in case you're wondering if I bought a Mac yet

[waider]

The Air is pretty, but it's got a smaller HD and a slower CPU than the entire MacBook range. I priced Mac + AppleCare + (in the case of the Air) enough hardware (ethernet, Superdrive) + whatever that music software is they're bundling for a coupla hundred, and by the time you've kitted out the Air you may as well be buying a Pro and you've still only got a 13" screen and a 1.8GHz CPU. So, I will not be buying an Air. Repeating what I said on my geek diary for today (or will have said once I run the uploader), at this point I'm leaning towards a regular MacBook because I don't actually need the extra GHz of the Pro, and the difference in screen size is the only thing it comes down to. And my back-of-the-envelope calculation says that the Mac's 13" Widescreen display isn't massively smaller than my current laptop's 14.1" 4:3 display. So now I am in the "thinking about it" phase.

Comments

i *was* wondering

[zefren.livejournal.com]

thanks for the update!

[odaiwai.livejournal.com]

The Exposé and Spaces (Virtual Desktop) features of the Leopard OS make very good use of the small sceen space. It's pretty easy to have most of your apps full screen and flick between them with f8 (spaces) or fp9 (exposé). Or you can do both together.

I have 2x17" LCDs on my Linux box right next to my MacBook and go between the big displays and the small laptop screen all the time easily.

Some applications seem to require lots of screen space, but you can always drive an external display at up to 1920x1200 if you suddenly decide to run Final Cut Pro, or Pro Tools.

Also, from a hardware point of view, the MacBook is very easy to upgrade the RAM and HDD on, while the Air has soldered RAM and a very slow HDD.

As for the Logic Express bundle, it's the same price (USD199) even if you buy it separately, so you could always start with the built-in Garage Band and upgrade to Logic Express if you find GB too limiting later on.

[ikkyu2.livejournal.com]

I just bought a regular macbook - the bottom of the line 2.0 GHz one, refurb. I'm totally happy with it. Wouldn't swap it for an air, either, and it was only $879 or something.

The only thing I wish is that it maybe had a 1.6 GHz processor and 20% more battery life. Nothing I do uses any CPU at all by modern standards.

[waidesworld.livejournal.com]

Your sister is visiting her brother in March. If you wanted to spec one out and drop ship it....it may be the cheapest option and then again, a whopping 2 months may product an even cheaper price over here.

[waider.livejournal.com]

"produce" rather than "product", eh? :) Yeah, there is also a strong possibility I'll be in Seattle in March/April, and there are various other factors which may lead me to hold off until then, but on the other hand that's half-way to June, which is when the next hardware drop should happen, and things will be cheaper still, and ultimately I'll just keep deferring. So I'm currently thinking that since it's payday next week, that's when the shopping is going to happen, and screw the possible discounts.