The Adventure Life with Steve Casimiro Macbook Air Is Light, Yes, But It's No Lightweight

Text and photos by West Coast Editor Steve Casimiro

Breathe, must remember to breathe. It’s just a computer. Really, just a computer. Breathe, son, breathe. Keep telling yourself it’s just a computer.

Who am I kidding? The Macbook Air is the sexiest laptop ever. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it connects to the internet, processes words, “i”s your life, etc., etc. But those lines! That sleek, svelte silhouette…it’s like nothing you’ve ever laid your hands on. And yes, you have to lay your hands on it to get the full effect. You can YouTube the “manila envelope” ad like it’s a Victoria’s Secret fashion show, but there’s no substitute for touching. It’s true for Victoria (I’m guessing) and it’s true for the Air.

Now, I have made some foolish buying decisions when swept away by product lust. The Contax G2 rangefinder camera comes to mind—beautiful, but for me impractical. The Air, though, is more than a hot piece of sculpted aluminum—it’s a powerful computer that could easily replace your current laptop. Indeed, the $1,800 1.6 GHz version kept pace with my year-old Macbook Pro, even though it has less RAM and processing speed. If my photography didn’t require more intensive needs (Firewire port, larger hard drive), I’d snatch up the Air in a second. The speed, diminutive size, and special Apple sauce make it a compelling, almost irresistible ultra-portable.

Let’s take a look at key points:

SIZE
Eight years ago, I was sitting in an aisle seat on a cross-country flight, testing a laptop the size of a paperback book. A flight attendant looked down at my lap and said, “Wow, it’s so small!” “Yes,” I said proudly, “yes, it is.” And then I turned bright red.

You’ll have no such interactions with the Air. This is a full-size laptop with a 13.3-inch screen and spacious, comfortable keyboard. Ergonomics are not compromised in any way. Its weight and size reduction are achieved through thinness—the Air is just three-quarters of an inch at its thickest point. And while you can read such numbers all day long, you have to put it in your hands to grasp fully how portable this little device is—it has the heft of a leather portfolio, the dimensions of a design magazine, and the cool-to-the-touch exterior of some exotic metal. I found myself taking such joy in its portability, I looked for excuses to carry it, pack it, or slip it in and out of my messenger bag.

I don’t know how much attention you pay to tech blogs, but the big buzz right now in computing is ultra-portable internet tablets—devices that are larger than a cell phone but smaller than a laptop. Even Apple is rumored to have one that will be announced in September. You know what? It’s already here, but it’s called the Air.

COMPUTING POWER
The Air’s 1.6 Ghz engine is more than capable of running the typical processing tasks you’ll throw at it. Even with four or five applications open and working, including memory hog Aperture, it ran merrily along. Intensive computer tasks, like heavy-duty video editing or photo processing, are more likely to be slowed by the lack of ports (just a single USB 2.0) than by an undersized power plant. Indeed, I’ve even used it for moderately intensive photo work (family vacation, light pro shooting) and found it plenty capable.

The 80GB hard drive is another story. With no additional applications aside from Aperture, only 41GB of storage remains available for music, video, photos, and files. A weeklong vacation with video and pictures could easily chew up 10 or 15 gigs. The simple solution is to carry an external hard drive, but doesn’t that diminish the point of the Air? Far better would be for Apple to offer a 120GB drive or larger.

NO DVD DRIVE
If you’ve heard much about the Air, you probably know it doesn’t have an optical, i.e. DVD, drive. At first, this seems like a stumbling point, but in practice it turns out to be almost irrelevant. If you need to use a DVD--probably to install software--you simply “borrow” another computer’s, which you connect to through wi-fi. Just enable disk sharing and voila—the Air found my Macbook Pro and my wife’s G5 instantly. Software loaded flawlessly, DVD videos played at full resolution with no slowing or glitches, even when walked through the garage and onto the street with it. In this case, the benefits of eliminating the drive to create a smaller chassis far outweigh the inconveniences. You know what? I think it’s kind of cool, actually.

BATTERY
Apple’s claimed battery life is five hours, which needs to come with as big an asterisk as Barry Bonds’ record. Since nobody should believe battery life claims, there will be no illusions lost. However, if you do nothing but word processing, reduce the screen brightness to a minimum, and invert the screen from white to black (Control-Option-Command-8), you could probably eke out close to five hours. But that’s not real world computing. In the real world, figure on three to three and a half—less if you’re processing photos or watching a video, more if you’re word processing.

The bigger issue is that the battery isn’t replaceable. There’s no way you’ll make it from one coast to another with full computer time, unless you switch planes and outlet-jump between flights. To my mind, this is the Air’s biggest weakness. All the other limitations have work-arounds, but a dead battery is a dead battery. Without being an apologist for Apple, I understand that you don’t create the world’s thinnest computer without making compromises—but this should be at the top of the list for changes in Air 2.0.

