This device is just amazing!

[Ichneumon]

I just got my new 11 inch macbook air and I think it is amazing. Really, the best computer I ever got. It replaces my macbook pro 15 inch, which I sold to pay for this one. As a student, the pro was just to heavy to carry around all day through traffic and to different classes. This thing is just so incredibly light. I'm really surprised by how BIG the screen seems. It doesn't feel smaller. And the sound that comes from this thing, it sounds even better than the sound from the mbp.

I had expected I had to start auto-hiding the dock, but I decided not too, I only moved it to the right (which I also did on the mbp anyway). I can store all my documents minus the movie files on it which are synced to the cloud using dropbox. I have a external hard drive for the movie files, I just don't need them on a mobile divice. If I plan on watching on of the movies, I'll just temporally copy one or two of them to the Air.

I use Bean as a simple text editor (I love the full screen mode) and I just love every part of it.

Sorry for writing this incoherent post, but I just wanted to say: Thank you, Apple!

 

[foiden]

Hmm. Sounds good. Perhaps that Car and Truck analogy was more correct that many realize. Usually going from a 15" MBP to an air would be an unusual move, but that's for people who really needed a MBP for their needs. But if your computing needs are served just as well with the MBA 11", it works out better for you. As the analogy said before. Some need trucks while others need cars. No need to get a car the size of a truck if a car is all you need.

Funny enough, the MBA 11 is quite capable at being a mini all-around machine. Not a heavy lifting one, but surprisingly capable of handling more all-around tasks than people ever think such a small unit would.

 

[Ichneumon]

The 15" MBP was my first ever laptop (and first ever encounter with OS X). When I bought it I was really very inexperienced with computers and I really overestimated the amount of hardware I'd end up using and how large a screen I'd need.

I'm a very light user. Most things I do is just webbrowing, using twitter (love the new Mac app), and writing office documents, using iTunes etc. I only rarely used iMovie and the only photo editing I do is sometimes making small changes in iPhoto/Aperture.

 

[Psilocybin]

couldnt agree more...good post

 

[macsmurf]

Hmm. Sounds good. Perhaps that Car and Truck analogy was more correct that many realize. Usually going from a 15" MBP to an air would be an unusual move, but that's for people who really needed a MBP for their needs. But if your computing needs are served just as well with the MBA 11", it works out better for you. As the analogy said before. Some need trucks while others need cars. No need to get a car the size of a truck if a car is all you need.

Funny enough, the MBA 11 is quite capable at being a mini all-around machine. Not a heavy lifting one, but surprisingly capable of handling more all-around tasks than people ever think such a small unit would.

I seem to remember that the analogy was between an iPad and an actual laptop. I might be wrong but it makes more sense to me.

In general, I think most people overspec their laptop, possibly at the urging of a salesperson. For most people youtube is a strenuous as it gets.

 

[bobr1952]

Nice post--and encouraging too--I'm leaning toward an Air as my next computer. But maybe the 13 to help keep the eye strain down on these old eyes.

 

[iRun26.2]

In general, I think most people overspec their laptop, possibly at the urging of a salesperson. For most people youtube is a strenuous as it gets.

I think people often also place a lot of value on being able to claim what they own as if it is a part of themselves (look at how many people here put what hardware they own as part of their signature). Who wants to have less than 'The Joneses?')

I'm not saying I'm different...I love it when people see my 11.6" MBA and ask me about it.

 

[altecXP]

I just got my new 11 inch macbook air and I think it is amazing. Really, the best computer I ever got. It replaces my macbook pro 15 inch, which I sold to pay for this one. As a student, the pro was just to heavy to carry around all day through traffic and to different classes.

Do you have som kind of medical condition? WHen I went to college (only 8 years ago) most people had 6+lb laptops and no one complained. Now I see more and more college kids acting like anything over 4/5 is back breaking.

Makes me wonder how weak kids have gotten in just the last few years.

 

[mrsir2009]

Do you have som kind of medical condition? WHen I went to college (only 8 years ago) most people had 6+lb laptops and no one complained. Now I see more and more college kids acting like anything over 4/5 is back breaking.

Makes me wonder how weak kids have gotten in just the last few years.

As for kids getting weaker these days, at college (which is high school over there) we have to carry everything in our bags. No lockers for us It certainly makes your back stronger. At the beginning of the year it was quite hard but now its easy as

 

[KPOM]

Do you have som kind of medical condition? WHen I went to college (only 8 years ago) most people had 6+lb laptops and no one complained. Now I see more and more college kids acting like anything over 4/5 is back breaking.

