 
Jwobot
join:2002-08-14
Sterling Heights, MI
1 edit | manila envelope sexy But the manila envelope still looks sharp!  | |
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Titus Pullo
I came, I saw, I slept
join:2004-06-26
 ·Embarq
| Re: manila envelope sexy The more I think about it, the more this thing makes sense.
Given how the present economy is affecting most of us, the MBA (yeah, I love irony) is clearly the marketing of a device to wealthy people who won't care about little design problems; they'll simply buy the next revision and give this one away. Businesses who love to waste money -- especially if they have govt contracts -- will gobble some of them up as well. And the fanboys? No probs ... a little bump to the minimum monthly payment at this point is no biggy, eh?
It makes perfect sense for Apple. It not only preserves their status quo as an innovative high-end producer, it gets them more on-air time (free) as it shows up in movies and TV for the masses (and to the occasional coach-fare traveller to drool over) and if worse comes to worst and the market crashes, the not-so-rich market players can cut their heads off with its razor thin edge!
Brilliant!
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NOCMan
Verizon Fios User
Premium
join:2004-09-30
Flower Mound, TX | Re: manila envelope sexy I like the part about the minimum payment, but do you realize how hard it is to get Apple financing. Easier to get a high end American Express IMO. | |
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Goober
join:2000-12-17
Naperville, IL | Growing Pains They'll all get worked out. | |
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Goober
join:2000-12-17
Naperville, IL
 ·Comcast
·WOW Internet and C..
2 edits | Re: Growing Pains A redesign eventually, yes. For now, the USB extension cable.
I don't know. I would like to have it for my traveling. The company I'm at now presently gives us Dell Latitude D420s, if they think we'll travel some. I'd prefer the Air. It'll never happen since we're a PC shop. But you know what I mean.
Edit: But you're right. Aesthetics took a front seat to usability with the engineers. They certainly should have foreseen this. | |
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join:2004-04-29
Regina, SK
·SaskTel Saskatchewan
| said by Goober  : I would like to have it for my traveling. I'm the opposite, this look like it'll get snapped easily while travelling =\
it was a ton of WOW appeal, but I just can't imagine being comfortable with my big meaty paws on it | |
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Goober
join:2000-12-17
Naperville, IL | I suppose it depends on what you really need it for. I mainly do light emails when I travel and don't have to use it very much. | |
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kyler13
Is your fiber grounded?
join:2006-12-12
Arnold, MD | Re: Growing Pains In that case, you should have a blackberry rather than lugging around a clunky laptop for just email. | |
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join:2003-11-04
Austin, TX
·RoadRunner Cable
 ·AT&T U-Verse
 ·ViaTalk
·AT&T Yahoo
| I travel a lot - at least twice a week. While I've often complained that my laptop was too heavy or too big, I can't ever recall thinking it was too thick.
In most travel situations I encounter (airplane, train), a 12.1" form factor or smaller machine will be easier to use than a 13.3" machine regardless of how thick it is. I can easily live without the optical drive - but I'd have to carry the ethernet adapter for hotel & closed corporate network connectivity. The lack of a built-in wireless broadband option is truly stunning on such a machine - and the excuse that they didn't want to 'lock you into any carrier' is lame. By the time you add the usb ethernet, usb wireless broadband and usb hub so you can use flash drives while using the before-mentioned items, you may as well just carry a 'normal' 13.3 Macbook or M1330 or the like and get the benefit of more ports and an optical drive.
I personally think the Macbook Air is an incredibly nice looking machine, but I just don't understand exactly who it's marketed to. As a road warrior, I want something smaller footprint wise, with built-in ethernet and wireless broadband. For home use, I'm not willing to accept the trade-offs in functionality. I'm sure they'll sell a lot, and it'll probably make the next laptop I buy better - so I won't knock it - I just can't see myself buying it. | |
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GlobalMind
Domino Dude, POWER Systems Guy
Premium
join:2001-10-29
Hollywood, FL
| Before my ThinkPad T61 I had the X40. Sexy little tiny thing...and it sucked. The screen was so small that you couldn't use it for long, and I travel a good bit. Like this Mac I had to have external everything. It sucked bigtime.
I would rather have the larger more usable machine, although I don't really want one of those honker 17" deals.
This isn't the first time someone designed an ultralight PC/device with clearly no clue as to how it gets used in the field. Frankly the thing looks too fragile.
