pouët.net

Thats from this look back at the SX-64 if anyones interested.

All put together, I think I've used the disc drive, the Ethernet port, the SD card slot on and the FireWire interface on my macbook like four times during the time I've had it. What would be more annoying about the Air in daily use is that it only has one USB port.

the battery? http://www.macbookrandomshutdown.com/

and Apple will prolly make their followers pay that idea to remove all these useful features ._.

To some users, removing all these features might actually be useful. For example, there are people who travel a lot and travel light (business trips and such), and having a very small and lightweight and portable laptop (and the thing is small) is a bigger asset than the missing features. I don't think this is even meant to be a mainstream computer.

The non-removable battery is a bummer, though. I read somewhere that it's still pretty easy to replace, but requires tools.

Steve J: Hey ... We need something new to present at MacWorld. Can you come up wit somethin'?

Head of development: Yeah, sure. I mean everybody buys laptops these days. We could design a new one...

SJ: But it gotta be somethin special. How about making it look good? Ultra thin or so?

HOD: We probably can't go below XX mm with stock components, but that's what the competition can do too...

SJ: Kay then...

HOD: But we could leave everything out, the optical drive and everything.

SJ: Good. Would that make it thinner?

HOD: Nope, but it sure sounds cool, Like: "No fancy blabla, you don't need that anyway". And we could make the case out of aluminum and sell a SSD-upgrade for an insane amount of money!

SJ: Cool. Would it still need a fan then?

HOD: Sure. Users just can't go without that fan-noise you know...

SJ: Hey. Here's another idea. We just leave the ethernet-port out so users have to buy an USB-ethernet adapter. INSTANT Profit! And I everybody uses WiFi these days anyway...

HOD: Nice one Stevie. And imo one USB port should be enough for everyone, too. They can still buy a hub if the want...

SJ: Great. What else should we integrate? Firewire?

HOD: Nope.

SJ: Card slot?

HOD: Nope.

SJ: Replaceable battery?

HOD: Would you want that?

SJ: You're right. No. How about a way to add extra memory?

HOD: You serious?!

SJ: Ok. Forget it...

HOD: We could drop in that multitouch stuff everybody is so crazy about these days.

SJ: Cool! And how about a backlit keyboard and that little glowing Apple logo? I just luuv that stuff!

HOD: That's no problem. You know that when it comes to design, we're the best.

SJ: Great. For how much can we sell it then?

HOD: Maybe about $1200? We could sure build it at that price with all the stuff left out, stock chipsets, large quantities and people buying adapters and hubs anyway...

SJ: Are you insane?! Make it more like $1800. Else people will think it's cheap...

HOD: Kay then. You decide what price you sell it at...

SJ: You done till MacWorld?

HOD: We can hack you somethin' together, sure.

SJ: Excellent! Get movin'.

Talking about the SX64: link me beautiful

Having this 13.3" widescreen monitor kind of spoils the idea of a small computer. Good luck using it on an airplane without irritating your neighbor for instance. Also, it doesn't have support for mini pci-e cards nor does it have built in 3g (or even gprs) card so you will need an usb dongle to access the web when traveling. And then you cant use the usb mouse without an usb hub. Excellent!

Not to forget that the hw is pretty much yesterday.

That laptop is pretty much perfect for me. I have a powerbook, and I've never used the pc card slot, more than 1 usb port, i don't use the firewire port any more, and i don't need ethernet as it has wireless. I haven't used the dvd drive in years, and I've never needed a second battery. Smaller + thinner is definitely good when i take it to places, but less than 13" is getting too small, and I'd want a full sized keyboard.

I still won't be buying one though, the powerbook does everything i need :)

to me the single USB, the lack of ethernet and the price are retarded.

And the X3100 graphics are shit too.
I could understand people buying something smaller, ultraportable, like stefan said, with 2-3 USB ports or an expresscard slot, but this is simply stupid.
But, hey: less is the new more...

I must say that the price is the only good part about the air. I had expected it to cost the twice, i mean. Afterall its a hype-product and check vaio prices.

hehehe.

As stefan said, the price is actually very reasonable when you check similar machines. You always pay more for less in that market ;) The spec is actually very good too, the competition are mostly around 1ghz with an intel 965 gpu. It just depends on if you need all those missing ports or not.

I guess you can buy a powered usb hub in any case.

Personally I long for such a small laptop but with a twist.. A mechanism to hookup "desktop-range" devices. Like a powerful enclosed 3d card.

The same way musicians can hookup a powerful firewire audio card on a laptop.

i can't understand why sceners are so easily tricked by apple. seriously.

lol knos if you buy a usb hub you loose all the concept of easy mobility :p

LOLZ ROFLMAO!

Macbook Air still has that fucking touchpad. Which makes it useless to me anyway. I'd prefer a Thinkpad X31 or X41. It's a tiny bit thicker, but only 12" diagonally and 4:3 aspect ratio which, at the end of the day, I find a lot more useful on the road. It's cheaper, smaller, more robust, and has features that are meant to be useful and not just look streamlined (such as trackpoint). And as a bonus, it's not gay.



<3

nothing beats real trackballs on laptops (like on old toshiba ones), but alas manufacturers now seem to think that those are for disabled people only :/

No no no! Trackballs are just bumpy touchpads with tactile feedback. Better than a touchpad but essentially the same thing. Trackpoint is right in the middle of the keyboard, i.e. at your fingertips, where you need it. And it doesn't require large repetitive movements of the fingers/wrist to operate. In fact there's not really any movement at all. Which makes it fast to use and easy on the hands.

It's a shame that most laptop manufacturers fail to accept that.

God I hate trackpoints.

I actually got a pretty bad case of wrist pain from using a trackpoint.. So I can't really vouch for them. (from that DELL laptop of years back)