Makes me wonder how weak kids have gotten in just the last few years.

You sound a bit like the sour grapes MBP owners who mock MB Air owners for wanting a thinner notebook. 6+lb notebooks were always heavy and I always hated them. I graduated from college 12 years ago. Most of us didn't have laptops back then, but I did have a 6-lb work-issued one for a part time job. I still have a 5.5lb Windows notebook from the office that feels like a brick by comparison.

If we can get all the power we need out of a 2-3lb notebook, why get something heavier if we don't want to? Should we go back to the 19lb "Mac Portable" or the 10-12lb "laptops" that were popular back in the late 1980s? For that matter, why not go back to those 1lb "portable phones" or gigantic flip-phones that seemed so small at the time?

As soon as someone decides we've made "enough" progress, progress stops.

 

[BENJMNS]

Do you have som kind of medical condition? WHen I went to college (only 8 years ago) most people had 6+lb laptops and no one complained. Now I see more and more college kids acting like anything over 4/5 is back breaking.

Makes me wonder how weak kids have gotten in just the last few years.

so what if he had a medical condition? what are you? iRobot?

and by your logic, you'd still be cool with carrying around this thing for your mobile phone needs.

it's OK, totally normal, healthy to take full advantage of technological innovations esp things as practical and as useful as laptops.

it's the constant txting that i find kinda backwards amongst the teenage set.

 

[janitorC7]

so what if he had a medical condition? what are you? iRobot?

and by your logic, you'd still be cool with carrying around this thing for your mobile phone needs.

it's OK, totally normal, healthy to take full advantage of technological innovations esp things as practical and as useful as laptops.

it's the constant txting that i find kinda backwards amongst the teenage set.

I'm a Berkeley student and recently had back surgery. I'm getting this to replace my MBP as I'm not supposed to carry anything more than 5 pounds. I was planning of replacing it, but, after having played with it a little bit I think I may keep it and get a iMac for my heavy lifting stuff.

To the point about college students carrying around heaver laptops in the past...
Yes, most students can carry them around, however, a couple of years ago you were less likely to take your machine with you as many places. I rarely leave to campus without my laptop. With a computer the size of the iPad it's not such a hassle to cary around and I can get work done on the train into the city without it being a big deal to cary around with me.

JC7

 

[Ichneumon]

No, I don't have a medical condition. But as a philosophy student I often have to carry "heavy" books with me. It's doable with the mbp, I did it for almost 2 years. But sometimes I felt it was a bit too much effort to take the thing with me (I often had to carry it in a special laptop bag). Why go through all of that when there is something better?

 

[Lone Deranger]

I use Bean as a simple text editor (I love the full screen mode) and I just love every part of it.

Having switched to an 11.6" MBA like you (from a 17" MBP) and ex-Bean user myself, might I suggest you do yourself a favour and download iWork's 'Pages' app? It's very affordable on the Mac App Store, but so much nicer than Bean. It's got a great full screen mode too.

 

[KPOM]

and by your logic, you'd still be cool with carrying around this thing for your mobile phone needs.

Is that the new iPhone 5? I've heard rumors that Apple wants to rethink the design entirely for its new release. I'll bet that one doesn't drop calls.

 

[jimboutilier]

Like most Apple products, the specs of the MBA 11.6 don't seem particularly impressive. Just goes to show you what good design and well matched hardware and software can do. Long time Mac users often realize this but newer Mac users and most Windows users often find it quite surprising that a machine is much more than the specs of it's individual components.

My 11.6 benchmarks faster than either my uMB 2.4ghz or my previous revC MBA 2.13ghz. More importantly, it feels faster at most everyday tasks and runs quieter and cooler and gets better battery life. I agree that it's a fantastic machine and is indeed my all time favorite laptop at this point.

Obviously it's not the best machine for everyone, but for it's size and weight it's remarkably capable. My uMB has been relegated to a server and a backup machine in case a tragedy befalls the MBA.

 

[AMDGAMER]

In college we carried more like 8-10lb laptops...This would have been a TREAT!

 

[Jmgonza6]

I love my 13" 2GB version. I am constantly amazed at the speed of this machine. I am running some Mathematica and Matlab simulations on my Air with ease, getting better times than a friend who owns a 13" MBP 2.4 4GB, which was totally unexpected. It in conjunction with Evernote are perfect for any college student. I encourage anyone who is on the edge about this, you will not regret it, by far the best laptop out there.