MacBook Air

[Jugger Grimrodd]

My initial thoughts:

1. Fragile - I thought this hardware was designed with the "Road Warrior" in mind. It better be a lot sturdier than it looks before I take the plunge. I would think that it would bend under nominal pressure, say by another bag on your notebook bag.
2. USB/Video Port - Is an accident waiting to happen!
3. Looks - It looks real neat!
4. Heat - Where the hell does the heat go? I bet that it runs hot!
5. Battery - What about the battery? I didn't see a battery door! User replaceable? I think not, a la iPod.

[J Walk]

First thought: I want it.

Second thought: I need $466.94.

Seriously, though: this thing is thin. It is pretty much what I expected, except for the price. I can definitely see myself purchasing this in a few months.

[houltmac]

My initial thoughts: I'm getting one. It's just so sexy!

I am not getting one straight away though and I'll tell you why. I am dubious about the 1.8" 4200rpm drive, I just don't think it's big enough or fast enough and I have to see one in daily use before I can really be sure it's got the longevity. I would go for the solid state in a heartbeat, but it's very very small and very very expensive. I could live with this as I will discuss in a minute, but the price? I don't think I can really run to that.

The CPU isn't an upgrade from my MacBook, but for work and for general use (email, web, odd apps, most stuff) it's more than adequate. An 800MHz FSB is nice, and an upgrade to mine. The lack of optical drive will force me to finally rip my DVD's (I've been lazy) and yet the wireless option is amazing! Awesome idea.

The lack of support for FireWire et al would put me off, but I am reconsidering how I would use the machine; I think this is fine. I also really like that there is an adapter in the box again for the external video; never should have been missing. 2GB RAM is fine at the moment, although I can't see me not upgrading; again though it's all about change due to how I use it.

FileMaker over wireless isn't fun, or wasn't the last time I checked. Without Gigabit ethernet at work it's a pain, but bearable and it may have improved on our mixed network thanks to firmware updates I ran blindly. At home we also have a mixed network, but I rarely transfer over it.

All in I think I will be okay, because I am planning (at the moment, although this may change) to get a 24" iMac tomorrow with 4GB RAM. Having a desktop machine at home makes sense as it has all the power/storage ability etc. I will need for the next 12+ months. The MacBook Air however would be my add on tool. I would be a true road warrior with this and thanks to Leopard I would have even less trouble getting to the mother-ship, or to my iMac from anywhere. File transfers, remote control, it's all built in. Storage, CPU, RAM, optical... it's all there then. This would also break me out of my bad habits of using the machine in bed, but would make it easier if I wanted to.

This would be a major change for me. I have had a notebook as my primary machine for over 6 years now. That's a major change, even if 70% of my time would be on the notebook, it would still be a pen to the iMacs paper. I wouldn't be without issue; the iMac would be tied to a mixed network, using possibly the slowest ADSL in Europe, but there is nothing I can do about that.

Of course I haven't delved into what I think about features, some of the hardware, innovations, uses, prices, environmental impact... There is so much to talk about, but I guess it will have to wait for now.

[Jugger Grimrodd]

I don't think you can upgrade the RAM easily/at all. I think the RAM is soldered to the logic board.

[Yuiichi]

My initial thoughts:

This thing is awesome, I want one so bad.

My next thoughts:

How much is it, I wonder? Damn store won't load (so many people trying to pre-order).

My next next thoughts:

Oh my goodness, $1,799! I'll never be able to afford it!

I love the look of it, but Jugger raises some interesting questions, such as the battery and the heat dissipation. I personally don't care that much about the battery when I think about it, since it seems I never have a device around long enough that the battery runs into serious issues. Being made of aluminum, I'm not concerned about the durability of the device either.

I really love the things they did with multi-touch and the trackpad (something I mentioned earlier this morning when talking about the iPhone in the Macworld thread). Also, the wireless optical media software is a really great idea, although I'd want to see it in action. That said, the external optical drive is actually cheaper than I thought ($99), so it's definitely affordable.

All in all, great notebook for people that travel a lot. As predicted, it's something that I'll be drooling over but never will buy!

[Jugger Grimrodd]

I just hope that its introduction drives the price down on the plain old regular AWESOME MacBooks. I still want one of them.

[Equin]

I really want one with SSD, but they are way too overpriced here in Norway..

The price for the MBA without SSD here is about the same as MBA with SSD in the US.. If it's possible to change the keyboard I might buy one in the US just to get cheap SSD.

[Yuiichi]

@Jugger - MacBook's are actually really cheap, starting at only $1099. I don't think they'll go much lower than this.

@Equin - the SSD is $999 here :O That's cheap? I'd love to know how much it is in Norway!

[baseballboy828]

I want one, but I don't. I figure I need to buy a notebook in the next few years. But when I buy, I am shooting high and going for a 17" MBP which will end up being about $3,500. I want to replace a desktop (iMac) with a laptop. I just don't travel enough to warrant a thin notebook. Plus, I need to work on my computer. It's got to be fast enough to run Aperture and Photoshop well which a MacBook Air won't be.

[Equin]

Originally Posted by Yuiichi

@Equin - the SSD is $999 here :O That's cheap? I'd love to know how much it is in Norway!

Converted to dollars, the prices are:
Base Macbook Air - 14.290 NOK = 2676 USD ($877 more than US prices)
SSD upgrade - 7500 NOK = 1404 USD ($405 more than US prices)
Total: 21790 NOK = 4081 USD ($1283 more)