Why do some people appear to HATE the MBA?

[ob81]

lol Some folks are, frankly, rude. It's like getting a new car and your neighbor coming over and telling you what a piece of crap it is and that you got ripped off. I would never go over to the Macbook forum and start telling everybody that their machine was an overpriced piece of crap, even if I thought it was true (which I don't by the way).

You and your neighbor had the same car. Your neighbor purchases a new car, comes to your home and makes lame excuses why the old car was crap and the new car saved his/her life. That is what the forums are like in the Air section. Not like your example.

 

[GlossyIsBad4U]

I don't know why you'd compare the MBA to a MBP. It is much more comparable to a Macbook, spec wise. It would be like comparing a Mini to a Mac Pro, of course the Pro is going to kick it's butt.

The reason I compared it to a MBP is because of the MBA SSD price tag.

The MBP is about $3000 with AppleCare, the MBA SSD is around $3000.

 

[mashoutposse]

You and your neighbor had the same car. Your neighbor purchases a new car, comes to your home and makes lame excuses why the old car was crap and the new car saved his/her life. That is what the forums are like in the Air section. Not like your example.

What if the old car was a 2-ton SUV that could carry seven people and the new car is a beautiful sportscar than 'only' seats two?

The haters all sound like the neighbor stuck with the SUV

 

[cedar]

You and your neighbor had the same car. Your neighbor purchases a new car, comes to your home and makes lame excuses why the old car was crap and the new car saved his/her life. That is what the forums are like in the Air section. Not like your example.

Uh, bad example. You are coming on the Air forum, our driveway so to speak. I don't think you have seen me on the Pro forum saying anything about my new purchase. And I've never said one negative thing about the rest of the Apple line. In fact, I agonized over the decision for quite a while, being a convert from a PC. I think they are all great computers. I just didn't need the extra power and the light-weight appealed to me. The extra bucks? Wasn't much of a factor. All Apples are over-priced anyway.

 

[kuwisdelu]

Everything you mentioned is spot on. I stress again, why DOWN the Macbook/Macbook pro now that the Air has arrived? Read through the Air forums. People complain about the Air haters, when most of the Air adopters that previously owned Macbook/Macbook pros, are acting like they were on their last leg with the Macbook/MBP's after previously praising them. Ok. You can't lug the 2lbs. The Air came and saved your life. There are still tons of people that beleive that the Macbook/MBP are great systems. Stop trying to convince yourself that they aren't and that is why you bought the pro.

I also haven't seen any MacBook Air owners pretending they couldn't stand their MacBooks or MacBook Pro's any longer or anything like that. I really haven't seen anyone post that the MacBook or MBP's are bad systems at all, so I don't know where you're coming from. They've simply said that they went with the MacBook Air because its more convenient for them/they prefer it. How is that putting down the other systems?

They're ALL great systems. They all have their own strengths and weaknesses and they all have valid reasons for buying them. I have a MacBook. I think it's a great computer. I like the MacBook Air, too, and I would certainly like it for the convenience. Both of them would probably satisfy my needs, but I'm staying with the MacBook simply because I don't feel the need to buy a new computer right now. If that weren't the case, I'd probably have a hard choice. I haven't seen anyone hate on the MacBooks or MacBook Pros. Perhaps you could provide some quotes? Because we'd all happily have at them, too

I don't think anyone's trying to convince themselves the other systems aren't great. But I think it's pretty silly that you think anyone buying an Air would need to do any "self-convincing" to justify their purchase. Just because you don't like a computer and it doesn't satisfy your needs doesn't mean it isn't perfect for someone else.

 

[ob81]

Uh, bad example. You are coming on the Air forum, our driveway so to speak. I don't think you have seen me on the Pro forum saying anything about my new purchase. And I've never said one negative thing about the rest of the Apple line. In fact, I agonized over the decision for quite a while, being a convert from a PC. I think they are all great computers. I just didn't need the extra power and the light-weight appealed to me. The extra bucks? Wasn't much of a factor. All Apples are over-priced anyway.

I come to the Air forums because I enjoy checking out the pictures and reading how some users came to aquire their unit.

Every Air user isn't running around the forums trying to justify their purchases. Only some.

 

[kuwisdelu]

You and your neighbor had the same car. Your neighbor purchases a new car, comes to your home and makes lame excuses why the old car was crap and the new car saved his/her life. That is what the forums are like in the Air section. Not like your example.

Oh wow. Umm... what mashoutposse said....

What if the old car was a 2-ton SUV that could carry seven people and the new car is a beautiful sportscar than 'only' seats two?

