I saw the battery thing on a tech show I watched to night....lol I thought apple would have listened or learned their lesson about the whole iPod battery thing. When all the new iPod models were released a couple of years ago people were complaining left and right about battery problems and not being able to replace them easily themselves.
Most of the complainers back then were pundits and media who saw this as a bad thing. There were very few actual users who were complaining. I expect the same with the air... lots of whiners in the press, the general public will just accept it and go on... same as they have with the iPod.
SmugMug Sorcerer - Engineering Team Champion for Commerce, Finance, Security, and Data Support http://wall-art.smugmug.com/
I saw the battery thing on a tech show I watched to night....lol I thought apple would have listened or learned their lesson about the whole iPod battery thing. When all the new iPod models were released a couple of years ago people were complaining left and right about battery problems and not being able to replace them easily themselves.
Now apple once again does it with their new Crapbook Air...lol sorry could not resist... But I am a huge mac guru/junkie
Its gotta suck though for people whom are going to buy that new macbook and the battery is dead... now what do they do. I could imagine trying to open that little thing yourself. lol my old powerbook when I had it, I once opened it to replace the harddrive that thing had a billion little screws in it. I could imagine all the hidden little clamps or screws in the new macbook.
But those are all good questions, the maintenance looks like its going to be a pain on that macbook
Meh... If my battery dies in my macbook pro, I'd have to make a trip to the apple store anyhow. Same with the air, except with it I'd have to make an appointment and leave it there for a bit longer. I dunno, I'm not sure it's a perfect solution, but tbh, if I had the money to change my PC desktop over to a nice ocho mac pro I'd dump my mbp for MacSkinny.
But maybe that's just me.
Y'all don't want to hear me, you just want to dance.
Most of the complainers back then were pundits and media who saw this as a bad thing. There were very few actual users who were complaining. I expect the same with the air... lots of whiners in the press, the general public will just accept it and go on... same as they have with the iPod.
The iPod Mini I bought for my wife had battery issues after less than a year of use. Unlike the US--where a class action suit forced Apple to do something for its customers--in Europe Apple's response was "too bad." The iPod died completely after 18 months and the dealer's solution was to buy another one.
Call me a whiner if you want, but I think it's insane to buy anything with a batttery you can't replace yourself. It's like buying a car with a sealed hood.
The iPod Mini I bought for my wife had battery issues after less than a year of use. Unlike the US--where a class action suit forced Apple to do something for its customers--in Europe Apple's response was "too bad." The iPod died completely after 18 months and the dealer's solution was to buy another one.
Call me a whiner if you want, but I think it's insane to buy anything with a batttery you can't replace yourself. It's like buying a car with a sealed hood.
At that point you had a legitimate complaint. The folks whining on announcement day, 2 weeks before the product shipped, however... sorry, I just can't take them seriously.
And Gus is probably right... the sealed hood likely isn't too far off at this point.
SmugMug Sorcerer - Engineering Team Champion for Commerce, Finance, Security, and Data Support http://wall-art.smugmug.com/
Sealed hoods aren't that bad
My wife drives a 2007 Hybrid. I looked under the hood just since I was curious (used to be a gearhead and raced trucks). It looks like NASA had an R&D team put that engine together!
At a certain point no matter what you level of expertise. You should just leave well enough alone. Get the extended warranty and let the people that created these machines fix their problems.
There will always be cars available w/ the hood option for those ppl that love to tinker. This just won't be a good option for them.
My wife drives a 2007 Hybrid. I looked under the hood just since I was curious (used to be a gearhead and raced trucks). It looks like NASA had an R&D team put that engine together!
At a certain point no matter what you level of expertise. You should just leave well enough alone. Get the extended warranty and let the people that created these machines fix their problems.
There will always be cars available w/ the hood option for those ppl that love to tinker. This just won't be a good option for them.
-Jon
Well, time to go out and gap the carb, plus I need to file the points ....
:lol
"Don't ask me what I think of you, I might not give the answer that you want me to. Oh well."
