Macbook Air - yay! or nay?

[Treamcaster]

The system seems to be pretty fast due to its flash memory ssd, no joke.
Also, the graphics card is decent too for a laptop, a 320m nvidia gforce that is.
CPU wise might not be that great of a deal, considering there are core i5 PCs much cheaper than that but ya know... Steve Jobs can't give you all, mac air is ultra light, quiet, cool (yeah, I mean it doesn't heat at all!!) and pretty fashionable as well.

But in the other hand... the ipad 2 is around the corner, which will be possibly cheaper, w/ touchscreen, usb, and all the other fun...

What do you guys think?:confused: Any MAC users here btw? I'm bored of having more than 3 virus solutions on my PCs and still have to deal with crap once in a while. I guess OS X would be less of a pain... am I wrong?

[BM-Viper]

I've used macs for years now and have found them to let me do what I need them to. Also, the intel macs will run windows or any other x86 OS if you need to for a specific app, or for gaming.

[Treamcaster]

I've used macs for years now and have found them to let me do what I need them to. Also, the intel macs will run windows or any other x86 OS if you need to for a specific app, or for gaming.

Tell me about you experience with errors/ crashes/ virus?

[Eviltaco64]

If you're only thinking of getting a Mac to avoid viruses, then you might as well not get one at all. The only true difference between a Mac and a PC of these days is that PCs are more easily upgradable and much less difficult to work on... Oh, and the price tag.

I run Symantec Antivirus Corporate as well as Sandboxie (which is a pretty ingenious program) on both my Thinkpad T43p and my Dell Precision 390 (Win XP and 7 x64, respectively). Ever since I started running my web browsers sandboxed, I haven't had a single virus.

I've run into viruses, of course, but they get trapped in the Sandbox and are easily deleted. I strongly recommend it. ;)

[swcdx]

I run a macbook air, the maxed out 2008 one. I love it.

I have no interest in upgrading, since the newest revision has essentially the same CPU.

So, I do intend to get a new macbook air at some point, perhaps even the smaller 11" one, I intend to wait until rev.B or so until I get it. That way I can get 3 or more years out of this one and get a newer one that has more modern hardware.

ALSO, very unhappy about dropping backlit keyboard, but that goes without saying. That is really, really lame.

[ASSEMbler]

If you value fashion over performance sure

[Borman]

Got a 11 inch Macbook Air to replace my old Macbook Pro that fell apart after 4+ years of loyal service, and Im loving it. Its not a speed demon by any means, but I have a Mac Pro for that. Its a speedy system, plenty of screen space, full size keyboard, and awesome battery life.

My experiences on OSX have been great, with very few crashes apart from some third party software that bugged out at some point (maybe HP printer drivers, which wouldn't surprise me). Never had any issues, compared to Windows which never seems to quite do what I want it to, when I want it to do it. NEVER had a virus, because they simply arent there. There were a few pirated programs out there that required you to type in your admin password that carried some sort of bug, but thats not a virus. Not to say OSX is more secure, because to be honest, its really not, but people don't aim for it.

Even still, I use Windows 7 on here no problem so I can use UDK.

[BM-Viper]

Tell me about you experience with errors/ crashes/ virus?

As far as viruses, there aren't any; at least not in the wild really. There have been a few trojans here and there, but nothing like on the scale of Windows machines. Crashes as well are few and far between, at least as far as crashes requiring me to restart. Generally I only restart to apply updates.

What I've found with macs, is that even on a brand new mac, it's ready for me to use it. I don't have to spend time getting the computer functional. Don't have to worry about removing crapware and such, though if I did want to remove the built-in software, for the most part it's as easy as deleting the app from my /Applications folder.

There are certainly some downsides as well. You're going to be paying extra for a mac. Since you're looking at the Air, well obviously upgradability is not an issue, as you simply cannot do it. However, with the other laptop models, common upgrades are just as easy on most pc laptops. Due to the expense and lack of user serviceable parts on the Air, I do recommend you get AppleCare with it. It is an extra cost, but can be really helpful, and save money should you have trouble in the future. It's very nice being able to go to an Apple store, describe your problem and have it fixed and returned to you.

I would recommend that you actually go to a store that carries them and try it out for a while. It will take some re-learning to get up to speed on the mac, as many thing do work differently. Also, you can make sure it'll actually work for what you need it to do. If size isn't your primary concern, you may want to look at the refurbished mac laptops on store.apple.com. It can save you a lot of money, and you still get the same service and warranty that you would from buying brand new.

[Yakumo]

Basically if you are a Apple fanboy then yes otherwise why would you want one? Way over priced for the hardware you get plus you can't upgrade it. You'd be much better off buying a PC.

[Cyantist]

How do you guys get around the lack of a disc drive? It was appealing until I had a hands on with one and found out there was no Disc drive. I'd also assume due to the thinness it isnt very Hard wearing.