The haters all sound like the neighbor stuck with the SUV

Exactly. But it's the guy with the SUV that comes over and tells the new owner how useless his new sportscar is, when the sportscar owner is just trying to enjoy his new car and is happy about his purchase, and doesn't really care what the SUV owner thinks, but is curious why he cares so much about raining on his parade. Not to mention the sportscar owner thinks the SUV is a great car, too. In fact, he may have one himself, but he thought the sportscar would be great to drive when he doesn't need to bring around 6 passengers.

 

[mashoutposse]

I agree to an extent, but you have to admit that some Macbook air users have been praising their systems, when in fact, there are some serious flaws with it. Can't install windows on bootcamp via remote disk (learned this after purchase). Battery not operating as advertised. The battery is the KEY aspect of an ultra-portable. The list goes on. None of these are fatal of course, but when a new problem comes up, MBA owners work extra hard to act as if it doesn't affect them.

The BootCamp situation is regrettable. I always intended to purchase the SuperDrive, so this never was a factor for me. I agree that Remote Disk turned out to be a huge letdown.

Battery: I think most that are suffering through those problems are complaining and/or actively looking for a resolution. The only posts close to being defensive from what I can see are from people who are actually getting near the advertised times (I never posted about the issue, but I am getting 4.5 hours of surfing with WiFi On and 50% brightness).

The system still deserves praise. There are notable issues with both the MB (build quality) and MBP (heat), as well -- most still consider these computers to be excellent in spite of the problems.

I don't think anyone wants to change any minds here. At least that isn't my goal. I just feel a tad weird being a Mac fan right now with the way people are acting, to the point of feeling uncomfortable. My problem may be having Macrumors as my only apple community though.

Consider this: there are practically no MBA posts in the MB/MBP section. No justifications, no trolling, no nothing. It's not the MBA owners who are acting strangely...

 

[cedar]

Being a new member of the Apple family, I really feel the love. You guys make me feel right at home.

 

[mashoutposse]

Exactly. But it's the guy with the SUV that comes over and tells the new owner how useless his new sportscar is, when the sportscar owner is just trying to enjoy his new car and is happy about his purchase, and doesn't really care what the SUV owner thinks, but is curious why he cares so much about raining on his parade. Not to mention the sportscar owner thinks the SUV is a great car, too. In fact, he may have one himself, but he thought the sportscar would be great to drive when he doesn't need to bring around 6 passengers.

I like that That's on point.

 

[Average Joe]

Just my thoughts

I've had a 15 inch Powerbook for just over 3 years, and have been looking to replace it with a lighter, more portable computer. This is the first Mac I have ever owned.

I use maybe 10% of the power of this machine, and suspect that is consistent with many other folks. Certainly, if it isn't consistent with other users, I think that Apple are targeting folks who aren't real "heavy" users. I like the cool AL body, I love the ease of use, and all I use is MS Office, IM, internet and a couple of other small apps.

I have ordered myself a MacBook Air because it it light. I travel and instead of my POS Dell that my company gives me, I take my Mac. OK, so in the far reaches of the world, I need the USB ethernet adaptor, but I really don't care about the extra 2 oz.

I think that the target market for this book are the people like myself. I don't profess to be a genius. I have limited needs, but I like something cool, and something light weight.

I also spoke with my boss. A die hard PC guy who has bought his daughter a MBP (last summer) for school. He has played with this, and prefers it to PC.

The strategy has been mentioned elsewhere. Get in the hands of those who can make corporate decisions, and the Mac will start to spread throughout the corporate networks. That is where Apple will see huge growth.

Sure, my preference was a real sleek 12 inch machine with CD / DVD drive. But, thinking about it, I am really happy. I have these dreams about watching DVDs on planes.. it doesn't happen.. I work. Downloading or ripping DVDs to the hard drive isn't a big deal. If I pay a couple of $ before I get on a plane, maybe I will actually watch the movie.

Anyways, in a nutshell... I don't believe it's perfect, but its a great thing at the moment. I have NEVER swapped a battery out so I don't care about that (Airline adaptors are the way to go, and in many cases, you don't even need an adaptor these days).... its a good thing.

Mac people have a higher than average population of people who are really in to high end powerful computing... this brings it to the more typical level, I believe, where all you use are internet, MS Office and little else.

I hope the MBA does well, I hope that Apple stock does well ( I don't own any), and I hope everyone can see some good in what is happening.... don't bring Apple products and the Mac community down with pathetic bitching and moaning.

