How I Got a MacBook Air for 15 Dollars
Ah, the joy of an impulse buy with a high interest rate credit card. I wasn’t really interested in the MacBook Air until I started reading about it more and more last week. Then I realized I lug my MacBook Pro around everywhere and I naturally just had to get the MacBook Air. The title is a bit misleading but it draws upon the minimum monthly payment on my credit card: $15. Of course I won’t be paying $15 per month forever, but it makes for a nice title.
By the way, this makes me a hypocrite for the second time. I said I wasn’t going to get an iPhone, and then I did. Same thing happened in January when I said the MacBook Air wasn’t for me. Oh, look what we have here…
MacBook Air Unboxing from Paul on Vimeo.
Which one?
I chose the lower MacBook Air model: 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo with 80GB hard drive. I did a lot of research about which to buy and while I was financially limited, I knew the SSD offered by Apple is slow compared to other SSDs and is overpriced. The 1.8-inch SSD offered by Apple as a $999 option has paltry read rates (~50MB/sec) compared to other SSDs currently out that can consistently put out read rates over 100MB/sec. As for 1.6GHz versus 1.8GHz, the upgrade is about a 15% price hike for a 15% increase in clock cycles. It’s not that noticeable and when a better MacBook Air comes out down the line, you’ll be glad you didn’t pay the higher price for an outdated machine. The last thing I did before heading to the Apple store was ask Ryan if the Air can play HD content. He told me it can for the most part, albeit 1080p video stutters/drops frames at times. That’s fine by me, I won’t be playing full-HD video too often.
MacBook Air along with a notebook in my messenger bag.
First Things First
I took some notes and made a list of the first things I did with the MacBook Air. I chose not to use the migration assistant as I felt I would be better off with a clean install instead of bringing over all the junk from my MacBook Pro. That and the Apple store was out of the coveted $29 etherdongles, so there was no way I was going to spend a year transferring everything over Wi-Fi.
- Installed AppZapper and uninstalled GarageBand, iPhoto, iSync, iChat, iDVD (I don’t use them)
- Ran OS X Software Updates
- Imported Safari Bookmarks from MBP
- Installed VLC Player, QuickTime Pro, Perian and Flip4Mac
- Installed the Inquisitor Plugin for Safari
- Installed Firefox 3 Beta and Firebug 1.1 Beta
- Installed Google Notifier
- Installed Xcode 3
- Installed MySQL 5 from a dmg and the hacked pref pane to get it working properly in Leopard
- Installed TextMate and Trasmit
- Installed Menu Meters and smcFanControl
- Installed The Unarchiver
- Installed Adium
- Installed Photoshop CS3
- Installed Office 2008 Word, Excel, PowerPoint
I have a newfound love for the notebook view when taking notes in Word 2008. - Got MacBook Air to sleep faster by not writing to disk by running this:
sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 0 - Setup Mail.app with my @gatech.edu mail address and configured LDAP for directory auto-completion.
- Copied over ~/.ssh/ from MBP for public keys, known hosts and so on.
- Copied over Music, Pictures and Documents folders (totaling ~20GB) from MBP via external hard drive.
- Changed iTunes icon. I normally don’t care about icons and “beautifying” the OS by changing everything but I don’t care much for the standard blue iTunes icon.
- Configured Spaces and Expose
One Machine
The MacBook Air is now my primary and only machine. I migrated all my data over from the MacBook Pro and will be in the process of selling it after I take it in for some repairs. I’ve only had the Air for 24 hours so I’ll write a post after this detailing my experiences with the Air as my primary computer. So far it’s great and the slower speed hasn’t affected any of the things I do. It just tends to have the fan bumped up more often than not, such as when running my 24-inch display.
Thoughts? To Air or not?
I’d love a MacBook Air, but I wouldn’t be able to use it as my primary machine. I need more than one USB port (and ethernet is nice, too). I have 10 USB devices plugged into my Mac right now, and I couldn’t live without half of them.
I understand I could always plug in a USB hub, but I really don’t want to (it’s supposed to be a portable Mac, obviously). The processor doesn’t really affect me much, because I’m running 2.0Ghz right now, and don’t mind it. So a little downgrade wouldn’t be a huge deal for me. :)
Wait, the fan is on all the time when it’s powering a 24-inch LCD?
What do you use for photos in place of iPhoto?
I have a good feeling in about a months time the affect of having a new toy will wear off and you’ll start to spot flaws in the products design. It sure is a fun toy, but I view it as just that, a toy. Just after playing with it last night and comparing my “old” Macbook to the Macbook Air, I don’t know if I personally could use an Air as a primary desktop. Just leave the big toys with the big boys ;)
It sure looks gorgeous. I would be leery about using it as a main machine, especially after using a MacBook Pro. It will be interesting to see your experience with it.
Chris - We’ll see. :-) I was quite happy toting a light bag on the way to class today.