-Fleetwood Mac
If Mac office 2008 is half as good as PC office 2007. You'll be very satisfied. It's a bit weird at first, just since your used to the older apps and have grown to know where everything is. Once you get used to it though
Meh... If my battery dies in my macbook pro, I'd have to make a trip to the apple store anyhow.
Most of the time batteries don't just die overnight, it's a gradual thing. My 2-year old battery doesn't last more than 90 minutes or so now, when a year ago it was good for just over 2 hours and when new it was longer than that. I'm looking around the 'net, I can buy a new PowerBook battery from many different vendors for about $120 and I'll be doing that soon. There's no need for a trip to the Apple store, and there's the power of competition to keep the prices from hitting the roof. A sealed unit messes with all that. I just don't understand why (other than showing their greed*) companies (Apple's not the only one) keep acting as though people want sealed units - just look around at the after-market that exists for batteries (laptops, cell phones, etc) and they should know better.
* a certain level of corporate greed is good - that's why they're in business, to make money. when it crosses over to the point at which customers start feeling screwed, it's time to throttle back and check the roadmap.
There's no need for a trip to the Apple store, and there's the power of competition to keep the prices from hitting the roof. A sealed unit messes with all that.
A sealed unit also means that road warriors cannot use a spare battery on those ever-so-long trips trips to Japan, etc.
I have to say, I am kind of puzzled by who Apple expects to buy this machine. Ultra-lights have been around for years (Sony, Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc.) in the Windows world, but my impression is that they are mostly used as second machines for travel only--or as executive toys. And with good reason, as they are generally not beefy enough to be your only machine. But without a docking station, isn't it going to be a PITA to sync the Air with your real machine? Or can that be done wirelessly? If your needs are so limited that the Air is enough, wouldn't a plain old MacBook be a better value?
I use a PC Laptop for work, and travel over 100k miles a year. So I have my laptop everywhere, all the time (Thinkpad).
I have two batteries, BUT I have never once, ever, swapped batteries. In ten years (3 laptops) I have only had one battery go bad...and yes it is a gradual event, where you notice you are not getting as much life from it.
So, while lots of folks are making a stink about this, I see it as no significant issue. I suspect that the real problem was that the battery is in a very very proprietary form, perhaps even some sort of flexible packaging that was just impractical or dangerous to expose the user to. The battery must be thin, and must be quite large as a result. Imagine carrying around a battery shaped like an oddly folded legal pad....
Batteries in new laptops are smart, are managed for temp and charge, and are built for longevity. I think this is an issue that it fun to talk about, but not really ever an event most laptop owners face.
Sure, it seems like a drawback considering there is a premium price here, thats for sure.
The battery life is 5 hours, isn't it? That's pretty good, right?
I think so. Granted, 5 hrs is best case: reading email with the screen on its lowest power, HD spun down. There is no DVD, so movies, if you have them are from the HD, so that helps the battery last longer (DVD spinning is a battery suck)
In my use, flights to Japan, Europe etc ALL have under seat power. So do trains throughout Europe. Heck the only time in traveling where I have to rely on battery power is flghts of about an hour, since it is too much a hassle to get my power adapter out. One to two hour meetings? Battery power. Day long meetings? Plug in.
The battery life is 5 hours, isn't it? That's pretty good, right?
Yeah, 5 hours is pretty good. But wouldn't 10 hours be better? I never lugged a second battery around unless I knew I might need it, but there certainly were times when I was glad I had one.
I think so. Granted, 5 hrs is best case: reading email with the screen on its lowest power, HD spun down. There is no DVD, so movies, if you have them are from the HD, so that helps the battery last longer (DVD spinning is a battery suck)
Actually, Apple is quite honest about battery life. Unlike most companies who use the "best case" number - Apple has always (in the past at least) used a more realistic number. Wifi on, bluetooth on for x amount of time, screen at normal brightness 70% of the time and dimmer 30%, etc. On top of that they usually understate what it can do. People got angry when the iPod touch battery "only" got what they advertised rather than 10-15% more like other products.
