By Holden Scott
I was in the market for a smaller companion to my larger MacBook Pro. So I focused in on a few Netbooks. However, after some thought and research, I ended up with the MacBook Air.
I initially dismissed the Air because I was convinced I wanted an ultra-portable to complement my larger MacBook Pro. Diminutive Netbooks were the ticket. I must have reasoned that the smaller form factor made the Air seem unwieldy. It is, after all, quite a bit bigger than the standard Netbook with a 10.1″ screen, thinness aside.
Two, I was excited at only having to spend a fraction of what an Apple laptop costs. The Toshiba was only $399. Apple’s portables begin at $999…
It was only several days after my subconscious decided to thwart my Netbook purchase that I acquiesced to the idea of buying the MacBook Air. I then tested the Air in-store and was impressed. This was so far beyond any of the top Netbooks I had experienced. I then realized, right there, that the Air was what I had been looking for all along.
All of that research. All of the tests on store demonstration models. I ended up at the MacBook Air. I ended up exactly where Apple ended up. No paltry processor. No small trackpad. No cramped keyboard. No tiny screen. No cheap plastic casing. And the backlit keyboard, which the Air comes standard with, is now a necessity for me. I don’t think I could live without it after using a MacBook Pro for so many years. But all Netbooks are devoid of backlit keyboards.
What’s to like about the Air? Having acquired the top end, 2.13 GHz, 128 SSD model, running Snow Leopard, there’s quite a bit to like about it.
It’s fast. Very fast. More on this in a minute.
When it comes to core processing power, 13″ MacBook Pros, for instance, have slightly higher clock speeds (2.23 and 2.53 GHz) versus the Air’s highest clock speed of 2.13 GHz. From the various benchmarks done, it’s clear that CPU intensive tasks will perform better on MacBook Pros.
Yet the Air’s 1066 MHz frontside bus speed is the same, and it has double the L2 cache (6 MB) compared to all but the highest end 15″ and 17″ MacBook Pros. For web surfing, a larger L2 cache makes the Air faster and more efficient.
On my tests*, for many tasks the SSD makes the Air faster than any currently shipping, standard configuration MacBook/Pro. Shutdown and boot times are at a minimum 30% faster compared to units booting with standard SATA hard drives. Application launching and quitting is about 40% faster as well. Copying files from an external USB 2.0 hard drive is also much faster.
Aside from what’s under the hood, the form factor is what is so amazing about the Air. The 13″ MacBook Pro feels like a clunker in comparison. The Air is almost 1.5 pounds lighter than the 13″ MacBook Pro. At 3 pounds, and only .76″ thick at its thickest point, it is a joy to carry. I can’t help but think all laptops will end up being at least this thin, until they disappear all together and get fused into our brains…
If you are in the market for a Netbook, I would highly recommend the Air. It is everything you wanted in a Netbook, but with hardly any compromises. Overall, it’s thinner than any Netbook on the market, and much more powerful. In addition, it’s build quality is unrivalled, and its screen comparatively large and brilliant.
This article would be incomplete if I did not answer the following, burning question: is the MacBook Air a Netbook? No, it is not. It was never meant to be. A more accurate label is ’sub-notebook’. The MacBook Air is for those of us who feel that Netbooks are dead, and always were. The Air is a Netbook for the rest of us…
With that, in the end, I agree with Apple: Netbooks are not worth the many compromises they come predicated with.
*The MacBook Air was tested against the MacBook Pro 13″ 2.53 GHz and the MacBook Pro 15″ and 17″ 2.8 GHz units. Both shutdown and boot times and number of application icon bounces on program launch were used to measure speed across all systems. Additionally, copying a 24 GB folder from an external USB 2.0 hard drive was timed. Application icons in the Dock typically bounce, on launch, just once or twice on the Air. On the other machines, they bounce an average of 4-to-5 times. Both boot time and shutdown time was about 50% faster on the Air. Lastly, the 24 GB folder copied over to the Air roughly 50% faster than the other machines.
4 Comments, Comment or Ping
Jon
Of course, you know, one of the benefits of a netbook is that it is expendable. I take mine places that I think I would be afraid to take an Air–on my bike, for instance. And also, just by itself in its case. It’s no bigger than my Bible (and smaller than my Cambridge wide margin) in its case, so I tend to carry it to church without a computer bag–just it and my Bible. Also, since it’s cheap, it’s not a theft magnet. A $2000 computer can’t really be treated that way safely–at least I wouldn’t.
-Jon
Oct 30th, 2009
admin
Jon:
Good points. Tough to argue those. For me I sacrifice those things because of the usability of the Air. I just can’t get used to cramped machines like Netbooks.
Oct 30th, 2009
Jon
Cramped…. funny word. My first experience with a “netbook” was my Duo 230 many years ago. I could toss it into my standard, leather briefcase with my notes and other books, and go to work. It was tiny–a true laptop. Ever since then, I’ve been longing for a laptop to replace it. My MSI Wind is the first computer I’ve used since then that has met that need. I sit here on my sofa, typing into it now. Cramped? Not for me… A bit underpowered? Well, when I launch all my photo software, definitely! I need to quit Mail and Omniweb to process photos, but most of the time, I have nearly a dozen apps open. But this morning, I had iPhoto, LightZone and Gimp (running in X11, of course) all open and processing files, as well as iTunes downloading podcasts (I realized later). It slowed things down, but I was able to get what I wanted done. Sure the 1024×600 on OSX is a bit of a cramp, but one gets used to it, and Spaces is a lifesaver, made for smaller screens.
Unfortunately, I use my Wind so much that I seem to be wearing out my space bar! My next return to the States, though, I will have to decide between an Air and 13″ MBP or MB…. Your post has helped me a lot. I may just go your route… But that’s April at the earliest…
-Jon
Oct 30th, 2009
admin
Jon:
If you get the Air, you won’t look back…
Let me know if you do.
Nov 14th, 2009
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