[jqp]

I saw the Macbook Air on Sunday - they had 6 of them on display.

The screen is a real optical illusion - it is so thin on top that it seems impossible that a screen could fit in there.

I read an interesting hands-on review.

Battery life is only half of what is advertised.
Hard drive is like molasses
usb socket is too small
you need another Mac or PC to use this - unless you get the external optical drive

very complete review with pics

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/macbook-air-review.ars

[Woodsea]

I really, really like this idea.  I am really, really glad Apple did it first.  It is now mainstream, and all the ***boys will have one.
I want one.....when it has matured, which will take about 18 months.
It is missing quite a few features.
Thank you Apple.  Only you could have brought this out, with this much fanfare without EVERY one saying it is gimped (sorry not very PC).

[refmedia]

As a second or third mac would be perfect and the best feature is the size and weight!!!

[Russell Dawkins]

very complete review with pics
http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/macbook-air-review.ars

That was the 80 GB hard drive model.

They have just released a comparison of the solid state version with the HD version:

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/macbook-air-ssd-review.ars/1

Bottom line - is it worth the extra $1300? Mostly, no.

[JLM]

Woodsea,

What's "PC" on an Apple forum?   

[Woodsea]

I apologize for such an egregious and inappropriate outburst,  JLM.   I blame it on my typing tourettes, or early onset Alzheimer's.

[andrewbee]

I have not seen one yet, have not even looked to check if the S.M. is out yet (it should be) but seen the pics  on the web. My boss played with one at the N.Y.C. store, he thought it was great.
I think the concept and execution are good however like the Newton, its before its time. I predict the macbook air will be another g4 cube.

[drphoto]

I'd rather see them go the other way and bring out a rubber armored heavy duty model for field use. The Air is pretty but it has to be rather delicate.

I had the G4 Titanium model and it was so flexible it eventually broke circuit traces, which was not an uncommon problem. I suspect that's why it was quietly replaced by the molded aluminum shell after all the fanfare of the Ti launch.

Kinda of off topic, but I thought kids were drawn to Macs, but now that I'm back in college most of the students have PC laptops. Maybe it's a cost issue.

[Woodsea]

drphoto-
Kids play games and have no money.  Apple is not very cost efficient for either one.

[planet10]

The MacBook Air should be considered an accessory to a MacPro or an iMac. The MacBook has more functionality than the Air for a 1/3 less.

One could also consider it to be a bracket (with the touch at the other end) for future products that use the gesture tech devloped for the iPhone. I'd expect a Touch-like device that has a screen the size of a paperbook, and then one that is a full tablet size.

dave