A sealed unit also means that road warriors cannot use a spare battery on those ever-so-long trips trips to Japan, etc.
I have to say, I am kind of puzzled by who Apple expects to buy this machine. Ultra-lights have been around for years (Sony, Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc.) in the Windows world, but my impression is that they are mostly used as second machines for travel only--or as executive toys. And with good reason, as they are generally not beefy enough to be your only machine. But without a docking station, isn't it going to be a PITA to sync the Air with your real machine? Or can that be done wirelessly? If your needs are so limited that the Air is enough, wouldn't a plain old MacBook be a better value?
What am I missing here?
Richard,
My understanding of the MacBook Air is that it is WIFi enabled, and thus is able to link and swap data with your Mac at home via WiFi, or via .Mac over the web via WiFi.
The serious limitation that I see is the lack of a 3G connection, the MacBook Air requires a WIFI hotspot to connect to the web, I did not even see a jack for direct RJ45 plug in to the web either.
But the lack of 3G, means that it will ONLY access the web via WiFi, and not via any wireless carriers from the cell phone vendors. Not much use on a train to work there, but if it had 3G, all the rail commuters might be able to use it on the way to work.
It certainly is not meant as a primary computer or even one's main laptop, but a smaller, lighter one for travel - think modern air travel I suspect. It would be nice for that, and it will play those movies rented from iTunes rather well in addition. I would not mind one for travel, my 17in Mac Book Pro is way too big.
Has anyone made any comments about the new dual QUAD core PowerMacs yet. 8 cores, lots of RAM. One of these may get me to give up my dual G5 finally and begin to use Intel processors again.
As for a plain MacBook being a better value, the answer, of course, is Yes. But not as cool, thats for sure. MacBook Air II will be even more interesting I bet, and it will show up sooner than we think I'll bet. Let the solid state hard drives - CF type - fall further in price, and the battery life will get even better. I just want it to have 3G, like an iPhone. How hard is that?
I have limited exposure to the QUAD core. But from what I've seen. It SCREAMS over the dual G5. I have a home grown banshee of a machine and I dust the G5's across the board. The QUAD core's take the gold even compared to my machineD. Not by much, but a gold medal is a gold medal...
The battery life is 5 hours, isn't it? That's pretty good, right?
How accurate is this though ? From the little ive had to do with laptops..the specs for battery life appear to have a considerable amount of journalistic licence used.
How accurate is this though ? From the little ive had to do with laptops..the specs for battery life appear to have a considerable amount of journalistic licence used.
The problem is, there is no standard benchmark. Battery life depends on what you are doing, so vendors will naturally base their claims on relatively undemanding tasks. A battery will last a hell of a lot longer if you are writing email or surfing the Web than if you are processing pics in Photoshop. CPU, disk access, optical disk access (if your machine has one), wireless interfaces...it all adds up, but not every task uses all of them. I can't say whether Apple is being more honest than other vendors or not, though as I mentioned in an earlier post, my personal experience with their iPod battery was awful. Once these machines hit the street, word will get around as to what you can realistically expect.
Digging around on apple.com, they do warn that the 5 hrs depends on configuration , but never offer what that configuration is. However, they do say on another page that it provides "5 full hours of WiFi web surfing', so at least there is an indication they are including WiFi being on the entire time. My guess is this also includes screen a lowest brightness, or the Air in powersaving mode. I bet bluetooth isnt on for example.
I'm curious to see how the road warrior will fair with it
I volunteer! Someone send me one. This week, from South Bend to Anaheim to Phoenix to Anaheim...
Regarding the Time Capsule, to say I am a little dubious about it is an understatement given the experience I have had with the Airport and networked drives. Also the thing that I have not been able to get a handle on is how does one purge anything or does the backup just keep growing and growing and growing over time until it becomes the backup that ate the hard drive.
