So they have the MP3 market sewn up, chuck a copy of windows 7 on this and your have a very good business laptop.

Whilst I’m not totally sold on the no CD drive, I know ultimately their hardware chap is right. Shame about the lack of SD card slot on the 11 inch but it will come in time.

Thanks for that indepth review.

Why would you want to put windows on it?

About as riviting as your review

Why would you want to put windows on it?

business types like windows, and I like that fact that more programs work on windows. Although the apple interface is nicer.

so buy something designed to run windows. plenty of well designed, slimline laptops out there.

facetime beta is interesting. got some nice feedback going on with my iphone/imac.

and I like that fact that more programs work on windows

Eh? More programs than what? (or do you just mean apple)

You heard of Debian linux?

i’ve got a macbook pro 15″ – i’ve used the dvd drive twice i think – if i was confident this would run indesign, photoshop, illustrator, (and i was buying now) i’d be very tempted. it’ll be very interesting to see the pro machines when they lose the drive…

so buy something designed to run windows. plenty of well designed, slimline laptops out there.

There is some alright stuff out there, but nothing build quality wise gets near apple, well in the MBP bracket that I have looked at, that is. Although I’m always open to suggestions.

Eh? More programs than what? (or do you just mean apple)

Yes design programs, although AutoCAD have just come on to OSX.

I have heard of linux, should really give it a blast.

Can’t say I’d miss a DVD drive, think I’ve used the one on this desktop once in the two years I’ve had it.

The MacBook Air is about the only Mac that’s tempting, you can install linux on it right?

The MacBook Air is about the only Mac that’s tempting, you can install linux on it right?

I guess so as you can dual boot it.

It’s an Intel machine. With VMWare you can install anything you damn well please, within the limits imposed by the capacity. The 13″ will take 4Gb RAM, and has a pretty big SSD so would take Linux and Windows 7 no problem. You could just install Win 7 under Bootcamp if you don’t mind rebooting to run it. If you must have an optical drive then you can get one to run with an MBA, that’s been the case since the MBA came out.

boot camp

When I last looked, the Air was bleady expensive for the spec. Which is fair enough in a way, but you’ve really got to want the thin-ness.

When I last looked, the Air was bleady expensive for the spec. Which is fair enough in a way, but you’ve really got to want the thin-ness.

Oh, I do. It’s the only Apple product that actually looks good.

No dual-boot, linux only. Can’t stand MacOS.

Is the HD not quite small too? Making dual-boot a bit tricky?

Is the HD not quite small too?

Yeah, that whole flash drive thing is vaguely worrying – how much of a limitation is it really? I appreciate you can stick most stuff on an external USB drive, but that would be a real pain when you’re on a train/bus/plane/whatever, and you lose half the swanky fun of a super-slim laptop…

Oh, I do. It’s the only Apple product that actually looks good.

really?!!

<i>Oh, I do. It’s the only Apple product that actually looks good.</i>
really?!!

Yes. Obviously, this is my personal opinion, but then when it comes to aesthetics that’s pretty much all there is.

Hmm, new ones look very nice.

13″ with SD card and dual USB looks spot on.

Not sure I can justify one as well as an iMac, iPad and two iPhones….

No reason for portables to have optical drives built-in these days IMO – mine get barely any use any more (and I’ve been pondering reusing the space to have a SSD + big HD setup on my Macbook). Have a USB one on your desk for the times you need it.

Air looks great, going SSD only makes a lot of sense (especially if you’ve used any ultraportable, including the old MBA, that uses a dog-slow 1.8″ 4200rpm hard disk) but I’d find it hard to live within 128GB unless it’s a secondary machine and I had an iMac or something with my iTunes and iPhoto libraries on.

Surely snow leopard or lion being unix kinda are like Linux anyway?
My so uses xwindows/x11 to run things remotely from home – not something I believe is that easy from a winbox.

but I’d find it hard to live within 128GB unless it’s a secondary machine

That’s my thought also. The Air isn’t enough to be a main PC, just maybe an on-the-road or a sofa/bed machine I reckon.

Although 128Gb goes a lot further with MacOS than with Windows no?

just maybe as a sofa/bed machine I reckon.

why on earth would you use a laptop as a sofa/bed?

It’d be nice and warm.

good point well made, is it possible to get a tempur foam wrap for an xbox 360?

I’ve been sleeping on an iPad for the last few months, so figure the Air would be a big improvement.