the fans ran too loud and you didnt even think of troubleshooting or getting help here? except you just posted a message saying you returned it and your not happy with it?

id have to agree the machines arent perfect but you have to give them a little leeway. yes the machine could have been faulty but you should of at least checked it out.

my MBP has had a screen problem, original RAM replaced, 2 batteries replaced and it still runs perfect and im still using it 1 1/2 years later.

 

[ahaxton]

so wait lemme get this straight... you bought an MBA, thought it was too hot and the fans ran too loud and you didnt even think of troubleshooting or getting help here? except you just posted a message saying you returned it and your not happy with it?

id have to agree the machines arent perfect but you have to give them a little leeway. yes the machine could have been faulty but you should of at least checked it out.

my MBP has had a screen problem, original RAM replaced, 2 batteries replaced and it still runs perfect and im still using it 1 1/2 years later.

Plus I'm convinced we have the fan issue amongst a couple others on all our MBA's or the majority and it will be fixed via a software update. Especially after my second time yesterday.

 

[NC MacGuy]

Illustrator, Windows via fusion and Office all at once on the Air? You bought the wrong computer to begin with. Obviously you were misguided in its capabilities and your needs.

 

[johnlvx]

i have an x61 tablet, 120gb drive,3gb ram and vista and its purely as a work machine(as im not allowed a mac), but when i get home it stays rotting in the bottom of my bag.

as recent convert(home use) to mac i can tell you that all of my macs have been a breath of fresh air compared to any of M$ offerings(although xpsp3 is nice) and although im a MSC &MCSE(11 years)id take OSX anyday over windows.

hell i even run fusion with XP when i work from home

each to there own! everyone is in titled to there own opinion but to come on a public mac forum and start trashtalking osx is asking for trouble!

Macs are like the 'Midus Touch' Everyone at work thats touches mine wants one and quite a few have gone out and bought them

oh and OP piccy attached incase you think im trolling..

You ARE trolling... most of you here are... all under the auspices of accusing ME of trolling. I was never trash talking OSX, I simply stated my opinion about my current experience with Leopard and all of a sudden the OCD crazies come out and start losing sleep over it. Most of the "Trashtalking" I've done has been invented by subsequent posters and kept alive by posts like yours.

There are some interesting people on this forum to say the least.

I picked up an Air on Saturday morning...I went home and it had 3 stuck pixels, battery issues, as well as the fan issue as well.

I went back to the store, where they exchanged it for me, and the second one is also having fan/heat issues and the battery isn't much better than the first. I am getting tired of being a guinea pig for Apple....

This one will be going back as well.

Careful man, you're likey to get slaughtered for being honest and not supporting the notion that the Air is the messiah. LOL

There's a 3 week wait for an X61 so I doubt he's replaced the MBA as he says.

There ARE stores that keep these in stock Gary. Thanks for dishonest implication.

 

[duffyanneal]

I picked up an Air on Saturday morning...I went home and it had 3 stuck pixels, battery issues, as well as the fan issue as well.

I went back to the store, where they exchanged it for me, and the second one is also having fan/heat issues and the battery isn't much better than the first. I am getting tired of being a guinea pig for Apple....

This one will be going back as well.

I'm still trying to figure out what this "fan issue" is that people are talking about. Do you mean the fan is running? Like it is supposed to when it gets hot? Like any computer (that has a fan) is supposed to? When you first get any Mac (applies to Vista machines as well) it will run slower and the machine will heat up. Why? This is because Spotlight is indexing the drive. If you notice a little dot pulsating in the magnifying glass that means indexing is underway. On the MBA this may take 30 minutes or longer on the initial index. If you happen to be using the machine at the same time the indexing will take even longer. Indexing causes the CPU to heat up so the fan will run, and since the HDD/SSD is being accessed constantly the machine will appear to be lethargic. FYI, when all this is taking place the battery life will suck for obvious reasons.

 

[cohibadad]

I run Parallels with XP on my MBA. It runs very well although I only have it because of the IE only web interfaces I have to use for business.

 

[drchipinski]

I'm still trying to figure out what this "fan issue" is that people are talking about. Do you mean the fan is running? Like it is supposed to when it gets hot? Like any computer (that has a fan) is supposed to? When you first get any Mac (applies to Vista machines as well) it will run slower and the machine will heat up. Why? This is because Spotlight is indexing the drive. If you notice a little dot pulsating in the magnifying glass that means indexing is underway. On the MBA this may take 30 minutes or longer on the initial index. If you happen to be using the machine at the same time the indexing will take even longer. Indexing causes the CPU to heat up so the fan will run, and since the HDD/SSD is being accessed constantly the machine will appear to be lethargic. FYI, when all this is taking place the battery life will suck for obvious reasons.

It should not run hot for 6 hours straight...should it?

Is the Air a "cool" computer, yes. Does it have issues, yes. Am I willing to keep going to the Apple store (which by the way had 55+ Airs in stock on Saturday) to continue to "fix" this machine, NO.

Also, I charged mine last night for 9 hours and it only got to 58% capacity. I really do not want to wait in line at the Genuis Bar day after day...I do have a life....

