I am posting this, cause i enjoyed reading it, not because i have one, but other people can see the light at the end of the tunnel too.
I copied and pasted 1/3rd of the review here, and also provided a link of the whole review, enjoy..
13-inch MacBook Air Review
13-inch MacBook Air Review
The new MacBook Air is the best Mac I’ve ever owned. This machine is shaping the future of OS X, both as an operating system and a bridge between iOS and the desktop.
In October 2008, I bought my first Mac. I had been a Windows PC user for seven years, and I was accustomed to using a PC at home for my browsing and writing needs, and at work – where my boss demanded we used PCs as he said they were more “reliable†and “fastâ€. After months of reading and peeking through Apple’s FAQ pages and video tutorials, I decided to buy a MacBook Pro. It was a 15-inch Unibody model with glossy screen, 4 GB of RAM, multi-touch trackpad, and Core 2 Duo processor. Back then, it was my first Mac but also the best computer I ever had. The moment I took it out of the box – and I was immediately impressed by Apple’s attention to detail in packaging and overall presentation – I knew that machine was going to change the way I “did work†on a computer. And it did. A few months later my boss fired me, and I started MacStories.
That MacBook Pro has been with me until last week.
Last year, I bought an iMac. Being the kind of Mac user that travels back and forth every day between his office (where I spend most of my day writing and managing the site) and his home, I was tired of being constantly forced to pack my MacBook Pro inside a bag, carry it around, gently place it on the passenger seat of my car, and pray that the hard drive wouldn’t die because of the terrible roads we have here in Viterbo. In spite of the fact that the MacBook Pro was the best computer I ever had, I slowly came to a point where I couldn’t stand carrying it around anymore. I decided to buy an iMac and make it my “home computer†so that I could offload media on it, backup documents, and do all those other things you’re supposed to do on “a home computerâ€. I bought a 21.5-inch model – again with a glossy screen – as I thought I wouldn’t ever need anything bigger than that. I was right. I’m happy with my purchase – the iMac is the finest piece of desktop hardware Apple has come up with in the past decade. Sure, my 2009 iMac doesn’t feature a Thunderbolt port and won’t get the performance boost of a Sandy Bridge-enabled machine, but it’s a trusted companion that I plan to keep for at least the next two years (that is, unless something really bad happens to the hardware, or Apple comes out with a desktop computer so revolutionary that it’ll be impossible to say no and don’t buy it).
For me, an iMac is the perfect desktop computer. It sits there, it makes my desk more elegant and classy than it could ever be, and more importantly it never failed me.
But I still had a problem with the MacBook Pro being a clumsy machine I didn’t want to carry around with me all the time.
In the tech scene, we often lose track of reality. We’re so busy keeping tabs on rumors, design speculation and the next big acquisition that we don’t look at the big picture. For me, that’s best represented by the difference three years can make.
Three years is a relatively short period of time. After all, it’s just a thousand days – to me, it still feels like yesterday that I was fired and I had to make something out my life. But in the tech scene, three years is an astoundingly long period. In fact, a single day worth of news can make the previous one obsolete and, to an extent, silly. The rumors of yesterday are the incorrect truth of today. In the tech scene – it doesn’t matter which company you’re interested in – everything is so fast paced it’s easy to get lost in the seemingly unstoppable flow of news, rumors and reviews, and stop appreciating the evolutionary steps that made the devices and tools we use today, well, possible.
I look at this new MacBook Air I’m typing this article with, and I wonder how we got here. I wonder how I got to use this machine, and I ask myself why, if the MacBook Pro was the best computer I ever had, I came to the conclusion that I needed a new one, whilst with a few repairs and tweaks that MacBook Pro could have served well me for a few more years.
