Thoughts on MacBook Air

[drewan]

Why I won't be getting one:

• Comes in 1.6 GHz or 1.8 GHz options. (A bit slower than the current MacBook Pros)
• No firewire, which means no connecting it to a DV camera for transferring video, and not connecting it to external firewire drives which have a more constant data stream, which is preferable for video editing
• I don't know what kind of video processor it has. Will it run Final Cut and Motion okay?

If I weren't also occasionally using my MacBook Pro for video editing, this would be a great choice. The weight (3 lbs) is great, though when I look up my current laptops weight I realize there is only a 2.4 pound difference. You'd think that wouldn't matter, but it does.

If you are just doing non-graphic intensive activities, like writing, light image editing, and internet stuff, then this would be a sweet machine!

Oh, and of course, it's still an Intel machine, so it will be able to run Windows. So this will be a sweet little dual boot machine.

I'm looking forward to seeing one of these in person. I wonder if they'll ever make a MacBook Pro Air.

Edit... Yeah yeah... I spelled boot as boat. Big deal. Fixed now.

Comments

[lsanderson.livejournal.com]

WoW! Does it come with oars? Or inboard/outboard? ;-)

[daedala.livejournal.com]

I had similar thoughts.

I want a dual boat!

MacBook Air

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

It's nice, though. And I like the idea of a solid state drive.

B

Re: MacBook Air

[michaellee.livejournal.com]

The solid state drive nearly doubles the price of it though, which would make it pretty pricey.

Re: MacBook Air

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Ah.

That is expensive.

B

Re: MacBook Air

[michaellee.livejournal.com]

Though I'm sure that's the sort of thing that has an expensive first release and will eventually drop in price in a couple of years.

Re: MacBook Air

[lsanderson.livejournal.com]

You can buy them solid state drives for anything these days. Cheap, however, they are not.

[michaellee.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure how well it'd work as a dual boot system -- both because you would chew through much of the small hard drive (80GB is a small drive, who would have thought) -- but also you would probably need the expansion DVD drive more.

There are certainly cases where I can see that they'd be very useful -- but I think if you're looking at a dual boot laptop, or have really intensive processing needs (ie, video), something like a MacBook Pro is still the way to go.

It's a nice machine, if how you use a laptop matches up really well with the specifications.

[433.livejournal.com]

It's an iPod with a larger screen and a keyboard, really.

I like the lower price on Apple TV and the iTunes movie rentals.

[cowslayer.livejournal.com]

This is the graphics card:
Intel GMA X3100 graphics processor with 144MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory

Same as Macbook. I am incredibly tempted to get it but I keep hearing the "never the first generation" mantra. Temptation might be too great.

[jpeace.livejournal.com]

Correct. It's got the same integrated video chipset as the latest Macbooks. Final Cut and Motion will sulk and refuse to install on the Air. That plus the lack of Firewire makes it unsuitable for this type of professional use.