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In-Depth Review of the MacBook Air With Photos

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the long-road-ahead dept.

Engadget has the first really in-depth review of the MacBook Air that I have seen with plenty of great photos and specifics. They do a great job of highlighting the highs and the lows with plenty of concrete examples to back their claims up. It seems that while the MacBook Air is a great step towards ultra-portable computing, overall the pricepoint is just too high. Which is not surprising from a new Apple gadget I guess.

17 of 244 comments (clear)

  1. FUCK APPLE. Give me 10.5.2 already. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Quit wanking us with little developer seed scraps. 10.5.0/1 are Windows ME-like in their astounding shittiness.

  2. It's Like Apple Is Mocking Its Fans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    The MacBook Air is like those albums artists or groups put out when they start to feel contempt for their fans with a "Hell, they'll buy any crap we put out".

    It is painful to watch these diehard Apple fans flailing around in web forums trying convince the rest of the computing world that this massively overpriced, under featured, and pointless product is 'teh best thing in the world'.

    1. Re:It's Like Apple Is Mocking Its Fans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

      You are wasting your time. Slashdot jumped the shark for Apple a long time ago. They (Apple) could put out the shittiest piece of kit in the world and the fanbois would drool over it like it was the second coming.

  3. Marking me a troll doesn't change the fact... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    that my WI-FI connection fucking dropped out again immediately after making that post. The only remedy is to reboot the damned computer. 10.5.0/1 is a downgrade. Apple got me to pay them for a fucking downgrade. Good work, bitches!!!

    1. Re:Marking me a troll doesn't change the fact... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

      When making a purchasing decision, it helps to have ALL the facts. The fucking box didn't say that Wi-Fi would drop out and that I'd be rebooting my MBP all the time just to stay online. Fuck you, pussy.

  4. Re:Worth reading if you still care by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    - Can't have MagSafe AC adapter plugged in on a table, because the connector points down.

      - Recessed USB port means that you need a "slim" device to make it in, so start carrying around a mini-USB extension cable.

      - Recessed audio jack means partial plugins and that startling "buzz" when ungrounded, so start carrying around a mini-RCA extension cable.

    Snipped from the article:

    "Air's MagSafe implementation won't always work with your current MagSafe adapters simply because the angle and location make it physically impossible to accommodate when used on a table. Hardly a huge issue, we know. But things get worse on the connectivity side. The USB port is recessed enough that, while we're sure it meets USB Implementers Forum's design spec, it realistically won't accommodate most 3G modems without a USB extension cable, and some flash drives, as we learned yesterday. Even the headphone port had a difficult time accommodating our Shure E4C phones. We got stereo audio, but a high pitched hissing from not being fully plugged in and grounded. (This went away when we used a better-fitting audio extension cable."

  5. Re:Worth reading if you still care by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    It's only an ultra portable if you can smuggle it onto an aeroplane in your ass. You might laugh at the idea now, but just wait for the next batch of TSA rules and we will see who is laughing when your MBA is stolen by a baggage handler.

  6. Parent is a stupid American by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Did I mention that YOU COULDN'T WRITE PROPER ENGLISH TO SAVE YOUR LIFE?!

    Remember...
    Its is possessive, you American! Now go back to supporting George W. Bush, you red neck.

    Sincerely,
    A European Genius

    1. Re:Parent is a stupid American by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

      Did I mention that YOU COULDN'T WRITE PROPER ENGLISH TO SAVE YOUR LIFE?!

      Why on God's green USA would we write English? We write American.

      Take your prissy little "its" faggotry back to the Mother Country and its pussy-whipped Commonwealth. In America we type American and we'll put it's and its wherever we damn well please.

      Imagine a boot stamping on a human face, forever. Now imagine that boot connected to an American and the face being yours. It's the 21st century, you foreign shitheads -- welcome to the United World of America. We own you all, and ask Iraq if you don't believe us.
  7. I hope you buy a box that stabs you in the face by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    and is not marked as containing such a surprise.

    STAB STAB STABETY STABFACE and fuck you.

