MacBook Air first impressions
by Volker Weber
Today the 13" MacBook Air arrived. It's as sexy as you might imagine. Setup was a breeze with Migration Assistant which copied everything over from the MacBook Pro in less than four hours including setup.
Reality kicks right in. How long is the battery supposed to last? I think it will be about four hours for this charge:
I am not missing the weight of the Pro, but I am missing the keyboard backlight. That's just a neat feature if you like to sit in dim light. What I do like a lot better is the screen and the bezel around it. I never liked the black glass of the Pro. This looks much more like a proper notebook. Programs load very fast from SSD, so that's a major benefit. The machine is not silent however. If it gets busy and warm, you will hear the fan cooling down the body.
If I did not already have a great Apple notebook, this would be the machine I want. And no, I can't keep it. It goes back in February. :-)
Comments
Wenn doch nur auf diesem Ding Mac OS X liefe...
Warum? Ich finde das Apple-Gerät schöner.
Thanks for sharing your first impressions! I also noticed that the Macbook Air (13") isn't completely silent. The fan is definitely audible (at least I can hear it in a completly silent room). So thanks again for sharing that information - it saves me the trip to dealer to figure out if it's just my machine or all Macbook Airs. I guess I'm too critical. It's like me sitting in a car and noticing each and every noise where others are just wondering what the hell I'm talking about ;-) I wish I wouldn't notice these things...
I've get the 11" and I've not noticed the fan kicking in yet. But I've only really done lightweight stuff on it. The battery on my Air lasts about 4 hours. If it lasted longer, then it would be nearly perfect.
Volker, which clock speed does your Macbook Air have? I'm testing the 2.13 GHz version and the fan is quite active when you start using the machine (web browsing via Chrome, downloading updates, syncing drop box, syncing Mobile Me). Maybe the 1.86 GHz version is significantly quieter!?
Well I have the 1.86 GHz version:
I would imagine the fan is kicking in because of the higher clock speeds of the 13" models. Do you have a temperature monitor widget like what is in iStatMenus? Curious what temp it seems to run at idle and under usual stress, and when the fan kicks in.
Volker, looking forward to a review after a week or so when you have a good sense of how it performs overall...
Since I travel every week, I'm also pondering the switch to a 13" Air - so really interested in your report Volker. I currently have 4GB in my Pro so interested in how the 2 GB Air performs.
Das Foto gibt das Samsung nur unzureichend wieder. Und das Ding hat KEINEN Lüfter, nur so am Rande bemerkt...
