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half of what was stated is HORRIBLE

they really need to get on top of that

other than that glaring issue, it's a beauty

Feb 04, 08 - 12:36 pm Comment from: Ampar

That's not good about battery life. Hopefully, if this is actually widespread, it can be fixed with a firmware upgrade.

Misery! We become so spoiled and accustomed to the incredible technological prowesses of nowadays... Can't we be a little more satisfied, at least for few short weeks of our lives, instead of constantly wishing for more "perfection" and/or more of this and that?!

How much time do we give "Jacqui" (cute spelling) Cheng to recant her putdown? Jacqui-- it doesn't suck. you do. Take that car lighter plug batter cable with you everywhere pleeeze. The makers of the product you pan know what they're doing young lady.

Uh oh...the under powered MBA..is multi-dimensionally under powered. Good thing that battery is replaceable..uh...that can't solve the problem either, at least without voiding the AppleCare terms of service.

Once my tax refund comes back I am buying an MB and give a sigh of releif that I did not fall sucker to the MBA 1.0 hype. People are going to be chucking their MBA 1.0's out the car window when MAB 2.0 comes out. And that's gonna be a pollution problem because the highway shoulders will be loaded with discarded iPhone 1.0's once iPhone goes to true-no-b.s.-excuses 3G.

Just my $0.02

It does puzzle me why so many people are pointing out the sacrifices that you would have to make to use an Air (the loss of features) yet they don't grumble about a 17" MacBook Pro as being very large to use as a portable machine. All models of machine come with compromises over other models but also benefits over those other models. Perhaps the sacrifices of the Air are more extreme on face value but the benefits will outweigh those sacrifices for a lot of people. It might not be as big a success as the other models but it doesn't need to be.

Someone should tell that moron to learn how to write an article (without parenthetical writing). What is this, jr. high(yeah, totally)?

That's all, (but what's the feminine version of moron?).

Feb 04, 08 - 01:03 pm Comment from: Ampar

". . . (but what's the feminine version of moron?)."

It's pronounced, "an • kohl'• ter".

Feb 04, 08 - 01:17 pm Comment from: CheekyGit

Nice one, Ampar.

Feb 04, 08 - 01:17 pm Comment from: Grigori

"Moron" is not a gender specific term, so using it is fine... better, really, than using the standard feminine terms; what does gender have to do with it?

That said, I would certainly like to see Ampar's suggestion become widespread.

battery life experiences will vary....it wouldn't surprise me that the usb EVDO maybe sucking more juice than other components...

for ex: my iphone battery lasts great in standby mode as long as I am in an area that has good and consistent cell coverage, but if I am in my house, with no or very weak cell coverage, it will drain the battery in less than 4 hrs. If I put it in airplane mode while in my house it will last multiple days....

Hard drive: "The cruel and unusual 4200rpm drive began burning me on my first evening using the Air, and has continued to burn me every evening since."

Ports: "My Logitech USB Skype headset didn't fit into the port, which of course, I first discovered the moment I needed to use it the most. Pick and choose your peripherals wisely."

Wireless Migration Assistant: "...I'm left pretty disappointed"

WiFi: "...I can easily see over 25 wireless access points on my MacBook. I can only see 13 on the MacBook Air."

Battery life: " I'll cut to the chase here: the MacBook Air's battery life sucks. A lot."

Upgradability. "Put simply: you can't upgrade this machine."

Compactness: "...fits into places you might not normally place a laptop (including some of my nicer, girlier bags...)

Bottom line: "...I plan to keep it and use it as my notebook from here on out..."

The world's first openly gay laptop. Personally, I plan to keep mine hidden inside an Aluminum case that makes it look just like a MacBook Pro. In the closet, as it were.


MW = actually

Seems a bit odd, perhaps she needs to condition her battery.

Reasons for LONGER battery life:
Slower, less power-hungry chip.
Slower, less power-hungry drive.
Less heat generated, less fan running.
Less power-hungry LED screen.

Reasons for SHORTER:
Smaller battery.
Wifi enabled, for Apple's battery spec.
?Battery not yet conditioned?

Honestly, I think the MBA based upon the specs and how it stacks up against the MB, should have better battery life.

Feb 04, 08 - 03:02 pm Comment from: KingMel

I wonder if the guy turned off the Airport wireless when he used the USB EVDO?

Only 2.5 hours of life on a fully-charged battery? Yikes. If you are without an outlet you will have to fiddle with 19 screws simply to replace the dead battery. That is if you haven't forgotten your Phillips head screwdriver. I'll stick with the MacBook Pro and the six second battery replacement sans tools.

M.X.N.T.4.1

A 15-inch or 17-inch MacBook Pro may be compromise in weight compared to a MBA, but with easily replaceable and longer lasting batteries you have less risk and headaches of dead weight in front of you. Who cares how sexy and light the MBA is if there's no juice to power it?

Feb 04, 08 - 08:58 pm Comment from: mm

So it doesn't perform as fast as a Macbook. Okay, we get that. It has a slower chip and a slower hard drive. It's also almost half as heavy. Instead of bemoaning how slow it is, I say look at how fast the Macbook is. In the benchmarks it's almost as fast as a Macbook Pro! It's just the graphics card that makes the Pro faster. The Macbook is an incredibly capable machine for a consumer computer. Wouldn't you agree? Having a truly mobile laptop be almost as fast as a Macbook is a remarkable achievement in my eyes.

btw, leaving gender out of it, the way the article was written (was a little annoying I have to say)

@Ray

Why throw it out the window, you can mail it back to Apple in an envelope

mm:

Smaller battery, lesser time between charges, more frequent charges, less convenience having to carry a charger where ever you go, less portability when having to keep your MBA attached to an electrical outlet. Without amps all you have is a shiny silver box.

MBA 37 watt-hours
MacBook Pro 15-inch 60 watt-hours (62% greater than MBA)
Macbook Pro 17-inch 68 watt hours (84% greater than MBA)

MBA 2.5 to 5 hr ?
MacBook Pro 15-inch 6 hr (20 to 140% greater than MBA)
Macbook Pro 17-inch 5.75 hr (15 to 130% greater than MBA)

I want a notebook that works, not just looks good.

"Something may be wrong with Ars Technica's MacBook Air"

Read the boards, something is wrong with every-body's MacBook Air. Another version 0.9 product shipped by Apple to the faithful for final beta testing and debugging.

I agree with the above posts. I have a 1.8/64 and the battery life seems to be about same as my Macpro 2.4 15". The size is nice and the drive is pretty snappy. It seems to run hotter than I would expect and is by no means silent. You hear the fan that keeps the processor cool. I guess there is always going to be some compromises when you stuff everything in such a small package.