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I switched to Mac with the advent of the Mac Mini. We’ve followed the same pattern from the beginning. We buy a desktop and then the notebook most similar in specs and performance to the desktop. After the Mac Mini, we added an iBook (currently on Ebay). Before we started GeekBrief.TV, we got an iMac G5. The notebook we paired with the iMac was a MacBook. When we went pro with the podcast, we went pro with the Mac Pro. We added to that a MacBook Pro and then another. The MacBook Air was the first Mac that’s come out that dosn’t fit our growth pattern. It’s the first Mac since we switched that I can easily live without, so I didn’t plan to do a review.
My friend, Mark Taylor (taylormark.com) bought one and dedicated it to our Big Trip fundraising effort, so I’ve played with it for three days, reviewed it and put it on Ebay.
Most people I’m around are always looking for more power in a computer. We want fast hard drives, fast processors and fast RAM. We’ll sacrifice our desire to have a notebook that runs cool, and I’ll live with the machine being heavy. Not everyone shares the mission of a power user, and it is those people that will get the most out of a MacBook Air.
It’s the ultimate writer’s computer. It’s size doesn’t compromise it’s quality. It’s solid and well balanced. It doesn’t want to fall or lean in any direction. It is perfect for online activity and really any job where the primary requirement is the production or consumption of text and pictures. It isn’t good for video and I really don’t believe Apple meant it to be. I could watch video in iTunes, some HD videos I tried downloading to watch in Quicktime just gave me a spinning beach ball. I also wasn’t able to watch a remote DVD in another machine with out getting a beach ball.
The MacBook Air is like a conceptual design brought to market. Apple made something that most companies would only design to suggest what a machine might be like sometime in the future. That’s one of the reasons I’m such an Apple fan.
The MacBook Air isn’t for me or anyone who aims to produce video, but for anyone else looking for portability, it’s definitely worth a look.
OH!!! And we know we got the show number wrong!
Use promo code “CALI” to save $50 off a Drobo at DroboStore.com. Details are here.
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March 1st, 2008 at 4:44 pm
okay so we get two briefs 320 and not one 320 and one 321 cool with me.
March 1st, 2008 at 4:44 pm
“oh no!. oh no!” It took me three watches to hear that you weren’t doing a poodle imitation :) Neal, the camera angles changing was great. It felt like a “new age” news broadcast. -Chris
March 1st, 2008 at 4:45 pm
LOL! At least we realized it before posting! :)
March 1st, 2008 at 4:57 pm
The upgraded MacBooks don’t come with the Apple Remote which I think takes away from the Apple experience. The remote was just one of those things that made me go AWESOME when I got my first Mac. Sure, you can pay an extra $19 and get the remote but I don’t think I would have. I love the Apple Remote, it’s a pity so many new Mac users are going to miss the extra awesomeness.
March 1st, 2008 at 6:31 pm
I think the drobo is neat in the way it automates RAID arrays and keeps a safe secure backup, but I just felt compelled to mention that you don’t necessarily need drivers for NAS storage either. Also NAS is significantly more cost effective – you can get a netgear nas unit for 35 bucks vs. 450 for a drobo with to your promo code. Just a point worth noting.
March 1st, 2008 at 8:12 pm
I think you could have delved a little deeper into daily use for your review, altho, only having it a few days is kinda difficult to do, heh.
Nabir, the remote seems like such a niche product. It’s neat as hell, but.. why would I use it? Are you a presenter? If so, RF would work worlds better, because you never know your setup. If you like to watch movies… unless you have your notebook hooked up to a tv, which I’ve never seen people do. And the few who do on tech forums don’t count, they probably do 100 things not many would at all.
Sure, there is the nifty thing of changing music from across the room, but again, RF works SO much better for that, and even still, why do I want to carry another device around?
As for the drobo… I’m beginning to wish I had one, but it’d have to work w/ Time Machine+airport extreme (not time capsule, too much money). My Freenas box is great, but it’s been a pain to set up. But then again, it cost me nothing to slap together old parts :) Still, not for the faint of heart…
March 2nd, 2008 at 1:26 am
Interesting doing the multi angle camera work but the first cut where Cali is talking to us didn’t work. Cali is a very engaging person and when she is talking directly to us she has my complete attention. When you cut to the side and she’s talking to the other camera it feels like she’s not talking to “us” anymore, she’s talking to someone else. I felt this was a big problem with Tetra as well because it breaks the engagement with the audience.
The second cut worked because Cali has turned away from us and it was a better angle to see her turn on the Macs.
Sorry to nit pick. Loved watching all the Macs come up at once.
March 2nd, 2008 at 3:35 am
I would say the air is okay for viewing photos, but for editing them it’s really lacking. A student’s computer it is not either, with the lack of ports, especially ethernet, and lack of cd/dvd drive, a student could find themselves in a predicament. I’ll stand by the reviewers who say the air is an interesting add on computer to what you have, but you just can’t have it as the only machine in the house.
I would also say there is no way this is a machine of the future, designs like this aren’t new. It’s just a rehashed design with missing features. Now a multitouch tablet, that I would have agreed with in being a nice machine of the future.
March 2nd, 2008 at 3:45 am
@Linh:
Wouldn’t you agree the Apple experience is about the little things? It’s MagSafe, it’s the charge level indicator LEDs, it’s the ambient light sensor, it’s the car-style CD/DVD slot. It’s the tiniest things nobody needs but everybody loves.
You can call them niche products if you want but I believe it’s exactly these niche products that make Apple Apple.
I use the Apple Remote just like you described. I watch movies, I hook my notebook up to a TV and I change music from across the room. Front Row without the remote is like a car without tires. All of my PC friends always admire the Apple remote. MagSafe and Apple Remote are the two things my friends wish their Acer had.
March 2nd, 2008 at 1:52 pm
I feel like I want to want the Air, but I know I’d just run into too many walls with it (probably figuratively and literally!). Cali, I think you really nailed it when you said this is a concept computer gone to production. Concept things don’t usually go to production because some factor (usually expense) makes it unfeasible. That’s somewhat the case here: It’s quite pricey for what it is. But I think a major appeal is that we look at that small, light package and imagine how great it would be if it could keep those physical specs and somehow do everything we want a computer to do.
March 3rd, 2008 at 2:14 pm
@Nabir
I would say Apple is more of a total experience, that does get a lot of shining points from the little things.
But even with that said, I know a lot of people who are impressed by front row, but in long term use, would they be that impressed? I thought it was damn neat, but I sit right in front of my iMac. It just seems like an extra step to get to my videos/music.
The Apple TV is a perfect example of where it fits the most IMO. Again, from my experience, I don’t see many people that stick their laptop to their TV.
I’m not saying it’s bad, but I see Apple’s decision as expected, and understandable.
March 3rd, 2008 at 3:43 pm
The Air is perfect for me, a writer, who wanted something light and easy to use on the MAX train. Plus, it does not get at hot on my lap as my Macbook Pro.
March 4th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
This use to be the best podcast that I found on the web. I was fast and loads of info about all this new stuff. But it is now regularly one product in a program, and the speed is gone…
I still get the program, but I am thinking about not getting it any more. I loved the program but sorry to say, it has lost its charm.
March 5th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
I’m only 14.
I’m getting a mac next year – as i live in england they are £400 cheaper in the US.
i’m thinking of a macbook air.
whats the battery life REALLY on it, because I know they say 5 hours, but I’ve read reviews saying its no where near that?
thanks,
George.
March 5th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
Can you get someone with better looking and wear sexier clothes to be more interesting. (no affence)
thanks