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TheGlobalMind.com | Speed costs money. How fast do you want to go? | Trust the instinct to the end, though you can render no reason. Ralph Waldo Emerson
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rahlquist
Redeye
join:2001-10-30
Villa Rica, GA
| Re: Growing Pains said by Dogfather :They'll have some lame extension plug or something just like they do for the iPhone headphone jack. These add-ons will make having the world's thinest laptop moot. Apple Art&D chooses form over function on occasion and it's unfortunate. No, whats unfortunate is the rabid fanbase would buy it if it had crimp terminals and defend it saying it was thoughtful of apple to make it easy to adapt...
Sometimes I think Apple purposely screws up certain things on products so that people miss any real screwups.. | |
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ifarrell
join:2000-08-10
Willow Spring, NC
·Vonage
| Ahhh, the PC Windows loving apologist rears their ugly heads after all.
First of all, Apple isn't the only vendor that has this occasional issue, I have seen plenty of PC Laptops in Best Buy that also have cramped USB ports and poorly designed headphone jacks so let's not pretend Apple is the bad guy here.
Have you ever heard of a USB extension cable?
Yes, the Air has some shortcomings but it obviously wasn't marketed to people such as you. | |
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| | | UncleDirtNap
join:2006-08-26
Pittsburgh, PA
·Verizon FIOS
| "These add-ons will make having the world's thinest laptop moot."
Actually I think it's well know that this is not the case as Apple claims. The Sony Vaio X505 is the reigning champ of thin-ness. The Apple is the thinest currently for sale but Sony will be reintroducing a new model soon based on the X505 chassis. | |
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KCrimson
Premium
join:2001-02-25
Brooklyn, NY
·Optimum Online
·Verizon FIOS
1 edit | said by dadkins :said by Goober :They'll all get worked out. No offense, but how can you work out a trapdoor USB port? Redesign?  A dongle if necessary? Hardly "bulky" if this is the only long-term design problem that this article actually uncovered. The original MB and MBP releases had "heat problems" too, requiring a firmware update to increase fan speed. No big deal. When you purchase bleeding edge you have to expect growing pains, no company can sit on new technology for the time period that is required to uncover all real-world problems. | |
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dadkins
Can you do Blu?
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
·Comcast
| Re: Growing Pains Dongle defeats the whole "Thin and Light" idea.
Heat - this thing doesn't exactly have tons of room for air movement.
Poor video... replace the chip?
Bad design without forethought about what may happen in the Real World.
Bleeding edge? Uhm, no.
Other wafer machines were tried and didn't take off.
Only thing Apple has going for it is the fan base - that's it!
Flaws are flaws. These should have been thought out a little better for a "Bleeding Edge" machine.
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join:2007-09-26
Westland, MI
| Re: Growing Pains dell 700m is heavier, feels cheap, battery is a external pack type that hangs off back, battery will not last 6 hours.. maybe 3-4 and much less watching a movie. It has a smaller screen, very small keyboard without any type of media buttons. and the legendary dell support sarcasm intended.
Ohh... and all that for almost the same price. | |
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r81984
Thread is
Premium
join:2001-11-14
St John'S, NL
·magicjack.com
·Cox HSI
·Insight Communicat..
·AT&T Midwest
| Re: Growing Pains Yes the Dell 700m is a little over a pound heavier, but it also has wifi, dvd-rw, 2 usb, 1 firewire, 1 vga, 1 pcmcia, 1 sd reader, sound, ethernet, and dialup.
It does not feel cheap, I am using it right now. It is a solid laptop.
The screen is only 1 inch smaller, but that makes for a smaller profile which takes up a lot less space on a desk.
When I first got the laptop the battery lasted almost 8 hours, but now its down to a little over 6 hours. Again I know this because I use it every day.
The keyboard is not very small, I like using it over a normal sized keyboard. You would never run into a situation where you accidently push two keys because it is big enough.
Media buttons??? I never met someone that actually uses those useless buttons above your F keys.
In two years I have never had to call Dell support, why would you??? This laptop had been beaten to hell and its still intact. The Dell 700m is very very durable.
