MacBook Air Laptop Detailed Review – Think Thin, Learn From iPhone

Posted by NotZaaPostMan

November 14, 2009

MacBook Air

A year after the announcement of the iPhone, Apple presents its latest laptop: the MacBook Air, which they claim is the thinnest laptop in the world. Is the MacBook Air really the dream laptop for all travelers or she has to conceal irreparable gaps?

Presentation

The MacBook Air features a 13.3-inch LED-backlit widescreen display, MacBook Air has similar dimensions than the MacBook, but the maximum thickness of no more than 0.76 cm. Like his predecessors, he presents awide keyboard, an integrated webcam and the latest operating system Mac OS X “Leopard”. In the basic version signed and comes with a processor Core 2 Duets Intel and rhythmical to 1.6 GHz, the MacBook Air is equipped of 2 Go RAM, Bluetooth, WiFi 802.11b / g, and a 80 GB hardrive.

Look, keyboard, touchpad

The MacBook Air is immediately enticing. The break with the design of the MacBook and MacBook Pro, which held relatively straight lines available, see themselves Apple,a chassis with very slightly rounded corners, which helps reinforce its thinness impression. The dimensions to establish themselves to 12.8 inches wide and 8.95 inches deep, just like the MacBook, it features a 13.3-inch LED-backlit, widescreen display that has 1280 x 800 pixel resolution.

The MacBook Air weighs a little less than 3 pounds. The body shell of the MacBook Air adopts a gray anodized surface similar to what is found on the MacBook Pro orthe back of the iPhone. Rather rigid, this shell makes good impression in the extent to which adorned the MacBook Air significantly less sensitive than we had originally assumed. Nevertheless, this soft surface to the main brands easily enough, the true nomads have a protective slip cover.

Like on the MacBook Pro, this keyboard takes advantage of a back light, rather pleasant when one uses the machine in the darkness, regardless of the intensity of which is regulated by one of the canScreen. After several days of use, and the necessary moments of adaptation, showing the keyboard of the MacBook Air is very pleasant.

The screen

The MacBook Air has a webcam (640 x 480) of poor quality and a microphone. It has a light sensor automatically adapts to the intensity of the backlight LED when one is in a dark room. In this case, the intensity of the illumination of the keyboard. When you have your finger on the sensor: This recognizes aonce darkness, and the screen intensity diminishes. With a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels, the screen of the MacBook Air offers a work surface less important than a certain 11-inch models, which allow for this, the resolution increases to 1366 x 768 pixels, but Apple and thus a certain visual comfort, with a definition the action completely most users. The LCD panel is the brilliantly bright, warm colors and sweeping, but true. By increasing the luminosity,Use of the MacBook Air in the outside light.

The MacBook Air offers a new generation of touchpad, inspired by the iPhone, the first mobile phone from Apple. It is wider, a traditional touchpad. With three fingers, you can use the navigator Safari … but not with Firefox. Most do not change radically the functionality of this little user-friendliness, but are part of the charm of the Apple products.

Connections

The three ports of the MacBook Air will be proposedOn the left side is a small flap that is protected under the Open, but little room to reach them. Specifically, if your line is thick, or if you have a large USB stick, you will not be able to connect them directly in touch. To fix the problem, Apple suggests suing an extension. These are rather cheap, but one thing is required now, the cables, which takes some of the ultra portable aspect of the multiply-machine.

WiFi but no DVD

The absence of DVDReader is voluntary (there is not enough thickness anyway). Apple’s marketing states that are at a time where wires will go away, it is still necessary to have a DVD reader? Apple plays the network card, with an application compatible with Mac and Windows XP and Windows Vista allows DAV and CD use wirelessly. The reader of your principal machine, you can therefore serve to install applications, transfer contents on the MacBook Air and even your relocationOperating system, but it can be 5 to 10 times longer than using a DVD reader. If this is an important issue you have to buy an external $ 99 USB 2.0 based DVD reader.

Speed

By a processor Core 2 rhythmical Duets to 1.6 GHz, engraved in 65 nanometers, the MacBook Air is powered by a speed demon, and is slower than the other Apple notebooks. The choice of Apple is therefore to ensure a level of acceptable performances for light and medium users.

If youwilling to spend more the MacBook Air is integrated with a powerful processor posting a frequency of 1.8 GHz but also and especially from one disk to flash memory of the type of 64 Go, similar to the SSD in standard in its Lenovo ThinkPad X300 . To take advantage of these improvements, it will be necessary, but pay a surcharge of about $ 1300, which will carry the final price of the MacBook Air to about 3098th

Performance

Certain applicationsextremely resource intensive work clearly slowly on the MacBook Air, thanks to its 1.6-GHz processor. In other words, the manipulation of images of big size under Photoshop or video editing on your patience and study.

On the other hand, the manipulation of photos or video sequences by means of iMovie will work without problems and without significant discomfort. The interface receives the liquid that you can expect from Leopard, despite the poor performance of itsProcessor. Use the navigation on the Web, office, music and video, do not suffer from any problem. As for games, let’s keep it simple, just select a different laptop.

Battery Life

Apple talks about an autonomy of about five hours with activated WiFi. In selecting the eco mode of Mac OS X and suggested the screen brightness to 75% of capacity, the MacBook Air was able, while 3:15, before the low battery warning showed up work.

Conclusion

Onecould think straight with his MacBook Air, Apple has been to create a new segment on the laptop. Proper design, light weight and extreme thinness is a good candidate for the ultra-portable category. But is the impossibility of changing the battery or the connection is very limited as many professionals to stop, which is usually like this kind of machinery. The performance of the MacBook Air is sufficient for light traveler users ie bloggers, connected fanatics, journalists,and other representatives. They will leave to prepare no difficulty working with photos, invoices, and items, or have, then, to ensure a presentation that they all benefit from his excellent panel LCD screen.

Apple has attempted to circumvent some of the drawbacks of the MacBook Air. The lack of a DVD is on the functionality compensates for the reader to take a network to a remote computer, PC or Mac. The idea is interesting, even if in the facts, we can imagine, notEasy to install something that significant ways. The touchpad is improved, integrating more functionality from the iPhone. Although these improvements do not revolutionize the way, a interacts with a computer, they are quite pleasant.

It will be necessary for the MacBook Air add an external DVD and a USB hub and a USB adapter for the Ethernet to a real comfort of usage guarantee, and on an equal foot with other machines with equivalent price and put functionality. ThereforeThis diminishes what the charm of the MacBook Air: its thinness. The other solution would be to the idea that the MacBook Air is complete only as an aid to the machine, a light portable and elegant is coming to your workplace for the time when you travel and keep only light work designed.

This beautiful machine suffers from cruel limitations that other computers, sometimes lighter or less expensive, have not. Despite the beautiful lines and user-friendliness of theMacBook Air, it is only with the ultra portable promise as expected. The previous MacBook performs better, is more functional and cheaper!

Christophe Catesson – Communication Manager for http://www.bestlaptopsreviews.com laptop and notebook reviews and ratings, most popular laptops, industry news, forum, Q / A.