MacBook Air Disassembled

Arcygenical said:
Good point. I had forgotten about that.

But then, lower company employees, also on the same flight (who probably do more than the top official :eek:) sitting in Economy class, would be shafted.
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What company do you have to be at to not fly business class on a business trip? Unless you're the janitor I guess...
 
Crow T. Robot said:
There's nothing wrong w/ that - do what suits you. Honestly, I don't think Apple seriously expects the Air to account for a large percentage of their sales... but it IS a great marketing coup. Look how many people/sites/publications are giving Apple free press for it. That's the true genius for the Air - the return on Apple's investment is assured even if the Air only sells a small fraction of that of their other lines. You know the old adage: There is no such thing as bad publicity.

Same thing happened with the Mac mini. It isn't a powerhouse computer, but neither is it a slouch. However, the true benefit to Apple wasn't in the sales figures for the mini; rather, look at all the free press that they got from it. Suddenly, just about every manufacturer was trying to copy it for no other reason than Apple was getting so much hoopla. Face it, the mini is nothing more than a cut-and-stacked headless, keyboard-less, and mouse-less MacBook...that's not a great technological leap...but the press was invaluable.

I have a Sony Vaio VGN-TZ190N that is smaller (in most dimensions) than the Air, and it has a SSD (though it is a paltry 32GB)...but really, how much press do you hear about it? It has all of the same features as the Air, PLUS it has an optical drive and WWAN. But Sony no longer carries the same cachet as Apple and is thus less likely to be lusted over...though, in all honesty, I love everything about my Vaio other than Vista (worst stinkin' OS I have ever used) and the spongy keyboard.
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Apple having a brilliant marketing team doesn't mean every product they put out is genius. It just means they have a brilliant marketing team. The one thing that Apple is absolutely brilliant at is marketing even when their product is sub-par compared to industry standards. Sometimes they put out a really good product but like any company they also put out a lot of crap. Difference is that apple's marketing is so good they make a lot of people think their crap is brilliant.

I don't blame Apple for this. This is their job. I blame the stupid people that don't research their products before buying. Unfortunately that's the bulk of the market.
 
Ididar said:
Apple having a brilliant marketing team doesn't mean every product they put out is genius. It just means they have a brilliant marketing team. The one thing that Apple is absolutely brilliant at is marketing even when their product is sub-par compared to industry standards. Sometimes they put out a really good product but like any company they also put out a lot of crap. Difference is that apple's marketing is so good they make a lot of people think their crap is brilliant.

I don't blame Apple for this. This is their job. I blame the stupid people that don't research their products before buying. Unfortunately that's the bulk of the market.
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I think the Air might be their biggest dud since the Cube, with the difference being that this thin shape and the research going into it will actually work its way more and more into their mainstream Macbook Pro and Macbook lines. We'll see.
 
That article was an entertaining read.

This is actually quite ingenious on Apple's part. Appealing to its consumer base who would actually buy the product and boast about its size & weight. It's only after people buy the product do they realize the inconveniences it has. Plus, the user will have to buy numerous accessories and there's plenty of them who think they should buy it from the expensive Apple store.

Lets see:

USB Hub
External Dvd-rw
Mini-dvi to DVI/VGA connector(s) (ie for overhead projectors that everyone encounters for school/business) [I don't know if it comes with it; clarify for me]

Optional:
External HD because that 80gig will get filled up quickly if doing any sort of video/music
Bluetooth mouse
Etc
 
UnlimitedMP said:
That article was an entertaining read.

This is actually quite ingenious on Apple's part. Appealing to its consumer base who would actually buy the product and boast about its size & weight. It's only after people buy the product do they realize the inconveniences it has. Plus, the user will have to buy numerous accessories and there's plenty of them who think they should buy it from the expensive Apple store.