Congrats on the purchase. The MBA looks great, nice video. :)
I don’t know. Its a beautiful not book, but after using it for a full day I was a little unhappy with the performance. I tend to do quit a bit of multi-tasking and I am used to my 4 core Mac hehe… you can speculate ;). After running a few apps like IM, xcode, itunes, safari, iCal, it slows down. For me (income restricted also) i cant seem to justify throwing down $1700 for something that can’t perform up to my expectations.
Let’s see If I can stop my self from jumping in on the bandwagon, its so irresistible.
It is a great machine don’t get me wrong but:
1.)The MBA doesn’t eliminate the pain in lugging around a notebook computer. Like it’s lighter and smaller but it still requires the same amount of effort to bring it to class and other places.
2.)Why downgrade in hardware? Now you can’t even burn a CD or DVD without buying the add-on. Plus you can’t plug into a network, and processor intensive tasks will just take longer. These are things are are crucial to a student.
3.)It’s overpriced compared to the MB or MBP but I suppose you are paying for the sleek form.
4.) Honestly why downgrade to a machine that can’t play 1080p?
5.)Did you do the calculation of how much it will cost after all the interest gathers?
The MBP is almost a stretch to use as your sole desktop computer but the MBA is just almost too far. It’s a great little machine but I honestly don’t think it is for a student. Although I would love to show that off on campus, it’s just not practical.
Sorry for the second comment, but how is the MBA handling all your coding and design apps? Does it get very hot?
Oh you should update your “My Gear” column :)
Brave man, Paul! MBA as your one and primary development machine - curious as to how this turns out since I still keep my MBP at home even though the MBA is my constant companion wherever I go. Let me know - surely would need justification for me to sell the MBP. :D
Yeah, I don’t think I could work off something a) that small screen-wise , and b) light processor-wise.
Do a full review in a couple weeks, I’d like to know your thoughts after you’ve had it a while.
As for me, I can now get an iPhone in peace. ;)
Let us know how it goes Paul, I’m currently looking at upgrading from my MacBook, but I’m also selling my main PC and just going with a sole laptop.
I would love the air but not sure if it’s powerful enough to have as my only machine…
Cheers
Just make sure you’ve paid the bulk before interest hits otherwise it’ll cost more in the long run ;)
To Air is Human. haha
Rah. I saw it in french stores named “FNAC” today and yesterday . The design is really extremely impressive but somehow scare me a bit.
A friend of mine gonna lend me his MBA for a few days so I can make up my mind :-) I cant wait
damn only machine?
seems like a huge step down, doesn’t it?
you can’t upgrade it much at all, the hard drive is a pansy @ 1.8″, etc.
good luck with this man.
Certainly, to Air. I think you’ll stay happy with your MBA for a long time, unless you go crazy about video-editing.. :) I’m also considering it as my laptop besides my current gen macmini. However, your detailed experience would make a useful reading before shopping..
Its really tempting but a MBA as your prime machine?? Na..BTW, i was just wondering, without a optical drive what would one do if mac just doesn’t boot up ??
How do you restore?
Speaking of selling.. I’m eyeing the refurb’d, same spec (?) MBP on the apple store right now. Let me know if you can match that price. … I’m assuming you’ll want more, but thought I’d check.
-Derek
I, too, am interested in knowing what you use in place of iPhoto (if anything). I know some users just keep their photos in ordinary folders. Congrats on the purchase; I love my MBA! Of course I love my 2.8 iMac also. ;-)
Hi Paul,
One question for you: If you’re using the Air as your primary machine and selling your MacBook Pro, how are you going to access DVD-Rom with Air lacking one?
Well best of luck with it man.
Are you going to have a docking station for it?
Others mentioned it… and i’m repeating: Paul, think twice before selling your MBP and keeping your new toy as your only and primary machine…
I hope it’s just enthousiasm that made you take that decision.. but if you go for it: “may the force be with you…”!
I can’t imagine having just one ultra-portable notebook to do all my tasks. [sure MBA is great outside]
I’m not allowing myself to upgrade to another machine until probably summer 2009, so let me first say I’m all shades of jealous reading this.
I have not used an Air but think that it is entirely viable machine for a lot of users. It obviously presents a few shortcomings to achieve it’s sleek size, but I think there is a larger user base out there than people initially expected that are really willing to accept those shortcomings in exchange for a slim, light notebook.
I look forward to hearing what you think after a couple weeks.
MacBook Air as a primary machine? No way!! I’d love to, but I wish Apple came up with an Intel version of the 12″ Powerbook. That was sweet! :)
Hey Paul,
Noticed you ditched iChat and didn’t see Adium on your list. Do you not use IM?
@Shahrum - nice catch. I forgot to mention that I installed Adium.
