Apple MacBook Air Announced at MacWorld '08

[cy007]

Wow, I've got to say... I like. At $1899 it really isn't that bad of a deal considering it's portability and uber-cool factor. Meh guess what though, it's more than double the price of my current laptop (Turion X2 TL-58 Extensa 5420).

[skywalker]

Another version of EEEPC

I dont think so.. as they are very different market segment. EEE comes with underpowered components which isnt suitable for heavy apps. This MBA could run demanding applications quite well also the price for MBA can be considered very expensive for some people.

Personally, I'd love its name is Mac AirBook.....

[Jerry Jackson]

I dont think so.. as they are very different market segment. EEE comes with underpowered components which isnt suitable for heavy apps. This MBA could run demanding applications quite well also the price for MBA can be considered very expensive for some people.

Personally, I'd love its name is Mac AirBook.....

Per my earlier post in this thread, comparing the Eee PC and the MBA is like comparing apples to oranges. That said, I think you are underestimating the Eee PC when you claim it "comes with underpowered components" which aren't "suitable for heavy apps." The 900MHz Intel processor in the Eee PC, when clocked at the full 900MHz (the latest Eee PC BIOS lets you select 630MHz or 900MHz mode) is plenty powerful. I have the Eee PC in 900MHz mode all the time running XP SP2 and I even ran Adobe Photoshop CS2 on it for a few weeks. The only reason I stopped using CS2 on then Eee PC is because I rarely connect it to an external monitor and it's annoying trying to edit in CS2 using the 800x480 screen resolution. Now I just use my Eee PC for web browsing, travel work, travel gaming (HALO and Far Cry run great on the Eee PC), and watching digital movie files.

In fact, the performance of the flash-based drive (poor man's SSD) on the Eee PC is actually FASTER than the 4200rpm hard drive that comes in the base-level MacBook Air.

Sure, there's going to be some apps that the MBA can run that the Eee PC can't ... but they're both underpowered notebooks with integrated graphics.

Again, I'm absolutely NOT saying that the Eee PC is a direct competitor to the MBA. Just don't suggest the Eee PC can't run most of the same apps that the MBA can run (OS-specific apps not included).

[Comfortablynumb]

I really like it, and so will a host of apple users that need something to use between home and work.

OS X and that size and style, there's nothing that compares to it on the market atm.

[skywalker]

Per my earlier post in this thread, comparing the Eee PC and the MBA is like comparing apples to oranges. That said, I think you are underestimating the Eee PC when you claim it "comes with underpowered components" which aren't "suitable for heavy apps." The 900MHz Intel processor in the Eee PC, when clocked at the full 900MHz (the latest Eee PC BIOS lets you select 630MHz or 900MHz mode) is plenty powerful. I have the Eee PC in 900MHz mode all the time running XP SP2 and I even ran Adobe Photoshop CS2 on it for a few weeks. The only reason I stopped using CS2 on then Eee PC is because I rarely connect it to an external monitor and it's annoying trying to edit in CS2 using the 800x480 screen resolution. Now I just use my Eee PC for web browsing, travel work, travel gaming (HALO and Far Cry run great on the Eee PC), and watching digital movie files.

Oh my bad, I dont read the entire thread. I'm totally agree with you not to comparing the EEE and the MBA,but some people do that though..
Woow..I amazed that HALO and FarCry can run on the EEE...

[ez2remember]

Love it or hate it, the fact that so many people are reading and replying to this thread suggest no matter what Apple do they generate enough publicity or interest?

CES on the other hand...

[Jerry Jackson]

Woow..I amazed that HALO and FarCry can run on the EEE...

Far Cry runs fairly easily once your set the Eee to run at 900MHz in the BIOS and install FC on either the SSD or SDHC card. HALO takes a bit of work ... I use an app called 3Danalyze which disables one of the background settings in HALO that causes it not to run correctly on the Eee PC. Once you do that HALO runs as well on my Eee PC as it does on my old desktop with an old graphics card (and it looks great ... for HALO).

There's actually a ton of discussion over at Eeeuser.com about how you can run various apps and games on the Eee PC. I've only tried a handful of games, but I've been impressed by all the games that people have managed to play on the Eee PC.

Which, back to the original topic, makes me feel like the MBA should still manage some impressive performance. I just can't get over how the MBA has a built-in/sealed battery, a sealed HD, sealed RAM, and only one USB port.

[havoc531]

No user upgradability... even with the unremarkable hardware.

A single USB slot

80gb or less of storage space


So, whats so great about the Air? Oh right, its .25 inch thinner than _____.
The 'novelty' segment notebooks (UMPC to name one) have seen limited success. To get one thing straight, I dont have any aversion to Apple computers. The current Macbooks are beautiful pieces of hardware... but the Air is a mundane laptop.

[a6snoil]

MacBook Air. Air.

If the machine is MacBook Air, why have a wired USB DVD drive?

Why not do something with that potent 802.11n. Build a WiFi 802.11n DVD drive and debut it alongside the MBA?

Or use wireless USB.

Use any wireless technology with remote wake so your DVD drive could be left in overhead space, under the seat in front of you or in your backpack.

One external apparatus is too many, but at least come up with something better than an external, wired USB drive.


W

[smagdy]

I think it is as simple as this:

If they put
- 2 USB ports
- Slim DVD drive
- Replaceable battery
- etc...

Then they can say goodbye to the MacBook and maybe small percentage of MacBook Pro so, it will be more money for Apple to sell 3 different products instead of 2.. So they had to make the new one (MBA) totally different than the other 2 products.

But also MBA design wise is PERFECT, so whats missing as you are all saying is fitting in more stuff.. so I think this is what they will be doing now and as he said "That was just in the first 2 weeks, and we have 50 more weeks to go"...

or what do you think?