Lets see:

USB Hub
External Dvd-rw
Mini-dvi to DVI/VGA connector(s) (ie for overhead projectors that everyone encounters for school/business) [I don't know if it comes with it; clarify for me]

Optional:
External HD because that 80gig will get filled up quickly if doing any sort of video/music
Bluetooth mouse
Etc
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If you look out there you will see that even most hardcore Macheads out there are talking shit about this thing. It appeals to a very very narrow group of users, the same ones who would buy a Sony or Lenovo ultraportable. This is something I absolutely cannot relate to. The Air is priced competitively in its size/weight class but I still see no point. For much less money you can get a Macbook with the same screen and higher specs, or for a little bit more you can get a Macbook Pro with a larger screen and uber specs. Either way you are only gaining a little bit more in physical size and weight.

I travel all the time for work and the benefits of something like the Air totally escape me.
 
the only problem i have with this is that it doesn't have a CD drive. If you have to reinstall the OS then you are gonna have to pay money. While on the flip side with a more standard laptop it would take you all but a couple of hours and if you have the OS, $0 dollars. =P
 
Dude, you never have to re-install a Mac OS. They just work.
 
w1retap said:
Dude, you never have to re-install a Mac OS. They just work.
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I know you were going for a joke but no bullshit, I kept a G4 Final Cut Pro desktop that I bought back in mid-2002 (my first Mac) going without a single OS reinstall or reformat for five years, right until I gave it away to a friend last December. I didn't even reformat for the OS 10.3 and 10.4 updates, I just installed them over and it actually ran slightly snappier than before (each OS X revision so far has further optimized the kernal).

So yeah, five+ years with no OS maintenance (no defrags, no registry cleanings, no malware/virus scanning), no reformats, no reinstalls, and it ran just as well as the day that I bought it. I take awesome care of my Windows machines and I could never say that about those, pretty impressive.
 
Wheaties466 said:
the only problem i have with this is that it doesn't have a CD drive. If you have to reinstall the OS then you are gonna have to pay money. While on the flip side with a more standard laptop it would take you all but a couple of hours and if you have the OS, $0 dollars. =P
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It comes with the OS X disk. I'm not sure if you can use a networked DVD drive to make an installation but you can definitely do it with a USB DVD drive.

But yes, the lack of an optical drive is a minus for me, certainly not worth the reduction in size+hefty price tag for me.
 
I never get lucky like that with OSX. It always gives me the pinwheel of death or that black screen that says you must shut down your computer in 30 different languages. This is just from my experience using it on other people's actual macbooks at college. Everyone thinks I'm cursed because whenever I open up Safari or mouseover the dock the computer crashes. :p
 
w1retap said:
I never get lucky like that with OSX. It always gives me the pinwheel of death or that black screen that says you must shut down your computer in 30 different languages. This is just from my experience using it on other people's actual macbooks at college. Everyone thinks I'm cursed because whenever I open up Safari or mouseover the dock the computer crashes. :p
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Oof. I've only had one problem before with a Powerbook a few years back, and that was fixed by swapping out the RAM. Then again, I don't get big BSOD issues with Windows either, but I don't mess around anymore as far as overclocking or getting RAM from questionable companies. Creeping OS slowdown and bloat, especially on other peoples Windows machines, are my only real issues.
 
Serpico said:
Oof. I've only had one problem before with a Powerbook a few years back, and that was fixed by swapping out the RAM. Then again, I don't get big BSOD issues with Windows either, but I don't mess around anymore as far as overclocking or getting RAM from questionable companies. Creeping OS slowdown and bloat, especially on other peoples Windows machines, are my only real issues.
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good luck trying to swap ram on the macbook air.
 
Ok, I got a look at an Air today. While I haven't changed my mind and there is no way I would buy one over their other notebooks, I would be lying if I said that I wasn't already used to the idea of a notebook being that light and that thin after using it for a couple minutes. The Macbook Pro, one of the least bulky high end notebooks around, felt like a big fat heavy pig after playing with the Air for a few minutes. That thing weighs as much as my keyboards do.