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»www.ryanoneill.us | |
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dcsos
@verizon.net
| Re: Growing Pains cnet tested YOUR "6hr battery" laptop in the Dell 700m
and said:
Battery life of Dell Inspiron 700m
Unlike its excellent mobile performance, the Dell Inspiron 700m's battery life leaves much to be desired, particularly for a system designed with mobility in mind. In our tests, the Inspiron 700m lasted about two and a half hours--46 percent less than the Gateway M275XL and 57 percent less than the HP Compaq nc6000. The Inspiron 700m's lackluster performance is due to its meager 14.8V, 2,200mAh (33WHr) battery
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I dumped the 700m and use an iBook G4 a lot better battery life than any dell also | |
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proefain
Premium
join:2000-05-08
Crofton, MD | Re: Growing Pains The 700m 6 hour Battery is 65WHr battery not the one from the review you posted. | |
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WALL_E
Premium
join:2003-05-28
USA
| said by dadkins :Bad design without forethought about what may happen in the Real World. For you it's not a good laptop. However, there are many users who have been clamoring for an extremely thin and light laptop with a full-size keyboard, and this laptop delivers.
This is entirely a "to each their own" situation. This laptop may make no sense to you, but that doesn't mean it's a bad design. It's not an "every man's" computer - but it does successfully cater to a target market of users wanting a thin-and-light laptop without extra bulk. For people who want a Mac that isn't as limited, a MacBook or MacBook Pro delivers.
Why can't people understand this? It's like a family of 8 saying "well, that VW Rabbit is pointless! A Suburban is so much better!" Different products for different markets, people.
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dadkins
Can you do Blu?
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
·Comcast
3 edits | Re: Growing Pains And there were/are other machines out there that are thin and light and they are just killing the market, huh?
It is irrelavent if *I* want one, I'm pointing out that R&D was asleep when designing was at hand.
Here we have a ~$1700.00 laptop, with heat concerns, a USB that is only usable for corded items, a headphone plug that is erratic, and all you can come up with is that it's not a good laptop for me?
The issues are there and they are real, period!
I don't want one, no! Do you?
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WALL_E
Premium
join:2003-05-28
USA
| Re: Growing Pains said by dadkins :And there were/are other machines out there that are thin and light and they are just killing the market, huh? I don't grade a product based on its marketshare. Plenty of products have tremendous marketshare and are, by no stretch of the imagination, the best products available.
Super-luxury cars are also a small part of the automobile market. Maybe Maybach should stopping making luxury cars and start catering to the masses with a Camry competitor?
I'd also question the validity of some of the "problems" you report with the MacBook Air. I'm not saying they don't exist, but I haven't heard of any widespread heat issues with the MacBook Air yet. And I wouldn't trust wild speculation in an article of DSLR as proof that those problems exist.
And, even after your last post, I still can't understand why people get so emotional against a product. I think the Hummer is an idiotic car. I think Toyota's styling is boring. I can't stand Windows, which is why I use Ubuntu, Fedora and OS X on my personal machines. At the same time, I don't go spouting left and right that products I wouldn't buy are pieces of garbage, because I couldn't care less. I understand that, to some people, they make sense.
I could never bring myself to use Vista because I, *personally*, can't stand it. However, I understand that opinions differ; some people may hate OS X and love Vista. And, quite frankly, I don't give a damn. They're both legitimate opinions.
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58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11
·AT&T Midwest
| said by WALL_E :Why can't people understand this? It's like a family of 8 saying "well, that VW Rabbit is pointless! A Suburban is so much better!" Because the VW Rabbit people won't shut up about their damn car.
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Toolmaster of La Grange. | |
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KCrimson
Premium
join:2001-02-25
Brooklyn, NY
·Optimum Online
·Verizon FIOS
| said by dadkins :Dongle defeats the whole "Thin and Light" idea. How does a 1" wire or adapter affect Thin and light? Adding ANYTHING to ANY USB port is going to add bulk of some kind, to complain about an adapter is IMHO ridiculous.
said by dadkins : Heat - this thing doesn't exactly have tons of room for air movement. It doesn't NEED tons of room for air movement. Something this thin by its very design prevents stagnant warm air. A small breeze from the fans should pull heat away very well. In this case you're taking a design BONUS and making it sound like an issue.
said by dadkins :Poor video... replace the chip?
