The machine: the 128GB base MacBook Air 11.6" with 2GB of RAM.
Why I Was Wrong:
You know, I've had all different flavors of MacBook Pro. I also have owned the older 13" MacBook Air. I consider myself a heavy user, working in IT as I do. My machine gets hammered rather frequently, and I needed a device that could keep up with me. Even the base 17" MBP was lacking until I threw an Intel X25M SSD in it. All other machines, Windows and Apple alike (except for the Mac Pro, obviously) seemed inferior in comparison, especially the Air. I read stories about people trying to run AutoCAD and Photoshop and all of these "heavy" apps on a machine clearly not designed to handle them. I stated numerous times that getting a stronger machine, even with the added weight, was the way to go.
I was wrong. To understand why, you have to look at users in groups: the "power" users, like me; the "active" users, and the "passive" users.
Having used the 11.6" Air for a while, it became clear to me that the machine was designed for active users; it has "just enough" power to handle 85% of what you throw at it. That's Microsoft Office, iWork, browsing, email, Screen Sharing, videos, music, even Boot Camp. It would work for passive users, but the price point IMO is too high for these folks who just need to surf the web and read an email every now and then. For them they might as well get an iPad or one of the hundreds of netbooks out in the wild. My initial judgment was predicated on one assumption: that people who buy computers buy them because they need power. That was a flawed assumption. Some people buy computers because quite frankly, they don't know what else they should buy that will meet their needs - which they barely know or understand.
One thing that makes the 11.6" Air nice is the fact that it fits in most notebook portfolio pockets. That lends itself to less that one needs to carry.
Why I Was Right
I see stories from people all the time who claim to be running the world on their Air. And maybe they have the higher end models. Maybe they're running on the 13" rather than the 11". All I can say, is that the 11" is severely underpowered for the price. That's fine...but I had to understand it. The first thing I did was lay out some tests that I could run the Air through to see where it came up short compared to all of the other devices I have.
First, boot time. Given it has the 1066MHz DDR3 RAM and a SSD, I expected nearly instant boot times. However, both my Eee Slate (which has the same hardware but a stronger processor) and my MacBook Pro (same thing...same hardware but a stronger processor) smoked the Air in boot tests by a wide margin. In fact, the Eee Slate booted to a usable Windows 7 desktop almost twice as fast as the Air. The only thing I can think of is either (A) the higher RAM amount in the Eee Slate and the MBP, or (B) the Core i5 processor. Either way, the Eee Slate was $1100, nearly the same price I paid for the Air, yet is substantially more powerful, if not as slim.
Second, virtualization. I run VMWare daily on the MBP. It was slow with a 7200 RPM drive, but with the SSD it's near instant. Powering up VMs is usually a 10-15 second affair compared to the 30-60 second boot times under the 7200 RPM drive. I assumed that given the MBA had a SSD, it should also be reasonably fast. And it was...but there was a horrible lag to things. My guess is that the low dedicated memory of the video card was contributing to the problem, but I can't be sure. Mind, I gave 1GB of RAM to the VM and 1 processor core, which should not have slowed the machine down at all, yet it did. Further investigation revealed a significant amount of page outs which may be a symptom of the low RAM in the 11.6" holding it back from true greatness. I can't be sure of that though.
I spoke about the ability to fit into portfolios. The one true negative, and it's really an Apple thing, is the fact that you cannot really max out the processor AND the RAM on the 11.6. That they force you to go to the 13" in order to get the better processor is a farce, quite honestly.
In short...the MacBook Air, at least the base 11.6" version, is fine for "regular", "active" users. People who don't need to run heavy apps or perform any intensive duties. But it's just not sufficient for those that need raw power.
Why I Was Wrong:
You know, I've had all different flavors of MacBook Pro. I also have owned the older 13" MacBook Air. I consider myself a heavy user, working in IT as I do. My machine gets hammered rather frequently, and I needed a device that could keep up with me. Even the base 17" MBP was lacking until I threw an Intel X25M SSD in it. All other machines, Windows and Apple alike (except for the Mac Pro, obviously) seemed inferior in comparison, especially the Air. I read stories about people trying to run AutoCAD and Photoshop and all of these "heavy" apps on a machine clearly not designed to handle them. I stated numerous times that getting a stronger machine, even with the added weight, was the way to go.
I was wrong. To understand why, you have to look at users in groups: the "power" users, like me; the "active" users, and the "passive" users.
Having used the 11.6" Air for a while, it became clear to me that the machine was designed for active users; it has "just enough" power to handle 85% of what you throw at it. That's Microsoft Office, iWork, browsing, email, Screen Sharing, videos, music, even Boot Camp. It would work for passive users, but the price point IMO is too high for these folks who just need to surf the web and read an email every now and then. For them they might as well get an iPad or one of the hundreds of netbooks out in the wild. My initial judgment was predicated on one assumption: that people who buy computers buy them because they need power. That was a flawed assumption. Some people buy computers because quite frankly, they don't know what else they should buy that will meet their needs - which they barely know or understand.
One thing that makes the 11.6" Air nice is the fact that it fits in most notebook portfolio pockets. That lends itself to less that one needs to carry.
Why I Was Right
I see stories from people all the time who claim to be running the world on their Air. And maybe they have the higher end models. Maybe they're running on the 13" rather than the 11". All I can say, is that the 11" is severely underpowered for the price. That's fine...but I had to understand it. The first thing I did was lay out some tests that I could run the Air through to see where it came up short compared to all of the other devices I have.
First, boot time. Given it has the 1066MHz DDR3 RAM and a SSD, I expected nearly instant boot times. However, both my Eee Slate (which has the same hardware but a stronger processor) and my MacBook Pro (same thing...same hardware but a stronger processor) smoked the Air in boot tests by a wide margin. In fact, the Eee Slate booted to a usable Windows 7 desktop almost twice as fast as the Air. The only thing I can think of is either (A) the higher RAM amount in the Eee Slate and the MBP, or (B) the Core i5 processor. Either way, the Eee Slate was $1100, nearly the same price I paid for the Air, yet is substantially more powerful, if not as slim.
Second, virtualization. I run VMWare daily on the MBP. It was slow with a 7200 RPM drive, but with the SSD it's near instant. Powering up VMs is usually a 10-15 second affair compared to the 30-60 second boot times under the 7200 RPM drive. I assumed that given the MBA had a SSD, it should also be reasonably fast. And it was...but there was a horrible lag to things. My guess is that the low dedicated memory of the video card was contributing to the problem, but I can't be sure. Mind, I gave 1GB of RAM to the VM and 1 processor core, which should not have slowed the machine down at all, yet it did. Further investigation revealed a significant amount of page outs which may be a symptom of the low RAM in the 11.6" holding it back from true greatness. I can't be sure of that though.
I spoke about the ability to fit into portfolios. The one true negative, and it's really an Apple thing, is the fact that you cannot really max out the processor AND the RAM on the 11.6. That they force you to go to the 13" in order to get the better processor is a farce, quite honestly.
In short...the MacBook Air, at least the base 11.6" version, is fine for "regular", "active" users. People who don't need to run heavy apps or perform any intensive duties. But it's just not sufficient for those that need raw power.
what is that 14 divided by 2? 7 second boot times?!?!