Haha cool :) I often refer to your blog and setups to influence my own so just wanted to check and see if you weren’t using some sort of cool new app instead :-p
One thing about the Air that would preclude it from being my primary machine is the 13″ display. I spend about 5 hours a day on my laptop and my 15.4″ Inspiron is about as small as I would ever go.
But, like I said, with a project upgrade date of ‘09, perhaps there will be a 15″ Air available for me by then. ;)
@Sean - the $15 thing is just a post joke. I’ll have it paid off in a month or two and won’t even get hit by interest.
Wow, you guys are moving fast! I just upgraded to Santa Rosa MBP from my 12″ Powerbook G4.
Will 2GB RAM be enough for you?
yes it is a little hypocritical… wonder how people are meant to take any of your posts to seriously when you always back track….. and i tell you what would be really nice…. stop name dropping in your posts its just smarmy!
Anyway, would be good to see a follow up post to see how your finding the air in absence of the pro
The integrated optical drive, ethernet, larger hard drive, more powerful processor, and 15″ screen are well worth a measly 2lbs. I take my MBP everywhere and haven’t visited a chiropractor once.
Now that’s a bold move- downgrading from MBP to Air. Most of the apps there you mentioned seem OK, but I am curious about Photoshop’s performance.
How is it?
Now that’s a bold move- downgrading from MBP to Air. Most of the apps there you mentioned seem OK, but I am curious about Photoshop’s performance.
How is it?
And you need to update the ‘My Gear’ section below :D
@David Moore - So people are never allowed to change their mind? God forbid anyone ever be human and re-think their position on something, or they should be labeled as a back-tracking hypocrite? Give me a break.
[comment removed at David's request]
[comment removed at David’s request]
No one’s forcing you to read my site. :-P Here are some great tech blogs you can read instead of mine.
@David Moore: If reading this blog is such an excruciating nightmare for you, why read it? Is someone holding a gun to your head?
In terms of his original post on the MacBook Air, you’re right, he explained why the MacBook Air wasn’t for him. As in, wasn’t for him due to personal preference and his personal methods and processes of working. He didn’t say that you or I or anyone else shouldn’t buy one, in fact, he even ended that post with “Do I want one? Hell yes.”
You’re probably just upset because you’re in love with Paul and you want to have his babies and after reading his original post on the MacBook Air you went around to all of your dumb friends and trashed the Air because Paul said it wasn’t his cup of tea. And now you’re just pissed because now that he bought one you have to go back to all those friends and be like, “Oh yeah, I was just kidding about that MacBook Air stuff. Excuse me while I take this picture of this blogger out of my pocket and go beat off in the washroom. Order me a cheeseburger while I’m in there.”
Get a life or something.
Your primary machine? What are you doing with the Pro?
After my exams, I’m planning to get a laptop and chuck out my desktop and use that as my primary machine. I have my heart set on the $1999 Macbook Pro. How does this fare as a primary machine? I mean any slowups and such that make you wish you had your Pro?
I’m totally jealous! Although, I wouldn’t have financed it.
@Blake - neither would I, had I any sort of real money lying around. :-)
Paul,
You are a Mac junkie. The first step is admitting that you have a problem. Well, I’m not sure what the second step is, but I know that I’m jealous. I haven’t had a spare moment to post for the last few weeks, but I’ve been reading.
Maybe this should segue into a credit piece. With the crying and gnashing of teeth over the ‘credit crisis’, I think it’s great that people are still buying new things. Maybe the economy is not so bad after all.
I love the Air. Kudos. Look forward to hearing more about it.
Hmm…. Economic stimulus check coming soon…. It’s my duty as and American to stimulate the economy…
I think if I was still traveling from Scotland to London regularly on business, the Air would have been a good choice. It would have been sufficient for my work needs, not to mention very portable. As it stands though, I am looking to get a laptop but the Air definitely doesn’t fit my requirements. I won’t be traveling far, or very much, so the weight of a laptop won’t bother me too much, and the price is hefty for how much (or rather how little) I’d be using it outside of the home. Right now, if I was to get a laptop it would be the Macbook Pro.
One of the few things I disagree about, and predict you will regret. No way that you can convince me that someone in your position and with your aspirations can ‘exist’ on this girlie *joke* machine.
Sure it looks great, and as a second Mac sure - but for a power user? You are kidding right!!!
Sorry - seems a bit like self justification for wanting the latest Mac.
That said - I said the same as you about the iPhone and I got one! I know two other people that where critical of the MBA when it came out and now have one, but not as their primary computer.
I do like the idea, but how much would you trust something that thin? It really is remarkable, but imagine every time you drop your bag, or lean on it your going to wonder if you broke it or not!
Well I would anyway :) Still good video
I do like the idea, but how much would you trust something that thin? It really is remarkable, but imagine every time you drop your bag, or lean on it your going to wonder if you broke it or not!
Well I would anyway :) Still good video
The spec’s for it are really bad too, no way a real Power user or heavy Graphic Design user would cope with just those… I’m about ready to upgrade to 4 - 8 gig of ram!
