New 11 and 13-inch Macbook Air

Sad Professor

I thought we could have some general discussion of the new Airs in here. I'm very tempted to get the 11-inch. Is anyone else considering one?

Here's a pretty cool video showing how fast the boot time is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76SSrPoJKiw

Fysh

I'm, er, "encouraging" a few people at work to get the 11" model so I can see what they're like.

Unfortunately, while they're very nice, they're both way too pricey and too locked-down at a hardware level for me. (But then this is my general issue with Apple, and is mostly down to me not being part of Apple's target audience...)

On another note - at this rate, by the time we get to the 4th or 5th iteration we might actually have a set of ports on the Air range that are comparable to what netbooks had in 2008 :P

Sad Professor

More ports would add to the thickness. I understand your issue with the lack of Ethernet, but it's not going to be a deal-breaker for most people.

Also, while it might be close, I don't think the 11-inch should be considered a netbook. It has a full-size keyboard and has a better screen, CPU, graphics card and more RAM than any netbook I've ever seen. Netbooks are really just cheap, crappy laptops for people who can't afford or aren't willing to buy something better. This is the whole problem with netbooks imo - their ultra-portability is mainly a by-product of their cheapness rather than something the manufacturers specifically set out to achieve. Same thing with these upcoming 7-inch tablets.

dubmick

I actually thought they would boot up faster! The screen would put me off as I prefer the look of the new MBP's (i.e. complete glass display)

Fysh

Sad Professor wrote: »

More ports would add to the thickness. I understand your issue with the lack of Ethernet, but it's not going to be a deal-breaker for most people.

Yeah, but let's be honest here - the thickness thing is mainly bullsh*t marketing ploy, the real clincher for people with the MBA has been the weight and form-factor. I'm loathe to believe that the extra couple of mm involved in providing a 3rd USB port and/or an on-board ethernet port would be so problematic, or that there are tens of thousands of people out there refusing to buy it based on thickness alone.

Frankly, given the average consumer's understanding of technology, I couldn't give a mousefart whether they consider it a deal-breaker. The fact that someone who doesn't understand why something would be useful and therefore isn't worried about its absence doesn't make that absence any less stupid. Though of course, Apple's beancounters will be delighted, since it means an extra £20-odd since they'll sell the Apple-approved USB ethernet adapter (which makes me laugh, since you can buy a third-party one for a fiver easily enough...)

Sad Professor wrote: »

Also, while it might be close, I don't think the 11-inch should be considered a netbook. It has a full-size keyboard and has a better screen, CPU, graphics card and more RAM than any netbook I've ever seen. Netbooks are really just cheap, crappy laptops for people who can't afford or aren't willing to buy something better. This is the whole problem with netbooks imo - their ultra-portability is mainly a by-product of their cheapness rather than something the manufacturers specifically set out to achieve. Same thing with these upcoming 7-inch tablets.

I'm not saying it is a netbook - frankly, I'm delighted that someone's putting out a machine with a reasonable spec at the 12" form factor, particularly with the emphasis on weight. I'm just not convinced that the saving of 5mm in the thickness was worth giving up the comparatively little space that a 3rd USB port, onboard ethernet and maybe SD/MMC card-reader would've taken up.

I mention netbooks only because the £200-odd netbook I bought damn near 3 years ago had all of the above, so it baffles me that a piece of kit costing around 5 times as much (and that's at educational-discount prices) doesn't have them - but will offer me premioum-gouging-rate USB dongles to do the job instead.

Bonavox

Considering the 11" one myself. My main concern would be the keyboard; it's obviously not going to be as big as the current MacBook ones, and I'm wondering if that would take away from the typing experience. Never used a netbook extensively so can't say I've used smaller than a standard keyboard before.

Lack of Ethernet is definitely a letdown for me, but it won't really affect my decision as it's a minimal setback.

Lu Tze

Sad Professor wrote: »

More ports would add to the thickness. I understand your issue with the lack of Ethernet, but it's not going to be a deal-breaker for most people.

Also, while it might be close, I don't think the 11-inch should be considered a netbook. It has a full-size keyboard and has a better screen, CPU, graphics card and more RAM than any netbook I've ever seen. Netbooks are really just cheap, crappy laptops for people who can't afford or aren't willing to buy something better. This is the whole problem with netbooks imo - their ultra-portability is mainly a by-product of their cheapness rather than something the manufacturers specifically set out to achieve. Same thing with these upcoming 7-inch tablets.

What price is it going for? Does it have an SSD? My toshiba (Satelite T115) is about the same spec, 11inch screen, CULV processor (older generation), 2gb of DDR3 etc. It comes into the price bracket above a netbook. Can run autocad (2d only) and GTA Vice city which is a nice bonus . Also build quality is excellent (ive dropped this thing a couple of times - its doing fine though it chipped the paint on one of the impacts)

Got it $450 in the states.Was going here for about the same in euros. If the price is a grand sterling (or even euro) as intimated by fysh i guess it is more a question of how much you want to pay for OSx and arguably better build quality (and less connections of course)

Fysh

Lu Tze wrote: »

Got it $450 in the states.Was going here for about the same in euros. If the price is a grand sterling (or even euro) as intimated by fysh i guess it is more a question of how much you want to pay for OSx and arguably better build quality (and less connections of course)

At retail the cheapest version of the new Air (2GB RAM, 64GB SSD, no USB Ethernet, no USB Superdrive, no AppleCare, no MiniDisplayPort adapters) is £850, so will presumably be around the €900 mark.