SUMMARY
The Macbook Air is the future, now. We might never have all of our applications and data living online in the “cloud”, but there’s no question that computing is moving rapidly in that direction--wirelessly and internet-based. You can find programs for email, word processing, spreadsheets, and much, much more online (duh). Even Photoshop and Quicken financial software have versions that are used online and only online. Streaming video, iTunes downloads, wi-fi, and borrowed hard drives—all these reduce our dependency on traditional onboard DVD drives. They might be perceived as inconveniences today, but will simply be the way we do things tomorrow, no questions asked. It's the Air's blessing and curse that it's the first to move so boldly in that direction. Mostly blessing.

So, what to make of it, other than as an object of design fetish? I’ve read more than my share of Air reviews. Some are fawning, many are highly critical. Most make valid points, but most also miss what I think is the key point. Of course the Air is sexy and of course the Air is imperfect--but it's far more versatile than most believe. The Air is designed to be a leading edge, attention-getting product. By that measure, it’s a smashing success. The surprise is that the deeper, more fundamental qualities— computing, usability, comfort—also make it a smashing success. You should give it a closer look. Make that "touch".

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Comments

[Jason]

If you're worried about scuffing, there are lots of protective covers on the market. I got one from the following website because I liked being able to personalize my machine with cool artwork in addition to just protecting it. Felt a bit like picking out a (temporary) tattoo for my MacBook Air.

www.gelaskins.com

[Tin]

I appreciate your article and I also think MBA is the coolest laptop on the market, but I have to say one of your claim is completely BS.

>> invert the screen from white to black (Control-Option-Command-8)

This not only increase at least some (CPU/GPU) computation, but the power consumption difference between displaying black/white is negligible.

[MarkRoemers]

Nice tale of a first time MBA user! Like the writing style.
My MBA (1.8GHz & 64GB SSD) works well. It saves me a lot of time because it goes to sleep and wakes up instantly. Try that on a Windows machine! Software Updates work and do not mess with your machines configuration. Installed Vodafones USB/UMTS datacard, that is actually thicker than the MBA itself. Works okay. Time machine is another nice back-up feature. I run Parallels because our CRM-system needs MS internet explorer (grr) but I use more and more MAC OSX. Connectivity in a company environment dominated by Windows machines is excellent.
Yes I run out of disk space if I edit a HD-holiday-movie but who cares. I connect to a remote disk and do my editing elsewhere.
I would not trade this MBA in for anything else. Regards Mark

[Shuvo]

I have a MBA 1.6 GHz,80 GB RAM.. and definitely it's one of the best laptops I've ever used. If Mr.Jobs want to do it better in MBA 2.0, he should provide a CD/DVD-r/w optical drive,a 320 GB RAM,and a 2.2 GHz processor,1 Firewire port and 3 USB ports.And the battery needs to be replaceable.

[Cananito]

At first I loved the idea of macbook air, but now I think I would still go for a macbook or a macbook pro

[M@D M@N]

i know that its incredibly thin but its not good because you cant use any discs and because there are only one usb ports and these two things are vary important i mean if i want to buy a mac i wold buy the macbook

[Michael Chin]

The MBA is not a machine for work but for life outside of work. Have taken it on 2 ski trips in Europe & NZ for email, skype, iphoto & itunes. It's so good lookIng that security at airports hold up the line to take a good look at it.

[Michael Chin]

The MBA is not a machine for work but for life outside of work. Have taken it on 2 ski trips in Europe & NZ for email, skype, iphoto & itunes. It's so good lookIng that security at airports hold up the line to take a good look at it.

[Eva Castañeda]

I really Love my MacBook Air, I can carry it everywhere in my purse, I don´t need a heavy weight Laptop bag. Its Great!!!

[Marcus]

You don't need to keep sending your MBA back to get a new motherboard...

Pickup this $10 utility, it will solve the core shutdown issue.

http://coolbook.se/CoolBook.html

[mike sanders]

I think the grammar critic's mom was bitten by a very large comma.
the Air is beautiful and thank you early adopters for buying so many I will wait for the Mk 2.
My next must have is the iphone.

[Evan]

I Recently bought a macbook, top of the line black, 2.4 GHz, 2GB RAM (upgraded to 3), iWork, etc. I LOVE the air. And I love having a backlit keyboard, and would have gone for it if it had not been for these things:

Lack of ports, I need more than 1 USB, and firewire is nice to have.

80GB HD (WTF), I have more music that that, and I dont want to carry an external, unless they make an air version of that. My new macbook has 250GB, and I think that is stingy.

Only 1.6 GHz, My old PC had that, and it was 2 years old. C'mon. I need at least 2.1GHz.