These ultra-portables sprouting up lately, the Air, and the copiers like the Lenovo X300, are tempting to me as well. I think I’ll get the X300 when they release it with a regular SATA HD in April, should be around $2k.
Can we make offers for your Macbook Pro, if you’re selling it? Are you selling it on eBay or some online auction site? I’d be interested in bidding.
I see an Air in my future, but a few things will need to be addressed first.
First, Apple will need to get a 160GB or larger HD in there. 80GB is just not enough for what I need. If there was a 128GB SSD, I might be able to make due with that, but I’d prefer 160GB or larger.
Second, these smaller processors will only get faster. I’ve become accustomed to a very fast Mac (currently a MBP 2.4ghz is my main machine), so I don’t think I could step down from that speed and not miss it. Once the Air gets in the ballpark of 2.2ghz or so, I’ll consider it.
I love the minimalism of it, but the only thing I think is really missing from it is a port to add an SD card. With only 80GB of HD space, being able to extend your storage easily and efficiently with SD cards would be a plus. I know, you could add an external SD card reader via USB, but who wants a dongle hanging off your Air? Not me.
Here’s hoping next years Air hits these marks.
I love my macbook air, it’s EXACTLY what I needed. If I trusted all the criticisms I’ve heared about it, I won’t be so happy as I am now.
By the way, there are lots of interesting articles about the Macbook Air on http://www.maconair.com. This could be useful for those, who plan buying the MacBook Air.
Only machine? Good luck!
MMM as for me i’ll clearly stick to my MacBook pro… I honestly dont see the use of the MBA… except if I’d live in a huge house and if I need an internet connexion point to check recipes in my kitchen or stuff like that… but then again, i got my MBP…
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Congrats! About the name dropping issue, I only WISH I was as popular and connected a name in the blogging world as you to be able to name drop people like Ryan Block!
I am a little surprised that you’re making this your primary machine, especially since you’ve maxed out the RAM (4GB on the MBP?) on all your recent notebooks if I remember correctly.
I would certainly make it my primary machine if it were 12″ or less. I’m running a 12″ 1.33GHz PowerBook G4, 1.25GB RAM as my primary computer, so this would actually be an upgrade from what I’m used to. However, I just can’t bring myself to get anything bigger than a 12″ notebook, it defeats the purpose for me (especially since I just picked up an Eee PC).
@David, how’s the view from up there on your high horse? I checked out your blog, and noticed that on your last (and only) 10 posts, you have a total of 4 comments. On Paul’s last 10 posts, he’s had 268 comments. So yeah I would definitely agree that Paul needs to change his content to fit with your view of what it should be. I mean it’s working so well for you right?
Mentioning Ryan Block is completely relevant to this post (who better to ask computer questions to than the editor of Engadget?). As a reader, would you prefer information be unsourced? “Yeah some guy told me that it’ll play HD content!”
I also love how you wrote that you’ve removed this site from your RSS feed, when everyone knows that either a) that’s a lie, or b) you’ll still be checking the site all the time.
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*cough* Mr R seems to be getting more comments from you guys in the comments thread than he ever has from Paul :-)
Hi Paul,
Congrats on your new purchase!
Since you’ve owned all of apple’s notebook product line, from macbook to MBP and now the Air, I wonder about the importance of apple hardware by itself.
I own a macbook 2.0ghz for more than a year and initially I felt sorry I didn’t go for the MBP since I do a lot of coding. Now I see the “massive migration” to the MBA which people justify with many irrelevant excuses.
All in all, I think that owning a mac for its OS and environment is what important and not the kind of screen size and CPU speed. If one is happy with his mac, he’ll probably be just as happy with any other mac notebook and vice versa. If you don’t get along with one kind of Mac notebook, you better buy yourself a PC.
I thank you Paul for your flip-flops with mac notebooks, as I just realized that what’s really important for me is using a mac rather that chasing the ultimate mac notebook. Now I can get back to work on my good old macbook and quit re-thinking about my purchase. If you got along with MBP and now with the MBA, I’ll do just fine with my MB :)
Good job Paul.
I too have switched my primary machine to a MacBook Air from a 17″ MacBook Pro. I’m a technical consultant, and I do web dev as well.
I was initially concerned about 1) lack of ports, 2) external superdrive, 3) low power.
But after having it for 2 weeks, I can honestly say I’m extremely happy with it. It’s more than powerful enough to handle any development needs. I’ve only had to use the superdrive once, and that’s because I wanted to. I have a 4GB Lexar Lightning USB which handles everything for me, and the lack of ports is something I honestly just got used to.
I’m loving the MBA and how light it is in my bag, I was exactly like you guys with the constant spec comparing, but it’s a great machine. Wil Shipley has a great post on MBA naysayers. http://wilshipley.com/blog/2008/01/macbook-air-haters-suck-my-dick.html
Also, PS you didn’t install RoR or PHP?