Most of those relate to booting without the optical drive. The remote disk technology can also use netboot to ... well ... boot from the network. You'll need to be near another Mac, of course (or a configured netboot master).
The MBA is a pretty slick but super-niche device. It's better with the $2K SSD option, but that's a little silly.
As for the other Macworld offerings, I really like the idea of Time Capsule (I work from my laptop) and I'm working on figuring out Garmin's Bobcat which will enable use of their GPSs on Macs without lls, bootcamp, XP, etc. It will convert your Garmin map products on your PC for use on your Mac. Cool! (although, since my PC is old and a PC, it's a tedious job to do the conversion in the PC)
VI
dgrin.com - making my best shots even better since 2006.
So this morning when I booted the Mac Book Pro running Leopard the Num Lock and Caps Lock LEDs are lit. However they are not functioning, in other words the keyboard is performing as if they are off
Comments
Most of the complainers back then were pundits and media who saw this as a bad thing. There were very few actual users who were complaining. I expect the same with the air... lots of whiners in the press, the general public will just accept it and go on... same as they have with the iPod.
http://wall-art.smugmug.com/
But maybe that's just me.
http://photos.mikelanestudios.com/
The iPod Mini I bought for my wife had battery issues after less than a year of use. Unlike the US--where a class action suit forced Apple to do something for its customers--in Europe Apple's response was "too bad." The iPod died completely after 18 months and the dealer's solution was to buy another one.
Call me a whiner if you want, but I think it's insane to buy anything with a batttery you can't replace yourself. It's like buying a car with a sealed hood.
At that point you had a legitimate complaint. The folks whining on announcement day, 2 weeks before the product shipped, however... sorry, I just can't take them seriously.
And Gus is probably right... the sealed hood likely isn't too far off at this point.
http://wall-art.smugmug.com/
My wife drives a 2007 Hybrid. I looked under the hood just since I was curious (used to be a gearhead and raced trucks). It looks like NASA had an R&D team put that engine together!
At a certain point no matter what you level of expertise. You should just leave well enough alone. Get the extended warranty and let the people that created these machines fix their problems.
There will always be cars available w/ the hood option for those ppl that love to tinker. This just won't be a good option for them.
-Jon
Well, time to go out and gap the carb, plus I need to file the points ....
:lol
-Fleetwood Mac
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Link to Mac Office 2008
* a certain level of corporate greed is good - that's why they're in business, to make money. when it crosses over to the point at which customers start feeling screwed, it's time to throttle back and check the roadmap.
my words, my "pro"pictures, my "fun" pictures, my videos.
A sealed unit also means that road warriors cannot use a spare battery on those ever-so-long trips trips to Japan, etc.
I have to say, I am kind of puzzled by who Apple expects to buy this machine. Ultra-lights have been around for years (Sony, Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc.) in the Windows world, but my impression is that they are mostly used as second machines for travel only--or as executive toys. And with good reason, as they are generally not beefy enough to be your only machine. But without a docking station, isn't it going to be a PITA to sync the Air with your real machine? Or can that be done wirelessly?
What am I missing here?
I have two batteries, BUT I have never once, ever, swapped batteries. In ten years (3 laptops) I have only had one battery go bad...and yes it is a gradual event, where you notice you are not getting as much life from it.
So, while lots of folks are making a stink about this, I see it as no significant issue. I suspect that the real problem was that the battery is in a very very proprietary form, perhaps even some sort of flexible packaging that was just impractical or dangerous to expose the user to. The battery must be thin, and must be quite large as a result. Imagine carrying around a battery shaped like an oddly folded legal pad....
Batteries in new laptops are smart, are managed for temp and charge, and are built for longevity. I think this is an issue that it fun to talk about, but not really ever an event most laptop owners face.
Sure, it seems like a drawback considering there is a premium price here, thats for sure.
