Getting Some Air: The MacADoodle MacBook Air Review

I resisted getting one for weeks â which was actually easy because I couldnât a fford one. But things have a way of working out somehow, especially because of where I work. So I serendipitously got hold of a Macbook Air. Iâd been making noises, contrarian ones, here and on other blogs, that sorta ma de me look like I really didnât want one and couldnât care less. But deep down I knew the truth. I had a long dalliance with another computer, the Asus EEEPC 701, for several long months (I even started a blog for it), and just lived on t he fringes, on the periphery of MacDomWorldLand. Coupled with tons of work, plu s a lot of personal issues I needed (need) to sort out, Iâve been remiss in upd ating this blog. Iâm sure you noticed. My apologies for the neglect. But once you go Mac, you canât go back. I got some Air. So itâs here and here I am. Been using it exclusively for almost two weeks now, and Iâve written my review for my magazine (the short version anyway â this is the long, detailed one I wa nted to print). So how is it? Itâs everything they said it was. And everything they said itâs not. The good stuff has been done to death, all that light-as-a-feather stuff, so le tâs not go there any more. Also all the obvious bad stuff, the cons: the small iPod drive, the irreplaceable battery, the lack of ports and all that. Letâs ju st go dive into the Dark Side feet first, the real ugly things. Some tough love now. Thatâs what this blog is for, right? Thatâs what youâve come to read. So I wonât pull punches. Hereâs the bad stuff in no particular order: â¢Â   The screen tilt angle of a Macbook is too shallow â I got used to my < strong>T43 being able to do a split. You want to push the Air screen b ack some more, but it. Just. Canât. Do. It. â¢Â   Mono sound - from the right! At least they couldâve centered the speak er placement. Iâve taken to watching video in a window on the lower right corne r, just so I donât feel lopsided or deaf in one ear. â¢Â   The black keys, a throwback from the Titanium G4 days , look a bit odd in a world of one-palette designs. Besides, they show oily fin ger stains readily. But at least the backlighting looks much better than it doe s on white lettering on silver keys. â¢Â   The screen is too bright sometimes. This instant-on/full-brightness th ing of the LED-backlit screen is really something at full bore. Especially when coming back from sleep or dimmed mode. Touch the trackpad or a key and it feel s like a flashbulb just exploded in your face. â¢Â   The ports are hard to get to; you have to lift up the computer whole t o get your fingernail in to catch the edge of the flap so you can pull it open. â¢Â   The port panel is small and cramped, limiting the thickness of plugs y ou can comfortably insert in it. Forget fat fancy thumbdrives. â¢Â   You have to hold down the opposite side of the Air so you can jack the plug in; itâs so light at three pounds that the whole computer moves when you apply pressure. â¢Â   The screen, while reasonably rigid, has a tendency to flap around in a strong breeze or on a shaky table. Itâs just too darn light. â¢Â   Thereâs the placement of the power button. The Air is so light you ten d to lift it up and move it around more than the usual Mac. Being right-handed I grab it by the right hinged edge â where the power button is, and press it ac cidentally. (I realize thatâs where it traditionally should be, but in this cas e they coulda moved it.) â¢Â   Hereâs one of my two biggest niggles about the Air.: the humongous tra ckpad is too effing sensitive! Iâd love to turn off the tap functions, but that âs one of the best things about the Air, the multi-touch-ness of the pad, its i Phone inheritance. But the barest of brushes, the lightest of touches will trig ger a tap, and you end up moving your cursor elsewhere, or tap-clicking on an o ption you never meant to. Being a big-ass pad, your dangling thumbs tend to cre ate chaos as your other fingers fly about the keys. (Jeez, I hope Apple does so mething about this. I mean really. Itâs not cute at all.) â¢Â   Hereâs the other big niggle: core shutdowns! Often, insufficient air c irculation, partial blockage of the vent (singular â that one long one at the b ack edge), or a heavy CPU load will tax the Air and turn up the heat. To preven t catastrophe, it shuts down one of the cores until things cool off â turning t he Air into a stuttering, stammering wreck. If Apple wasnât too comfortable abo ut the cooling solutions for the Air yet , they shouldâve held off releasing it . The Air needs lots of air to work well. â¢Â   Lastly, the uncharacteristic fragility of the thing as a whole, functi on-wise, for a Mac. I donât mean sturdiness or build quality; itâs so hard and tough I can use it as a shield in a fight. But run more than the usual number o f apps, watch video and burn something off the (optional) USB Superdrive, and t he Air crumples in a heap, when other Macs would just chug merrily along. It se ems, like the Doodler, heat and hard work are its greatest enemies. Those things said, itâs a great second Mac for power users, a travel buddy, or a great first Mac for those with moderate needs (and the disposable income to g et one). I think a lot of the disappointment stems from the mismanagement of ex pectations the hype has brought about. Apart from being the new Mac on the block, itâs not the top of the line â itâs actually the low Mac on the totem pole. Itâs no match for an entry-level Macboo k, much less the heavier (in all senses of the word) Macbook Pro. Itâs a thinne r, lighter, flatter Macbook â a Flatbook. Taken on those terms, youâd have a be tter appreciation and a more realistic view of the Air. Itâs not an ultraportable as Apple and other folk say â it may be light and thi n, but the dimensions are still MacBook-sized, and ultraportability is not just about weight and girth (or the lack of it). The cheaper and smaller and light er EEEPCs and OLPCs are the true ultraportables here . Speaking of price, the Airâs expensive because it uses new materials, new techn ology to squeeze the old stuff into a three-pound, paper-thin wonder. Thatâs wh at youâre paying for. That and the ooh-aah factor. But I could do better with a Macbook that would be half the cost and twice the capability - albeit heavier and clunkier. Or maybe just my erstwhile Asus EEEPC , six of which I can get for one Macbook Air. The Air certainly excels in all that good stuff youâve read and heard about â f or that, if youâve the coin, itâs worth it. It will certainly have a special pl ace in laptop lore for what it is and what it represents, along with the EEEPC and OLPC â the future of computing. Meantime, most folk should wait for Revision A.