Roundup of First MacBook Air Reviews

Lately, the first reviews of big-ticket Apple products have come from the same four authors--Baig, Levy, Mossberg, and Pogue--who've been privy to getting the goods before the rest of the nation.

This time is no exception. Ed Baig (USA Today), Steven Levy (Newsweek), and Walt Mossberg (The Wall Street Journal) have all weighed in tonight with their perspectives on the much-hyped MacBook Air. (Interesting side note: Rather than do a dedicated review, David Pogue of The New York Times chose to mesh his MacBook Air review into a hands-on perspective from the Macworld show last week.)

While these reviews laud MacBook Air's svelte form, all three note the many compromises you're making with the MacBook Air--one USB port, no removable battery, no optical drive, comparatively limited hard disk space. All three also note that the machine will not be for everyone--a point that Apple's Steve Jobs himself conceded in a post-keynote interview with the NYT's John Markoff.

The most interesting take away from these early reviews: Both Baig and Mossberg found that in their workaday usage tests, the MacBook Air's battery life was less than what Apple advertises. Apple claims 5 hours of battery life for MacBook Air; those two reviewers averaged just 3 and a half hours.

These battery life results are disappointing: That's barely enough juice to fly from San Francisco to Dallas, let alone make it across the continent. Certainly, for a traveling executive--one segment of the MacBook Air's audience--those results will give pause, particularly given the fact that you can't even schlep an battery to use in a pinch.

I'll be interested to see what PC World's own test results yield--once we get a MacBook Air in hand. Stay tuned.

Comments

What can't a user in this segment do with their MacBook Air? The users are upscale students, small businesses using Wireless networking, people that don't want to carry a heavy workhorse.

You need one USB plug to plug in your iPhone or iPod and the DVI monitor plug includes a VGA adaptor. If you need to replace your battery, they do it at the Apple Store so if you don't have one near you don't buy one. Who cares? It's far superior to any other sub-notebook, hell the full sized keyboard alone makes it better.

This is for WIRELESS users, not physical media users. Get it? Baa-baa.

ParisMike

January 24, 2008

11:46 PM PT