Cheers (And roll on Feb 15th when I get my MBA delivered!!!)

 

[HLdan]

I hate it. MacBook Air?Who f***ing names a notebook Air? I would have gone with MacBook Slim or Thin. Second One USB port? Is it still the 90s?

Firstly I hope you're kidding. If you're not then you're one of these or all of them:

Jealous, shortsighted, financially challenged, or stupid.

Based on your post most would know which one you are. Also FYI the AIR means totally wireless computer.

BTW speaking of the 90's your Mac in your sig isn't exactly up to date state of the art either.

 

[katejones]

I didnt see no one screaming that an asus eepc was the future. Solidstate , wireless, no drive, cheap, ultraultraportable non windows machine! they even come in pink?

 

[dsnort]

Being a new member of the Apple family, I really feel the love. You guys make me feel right at home.

LMAO

Great post cedar! Welcome to the family. Take note that it's highly dysfunctional.

 

[mashoutposse]

I didnt see no one screaming that an asus eepc was the future. Solidstate , wireless, no drive, cheap, ultraultraportable non windows machine! they even come in pink?

Have you looked at the specs?

 

[kuwisdelu]

I didnt see no one screaming that an asus eepc was the future. Solidstate , wireless, no drive, cheap, ultraultraportable non windows machine! they even come in pink?

The Eee is great for those who can work within its limitations, especially for the price, but it if there are people who don't find the Air powerful enough, just imagine what they must think of the Eee's power. Probably, the Eee isn't quite powerful enough to really come to many people's mind as a viable computer, but the same could be said of the MacBook Air by some people...well, I know I could work within the limits of the Air, even as a single computer, but I couldn't with the Eee.

 

[chutzpah]

The thing might have some user specific, case sensitive flaws, like a lack of ethernet, or too big a footprint, or number of slots, whatever. A reasonable person can understand these things and accept that the air doesn't fit their needs.

The air also has some pretty glaring, undeniable flaws that I don't think anyone can justify.

The battery is the biggest one. It's not user replaceable. You know what? Fine. That'd be great if the thing got anywhere near its advertised running time, but the fact is, it doesn't. Can anyone, anyone, here justify the fact that you will be paying 2000-3000 dollars for a computer that lasts between two and three hours? Three and a half, at most?

That's just a necessity of ultraportable computers. If you can't swap the battery out for a new one, you best be getting a decent amount of time out of the air. The fact you can't is poor engineering on apple's part, plain and simple.

 

[diabolic]

Can anyone, anyone, here justify the fact that you will be paying 2000-3000 dollars for a computer that lasts between two and three hours? Three and a half, at most?

I paid more than that for a Dell XPS that lasts about 2 hours. On the Air, I've been getting over 4 hours per charge.

 

[kuwisdelu]

The battery is the biggest one. It's not user replaceable. You know what? Fine. That'd be great if the thing got anywhere near its advertised running time, but the fact is, it doesn't. Can anyone, anyone, here justify the fact that you will be paying 2000-3000 dollars for a computer that lasts between two and three hours? Three and a half, at most?

I love how the anti-MBA movement keeps quoting these tests "proving" the MacBook Air has terrible battery life. At most three and a half hours? If you look into the battery threads here, you'll see that most Mac Rumors users have been getting that as something of a minimum (assuming you're not watching movies or something).

 

[chutzpah]

I love how the anti-MBA movement keeps quoting these tests "proving" the MacBook Air has terrible battery life. At most three and a half hours? If you look into the battery threads here, you'll see that most Mac Rumors users have been getting that as something of a minimum (assuming you're not watching movies or something).

I see a handful of people doing a bare minimum and getting about four and a half. Like, a word processor, and screen dimmed way down.

There's something to be said when every review I've read runs statistical and personal tests, only claiming a very small amount of (reasonable) usage time.

Hell, there's a poor battery life thread floating around for this.

Some people are fine with this. Is it really justifying the price though? And the tapering of the computer, couldn't the appearance of it being thinner be compromised by having a larger battery?

Nothing about this seems like a good deal, especially not this version. Maybe down the road, the air will become a more viable option, but I just can't seem to wrap my head around why and how people are justifying so many faults.

 

[kuwisdelu]

I see a handful of people doing a bare minimum and getting about four and a half. Like, a word processor, and screen dimmed way down.

There's something to be said when every review I've read runs statistical and personal tests, only claiming a very small amount of (reasonable) usage time.

Hell, there's a poor battery life thread floating around for this.

Some people are fine with this. Is it really justifying the price though? And the tapering of the computer, couldn't the appearance of it being thinner be compromised by having a larger battery?

