Home > Consumer Reviews > Apple MacBook Air 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo/2GB/80GB

I am not very techy and not used a laptop for years nor ever used a mac. A friend who works for a highstreet computer store told me to get a mac. The air has really changed my IT life. Brilliant!

Apple does great computers and I am a massive apple fan an has been using Macs for the past 6 years I currently own a Black Macbook a unibody Macbook pro and an Imac. But I have to say the Macbook Air is the most useless apple computer of all time. Extreme Apple fanatics will probably ask "why?". Here are a few reason.

1. I really struggle to find its place in the computer market. I mean surely people spend £1400 on Macs so they can put it in an envelope do they?

2. It's at 13.3" screen Laptop... my questions are : why another 13.3"? and what exactly is the matter with the cheaper more powerful productive and also fit in an envelope MacBook?

3. It doesn't have a superdrive... so basically install software you need to spend extra on a Macbook Air external CD drive, or have another mac (not MacBook Air) around.

4. The specifications are too low and it's not upgradeable. Even a cheaper MacBook runs faster than the Macbook Air and i way more practical.

5. Poor value for money. why spend that much money on a small useless computer when the small money gets you a new Macbook Pro?

To conclude this review I'll just say that I work as a Graphic Designer an our work is based around using Macs and we have an extended knowledge of Macs and my colleagues and I all agree that If you have enough cash to buy a Macbook Air, buy a MacBook or a MacBook Pro instead. and just in case you want to put your laptop in an envelope, the MacBook is already thin enough to do so.

The MacBook air is no doubt very small and light which makes it ultra portable. But apple seem to have overlooked the rise of the netbook....which is all the Air really is. If you want something that is perfect for your on-the-move computing, which is what the air is intended for (i don't think in most cases you can say a computer with no disc drive can be your main computer) get with the times and get a netbook. They cost £300 or less!! and you can do everything you intended to with this.

You could even buy another computer as well and use that as you main one for the same price!

I recently bought this delicious new machine in order to take it with me on a round the world trip. The reviews were great, as was the weight, and the lack of optical drive I could overlook. Like many of the reviewers above, I thought this looked like the first truly 21st century computer, the future, and the ideal computer for a backpacker, taking just 1.5kg of his 20kg limit for every flight he took.

However..

when travelling in developing countries you are still well and truly in the past. I started travelling through Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda, and a truly "wireless" computer is not quite what you need. Internet cafes only do dial up or ethernet connections. Even when you find one with wireless, which you will in capital cities, the speeds are so slow, it's hard to login to your hotmail account, let alone get movies from itunes.

I was therefore left with the 20 or so films I had put on to my portable usb hard drive, and I had finished these within a few weeks of starting my travels. The ultra-light macbook air started to feel much heavier. And my decision not to take my old macbook with a load of dvds much much stupider.

You may feel like the coolest 21st century wanderer around, but if you are going outside the fibre-optic, wireless haven of the developed world, think twice or three times before investing your hard earned spending money on a macbook air.

I did recently touch down in Singapore, and of course, here the Air is in its element!

Like most I have used Windows computers for years in the belief macintosh was overhyped - after all a computer is a computer isn't it ?

Then I was given a MacBook Air. My reaction was this is just an expensive luxury. The truth is I have used it almost every day since. Our three networked windows computers are neglected.

It works without coaxing (no trojan, virus or similar issues so far). Reliable WiFi; small and comfortable on your lap; great for itunes, streaming iplayer or viewing other video via the wonderful screen; great for overnight trips away.

In my opinion you will need to buy Microsoft Word 2008 for Mac in order to work with the Gate's world and this will add to the cost.