[Serantes]

i am mac user, and i love it, but i would never purchase this macbook air, to my eyes it makes no sense, same thing goes to the ipad, nonsense piece of crap

[Treamcaster]

I'm mainly looking for a friendly-user portable machine, as I already got the so called "ultimate rig" aka overclocked i7 at home.

From the beginning of January I'll be leaving home, so I'll only be able to use the rig on the weekends, meaning I will need something else for the go between the travels and so on.
As my laptop is always fucked up (I'm currently facing a BSOD and windows 7 restores just won't fix it, grr.. gotta make a backup of the hdd to my desktop pc.. ».») and its battery doesn't charge anymore, I think it's better to think about goin Mac for portability, as my primary use will be web browsing, document processing/ reading.

Hmm.. I'm afraid I can't check out the refurbished macs on here, since the only macstore we got in the country is far from where I live and it just opened last month!...

Oh, and yeah swcdx, dropping the backlit on the keyboard was pure BS.

[Cyantist]

Where can I get older macs for cheap? Powermac G3 and such. eBay is the usual OMG ITS OLD LIST IT FOR LOADS!!!

[Treamcaster]

How do you guys get around the lack of a disc drive?

http://davidtse916.wordpress.com/200...e-to-your-mac/

Buy yourself an external hdd and your set to go.

Edit:

swcdx, can you run psx emulation on your macbook air, with stable FPS?

[Twimfy]

I'm a Mac user and I can't see the point of this new air. Lack of a CD drive doesn't bother me (I currently use a hacked Samsung N110 as my Macbook air) but what would piss me off is the lack of HD space these SSD's provide.

[Alchy]

Every encounter with Macs (and their prices) has convinced me they're primarily for people who value form as much as function. On that level, Macs are in a class of their own.

Personally I'd go for a much more capable laptop for the same price; the price/performance ratio is more important to me than looks. YMMV.

[Borman]

Basically if you are a Apple fanboy then yes otherwise why would you want one? Way over priced for the hardware you get plus you can't upgrade it. You'd be much better off buying a PC.

Because its quality hardware and not a hunk of plastic? Because it isnt Windows? Its one of, if not the, thinnest laptops around?

All of these things matter to me as a soon-to-be graduate student.

How do you guys get around the lack of a disc drive? It was appealing until I had a hands on with one and found out there was no Disc drive. I'd also assume due to the thinness it isnt very Hard wearing.

USB harddrive if you need the space, otherwise, why would I need an actual optical disk drive? I don't buy CDs, I don't buy DVDs, what else do I need?

Space wise, 128gb is PLENTY for day to day activities. When I need the space, Im usually at home, therefore my 2tb external drive does its job just fine. I dont need gigabytes upon gigabytes of movies or music or my personal photo collection at all times.

Did I mention how small it is? Over the course of a 12 hour + day, the weight makes a difference. So does the 5+ hour battery life. Sure, I could get that in a netbook, but then its slow, cluncky, tiny keyboard, and just terrible quality.

Im more than happy to pay the premium that a Mac requires. That is, if you only consider specs, which are still fine, not that youll find something with the quality or footprint that an Air offers elsewhere. It'll last me at least 4 years, assuming no one drops energy drink on it like my old one it may even last longer. It's nice having a computer be just as fast 4 years from now as it is now. WITHOUT reinstalling an OS

Edit : And as a note, Ive tried N64 emulation on here, and it runs great. Full screen native res with some AA and AF to boot.

[Trenton_net]

In my humble opinion, people overlook Linux way too much. Ubuntu is just as friendly a distribution as anything other OS's have to offer (I mean, kids in Africa can use it) and because of the open source nature of Linux, viruses and malware is is virtually non-existent. Not only that, because the community is so large you're always going to find someone with the same hardware you have trying to do something your trying to do.

I think the stigma that Linux is difficult to use is something people need to come to grips with. I agree some distro's arn't for the light-hearted but I certainly think ones like Ubuntu are well within the common desktop users grasp.

[Treamcaster]

I agree with Borman.

But I also understand what you guys are saying. I've been a Win user since 95, I'm all attached to it as many of you are, and also very skeptical to changing into a mac (even being just for a secondary machine use), but we can't forget its QUALITY build.
Honestly, plastic laptops are getting chunky and overheat so badly, not to mention the noise they make. We need PORTABILITY, EFFICIENCY and STABILITY on the GO. The new SSD are amazingly FAST. Sure you could buy a laptop running core i7 for that price, but then again, what are you looking for on a laptop?

It all depends on people needs! Those who already have a great desktop at home, won't probably need an overweight ambulant gaming rig everywhere.
OS X takes about 15 secs or less to boot up on these machines... the system runs SILENTLY, NO HEAT at all... great touchpad... it's all about it. Wanna travel with it without worrying about killing the battery so fast? Go ahead, with he macbook air, its DURABILITY is assured, meaning you can leave the machine on standby mode for up to 30 freckin days!

[Alchy]

Wait, did you just copy and paste that from an advert?