Apple Laptops
When it comes to Apple laptops, there is so much to talk about even if they don’t have so many models available like Dell or HP. In fact, it’s safer to compare Apple to Alienware as far as the number of laptop models goes. One of the most famous Apple laptops is the MacBook Air. To be very honest, after seeing lots of cool laptop with awesome performance, Apple laptops do not impress me as they did the first time I saw them on the market. The design is really unique and it’s difficult to compare it to any other thin and light wannabe laptop on the market.
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The processor is an Intel Core 2 Duo P7500 with a speed of 1.6 GHz. It has 2 GB of DDR2 RAM, another 80 GB of available disk space and the Intel GMA X3100 graphics card with 144 MB of shared video memory. Like I said before, the design is amazing and this is one laptop with looks to brag about. It is incredibly thin compared to other laptops on the market. One of the nice touches that Apple added to this laptop is the magnetic latch cover that keeps all the ports and connections hidden. Even if it’s really thin, this laptop is still very solid. You can feel the durability in the keyboard structure and the palm rest. The 13.3 inch display may be glossy, but the colors are sharp and clear and the display’s brightness is intense. Horizontal viewing angles are extremely satisfying so you can enjoy a good movie if you have a couple of friends gathered beside you. The keyboard of this laptop has redefined the cool laptop keyboard concept. It will be difficult to get used at first with the spacing between the keys but after you do, it will be a pleasure to chat using this lovely keyboard.
The touchpad has special qualities that are not found in just any laptop. The regular Windows users will be the first to notice that this particular touchpad is way larger than what they are used to. The touchpad can support multi touch gestures which means you get to play around with objects and use different finger controls to zoom in and out of photos and perform different other operations. One review that we read said that under Windows there is problem with the touchpad freezing and blue screens. There must be something wrong with the drivers. The performance levels are ok considering that the laptop will boot in approximately 56 minutes. Multi tasking seems to be quite slow as programs and application take longer than usual to launch. The keyboard back light seems to have problems running under Windows Vista. The number of ports and connections is way too low even for a 13.3 inch laptop. There is only one USB port, a mini DVI-Out and a headphone jack. So, the possibilities are very limited since there is not even an Ethernet port.
Aside from many disappointments, heat is another problem of the Apple MacBook Air. This unit runs a little hot under considerable pressure. The processor is located under the top left corner of the keyboard and that is one of the hottest spots. Playing games is one of the biggest threats for the “coolness” of this laptop. The battery life is ok. if you turn on the wireless function, turn down the screen brightness level to a 25% and surf the internet you will get about 4 hours and 20 minutes of battery life. If you disable the wireless card, you are bound to get more than 5 hours of laptop usage. The integrated battery is a definite minus for the MacBook Air because it cannot be remover or replaced. This means that if the battery dies out on you when you are away from a power outlet there is absolutely no chance you can use it until you charge it.
The idea of being the owner of an Apple laptop is ok and it makes you feel like you belong to a certain special category of laptop users. To be really honest, aside from the super cool thin and light design there is nothing too special or appealing about this laptop. Nothing can really compensate with the small number of ports and connections. One USB port is exaggerated. Even netbook which are super small have at least 2 USB port. I mean, if you want to attach an external mouse you have no remaining USB ports available for anything else. If you need to copy something to a memory stick you have to keep removing the laptop from the unit. This really could have been avoided with at least one more such port without affecting the thinness of the MacBook Air. The big advantage is that you can carry it around wherever you go.
We checked the Apple website and there are 2 other configurations for the MacBook Air. There is the 1.86 GHz MacBook Air with Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM, another 120 GB of hard drive space and the nVidia GeForce 9400M graphics card which is priced at $1500. The other option is the 2.13 GHz which also has an Intel Core 2 Duo and 2 GB of memory. The difference actually consists in the operating speed of the processor and you have 8 extra GB of disk space. The total price of the second unit is $1800. It is still a bit too pricy if you ask me but this is a matter of taste and I strongly believe that you are paying the brand more than you are paying for the actual unit. Overall, Apple laptops are cool. Most of the money you give goes to the design which is unique on the market.
Other than that, we don’t see super spectacular features that make this laptop worth $1800. I suppose this is a matter of taste. Personally, I don’t recommend the Apple MacBook Air unless you are looking for a second laptop which is really light and easy to carry around all day, a laptop from a powerful name is entertainment gadgets.