It is also structurally solid. It is basically like having two flat pieces of computer case aluminum with a screen and a keyboard on it. Yes it is the slowest notebook in their lineup, yes I have absolutely no use for it, yes the price isn't favorable compared to a Macbok or Macbook Pro (even if it is very competitive with other ultraportables), but goddamn it is an impressive piece of engineering. Maybe it is just ahead of its time. In five years or so I'm sure that the research that went into this, as well as advances in CPU/GPU/hard drive components, will lead to a similarly sized notebook that is both faster and cheaper than what the Air is right now.
 
They've had the technology to make thin computers for quite some time, its just nobody ever did. Apple made the leap. They made many sacrifices in the hardware build aspect in order to make it that thin. It doesn't really impress me, it just leaves me feeling "meh". It's nice, but not what I'd consider practical.

- They made it thin, but it still has over a 13'' diagonal footprint.
- It is so thin, there's no doubt it can easily be damaged. Build quality may be good, but not that good.
- If there is a problem with it, forget trying to swap components. RAM and CPU are soldered all onto the mainboard.
- Battery problems also present an issue for me. Taking out over a dozen screws and dis-assembling the laptop isn't so friendly.
- Not even a thin slot loading optical drive/burner. Huge minus for people like me who like to burn data for people on the fly.
- One USB port? My dual USB external hard drive wouldn't be powered by it.
- No firewire, not even a mini S400 firewire port?
- No drive options larger than 80GB?

It would have been cool if they would have focused on something practical and rugged. I'm always in the market for an alternative to Panasonic's Toughbooks.
 
I agree with you as far as practicality goes. The only point I disagree with you on is durability, as that thing is no more fragile than any other notebook I've ever handled. I actually tried to flex, bend, and press it as it was closed and that thing is absolutely rock solid.

But if you want something more rugged than your average notebook then yes, a Toughbook is where you would want to go. Either way I wouldn't put "fragile" or "breaks easily" as a con against the Air, despite how thin it is. I'd throw it in a backpack with a bunch of other crap with no worries.
 
I'd be worried about the minuscule hinges, especially without a locking lid design. In a backpack, with that type design you get torsion between the lid section and keyboard section. Over time this could easily present a problem. I've ran into that problem before with laptops that didn't have locking lids, and they had much more robust hinges.
 
Serpico said:
What company do you have to be at to not fly business class on a business trip? Unless you're the janitor I guess...
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There are tonnes. Don't be naive. I can name a few right off hand. Mid/high level distributors for pharmaceutical companies, industrial supply companies (like paints, car products) etc.

All these people rely heavily on laptops, and I know quite a few of them that travel in economy, or carry around a few laptop batteries for an all-day portable charge.
 
w1retap said:
I'd be worried about the minuscule hinges, especially without a locking lid design. In a backpack, with that type design you get torsion between the lid section and keyboard section. Over time this could easily present a problem. I've ran into that problem before with laptops that didn't have locking lids, and they had much more robust hinges.
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Good point, I'll twist it that way again the next time I get a look at it. From what I remember I didn't see any significant displacement when I twisted the two pieces against each other, but I know what you're talking about. You should take a look for yourself.

In other news, Ars benchmarks the SSD against the standard HD: http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/macbook-air-ssd-review.ars

Conclusion: pass. Even in battery life the SSD performs worse.
 
Arcygenical said:
There are tonnes. Don't be naive. I can name a few right off hand. Mid/high level distributors for pharmaceutical companies, industrial supply companies (like paints, car products) etc.

All these people rely heavily on laptops, and I know quite a few of them that travel in economy, or carry around a few laptop batteries for an all-day portable charge.
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That sucks. I can't remember the last time I flew economy when I wasn't paying myself. Almost everyone I see in business class are other working people.
 
Yeah, I was in the Mac store this afternoon and there is just a slight bit of torsion that can occur between the two halves of the laptop. It isn't much, but over time it is enough to present a problem, especially considering how small the hinges are. I checked them out, and they are about half the diameter of a bic pen, if that. It certainly isn't something I'd spend $1600+ on.
 
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