MacBook Air-world's thinnest lappy.

[udaman]

Doesn't really interest me, but for the SF whiners...maybe It's got the slowest Intel CPU (outside of a Mac Mini) ever offered on a Mac laptop, though I don't see the GPU spec's, I'll bet its the X1000 integrated, or whatever it's called.

http://www.appleinsider.com/article...book_air_dubbed_worlds_thinnest_notebook.html

USB connected optical drive? That blows, iTunes for HD d/l's that blows too, I don't have inexpensive broadband in my neighborhood, and refuse to pay for Cable TV just to get it.

Should have included thumbnail USB drives to get software, networking with another PC or Mac to get software...that blows. 80GB 1.8in drive, no way, 64GB SSD is the only option then. I don't need that Thin, for such meager performance @$1800 base price. A fatty 1in thick MacBookPro with Penryn (not announced at MWSF...and Apple's stock is down $12 today), would be better. Monteviña chipset with Penryn, better still.

 

[ddrueding]

It is damn sexy. But SSD is the only way to go, and $3000+ is a lot for a laptop.

 

[Pradeep]

Hmm, a sealed battery that is not user replaceable. Single USB2 port, no firewire. 2GB of ram that seems to be soldered onto the mobo.

Let me rant for a minute on the "new" Apple TV. HD is 1280*720, maybe with lossy 5.1 surround. No wonder the studios are OK with selling rentals for $4 or 5 bucks each.

 

[ddrueding]

Hmm, a sealed battery that is not user replaceable. Single USB2 port, no firewire. 2GB of ram that seems to be soldered onto the mobo.

It's clearly built to be disposable, but isn't priced that way. I wonder which will change.

 

[Handruin]

At the price of $1,799 (US) I could probably find a more suitable laptop anywhere else. It won't look as nice, but it'll be more practical. From the technology standpoint, I'm already bored with it.

 

[Pradeep]

Yes the thinness seems to be far less useful then something a little thicker yet more compact in height/width dimensions.

 

[LunarMist]

No NIC?

 

[ddrueding]

Nothing. Power, Audio, Video, and 1 USB. They do sell a USB NIC, a USB modem, and a USB DVD-RW. To be honest, I don't even hook up my laptop to a wired NIC if I leave it at my desk, no that isn't that big a deal.

 

[sechs]

It's only got one mouse button!

 

[Mercutio]

Apple wants you to buy a Mighty Mouse!

 

[Pradeep]

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=10400

"The ThinkPad X300 features a 13.3", 1440x900 LED backlit display, two DIMM slots for a maximum of 4GB of DDR2 memory, fingerprint reader, touchpad and trackpoint inputs, webcam, and a full-size keyboard.

When it comes to connectivity, Lenovo throws in everything but the kitchen sink. Physical connections include three USB 2.0 ports, three internal PCI-E slots and GbE. Lenovo covers the entire wireless spectrum with Bluetooth, 802.11n, Verizon EV-DO Rev A, Cingular HSDPA and WiMAX options.

Surprisingly, Lenovo lists just one internal storage option for the ThinkPad X300: a 64GB solid state disk (SSD). There is no mention of a HDD, but surely there will be one available, otherwise the X300 will start off as an extremely expensive notebook. For those looking for optical storage, Lenovo hasn't forgotten about you and they do in fact include a DVD burner onboard.

Most importantly, Lenovo managed to pack all of these features into a 12.5" x 9" x 0.73" - 0.92" frame that weighs 2.5 pounds. The 2.5 pound weight is likely calculated with a 3-cell battery. Lenovo lists an upper limit of 3.17 pounds which probably takes into account a 6-cell or 9-cell battery."

I can understand the Air dropping it's ethernet port but without any broadband wireless capability to compensate it's very niche.

 

[Mercutio]

Sob. One of the things I really wish I could have is integrated Sprint EVDO. Dell has it but Lenovo doesn't.

I hafta plug my phone into a USB cable like a chump.

Also, does anyone say "lappy" out loud, where other people can hear you? How do you deal with the pointing and laughing?

 

[Gilbo]

Now that is an ultraportable! I especially appreciate the capacity for 4GB of RAM vs the Macbook Air's limitation of 2GB.

 

[Handruin]

A buddy at work sent me this.

 

[Mercutio]

Yeah, but you could pull the external floppy off a Commodore 64 and it would continue its I/O operations. How cool is THAT?

 

[Handruin]

It would continue it's I/O's with the external floppy while it was removed?

I remember my old commodore 64 with a cassette drive. That external floppy drive was a monster (which I also had, but not for a couple years after).

 

[Mercutio]

If you unplugged the drive with a floppy or cassette from its data interface, it'd keep doing whatever you told it, until its read/write buffers were empty. Which, it turned out, could take a while.

 

[sechs]

Sob. One of the things I really wish I could have is integrated Sprint EVDO. Dell has it but Lenovo doesn't.

I hafta plug my phone into a USB cable like a chump.

You see the problem is... Sprint sucks.

These are the guys who merged with a company with an entirely incompatible network and spun off their profitable local exchange business.

 

[MaxBurn]

Sob. One of the things I really wish I could have is integrated Sprint EVDO. Dell has it but Lenovo doesn't.

I hafta plug my phone into a USB cable like a chump.

Also, does anyone say "lappy" out loud, where other people can hear you? How do you deal with the pointing and laughing?

I hate that Blackberry's don't enable bluetooth wireless access when just about every other phone does. RIM sites security concerns but what the hell if you are on a wireless you know the risks.

 

[Fushigi]

Sprint bought Nextel for the hundreds of thousands of customers. Those customers all have to buy new phones as Nextel was losing it's bandwidth from the FCC. So they gained customers and lots of equipment purchases. Sprint gave the Nextel user base an easy migration path as Sprint's network already had push-to-talk (although they didn't really market it at the time). Sprint's EvDO network works quite well in this area and has worked just fine wherever I travel within the US. Sprint falls down when you travel outside the US as CDMA is not popular in most other markets.

Sprint sucks no more and probably no less than Verizon, AT&Tingular, or any other major carrier. Locally they can be good or bad in terms of coverage -- in this area they are now quite good -- and all carriers fail to make the grade when it comes to their CSRs.

Local exchange business is fast approaching end of life, so profitable or not it is a sinking ship. Literally millions of people are abandoning land lines in favor of cellular & VOIP solutions. Businesses are starting to get on the VOIP bandwagon as well.

 

[Mercutio]

Sprint's customer service is nightmarish. That I will give you; when they ported my phone number, they didn't port my voice mail. That took about 16 calls and about six hours to correct, including a lot of calls would start with a 20 minute wait on hold followed by "I'll transfer you." and then a dial tone.

But I'm very seldom more than 10 miles from a major highway, someplace around Chicago, and my service is for my needs perfect. My calls sound like they're coming from a landline and I really get a lot of use out of my EVDO access. And I'm paying about 1/2 what I used to pay Verizon, so that's nice too.

 

[Pradeep]

Adding insult to injury: USB 3G modems won't fit in the MacBook Air

http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/24/adding-insult-to-injury-usb-3g-modems-wont-fit-in-the-macbo/

More of that Jobs genius at work.

 

[Stereodude]

Uncle Steve knows best!