Paul,
You should read this:
http://www.michaelnygard.com/blog/2008/03/steve_jobs_made_me_miss_my_fli.html
TSA people on airport didn’t believe it was really a notebook computer!
Paul,
I’d love to hear how it works out for you in a couple of months. I currently have a Macbook w/no DVD burn and a mac mini w/DVD burner. It is the best combo so far in my mind, although I think I could easily swap the MB for an Air if I had the cash (maybe soon I hope). The $100 extra drive isn’t that bad when you consider you are already dropping 2 grand. And as much as I like the simplicity of just one machine, I don’t think the Air is the way to go, but I don’t have one. Write again at the end of semester.
And as far as the blog is concerned, I’m loving it. I found it on Digg about a month ago and have been hooked since. Please keep it up.
Nice computer! It’ll be interesting to see if this one allows you to multi-task like the MBP.
I am one of the rare few who actually uses Mac & PC (well 2 PC’s one Windows and one with Ubuntu (linux)) for a multitude of reasons that are a bit too boring to mention unless you live in a basement and wonder if a real live girl looks the same as a Barbie once her pants are off. :p
I digress, I had the MacAir for about 10 days and sold it on eBay. I’m happy I didn’t dump the old Mac but I came to realize that I was carrying around a $2000 word processor.
It was utterly inadequate for app development and attempting any kind of video editing was like dumping salt water directly onto the computer and hitting the power switch: fizzle fry.
I love the idea of the MacAir but the execution leaves something to be desired. I felt the same way about iPods and don’t think they really ‘got it’ until they came out with the Touch.
I’ll be interested to see what happens with MacAir 2 though because I’m a masochist like that. :)
@David, I just checked with a friend, and he said you should invest your life savings into Company X.
OR
I just checked with Warren Buffet, and he said you should invest your life savings into Company X.
So tell me David, who’s investment advice do you trust? My unnamed friend, or one of the most successful investors in history?
So when distributing information on technology products, don’t you think that it makes sense to let people know that the information came from an expert in the field? I would hope so!
With regards to RSS, maybe you didn’t notice option b) in my last post, which you’ve just proven by your continued comments. Or have you found some way to post and read comments without visiting the site?
You should check out AppFresh for your “set up my app” list, too.
Against all common sense I bought the MBA, I haven’t gotten rid of my MBP though and I’m glad I didn’t.
By no means am I any sort of poweruser, I office quite a bit, mail, listen podcasts, watch video, play music and store some pics and movies.
It will become clear to you that the MBA cannot be used as a main computer, it’s slow, it heats up very fast and the fan is hearable most of time. You mention HD passes a few frames now and then …. well just watching a youtube video does this for you too.
Well it isn’t intended as a multimedia anything, mono speaker etc. and as long as you use it as a one, perhaps two apps computer it might work for you.
As my third computer after the 24″ imac and MBP the MBA is a perfect little gadget and the looks are simply thrilling everytime you start using it….. but this will wear off and then you left with a slow speed word-processor, but a nice looking and very expensive one at that. Remember the flow of “dumb blonds” jokes a couple of years back…. this is where the MBA would fit in well.
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Someone cracked open their macbook air. Check it out
http://www.news.com/2300-1044_3-6233167-1.html?tag=ne.gall.pg
@David - Actually, James’ analogy was pretty much spot on. Please consult the word “analogy” in a dictionary if you’re confused. Furthermore, if pretty much “anyone” saying that they have tried something and it works for them is “good enough” for you, then you must deal with a whole lot of bad products.
The way intelligent people work (and by “intelligent” people, I pretty much mean everyone commenting here but you) is that they defer to experts, or at least those who they consider to be experts, to assist them in making their decisions. When it comes to Apple products, I don’t have the time or money to be purchasing and analyzing every product that comes off the line. Instead, I read what experts have to say on the topic, because they know most when it comes to Apple products, and their opinion matters most. Why? Because it’s informed. And if Paul wants to back up something he did by referring to an industry expert, that’s even better. Does it matter what Joe Blow says on a forum? Maybe. But I read a lot of reviews on forums and I don’t agree with the context in which they are written or what the reviewer considers important, and that’s because my goals and their goals may be different when it comes to computing. I know that based on what Paul does with his computer, from school work to web development to movie watchin’, that my computing patterns and his are very much the same. Therefore if he says, “I don’t like feature X”, that matters more than when Joe Blow from Idaho says that he doesn’t like that the shitty aftermarket mouse he bought with his machine doesn’t work properly, all the while not understanding that it’s not the machine’s fault that his cheap mouse doesn’t work.
And you still seem to think that Paul writes just for you. If Paul wants to create a post titled “MY FRIENDS” and “name drop” 100 names, isn’t that really his prerogative? This is his damn blog, he can write whatever the hell he wants. Right now I’m OFFICIALLY going to encourage Paul TO drop names whenever and however he wants.
