Review: Apple Macbook Air notebook PC
Date : 02 13 2008 Category : Technology
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Cliff Joseph, Personal Computer World, Thursday 14 February 2008 at 00:00:00
All hail the Kate Moss of the computing world
Apple says that the Macbook Air is a 'no compromise ultra-portable laptop'. That's certainly true in some ways: the unit measures less than 2cm thick (0.76in) at its thickest point, and even the somewhat-miffed Sony hasn't really disputed Apple's claim that this is the 'thinnest laptop in the world'. Sony does win on weight as its Vaio TZ weighs just 1.24kg, compared to the Macbook's 1.36kg. However, the Macbook Air has a bigger screen - 13.3in compared to 11.1in for the Vaio. Ultimately, though, Apple's engineers know that there's more to good design than just a spec-sheet full of numbers. It's the sheer elegance of the Macbook Air's slimline design that catches the eye, and when you feel how comfortably the machine balances in the palm of one hand you can't help but wonder if your credit card will stretch to buying one. There's no doubt that Apple has hit the ultra-portable nail right on the head. But shrinking the unit down to this size has inevitably involved compromises in other areas, no matter what Apple says. The most obvious compromise is the processor. Apple got Intel to produce a customised version of the Core 2 Duo for the Macbook Air, but the only models available at the moment run at a modest 1.6GHz or 1.8GHz, priced at £1,199 and £1,389 respectively. Anyone looking for a powerful laptop to replace their desktop PC or Mac should probably look elsewhere as the Macbook Air simply doesn't have the raw horsepower for that. Even so, it is more than adequate for running ordinary business software such as Microsoft Office, surfing the web and handling your email. It's got 2GB of Ram and, while the 80GB hard disk is pretty small, the Macbook Air still compares favourably to ultra-portable rivals such as the Vaio TZ, which hits a top speed of 1.33GHz with 120GB hard disk and costs a hefty £1,799. A 64GB solid state drive version is available for £2,028. You will, however, probably end up spending a bit more on optional extras for the Macbook Air. The ultra-thin design leaves no room for a DVD drive at all, so watching DVDs is out of the question - unless you pay £65 for the optional external DVD drive. Interestingly, using the included Remote Disc application you can install software on the machine over a wireless network by using the optical drive of any other computer you have available, PC or Mac....