I am glad so many of you are so patient with Apple. I am not. If it doesn't work, I move on. When I spend well over $3,000 on a computer, it should just work. Not work after an exchange, then a battery replacement, then a new hard drive, etc.

They are a computer company, not a way of life.

 

[zippster]

OOoooohhhhh think we have hit a nerve


see yah! dont let the door hit you on the a$$ on the way out now!

 

[duffyanneal]

It should not run hot for 6 hours straight...should it?

Is the Air a "cool" computer, yes. Does it have issues, yes. Am I willing to keep going to the Apple store (which by the way had 55+ Airs in stock on Saturday) to continue to "fix" this machine, NO.

Also, I charged mine last night for 9 hours and it only got to 58% capacity. I really do not want to wait in line at the Genuis Bar day after day...I do have a life....

I am glad so many of you are so patient with Apple. I am not. If it doesn't work, I move on. When I spend well over $3,000 on a computer, it should just work. Not work after an exchange, then a battery replacement, then a new hard drive, etc.

They are a computer company, not a way of life.

Are you saying that it ran for 6 hours on the battery?

You should go buy a TZ. The battery does charge fairly quickly, but get ready to hear the fan ALL of the time regardless if you're doing anything. Enjoy Vista since retrograding back to XP is a severe pain in the ass with Sonys. Make sure to take advantage of Ready Boost with a SD or Express card. You'll need it even if you get an SSD. Oh I forgot the SD slot and Express card slot are too slow to be Ready Boost compliant (thank Sony for that one). Sorry. How do I know this? I actually own one.

 

[Hansii]

Is there anyone on this forum which isn't a biased mac fanboy?

People have diferent experiences with Vista and Leopard, for me Vista has been a lot faster and reliable than Leopard, but for other people it's the other way around. Both of them will hopefully give more consistent user experiences after their service packs

 

[cedar]

Why is it that no one can mention an issue with an Apple product without being called a troll?

I see nothing that marks the OP as a troll. They bought a system that is advertised as Vista compatible, and they had problems, as many have had, with Leopard and with the MBA - running a Mac version of a VM and running Vista in that. I don't have an MBA, but my MBP is more troublesome in many ways since I went to Leopard. I too hope for 10.5.2 to bring some relief.

Why does that post mark them as a troll?

LOL. He may not be a troll, but he is puzzling in his logic. I have a 4-month old HP laptop that runs Vista. I also has a Toshiba running XP. The Vista os is really, really bad and slow compared to the XP. And how somebody would expect Vista to run flawlessly with an Apple product is beyond me. I wouldn't wish that piece of crap on my worst enemy.

 

[Techguy172]

Is there anyone on this forum which isn't a biased mac fanboy?

People have diferent experiences with Vista and Leopard, for me Vista has been a lot faster and reliable than Leopard, but for other people it's the other way around. Both of them will hopefully give more consistent user experiences after their service packs

I am not biased to windows or mac but unfortunately there isn't too many that are like me.

 

[duffyanneal]

Is there anyone on this forum which isn't a biased mac fanboy?

People have diferent experiences with Vista and Leopard, for me Vista has been a lot faster and reliable than Leopard, but for other people it's the other way around. Both of them will hopefully give more consistent user experiences after their service packs

I'm sorry, but I actually use XP, Vista, and Mac OS every day. So I call it like it is. Vista sucks why do you think no large corporation has adopted it? It provides zero advantage over XP unless you want to take advantage of all the DX10 games like Crysis. Oh yeah, Crisis actually works better on DX9 on XP. UAC is laughable at best and all the broken apps are a blast to deal with. 1 year after introduction I still have problems getting a stable VPN connection on Vista. XP on the other hand is quite stable and useful.

As far as asking for an unbiased opinion. Did you happen to notice what this site is called? I'm sure if I ventured to MaximumPC and asked for an unbiased review of Vista vs Mac OS I'm quite sure everyone would line up to extoll the virtues of each OS. Actually, that isn't a good example since most there would probably speak their minds which is that Vista is a mess.

 

[mashoutposse]

It should not run hot for 6 hours straight...should it?

Sounds like you were using the computer while charging. Remember, the charger is 45W versus the MB's 65W and the MBP's 85W -- battery charging slows to a crawl when the computer is actively in use. This is a negative, for sure. A definite deal-breaker for some.

The battery circuitry is likely designed around the 45W adaptor, so swapping it with the MBP's likely won't make a difference. I will give it a try, however.

Also, I charged mine last night for 9 hours and it only got to 58% capacity.

Did you close the screen or otherwise put the computer to sleep?

 

[Catch]

People have diferent experiences with Vista and Leopard, for me Vista has been a lot faster and reliable than Leopard, but for other people it's the other way around. Both of them will hopefully give more consistent user experiences after their service packs

I think you will find a much more hardcore group of PC 'haters' of Vista out there than OSX users. It seems to me that there are allot of people out there that really dislike Vista. I never used it so can't say I like or dislike it myself. XP was very good though in my opinion.

Equally, there were allot of OS9 users that 'hated' OSX in the beginning... I guess all these things take time to evolve...

C