  8. Re:Power Users? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Maybe too many people are simply obsessed with fashion, instead of some actual creative work.

    There, I fixed it for you with regards to why people buy Apple products.

  9. Re:global warming by MacarooMac · · Score: 0, Troll

    ..it's an awfully nice looking piece of hardware.
    You just need to remove that smug-looking fruit logo from the case, which increasingly marks Apple owners out as the equally smug, techno-dopey fashionistas many of them tend to be.
    Hardly innovative and clearly a triumph of style over substance - but it's certainly a great indication of what's to come when the technology required to produce ultra-thin, light weight, low power consumption 'minimalist' notebooks - without compromising functionality or processing power (or $$$$!)- really starts to come together over the next 24 months.
    As the parent suggests, it does look the business, though, and looks and status will inevitably generate far more sales than it really deserves.
    --
    "He Who Dares Wins" ...or gets twenty-to-life for totaling their Bimmer on a poodle parade
  10. You are a fucking red neck. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    America is falling apart. Europe is going to be the new world power.

    Americans will be the new slaves of the superior world. I bet you're a fat, too.

  11. Re:A ripoff aimed at the iPhone crowd by MacarooMac · · Score: 1, Troll
    Interesting Wiki link:

    Reality distortion field is a term coined by Bud Tribble at Apple Inc. in 1981, to describe company co-founder Steve Jobs' charisma and its effects on the developers working on the Mac project. Later the term has also been used to refer to perceptions of keynote (or Stevenote) observers and devoted users of Apple computers and products.

    Bud Tribble claimed that the term comes from Star Trek. In fact, while the expression is in Star Trek style, it is unknown on Memory Alpha.

    In essence, RDF is the idea that Steve Jobs is able to convince people to believe almost anything with a mix of charm, charisma, bluster, exaggeration, and marketing. RDF is said to distort an audience's sense of proportion or scale. Small advances are applauded as breakthroughs. Interesting developments become turning points, or huge leaps forward. RDF focuses less on outright deception and more on warping the powers of judgment. The term audience may refer to an individual whose attitudes Steve is intending to affect.
    So what we're saying is that a MacBook Air is pretty much like an unlocked, unactivated iPhone.
    --
    "He Who Dares Wins" ...or gets twenty-to-life for totaling their Bimmer on a poodle parade
  12. moKd Down by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    is dying.Things Code.' Don'T See... The number accounts for less Example, if you

  13. You macfags really are desperate to pimp the Air by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Volume? Please. Nobody gives a shit about how thin the Air is, OK? It's still too wide for an ultra portable. Stop defending this flashy toy and let's forget it ever happened.

    In before Troll mod.

    VOTE RON PAUL 2008 OR YOU'RE A STUPID CUNT

  14. Re:Why bother? Get an Eee. by evil_aar0n · · Score: 0, Troll

    I'll bite. Along the lines of "X Windows is only good for holding more X term screens," I _love_ Expose for its ability to show me what I'm working on - on all my screens - at the touch of a button. The other day, I wanted to send a partial screen capture to an associate. I hit cmd-shift-4, and selected exactly what I wanted to send. Didn't have to edit the picture to crop off stuff I didn't want, etc. Maybe Windows has that, now. I don't know - I pretty gave up on MS a while ago.

    I also like the ease of use and simplicity that comes with owning OX 10.5. I don't have to muck with it. I muck with things enough trying to get Solaris 10 to do what I want as part of my job; mucking with my workstation, a MacBook Pro, is not something I want to do. It's my rock of sanity in a stormy sea. Ubuntu's nice - I like it and recommend it to people who've already bought PC hardware. But it's not nearly as simple as OS X. Dependencies? What are those? ". ./configure ; make ; make install"? Huh? Nope, there's an extra cost for Mac OS & its hardware, but, for me - though I'll grant not all - it's worth it. If I can't use Mac OS on an eee PC, I don't want it.

    But, it's a wide world out there; we don't all have to like the same things, thank goodness.

    --
    Truth, Justice. Or the American Way.