Nothing about this seems like a good deal, especially not this version. Maybe down the road, the air will become a more viable option, but I just can't seem to wrap my head around why and how people are justifying so many faults.

The battery test that seemed to best replicate what people would actually use it for was posted somewhere on the News/Discussions forum. They ran three tests for light/med/heavy usage, and they got about 4 1/2 hours or so for the light usage, and in my opinion, it was fairly heavy light usage (i.e., speakers blasting for all four hours).

There will always be duds for every kind of spec. The MacBook Air does seem to have a few more battery duds than other Apple laptops (though I still say it seems to get closer to its estimate than other Apple laptops) but Apple will also replace them for free with a good one, if you're having trouble. Apple has also shown that there are fixes (such as the power management reset) that the correct some of the battery issues people are having. I'm not sure where the trouble is there, then, as the people without trouble are getting pretty good life, and those with trouble can get fixes/replacements with little trouble (for the most part).

If you're someone who really needs to try to "justify" the price in your mind, then you probably shouldn't be buying the MacBook Air, anyway. From the testimonials so far, it seems to me like the battery life is pretty good--not ideal, but at least as good if not better than a MacBook and blowing away the MacBook Pro's. Maybe if you were expecting a 6 or 7 hour battery life, then this is majorly disappointing, but I think anyone with a realistic expectation of battery life shouldn't find much lacking here.

If you can't find any kind of good deal here, then don't worry about it. Move on. No one's making you buy one. There are obviously other people who think it's a good deal and don't find the battery an issue.

 

[mrklaw]

The thing might have some user specific, case sensitive flaws, like a lack of ethernet, or too big a footprint, or number of slots, whatever. A reasonable person can understand these things and accept that the air doesn't fit their needs.

The air also has some pretty glaring, undeniable flaws that I don't think anyone can justify.

The battery is the biggest one. It's not user replaceable. You know what? Fine. That'd be great if the thing got anywhere near its advertised running time, but the fact is, it doesn't. Can anyone, anyone, here justify the fact that you will be paying 2000-3000 dollars for a computer that lasts between two and three hours? Three and a half, at most?

That's just a necessity of ultraportable computers. If you can't swap the battery out for a new one, you best be getting a decent amount of time out of the air. The fact you can't is poor engineering on apple's part, plain and simple.

thats a nice bait and switch. You first sooth people by agreeing that some flaws are personal and so come down to individual choice. But then you slam the battery as a massive flaw? Surely its exactly the same situation. Battery can't be replaced on the road, user decides whether thats ok? How is that different from 'no ethernet, user decides if thats ok'?

As for the battery, I've never replaced a battery in a laptop, and they've all been replaceable. I simply don't want to carry the extra weight around just in case the battery runs out. I do tend to power it from seat power on a plane, or maybe I'm lucky enough to be near power. And the compact laptops that my colleagues use (eg x60/61) have the extended battery on the back. So they aren't replacing the internal one either. I'd expect someone to come up with external packs that attach to the magsafe connector, giving you that backup power if you need it.

But it isn't really an issue to me. If it is to you, then don't buy the machine - just like all the other differences between the range - its called making an informed purchasing decision

 

[weckart]

Then why don't you back up your statements rather than just making broad generalizations based off your ill-defined personal feelings.

Beg pardon? Does the expression "physician, heal thyself!" mean anything to you. It should.

I don't see how you mean this. I thought it pretty clearly occupies the spot of Apple's ultraportable option. The MacBook is for those who want an Apple laptop, but not one quite as powerful or expensive as the MacBook Pro, and don't value the extra portability of the Air for its sacrifices; the MacBook Air is for those who are always moving around and really need the most portable option they can get, and don't mind the reduced feature set.

The whole disappointment centres around that fact that it should occupy that spot, but fails to do so. The portability aspect is compromised by its occupying the same footprint, which can only add to its fragility.

A previous poster put it most succinctly. Before the Air was launched, the forums were full of what people were looking for in an ultra portable, with some quite radical designs in amongst the more useful ideas. Nobody, but nobody was saying that they would like yet another Macbook, if only it were much thinner.

 

[stevegmu]

I think some people 'hate' the MBA, because they want it to have 1TB storage, 5 USB ports, a gaming graphix card, a DVD burner, a battery that lasts 10 hours, yet still be the same size, and cost under $1000.
Some people will never be happy with any new product.

 

[kabunaru]

I don't hate the MacBook Air. It's a nice computer and will do well for the people it's intended for.