So I guess my suggestion cancels out your complaint, doesn’t it?
Paul, I wish you luck on this adventure of the MBA as a primary machine. I was wondering if you were going to use it as a complementary laptop and use your MBP as a desktop essentially. I hope that in a few weeks you will give us the status about that experience.
Also I like to think that my flickr comment sparked that second paragraph haha.
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Wow, I think I went through the same thing, I was so close to buying a Macbook Air at Futureshop. I was actually standing in front of the display model for a good 15-20 minutes just staring at it and wondering what I should do, of course the guy who was working there at the time was not helping me because he was being very pushy towards the sale.
I have to admit it does look beautiful, although not as powerful as my MB, the reason I chose not to buy it just yet was because I do not travel much and to tell you the truth I don’t think my MB is all that big. I don’t struggle with it when I carry it around and it doesn’t seem to heavy.
But Paul I salute you because you have yourself a great piece of Apple technology which you will enjoy very much. I love Apple products because of their continuing strive to be different and cutting edge. I myself have an Ipod Touch, Macbook, also I have convinced many family members to convert to Apple computers and are enjoying every minute of it. Don’t get me wrong I also do own a pc which I still love as well.
Take care Paul, great site. If you get a chance check mine out.
I wrote an earlier post here and mainly dabbled about speed….. after having worked on it all afternoon the speed thing is still an issue, but who gives a flying cat’s fiddle just spend your time checking out the beautifull details of the MBA ….. slow, noisy at times but beautiful. I don’t even take it outdoors…. it might scratch!
The packaging is a complete work of art by itself….. the machine is simply, well beautiful…. I call her Sophie
Comment fight! Woo hoo! Pretty soon, we’re gonna have full-blown digg/slashdot-style jokes and themes in these comments.
After that, we’ll move on to the Stammy Effect, where Paul links to a random page, and we bring their whole server down with our mindless click-throughs.
@David, the only thing “lamer than lame” here is you. I know this may be hard for you to grasp, but intelligence has nothing to do with technical knowledge. Congratulations! You’re an engineer! You’ve got a ton of technical knowledge. However, you are lacking the true basis of intelligence: logic, and reasoning. I’m also an engineer, and many of my classmates have a great deal of technical knowledge, but are completely unintelligent. On any given “college” campus, I could find many people who are much more intelligent than you. But nice try pulling the college card. It shows how truly immature you are.
It’s so blatantly clear to everyone reading these comments that you are jealous of Paul. Any why wouldn’t you be? He’s become more successful at 21, than you probably will ever be. “But I’m an ENGINEER, you can’t be more successful than that!!!!”. Keep telling yourself that David, just keep telling yourself that.
Oh and by the way, you say you worked on Rosetta, as well as cell phone circuitry. Interesting that a mechanical engineer would be working on things in the E&CE field? Or could that be another one of your lies? Just like when you said you would stop visiting this site. For someone who no longer visits this site, you sure post a lot of comments…
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Please keep us informed on how the MacBook Air is treating you! I’m a little bit skeptical of this laptop, and would like to hear from somebody first hand, how they like it.
Great post (minus the ryan block name drop of course). The bag shot is MONEY.
You really think much about the title don’t you. Excellent linkbait man.
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geez. when you said you’re downsizing you really meant it! I just don’t think I can use the Air as my primary machine. Was the MBP that bulky for you? I dont’ find my MBP bulky at all.
I share your curse of the impulse by though…damn credit cards!
@David: Good lord, we GET IT already. You’re so intelliigent and wonderful and successful but you’re “not bragging” because you just been “very very lucky” to be so gifted and be richer, smarter and more experienced than any of us could ever hope to be! Enough already. We’re convinced, okay? You’re great and everyone else sucks. We don’t need any more essays about your achievements.
Congratulations Paul!
I’ve back tracked a few times myself. Usually with new car models, I’ll be like, ugh that’s ugly, a year later it’s grown on me and I’m entertaining buying it.
Really looking forward to reading your reports of usage over time. I know my shoulders and back would love a break from my 15″ MBP.
I don’t see why some people are picking on Paul! So what he got a Macbook Air. He doesn’t have to justify himself to all those people out there telling him its slower and the screen is smaller. He just wanted the newest Apple toy coz he likes Apple products, so the next time Paul buys something that doesn’t live up to your standards of what you think Paul needs, just remember: Paul is out there enjoying his life, and your at home telling him what he buys isn’t good enough, so I guess that makes you a loser. Anyways, I really enjoy reading your blog Paul, keep up your awesome work!
@David
It’s interesting that you feel the need to keep coming back to type out lengthy posts about all your accomplishments. Because most people I know who have ACTUALLY accomplished something, never feel the need to defend it. It’s only the people who are pretending to have accomplished something (in order to make themselves feel better about their meaningless lives) that feel the need to constantly defend it.