I'll wait to read real world reviews before I determine the relative merits of its graphics capablities. I do suspect that the typical user of this machine will not realize any deficiencies in graphics capablities. This will especially pertain to those in graphics intensive careers, as there is no way that they would trust their end products to a road-warrior laptop anyway.
said by dadkins :Bad design without forethought about what may happen in the Real World. Your opinon, If there's one thing that Apple has demonstrated repeatedly, it is that its designs usually fit lifestyles better than most of their competitors.
said by dadkins : Bleeding edge? Uhm, no. Other wafer machines were tried and didn't take off. Only thing Apple has going for it is the fan base - that's it! Flaws are flaws. These should have been thought out a little better for a "Bleeding Edge" machine. Most of this just sounds like you're trolling. The part about Bleeding edge - yes, this machine has a size-to-performance ratio, and creates a whole new way of "looking" at portable computing. Where are the other machines in its class without an optical drive, that have a software solution for wirelessly installing applications? I don't think you'll find any. Once again Apple's innovation is being met with worthless diatribe. | |
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GOLFnSUN
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·Comcast
| said by dadkins :said by Goober :They'll all get worked out. No offense, but how can you work out a trapdoor USB port? Redesign? Shouldn't R&D have seen this as an issue before build and shipping? EDIT: I can also imagine this new machine getting many service tags for broken connections from various USB devices/cords putting stress on this poor door. Credit where credit is due - it is a pretty machine. Not worth the pricetag though. They'll get it worked out like Apple always works things out. They will sell to the faithful devices designed to fit in to their restricted USB port. At a high price, of course. And the Apple fanboys will shell out with smiles on their faces.
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Internet News
My BLOG
My Web Page | |
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58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11
·AT&T Midwest
| Re: Growing Pains That spec is for the devices which are plugged into the port. Apple clearly had decided to ignore the devices most use when designing it. The "oversized plug" is hardly the issue when the area around the port has undersized clearance. Apple can stubbornly "comply" with the standard but still thumb their noses at real-world uses if they choose. Which is their prerogative. It's the market's prerogative to scowl at their arrogance.
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| | Zyniker
Zyniker
Premium
join:2004-12-25
San Pedro, CA
| You realize you could just get one of the extremely thin SanDisk USB flash drives and you'd have zero problems for that sort of connectivity, yes? Also...anything connected with a standard cable should have no problems. What in all the rings of Hell kind of cable are you using that is too thick to work with that port?!
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The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds, the pessimist fears this is true. | |
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58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11
·AT&T Midwest
| Re: Growing Pains So let's look at that statement: You're on a plane and don't have an "extremely thin SanDisk USB flash drive" and are forced to use what everyone else uses. Which means that little extension cable. You're sitting on the aisle when the drink cart comes by, snags your little extension cable (which is hanging off your tray table) and yanks your purty lil lappy to the floor. Crack!
Awwwww....
Open your eyes.
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Toolmaster of La Grange. | |
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braindead
join:2005-08-22
Mesquite, TX | It is easy, just get and extension cord. It dose not look as cool but at least you still get the product to work. | |
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58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11 | Re: Growing Pains Precisely. | |
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drmorley
Premium,MVM
join:2000-12-20
Park Ridge, IL
clubs:
| said by Dogfather :said by braindead :It is easy, just get and extension cord. It dose not look as cool but at least you still get the product to work. Why deal with that BS when for $700 cheaper you can just get a MacBook (if OS X is your Kool-Aid flavor of choice)? Exactly...it's not like the MBP's are massive laptops and difficult to cart around.
Kudos to those that want a MBA, but I'll stick with my MBP for now.
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»tehblogs.com | |
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Dogfather
Premium
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA | Exactly why I'm waiting I'm very interested in the MBA but after experiences with problematic early MacBooks will wait a while for these HW and SW bugs to be worked out. | |
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KAD Imaging
Just Shoot It
Premium
join:2002-09-21
Hialeah, FL
·AT&T Southeast
| Re: Exactly why I'm waiting said by Dogfather :I'm very interested in the MBA but after experiences with problematic early MacBooks will wait a while for these HW and SW bugs to be worked out. BLASPHEMY!! There are NO BUG in MAC products! How dare you spew this crap!!
*snicker* | |
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ptrowski
Got Helix?
