Guro

Now that we have reviews of the Macbook Air trickling in from major blog and news sites, we get more honest opinions on the new Apple portable.

“First benchmarks: MacBook Air is the slowest Apple machine on the block” – Engadget

“Predictably, the MacBook Pro outperformed its counterparts in the majority of our tests. But the MacBook Air (1.6 GHz Intel, 2 GB RAM) went toe-to-toe with the MacBook (2 GHz Intel, 1 GB RAM) in many of our tests, falling just short in most. And it even bested the MacBook and MacBook Pro in one test.” – Gizmodo

“So, while the MacBook Air will be a perfect choice for some travelers, I can’t recommend it for all. It really depends on your style of working on the road and what features you value most.” – WallStreet Journal

These clearly convey the message that the Macbook Air is not for everyone, not for the power-user who needs to do video editing on the go, nor is it for the audiophile who needs to process music. It is also not for the photographer or graphic artist BUT it is for everyone who does not need power when they are on the go.

My friend and fellow-educator, Joel, says “I agree. That’s why I’m in the market for an Eee PC.”, when referring to the Engadget article cited above. Last I have checked, the Eee PC is not a powerful machine either – clocking at 900MHz with an old Intel Celeron and a shared video RAM, which is strikingly similar to the Macbook Air. However, the question is this – is the USD1400-price difference covered by the following:

1. larger HDD
2. 6.3″ more screen real-estate
3. full-size keyboard
4. illuminated keyboard
5. higher resolution webcam
6. Bluetooth
7. IEEE 802.11n
8. and more importantly, Mac OS X

Not to forget iLife 2008 as well as the capability to run guest Operating Systems such as Windows, Solaris and Linux, to name some.

Whilst I admit that this will not be my only Mac, but it will be my everyday companion. At 2.4 lbs lighter than my Macbook Pro, it will surely help my back and shoulders when I am traveling. Case in point – imagine covering the floors of Moscone North and South from 9AM til 1130PM with a 2.5kg computer plus swag on your back, you’d know why the Macbook Air is a good choice.

As an educator, I go from my lab to the classroom and instructional lab one level below. Not bad, huh? Now, add the fact that I also need to check on the department’s network and servers, which is also one level below (yes, I need a portable to troubleshoot) my lab. If these seem to be easy, now try walking from my department to another building across campus and you’d get my drift. Not to forget that I also attend meetings in various locations around campus and the strain on my shoulders and back surely adds up.

As a note on the Asus Eee PC, after playing with it for several weeks (in some occasions as my companion for the day), I did find it really useful as an internet device (but I have an iPhone for that already!) but try writing a long blog entry or an article for a major daily or even better, a paper for submission to a journal or conference, then you’d see the limitations of the small screen and keyboard. And oh, not to forget, the trackpad is not that easy to use either.

What I am saying is – the Macbook Air is not for everyone. Not everyone needs the power of the latest and greatest Macs (curious, though, I think Joel also owns a Mac Mini, which has almost the same specs as the Macbook Air) – at least not all the time. For those times that power is needed, at least I have my MBP and iMac to cover for it.