I recently unboxed and set up Apple's new MacBook Air and I must say I was prepared to be unimpressed. Why? I had heard others say it was underpowered and it was actually too thin. Ha, figure that. Others had complained that there was no DVD/CD drive and no ethernet port so it's crippled. So you might be surprised when I tell you I agree entirely and moreso with the Consumer Reports MacBook Air review that gives it high marks and a recommended status. I imagine there's also a good reason for the average user rating of a solid 5 stars too.
Underpowered? Not at all.
Once I actually started using it I found that it was more responsive and certainly booted faster than my current iMac which is a 2.8 GHz Core 2 Duo with 4 GB of RAM. They mention that encoding QuikTime video would be slower than other Mac models, but I have to ask, what the heck are you doing encoding QuickTime with a laptop in the first place! If you're checking email, surfing the web, playing video and editing your Keynote presentations or working in Microsoft Word, you will have zero problems with the speed and responsiveness. It's faster than you. 🙂 Also, the fact that it has a solid state drive means that it basically boots up almost instantly. No waiting is always nice.
And even better, since the drive is solid-state (no moving parts) it's less susceptible to damage from drops and bumps, unlike standard hard drives. And with a full size keyboard and a gorgeous display I was already 80% of the way to thrilled. Finding out that you can get an external DVD/CD burner/player for $79 as well as an external USB to ethernet adapter for $29 pretty much put me over the top considering the extreme lightness and portability of the unit.
Max Portability, Max Functionality
So there you have it. This is a marvelous laptop for most people who need maximum portability and practically all the functionality of a desktop computer. If you don't need to do video editing and you don't need to store huge files (the largest drive is only 256GB so if you need more space you should look at the Macbook Pro instead) then the MacBook Air is truly a fantastic choice for maximum portability with full-size keyboard and a beautiful screen. Of course you can also hook up an external display if you need even more monitor real estate when sitting at your desk. All in all, this is the new device to covet. Get it. You'll love it. 🙂