The Price, My new macbook, which has way better specs was only $1499 ($1780 after I got some accessories). I understand that there is all kinds of new technology in it, but, honestly, the thinness is not worth the extra $300 ($450 w/ tax, and $600 with accessories).

Now, someday, perhaps when either I get a better job, or the price drops, Then I would love to get an air.

[anotherspellmaster :-)]

AND HOW ABOUT YOURS? I TOOK THE LIBERTY OF CORRECTING YOUR MISTAKES.
I would be more careful if I were you...
by the way, I also have a MacBook Air and I am having several technical issues; this computer is much better to just look at than to actually use (I would say this is the worst Mac i have had in over 15 years).

Posted by: Gabriel Sanchez | August 06, 2008 at 11:27 PM

Your validity is questionable, because you cant (CAN'T) use proper grammar,
Their (THERE) is not a core b in the macbook air, It would just be the second core. One core of a processor can not just simply be turned off. as the clock of the processor is applied as a whole not individually to each core. Also the clock is adjusted to save battery life. And if you were writing this from a mac you would of (HAVE) been incredibly annoyed by the amount of red squiggly lines.

[MBA Owner]

I have the flash-based MBA, the 9th notebook computer I've owned, and it is the best. Most of the cons listed above are non-issues.

RAM is sufficient for almost anything, and hard-drive space is only a problem for storing personal entertainment (music/photos/video). Otherwise, HDD space is a non-issue, and the flash HDD is lightning fast.

No disc drive is a non-issue unless you need to load up CDs/DVDs. I bought the external DVD drive and haven't ever used it.

If you use mainly online (cloud) services, it is perfect. How many other notebooks can you lift with two fingers?

[Lance]

I like the comment from the grammar critic. His entire message is wrought with errors in grammar.

[Peter]

Storage on the MacBook Air is inadequate for intensive use- but there is a solution. Add one of the large-capacity iPods (80 or 160 Gb) and you have personal entertainment plus ample storage. The iPod acts as an external drive for the MacBook and can be used to back it up. Personally I have had no problems viewing video or using Skype.

[Immo Böhm]

I like the Air, but I like the style of writing above even more. And I agree, the non changeable battery is a problem. For the Air 3.0 I'd like to see a fuel cell so I can recharge in flight with a few drops of Alcohol. Now that would be cool!
www.afreshconsult.com

[G Man]

As a MBA owner, I have no complaints regarding it's performance. Regarding Peter Bartley's issue about "scuffing" the Air when slipping it in an out of a computer bag, I applied a "Universal Skin" product that took care of that issue. It does create a bit of a shiny effect, but well worth the time and money.

[Peter Bartley]

I am totally in love with my MBA apart from one thing - pulling it in and out of my back it has been scuffed by zips and other odds and ends lurking, so now it looks a little less sexy :(

[erichansa]

that should let more people know.

[David - Galway - Ireland]

I have a 1.6Ghz MacBook Air with 80Gb hard disc. I have used this machine extensively and certainly for wireless surfing and with the display dimmed I get very close to six hours battery life now that the battery has been cycled many times.

Its a wonderful machine, I've tried smaller devices and given-up on them as their keyboards and screens are just too awkward.

The only time I have exhibited the core shutdown problem was when I was trying to play a video from an attached iPod, interestingly the Mac external DVD drive with a DVD film worked perfectly. Stuttering is caused when the second core shuts down because the hardware is getting too hot. On my MacBook Pro I've installed a little fan control program which works extremely well, not yet tried this on the Air yet though.

I do not mind lack of exchangeable batteries and do not carry spare batteries for any of my laptops ever (and that's from using laptops for more than 20 years ago).

My single complaint with the Air is the stupid decision not to have a Kensington lock slot on the device. Yes they may have had to make one corner a little thicker, but its better than having your laptop stolen when you go to collect your next Latte.

[Juan de Dios Santander Vela]

The screen inversion trick would have worked if the Air had a CRT display. Having a LCD backlight TFT display, black is created by having three transistors at each pixel active for blocking red, green and blue light, thus spending more electricity than if the white background dominated (white is the LED backlight's light, as the transistors are fully inactive, and let light pass through). In any case, the difference is negligible, compared with the savings gained by lowering brightness.

[Jon T]

Everyone I know who has an MBA swears by it and I've not heard anyone complain about it. (So something very odd about the post below about 'cores' turning off..).

[Atul Sharma]

Yes, Macbook Air nice to look at, nice to touch, nice size, but work wise sucks.

Can not watch a streaming video as 2nd core will switch off and one gets a jumpy streaming experience. Maybe this is new term for streaming. Since the launch of this product has this problem but Apple seams to ignore.

When Steve Jobs, we the Macbook Air users will get a fix for the issue?

[Gabriel Sanchez]

How many times do I have to say this? Stop whining about the DVD drive junk. This laptop deserve to get its prime!