The thing is, if you're already going to drop that much on a laptop, you may as well spend more and make it better. If you go for the 128GB SSD model, you can upgrade to a 1.6GHz processor - this, along with the RAM uplift, AppleCare and Superdrive, are all things that everyone should at least consider.

Yes, it's pricey, but if you really want affordable computing Apple's the wrong vendor to be looking at in the first place. I always make people get the USB ethernet and minidisplayport-VGA adapter because you never know when you'll want/need 'em.

The problem is, the top config of the 11" MacBook at retail pricing is just shy of £1500. Cheaper if you get educational discounts, but still not cheap by any stretch of the imagination...and don't forget that Toshiba are one of those companies that will offer on-site NBD warranties for at least some of their laptops, whereas all Apple laptops have to go to either an Apple Store or an authorised repair centre if you have hardware issues. Given my experience with one of Apple's bigger authorised repair centres in London, I wouldn't go near 'em if it can be avoided, but that's probably the case for most 3d party repair centres.

Sad Professor

Bonavox wrote: »

Considering the 11" one myself. My main concern would be the keyboard; it's obviously not going to be as big as the current MacBook ones, and I'm wondering if that would take away from the typing experience. Never used a netbook extensively so can't say I've used smaller than a standard keyboard before.

It's got a full-size keyboard, same as on the Macbook Pro. Only difference are the function keys which are half size.

Idleater

Sad Professor wrote: »

Here's a pretty cool video showing how fast the boot time is:

Good illustration of the advantages of the SSD drive there at the end. Probably aim for one of them in a mbp at the moment, but I like what they've done with the air.

Dman001

It's frustrating hearing all of the Hands on reviews comparing the 11" Air to Netbooks. It will be interesting to see if the Air will have any affect on the Plasticbook sales now that they are the same price.

After a year with a Netbook, I love the portability but hate the performance and Windows so the 11" Air is looking very tempting.

Dman001

Found this around Seriously though, since when did small screen and no optical drive = Netbook?

jamieh

Have one reserved in Compu B in Cork ....picking up in an hour.

Am I really going ahead with this one!?

Spipov

compub have it?they said up here in dublin on thursday was going to be a week before they got it. annoying!


went to belfast today and picked up a 13.3 138gb 2gb one. havent opened it yet

jamieh

Spipov wrote: »

compub have it?they said up here in dublin on thursday was going to be a week before they got it. annoying!


went to belfast today and picked up a 13.3 138gb 2gb one. havent opened it yet

Yeah - I was surprised they had them too!

Just it at the mo - love it! The weight and size is amazing!

Let me know what u think!

Dman001

Spipov wrote: »

compub have it?they said up here in dublin on thursday was going to be a week before they got it. annoying!


went to belfast today and picked up a 13.3 138gb 2gb one. havent opened it yet

I'd love to see a few pics and your thoughts on it Jamieh if you get a chance.

Edit: Sorry meant Spipov, but if you got one Jamieh I'd love to know your thoughts on it.

Spipov

small box, very small box, ud think it was the apple keyboard in it. has the usual:

left compartment: power cord and another plug,

middle top: macbook air in plastic

underneath: magsage 45w
user manual, service guarantee, 2 stickers and the usb software reinstall with ilife 11 included.



it feels blockier than the previous macbook air, less of a toy, its still as thin and i like it more.

important thing to note: u can use any magsafe now, not just the macbook air, the port is not at an angle anymore!

2 usbs, mini display port and sd card slot. thats about it


opening it: same as the previous macbook air, but the screen has black lines around it, making it look different.


turning it on first time: pretty fast setting up mac os x 10.6, screen is absolutely gorgeous, no 2 ways about it. macbook pro looks faded compared to this. too bad no backlit keyboard


now to start installing my stuff

jamieh

Here's a few pics for ye lads....

Oafley Jones

Bezel looks huge on the 11inch, would like to have seen them try and fit in a slightly bigger screen in that enclosure.

MartMax

nice jamieh. the style matches the kitchen appliance too

still considering the 13" version, if me getting it i'd be from the state or asia, will save few bobs!

dubmick

I'm more impressed with the kitchen

Dman001

How does the Air handle HD videos? Would you be able to try out a 1080p Trailer from here:
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/summit/red/
Cheers.

jamieh

dubmick wrote: »

I'm more impressed with the kitchen

Cheers Mick!

Dman001 wrote: »

How does the Air handle HD videos? Would you be able to try out a 1080p Trailer from here:
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/summit/red/
Cheers.

Hey man,

Just tested it for you. 1080p worked fine.

I tried a few 1080p mkv files aswell and they played no problem!

Dman001

jamieh wrote: »

Cheers Mick!



Hey man,

Just tested it for you. 1080p worked fine.

I tried a few 1080p mkv files aswell and they played no problem!

Lovely, cheers man. Impressive that the 11" can handle it.