Premium
join:2005-03-14
Putnam, CT
clubs: | What does it have going for it? It's a pretty machine, that's about it. If you want to pay for fashion, go right ahead. | |
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Dogfather
Premium
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA | Re: What does it have going for it? Size. If you don't travel a lot and have use for a very thin and light notebook you are better off buying something else. | |
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| | RogerDucky
join:2002-01-04
Plano, TX
| Actually, if size is what you're after, there are plenty of manila-envelope capable laptops out there, some with built-in 3G modems, that people can use. E.g. Toshiba Portege R500, most of the Sony VAIO ultraportables, etc. Granted, none of them will run Mac OS, so I guess if that's a requirement, I won't be able to help... | |
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| Neoistheone
join:2007-01-13
Tornado, WV | ![]()
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When you ASSUME, you make an ASS out of U and ME. | |
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chakey
Premium
join:2004-06-14
Gladstone, NJ
clubs: | Nothing new here... As with all Apple products, there are tradeoffs for the cool look. You know what you are getting into. As a second laptop, this seems like a great buy to me. I would not buy it as a primary machine and that seems to be their target market anyway. | |
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slomike2
join:2007-07-18
San Luis Obispo, CA | Yet another disfunctional apple product But still the members of the apple cult wih continue to kneel and pray towards silicon valley 5 times a day. | |
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Jerm
join:2000-04-10
Richland, WA | For the looks... Those who are buying this won't care about these small issues. Its all about the look! | |
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semajnotloggedin
@kent.edu
 from:
dadkins
| ibm x series I would prefer to go with the ibm/lenovo x series laptop than the macbook air. | |
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cableties
Premium
join:2005-01-27
·Verizon FIOS
| Adaptor-extension sales boom! Well, you could use a USB cable extender like I do for Dell's crappy USB front-angled down behind a door-flap ports.
Dremel the usb keys! ;P
Hey Apple!! I want a black MacBook Pro with the new mtouch pad and atleast a 128GB SSD. Please??? | |
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BabyBear
Keep wise ...with Night-Owl
join:2007-01-11
| Re: Adaptor-extension sales boom! said by cableties :Hey Apple!! I want a black MacBook Pro with ... atleast a 128GB SSD. Wow!  128gb SSD w/ the Apple $$$ hardware markup! You must be Bill Gates, Drug Lord, CEO, or a politican to have that kind of money to throw around. | |
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Fatal Claws
Premium
join:2007-06-24
Ventura, CA |  Black on Silver? - I'm no Raiders Fan!
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fcisler
Premium
join:2004-06-14
Riverhead, NY
| R&D anyone? Stupid stupid...
I was contemplating buying one. Still am, actually.
Why, though the 3.5mm headphone jack "screwup"? They did the same thing with the iPhone and iTouch, didn't they? Basically just recess the jack?
Just more "Apple Experience". You don't need anything but the white oh-so-crap in ear phones. You want to hook it up to your new LCD? Well now you'll need the VGA and audio adapter, and a 1/8" headphone adapter! | |
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dadkins
Can you do Blu?
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
·Comcast
| USB Port Here is an image for everyone to look at and consider.
Instead of a "cool" flip-down door that causes issues, simply putting the USB on the back next to the power connector(or is that under a door too?) or just as with nearly every other machine on the planet, just place it in the open(screw aesthetics!).
They aren't big! 
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Think outside the Fox... Opera | |
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JSY
Premium
join:2000-04-05
Elmhurst, NY
clubs: | Reminds me... This reminds me so much of the recessed headphone jack a la iPhone. Well, they did redesign that on the iPod touch didn't they. | |
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Neoistheone
join:2007-01-13
Tornado, WV | I think the MacBook Air is a great idea..... but not for $3000................ | |
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majortom1029
join:2006-10-19
Lindenhurst, NY | 2 more companys using the processors. Intel stated that 2 other companies are using the new processors that the mac book air is using. So why get the macbook air until we soo what the other companies bring out. I am pretty sure one of those 2 companies are dell. | |
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Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY | At least they picked a good name Macbook Air, as in Fart, it was designed to be a thin as a skid mark in Steve Jobs shorts.
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Send a prayer to Mecca, eat Beans. | |
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| Goldman
join:2002-06-21
Maumelle, AR
| Re: At least they picked a good name said by Transmaster :Macbook Air, as in Fart, it was designed to be a thin as a skid mark in Steve Jobs shorts. Ha. That's funny. You should write that one the bathroom wall during recess tomorrow. | |
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alpha_kky
join:2007-05-26
Palm Desert, CA | what a burn... Get an 17" Acer with Blu-Ray, 2GB and a 250GB drive for $999. | |
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macuser52
@ameritech.net
| Apple quality has gone DOWNHILL I bought a MacBook(not MacBook Air) and have faced that the display screen takes damage from the insane amount of heat due to poor ventilation and 95% of the time it is used on a flat desk(not much more I can do in placing it to prevent heat).
The ideas are great but have been poorly executed in a lot of their late products these two being examples of that.
I use Mac OS X and it's great (haven't upgrade to Leopard) and it's great and all but the quality of this MacBook is mediocre at best with the insane amount of heating causing damage to the display. Have had to replace it 3 times in 2 yrs roughly. | |
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Apple Disappoints with MacBook Air
