June 1, 2008 8:32 PM PDT
Month 4 verdict for MacBook Air: OK, but not great
My consumption and inevitable destruction of technology products provides a great deal of entertainment for my friends.
My first-month check-in with the MacBook Air was overwhelmingly positive. Several months later, not so much. Here is an update on life with my MacBook Air, with 2GB of RAM.
The positive:
- The size is great, and the keyboard remains a pleasure to type on.
- I have become dependent on the track pad, which is a total shocker, as I have never liked any of them in the past.
- The function keys are extremely useful, and I miss them on any other machine.
The negative:
- It's slow. When I open up a file window--let's say my Applications folder--it takes 10 to 30 seconds before the file list appears. It's painful when you are in a rush, being much slower than the regular MacBook, let alone the MacBook Pro.
- Battery life is generally bad. I have yet to get more than 2 hours and 15 minutes since I have owned the notebook.
- The need to lug around a bunch of accessories (including Apple's always-burdensome power adapter) defeat much of the purpose. My whole point with the MBA was to have a machine with which I could easily travel.
- I have been screwed by the lack of Ethernet connectivity at least three times. Many hotels don't offer Wi-Fi in room. Last week in New York, I had to go to the 24-hour Apple store to buy another USB adapter.
- It runs hot, and the memory tends to max out at least once a daywhile running very basic applications (Mac Mail, Mac Calendar, Safari, Firefox, and Excel are what I normally run). It's odd to me that the Apple applications are the items that push the memory over the top, whereas Firefox has gotten much better with it.
Dave Rosenberg dishes up "Software, Interrupted" with nearly 15 years of technology and marketing experience that spans from Bell Labs to multiple start-up IPOs to open-source enterprise software companies. He is co-founder of MuleSource and currently serves as the general manager of Hardy Way. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. You can contact Dave via e-mail at softwareinterrupted@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @daveofdoom. 
I don't care if it's outside is pretty, if it doesn't work right, it's a failure.
I don't care if it's outside is pretty, if it doesn't work right, it's a failure.
But I can still tell that u are a mac fanboi.
PS.
I love my laptop with Windows.
If the reviewer is talking about the first folder view upon system restart, then that is possible, as the OS sets up various caches and stuff. But other models will do that too, and probably faster as well, but he shouldn't make it sound like it's happening all the time. If it is, try a System Archive and Install to clear up any OS problems.
I have not had most of your problems. I always get at least three and a half hours of battery life with Energy Saver at 'Better Energy Performance' when not using the adapter. I've rarely needed to use Ethernet or my external SuperDrive. Heat might be problem if I were wearing shorts, but isn't with my legs covered. The only time I see the spinning beach ball as if I have multiple browsers with numerous windows open, iTunes on and try to do something fairly memory extensive.
I do have a couple of issues with it. One is remembering the sharp edges. Sometimes, I forget and try to rest the MacBook Air on its back edge, which is practically nonexistent, or bump my wrist against the front edge, which is even slimmer. Another is I have dark marks on the keyboard from the screen that seem to be getting worse. Last, but not least, I've yet to find a bag for the MacBook Air I am truly satisfied with.
- by gj2002 June 8, 2008 4:48 PM PDT
- Suggestions:
- Like this Reply to this comment
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(7 Comments)- Set power management from "Performance" to "Normal" to address heat concerns.
- Check the Battery Information under the Power information in the System Profiler. Make note of the Full Charge Capacity. Take these notes to an Apple Store and ask if the battery might be defective and replaced under warranty.
- For launch times, like losjackal suggests, this might be a problem with the OS. Discuss this at an Apple Store along with the battery problem.
- For accessories, the Ethernet adapter is pretty small. Doesn't seem like much of a burden to carry. Like a monitor adapter, it is pretty simple to drop it in a storage pocket in a laptop bag. As for the power adapter, I don't know of any laptops that don't use one. Not sure if there is a solution there.
- 2GB of memory is a decent amount. Again, it is puzzling how it can max out when much older laptops with less memory can probably handle the apps you are running. Along with the launch times, maybe something was hosed up on the OS.