As I type this, the iPad lies on my desk. And the more I think about it, the more I’m convinced that’s the reason I got here, with this new backlit keyboard and smaller display that looks so different from my old MacBook’s screen. It sounds obvious, but it’s true: the iPad changed the rules. And not in a “it’s a new thing from Apple so of course it’s better than anything else†sort of way – it’s about perspective. Before the iPad, I had no problem with my MacBook Pro being heavy and clumsy and hot when its fans kicked in. Because the MacBook Pro was the only portable machine I could use to get work done, I had to play by its rules. Yet when the iPad came out, and after developers started releasing some great applications for it, it was clear to me that I wasn’t forced to use my MacBook Pro on the couch anymore. I could take the iPad with me to check the news with an RSS reader, reply to a few emails without feeling constrained by a small virtual keyboard (that’s why I didn’t mention the iPhone for “work†purposes or as a “portable†machine – the iPhone is a mobile device) and, most of all, write. The iPad changed my perspective of things not because it was new – rather, it was the liberating feeling of a device built with the concept of doing things “better than a laptop, better than a smartphone†in mind that made me realize my MacBook Pro wasn’t necessary anymore. It was the “Pro†machine meant for doing “more stuffâ€, with all the “more hardware†that goes with it.
The iPad changed the rules that Apple itself helped cementing over the years.
That was 2010. In 2011, Apple comes out with the iPad 2, an evolution of the first device with a thinner design, tapered edges, faster processor, more RAM, cameras. The product keeps getting better: it’s faster, lighter, easier to carry around – it makes the first generation iPad look like an oversized toy from another company. I got an iPad 2 the day it was released, waited one week for the US -> Italy shipment and then it was the same problem all over again: the device that changed the rules was changing them again with a form factor that made it incredibly hard to choose to work with a MacBook Pro from 2008, which appeared to be slower at performing certain tasks and, I repeat myself here, was so uncomfortable to hold. If anything, I kept using the MacBook Pro just because of the lack of a proper WordPress app for the iPad and a bunch of other apps that hadn’t been ported to the tablet yet. But I knew all along that my perspective – the way I looked at one device and asked myself why I should use the other one – had been altered.
So the question is, why didn’t I upgrade my MacBook Pro to a new Air when the updated models were released in October 2010? In hindsight, that was a good move: I waited a couple more months, and got my hands on an even better version with beefier processor, Thunderbolt port, and backlit keyboard. But as I need to justify my reasoning back then, I want to go back to the difference three years can make in technology, and how we often lose track of our needs because we’re blinded by the possibility of something better just around the corner.
I felt uncomfortable using my MacBook Pro in October 2010 just as I did last week. Yet nine months ago, I decided not to upgrade and keep using my old & trusted computer with an SSD tweak and new battery purchased from Apple. Why? Because soon after the release of the updated Airs – exactly those few weeks you spend considering an upgrade if you have other expenses to care about, and you can’t just pull the trigger on a $1200 computer – rumors started circulating about another refresh already in the works, with Sandy Bridge processors and a new I/O technology from Intel that was called Light Peak. I was already tired of my MacBook Pro. The iPad 2 had been proving for months that there was a better way to do things. Yet, I didn’t upgrade, and the MacBook Pro was still there sarcastically grinning at me as I closed a tab open on store.apple.com for the last time.
The truth is, if you follow tech rumors you’re never going to buy anything. Sure, you might get a new gadget or computer every once in a while, but then you keep it for years and even after you realize you need something better because your work or computing life in general could actually deeply benefit from it, your judgement gets obfuscated by the rumors and by the next great thing that’s perennially coming. For many people, potentially referring to themselves as “geeksâ€, nothing is new anymore. It’s just a headline, an unboxing, and some benchmarks to compare to last year’s headline. Rinse and repeat.
I’m not going to make that mistake again. There won’t be another October 2010 in the way I work with my computer, and in the way I enjoy doing what I love every day.
See, I’m not that kind of person that buys something new just because it’s new. But I also don’t want to be that guy that needs a new device – or really, anything – as he knows a new piece of hardware could dramatically improve his workflow, yet is always on the verge because “the next version is going to be betterâ€. I don’t want to be another victim of the rumor mill. Call me silly, but I don’t regret buying a new MacBook Air 13-inch in July 2011 whilst the rumors are already claiming “completely redesignedâ€, “Air-like†and “much improved†MacBook Pros are coming out in four months. This time, I decided not to play that game.
Sometimes, there is a subtle difference between needing a new gadget, and desiring the latest version because it’s hot and new. We, as bloggers, may even be an odd category to test this difference with because it’s our job to keep readers informed on what’s a device like by often purchasing one ourselves. When it comes to my Mac though, I’m not going to base my judgement on the rumors again.
The right time to buy a new Apple computer is when it comes out, but it’s also when you know you need a new one.
