Published in Reviews

Apple's MacBook Air flows through our fingers

by on07 May 2008

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Preview: Apple's Kate Moss


As you
know, we don't get much Apple stuff in our labs, but things are changing, especially after our editor-in-chief fell in love with one of those overhyped iPhone things. Honestly, I don't know what he sees in it, but the boss is always right. (It's the browsing capabilities and it sucks with battery life and with Edge speed, ed) So when I got a call from IT Computers, our shop around the corner, telling me there was a Macbook Air waiting for us, I pounced on the opportunity to check out some Apples myself.

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We scored the cheaper version, with a 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo and an 80GB HDD. There's no sexy SSD, but at least it keeps the cost down, although it's still a pricey piece of machinery, selling at around €1700 in the EU. We've just received the sample, so there's not much to say about the performance yet, although the first impression is very positive. The Air is a marvelously designed product and the build quality is excellent, as you may expect from Jobs' crew. In turns heads like a supermodel in a prison courtyard and this is the principal reason for getting one.

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The sleek, minimalistic design affects its ergonomics. While its backlit keyboard is spacious and its touchpad is huge, the connectors paid a high price for the space age design. It has just one USB 2.0 port, which is hidden on the right hand side, behind a cover along with a micro-DVI, and a headphone connector. On the left side you'll find a power connector and that's about it. Of course, there's no optical drive, as you may expect from a 1.36kg notebook. This is not a big deal, but the lack of a replaceable battery is. Once you run out of juice on the road, you've gotta recharge and there's nothing you can do about it.

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We will try to do a full review early next week, as Fudzilla's biggest Apple fanboy, Mr. Nick Farrell, is eager to hear our verdict, so stay tuned.

Last modified on 07 May 2008
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