You are just wasting your time doing that as well, because nobody believes you. We’ve all encountered people exactly like you in our lives. People who have this unquenchable thirst for acknowledgment. People who will invent, and defend to the death, stories about their numerous accomplishments. David, you might as well just tell us that you’re a billionaire who can fly and see through walls, because there’s about as much chance of us believing that as there is for your current lies.
Speaking of your current lies, you’re kind of like the Barack Obama of this comment thread. A lot of really big, but completely vague talk. You keep talking about all these opportunities and rewards you’ve gotten, and yet, you’ve not actually told us specifically what even one of them was. Let me guess, you don’t feel the need to defend them? Haha…
I noticed that you’re now happy with this article because Paul edited it (to be honest I haven’t noticed much difference). Seeing as how you got your panties in a knot over the mention of Ryan Block, and seeing as how the so-called “name drop” is still present, I’m not sure why you changed your mind. I guess that’s just a part of your amazing and great intelligence that us simple minded folk will never understand :)
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@David
If I was to state that I am Superman, would the onus be on you to prove that I am not? Of course not! If you be on me to prove that I am. Which is actually a very good analogy, because your claims are about as believable.
Even if the burden of proof was on me, how am I supposed to prove you are lying when you never even told us what you did? There’s that lack of logic and reasoning I was talking about! It’s analogous to saying “I’ve recently gone on a great vacation. Prove me wrong!”. Well I would be able to had you said the vacation was to Iraq, or to the Sudan. However, you’ve conveniently given us no information whatsoever as to what these supposed great opportunities and rewards are. This is a telltale sign of a lier. The type that we’ve all come across before. So like I said, you’re wasting your time if you think anyone is going to believe you.
Actually if you look at my comments, they are written and articulated much better than yours. But then again, you are the master of unsubstantiated claims, so your comments about my reading skills are to be expected.
So you think that since Brandon and I show similarities in our writing, we must be the same person. Obviously if two people show intelligent writing styles, then they must be one and the same! Well, I guess that’s the conclusion that you came to anyways, in the intelligence vacuum that is your mind. But here in the real world, it just means we both have some common sense.
God I hope you didn’t work on any of the avionics in the planes I fly in…
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@David: Well, that’s just silly because it would be quite easy to disprove. For starters, Paul lives in sunny Georgia. I live in snowy Saskatchewan, Canada. I could very easily prove this by taking a photograph of a melting snowbank or today’s local newspaper, or both!
A common person like myself can always find the time to come back here and read your comments. But you! Between pioneering microprocessing technologies and dusting your nobel prize medal, I just do not know how you find the time!
@David
My analogy is actually pretty accurate, because there is as much proof that you did what you claim, as there is that I’m Superman. Which is none at all.
However, I’ve figured out the basis behind your claims. I’ll admit it took a little longer than it usually would, but that is to be expected when dealing with vague and nonsensical information like what you’ve been posting.
Rosetta, or more specifically the technology behind Rosetta, was developed by a faculty member at Manchester in 1995, who built a company around it in 2000. Now David, let me explain something to you. Just because someone AT your school developed it, doesn’t mean YOU did. If that was the case I could take credit for some pretty well known inventions myself. But I have solid logic and reasoning skills, so I don’t.
The founder, Alasdair Rawsthorne, was a professor in Computer Science, so I’m just wondering what an Aerospace student is doing working with in the CS department? Especially a student whose LinkedIn profile claims that HTML and CSS are programming languages, and is only learning C and C++. Oh but you do know Java, although I’m pretty sure Java would be a very bad choice to write binary translation software.
With regards to the cell phone chip, why don’t you enlighten us on which chip that is exactly. Of course if you helped create it, it should be no problem to find a reference to that on Google.
Here you go again with the unsubstantiated claims. You say my holiday analogy didn’t make sense, but you don’t say why? Here, I’ll try and explain this reaaaally slowwwly so that you can keep up. You said “I have done many things in this lifetime and had opportunities and financial rewards in this 25 year lifetime Paul, you or 99% of the world population will never have.” Could it possibly get more vague than that?
Actually I don’t need to prove anything, because I never made any claim as to my identity in the first place. You made the claim, so you back it up (which you haven’t). Just like you made the claim about all these fictitious accomplishements you’ve had, and so you must back them up.
Seriously David, you should probably stop now, cause this is just getting embarrassing for you.
@Brandon
Saskatchewan eh? A fellow Canadian! I’m out in Ontario. But I guess I don’t really need to write you a message considering we’re apparently the same person …
@David
Even though it’s your job to prove I’m not Paul or Brandon, since you are the one who first made the claim, I’ve gone ahead and done the work for you to prove that I’m at least not Paul.
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj43/james883/000_1332.jpg
A picture of the latest issue of my school’s student newspaper.