So, I bought a MacBook Air last week.
to read more please visit link provided above.
I copied and pasted 1/3rd of the review here, and also provided a link of the whole review, enjoy..
13-inch MacBook Air Review
13-inch MacBook Air Review
The new MacBook Air is the best Mac I’ve ever owned. This machine is shaping the future of OS X, both as an operating system and a bridge between iOS and the desktop.
In October 2008, I bought my first Mac. I had been a Windows PC user for seven years, and I was accustomed to using a PC at home for my browsing and writing needs, and at work – where my boss demanded we used PCs as he said they were more “reliable†and “fastâ€. After months of reading and peeking through Apple’s FAQ pages and video tutorials, I decided to buy a MacBook Pro. It was a 15-inch Unibody model with glossy screen, 4 GB of RAM, multi-touch trackpad, and Core 2 Duo processor. Back then, it was my first Mac but also the best computer I ever had. The moment I took it out of the box – and I was immediately impressed by Apple’s attention to detail in packaging and overall presentation – I knew that machine was going to change the way I “did work†on a computer. And it did. A few months later my boss fired me, and I started MacStories.
That MacBook Pro has been with me until last week.
Last year, I bought an iMac. Being the kind of Mac user that travels back and forth every day between his office (where I spend most of my day writing and managing the site) and his home, I was tired of being constantly forced to pack my MacBook Pro inside a bag, carry it around, gently place it on the passenger seat of my car, and pray that the hard drive wouldn’t die because of the terrible roads we have here in Viterbo. In spite of the fact that the MacBook Pro was the best computer I ever had, I slowly came to a point where I couldn’t stand carrying it around anymore. I decided to buy an iMac and make it my “home computer†so that I could offload media on it, backup documents, and do all those other things you’re supposed to do on “a home computerâ€. I bought a 21.5-inch model – again with a glossy screen – as I thought I wouldn’t ever need anything bigger than that. I was right. I’m happy with my purchase – the iMac is the finest piece of desktop hardware Apple has come up with in the past decade. Sure, my 2009 iMac doesn’t feature a Thunderbolt port and won’t get the performance boost of a Sandy Bridge-enabled machine, but it’s a trusted companion that I plan to keep for at least the next two years (that is, unless something really bad happens to the hardware, or Apple comes out with a desktop computer so revolutionary that it’ll be impossible to say no and don’t buy it).
For me, an iMac is the perfect desktop computer. It sits there, it makes my desk more elegant and classy than it could ever be, and more importantly it never failed me.
But I still had a problem with the MacBook Pro being a clumsy machine I didn’t want to carry around with me all the time.
In the tech scene, we often lose track of reality. We’re so busy keeping tabs on rumors, design speculation and the next big acquisition that we don’t look at the big picture. For me, that’s best represented by the difference three years can make.
Three years is a relatively short period of time. After all, it’s just a thousand days – to me, it still feels like yesterday that I was fired and I had to make something out my life. But in the tech scene, three years is an astoundingly long period. In fact, a single day worth of news can make the previous one obsolete and, to an extent, silly. The rumors of yesterday are the incorrect truth of today. In the tech scene – it doesn’t matter which company you’re interested in – everything is so fast paced it’s easy to get lost in the seemingly unstoppable flow of news, rumors and reviews, and stop appreciating the evolutionary steps that made the devices and tools we use today, well, possible.
I look at this new MacBook Air I’m typing this article with, and I wonder how we got here. I wonder how I got to use this machine, and I ask myself why, if the MacBook Pro was the best computer I ever had, I came to the conclusion that I needed a new one, whilst with a few repairs and tweaks that MacBook Pro could have served well me for a few more years.
As I type this, the iPad lies on my desk. And the more I think about it, the more I’m convinced that’s the reason I got here, with this new backlit keyboard and smaller display that looks so different from my old MacBook’s screen. It sounds obvious, but it’s true: the iPad changed the rules. And not in a “it’s a new thing from Apple so of course it’s better than anything else†sort of way – it’s about perspective. Before the iPad, I had no problem with my MacBook Pro being heavy and clumsy and hot when its fans kicked in. Because the MacBook Pro was the only portable machine I could use to get work done, I had to play by its rules. Yet when the iPad came out, and after developers started releasing some great applications for it, it was clear to me that I wasn’t forced to use my MacBook Pro on the couch anymore. I could take the iPad with me to check the news with an RSS reader, reply to a few emails without feeling constrained by a small virtual keyboard (that’s why I didn’t mention the iPhone for “work†purposes or as a “portable†machine – the iPhone is a mobile device) and, most of all, write. The iPad changed my perspective of things not because it was new – rather, it was the liberating feeling of a device built with the concept of doing things “better than a laptop, better than a smartphone†in mind that made me realize my MacBook Pro wasn’t necessary anymore. It was the “Pro†machine meant for doing “more stuffâ€, with all the “more hardware†that goes with it.
