Ultralights, MacBook Air and Netbooks, Oh My - Apple MacBook Air
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Apple MacBook Air
The MacBook Air comes in two flavors: a 1.6GHz version and a 1.86GHz version.
The gigahertz notation obviously pertains to the installed CPU, in this case,
an Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 1,066MHz front-side bus.
Of course, there are other differences between the two models—the $2,500
higher-end unit features an SSD 128GB disk
drive, while the $1,800 lower-end unit is equipped with a 120GB SATA drive.
Those are the primary differences between the two models. Most businesses are
willing to eschew an SSD drive and 0.2GHz of
performance to save $700 in initial purchase price, and in reality, the
performance between the two models doesn’t merit an additional $700.
That begs the question: Is a $1,800 MacBook Air a viable option for serious
business user?
No, but there’s a catch.
That catch being whether or not the user needs to run Macintosh-specific
software. Even so, Apple does offer other notebook systems that are a little
bigger, heavier and cheaper that can run most of those applications faster,
such as the $1,500 2.4GHz MacBook.
At less than 1 inch thick and under 3 pounds, the MacBook Air is a svelte
system that is sure to impress almost anyone. A 13.3-inch LED backlit display
offers a crisp image, while sipping very little energy. Battery
life hovers around 4 hours, and graphics performance is pretty speedy, thanks
to the Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics subsystem. (New versions promise
significantly longer battery life and performance.)
One cannot deny that the MacBook Air is an impressive piece of engineering and
is arguably the sharpest looking subnotebook around, but Apple had to eliminate
a lot of features to get there. Users will find the unit has no integrated
optical drive, lacks an Ethernet port, has only one USB
port and offers no 3G connectivity. The unit also lacks a PC Card slot and the
battery can’t be changed (users are unable to bring a spare to extend
unfettered use). For those looking to hook up to external monitors or
projectors, a special cable is needed—the unit has no standard VGA/DVI
port on it. Looking at those shortcomings, it becomes clear that the Apple
MacBook Air is a poor fit for the mobile business user.
On the other hand, for the executive looking to impress, there probably is no
better piece of executive jewelry to carry around.