Dgrin FAQ | Me | Workshops
I think so. Granted, 5 hrs is best case: reading email with the screen on its lowest power, HD spun down. There is no DVD, so movies, if you have them are from the HD, so that helps the battery last longer (DVD spinning is a battery suck)
In my use, flights to Japan, Europe etc ALL have under seat power. So do trains throughout Europe. Heck the only time in traveling where I have to rely on battery power is flghts of about an hour, since it is too much a hassle to get my power adapter out. One to two hour meetings? Battery power. Day long meetings? Plug in.
Yeah, 5 hours is pretty good. But wouldn't 10 hours be better?
Actually, Apple is quite honest about battery life. Unlike most companies who use the "best case" number - Apple has always (in the past at least) used a more realistic number. Wifi on, bluetooth on for x amount of time, screen at normal brightness 70% of the time and dimmer 30%, etc. On top of that they usually understate what it can do. People got angry when the iPod touch battery "only" got what they advertised rather than 10-15% more like other products.
Richard,
My understanding of the MacBook Air is that it is WIFi enabled, and thus is able to link and swap data with your Mac at home via WiFi, or via .Mac over the web via WiFi.
The serious limitation that I see is the lack of a 3G connection, the MacBook Air requires a WIFI hotspot to connect to the web, I did not even see a jack for direct RJ45 plug in to the web either.
But the lack of 3G, means that it will ONLY access the web via WiFi, and not via any wireless carriers from the cell phone vendors. Not much use on a train to work there, but if it had 3G, all the rail commuters might be able to use it on the way to work.
It certainly is not meant as a primary computer or even one's main laptop, but a smaller, lighter one for travel - think modern air travel I suspect. It would be nice for that, and it will play those movies rented from iTunes rather well in addition. I would not mind one for travel, my 17in Mac Book Pro is way too big.
Has anyone made any comments about the new dual QUAD core PowerMacs yet. 8 cores, lots of RAM. One of these may get me to give up my dual G5 finally and begin to use Intel processors again.
As for a plain MacBook being a better value, the answer, of course, is Yes. But not as cool, thats for sure. MacBook Air II will be even more interesting I bet, and it will show up sooner than we think I'll bet. Let the solid state hard drives - CF type - fall further in price, and the battery life will get even better. I just want it to have 3G, like an iPhone. How hard is that?
Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
The problem is, there is no standard benchmark. Battery life depends on what you are doing, so vendors will naturally base their claims on relatively undemanding tasks. A battery will last a hell of a lot longer if you are writing email or surfing the Web than if you are processing pics in Photoshop. CPU, disk access, optical disk access (if your machine has one), wireless interfaces...it all adds up, but not every task uses all of them. I can't say whether Apple is being more honest than other vendors or not, though as I mentioned in an earlier post, my personal experience with their iPod battery was awful. Once these machines hit the street, word will get around as to what you can realistically expect.
No.
Dgrin FAQ | Me | Workshops
Also i just hit the space bar by accident when i was reading my local news site...i didnt know that either.
I volunteer! Someone send me one. This week, from South Bend to Anaheim to Phoenix to Anaheim...
Regarding the Time Capsule, to say I am a little dubious about it is an understatement given the experience I have had with the Airport and networked drives. Also the thing that I have not been able to get a handle on is how does one purge anything or does the backup just keep growing and growing and growing over time until it becomes the backup that ate the hard drive.
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True. Even if you are tethered, you will want to back up the newly added data, so I think the possible bandwidth bottleneck still exists.
As for the other Macworld offerings, I really like the idea of Time Capsule (I work from my laptop) and I'm working on figuring out Garmin's Bobcat which will enable use of their GPSs on Macs without lls, bootcamp, XP, etc. It will convert your Garmin map products on your PC for use on your Mac. Cool! (although, since my PC is old and a PC, it's a tedious job to do the conversion in the PC)
VI
Howdy All-
So this morning when I booted the Mac Book Pro running Leopard the Num Lock and Caps Lock LEDs are lit. However they are not functioning, in other words the keyboard is performing as if they are off
I restarted and same thing.
Anyone else had the problem?
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