The iPad changed the rules that Apple itself helped cementing over the years.
That was 2010. In 2011, Apple comes out with the iPad 2, an evolution of the first device with a thinner design, tapered edges, faster processor, more RAM, cameras. The product keeps getting better: it’s faster, lighter, easier to carry around – it makes the first generation iPad look like an oversized toy from another company. I got an iPad 2 the day it was released, waited one week for the US -> Italy shipment and then it was the same problem all over again: the device that changed the rules was changing them again with a form factor that made it incredibly hard to choose to work with a MacBook Pro from 2008, which appeared to be slower at performing certain tasks and, I repeat myself here, was so uncomfortable to hold. If anything, I kept using the MacBook Pro just because of the lack of a proper WordPress app for the iPad and a bunch of other apps that hadn’t been ported to the tablet yet. But I knew all along that my perspective – the way I looked at one device and asked myself why I should use the other one – had been altered.
So the question is, why didn’t I upgrade my MacBook Pro to a new Air when the updated models were released in October 2010? In hindsight, that was a good move: I waited a couple more months, and got my hands on an even better version with beefier processor, Thunderbolt port, and backlit keyboard. But as I need to justify my reasoning back then, I want to go back to the difference three years can make in technology, and how we often lose track of our needs because we’re blinded by the possibility of something better just around the corner.
I felt uncomfortable using my MacBook Pro in October 2010 just as I did last week. Yet nine months ago, I decided not to upgrade and keep using my old & trusted computer with an SSD tweak and new battery purchased from Apple. Why? Because soon after the release of the updated Airs – exactly those few weeks you spend considering an upgrade if you have other expenses to care about, and you can’t just pull the trigger on a $1200 computer – rumors started circulating about another refresh already in the works, with Sandy Bridge processors and a new I/O technology from Intel that was called Light Peak. I was already tired of my MacBook Pro. The iPad 2 had been proving for months that there was a better way to do things. Yet, I didn’t upgrade, and the MacBook Pro was still there sarcastically grinning at me as I closed a tab open on store.apple.com for the last time.
The truth is, if you follow tech rumors you’re never going to buy anything. Sure, you might get a new gadget or computer every once in a while, but then you keep it for years and even after you realize you need something better because your work or computing life in general could actually deeply benefit from it, your judgement gets obfuscated by the rumors and by the next great thing that’s perennially coming. For many people, potentially referring to themselves as “geeksâ€, nothing is new anymore. It’s just a headline, an unboxing, and some benchmarks to compare to last year’s headline. Rinse and repeat.
I’m not going to make that mistake again. There won’t be another October 2010 in the way I work with my computer, and in the way I enjoy doing what I love every day.
See, I’m not that kind of person that buys something new just because it’s new. But I also don’t want to be that guy that needs a new device – or really, anything – as he knows a new piece of hardware could dramatically improve his workflow, yet is always on the verge because “the next version is going to be betterâ€. I don’t want to be another victim of the rumor mill. Call me silly, but I don’t regret buying a new MacBook Air 13-inch in July 2011 whilst the rumors are already claiming “completely redesignedâ€, “Air-like†and “much improved†MacBook Pros are coming out in four months. This time, I decided not to play that game.
Sometimes, there is a subtle difference between needing a new gadget, and desiring the latest version because it’s hot and new. We, as bloggers, may even be an odd category to test this difference with because it’s our job to keep readers informed on what’s a device like by often purchasing one ourselves. When it comes to my Mac though, I’m not going to base my judgement on the rumors again.
The right time to buy a new Apple computer is when it comes out, but it’s also when you know you need a new one.
So, I bought a MacBook Air last week.
to read more please visit link provided above.