Now as to the proof of all these grand accomplishments of yours? Conveniently absent…
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@David
Are you really surprised that Paul did that? First, you complained about the content of his posts, and then you’ve been trying to insinuate that he is responding to you under two fake names on his own blog. I would have done it a lot sooner if I were him.
“Shame for you if your a mac user since you use or have used something I helped create everyday, Rosetta. You likely have a chip in your cell phone i designed too”
You said you helped create Rosetta, which implies you personally were involved in the creation of it, which you obviously weren’t. You don’t have the skills to do it. Again, just because it was created at your school doesn’t mean you had anything to do with it. And then there’s the infamous unnamed cell phone chip which you apparently designed. Again, bullshit. You did none of that, and no one believes you did.
But I agree, we should take this off the comment thread. I’m james8370224 on AIM. Contact me on there if you want.
i saw an MBA at the local BestBuy and really liked how light it is. it would be a lot easier to cart around.
i really do not like the keyboard. the flat keys just drive me krazy. i love the feel of the keyboard of my MBP (the BEST windows machine ever! ;^) ) — the sculpted keys allow me to touch type far faster. maybe i’d get used to it but for $1700-1800, i want it to be what i want not what someone else thought it should be for artistic reasons.
i also felt that 80GB was not near enough disk space for the price. my 160gb is really too small for the computer to be a “digital hub” as i have about 115gb of music and then photos on top of that. (i won’t get into video — i have about 2.5gb of archived tivo attached to another machine…)
if they come out with an MBA with a 500gb hard drive and an MBP keyboard, well, maybe we’d be talking…
Well I have to say the comments on this post were amusing.
Anyway as I said before I’m interested to hear what you have to say about the MBA after a week or two of use as I really trust your opinion (after they’ve launched and you’ve used it of course ;) ) on tech products. Cheers.
I was looking into the MBA as my new laptop as well. I would use it primarily for school and taking notes in class. I wanted to know how you liked using it in class, i.e battery life, how good the keyboard is, and how quite the keyboard it. i hate when the class is quite and all you can hear is the sound of my keyboard, my current laptop is terrible with this.
I also wanted to know how the hinge is on the MBA, with it being so slim i feel like there couldn’t be much holding it together. i wanted to know if there is a lot of wobble to the screen or if it seems to be a pretty sturdy design. \
Thanks,
ok. there are 100 comments! i couldn’t go through them but i am sure one of them says can i have your old pc, and i could very easily make a case for you to send me yours! But i have a real time concurrent systems midterm tomorrow! so another time! nice post pstam!
The MacBook Air looks nice. I wouldn’t mind getting it for only $15. But is there anything that you don’t like about it so far?
Congratulations on your purchase (well, at lease $15/month worth of it so far.)
I’ll be interested in hearing how the MBA works as your primary machine, and whether or not you can manage to function without your MBP.
Nice article! Too bad MacBook Air is so expensive (especially in Europe!), I’d love to buy one.
Help! After having it since August 2004, I’ve become dependent on my Toshiba laptop… I never realized how difficult it is to do desktop-only.
My laptop was having so many problems, but those seemed to be resolved this summer. Then, the internet was quirky… but we figured out that that was because of local wireless problems. But the battery died, and even when working on power alone, the laptop won’t seem to function.
This PC is hopeless.
Is the MacBook Air the newest laptop available? Is it the best? What is the average price of it.
There are non-Apple laptops that are available for $450 to $700, but the problem with them is that they aren’t good for playing a major game, like The Sims 2. For that, I need a higher “processor speed,” so I’ve been told. [Though it took awhile to get that out of a "Geek Squad agent"... Those people are frustrating, in my experience.]
You guys are like a bunch of snippy teenage girls! Good god. i thought I left that behind when I graduated from high school.
Paul, I just found your blog and am really glad I did - it’s well written and incredibly informative. And I LOVE the headline; keep it up! I’m really looking forward to hearing how the MBA does for you, and I’m hoping that it stays your primary machine simply because so many people doubt it will.
I tip my hat to you, I use a subnotebook, solid state drive, and no optical (Sharp MM20) as my main computer right now, but I am in the opposite place that you are.
I am planning on picking up a MBP now, or at next refresh. To replace this one.
My eyes are getting tired of the small screen, but I love the 1.98bs and 0.78 that has a footprint smaller than an 8×11 piece of paper.
Now that the air is out, i have had several people come up to me and ask me if it is “That new thin apple iPod computer???” LOL
-Ezra
Hey Paul,
I have a MBA as well and I just downloaded smcFanControl. What settings do you use on yours?
…and here we have yet another reason why the average American is in unnecessary credit card debt.
Buying something that *depreciates* in value from the day you buy it on credit (e.g. with interest payments as well as the actual cost of the item) is asinine.
If you can’t afford $1800 for a laptop, save your money until you can.
@anon - I hope you realize the credit card part was a joke