Pleaase for the love of Steve, no one go to his site. He's just a hit whore baiting Mac users to his site for hits. He knows it's a good computer when compared to other ultra lights, he just wants hits.

Waa-waa-waa

say about Macs? I'm shocked! He's never done that before.

Wtf ya talking about. Ya.. you lookin for a laptop with parallel ports, an Intel 80386 processor, and runs on D batteries. Losa.

All you're doing is giving him the hit's he obviously needed to meet his monthly quota.

I've pointed this out before, but it bears repeating. Dvorak invested heavily in Be, expecting a big payday when Apple bought them. He's been trashing Apple ever since they bought NeXT instead.

I'll go first.

"The batteries cannot be removed or swapped out, and the machine is just underpowered," Mr. Dvorak wrote.

WRONG. And it's been well documented across the net.
http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/16120
http://www.mobilemag.com/content/100/334/C14367/

Having taken apart an eMac and put it back together, this is a piece of cake. Heck, having taken apart a WallStreet PowerBook, this is simple.

Also, UNDERPOWERED?
With a processor unreleased to any other vendor running at 1.8 GHz (even on the non-SSD model), it is plenty fast enough as it is not a ULV processor. It's actually just below a full-desktop processor. Would he rather they'd stuck a celery, I mean Celeron class processor in it? Or a Core 2 duo full scale processor and fried the skin off the users legs?

This is a laptop designed (again, doesn't anybody listen or read) for EXECUTIVES with cash, who need access to certain things and technology. It fills a niche (and by the way, students are clamoring for it for classrooms just so everybody knows). Optical drive sharing technology, still limited to MacOSX use only on the Airs due to lack of drivers under virtualization most likely, is incredible according to those who have used it. And with a $7 4-port USB hub, this sucker is good to go. it's not like you're going to download music files to it with an 80G drive. You run MS Office or even better ANY other alternative Office suite, a browser, an email client, and carry a portable USB drive for any real storage that won't fit on a flash drive. Hey, USB is good for 127 devices, right? They don't all have to be connected ON the computer! And lack of Firewire isn't really a big deal. It's not meant for the digital artists and videographers anyway. They'll wait until FireWire 3200 is ready for prime time and everybody says USBwho?

Note that the MBA claimes to be the thinnest laptop, not the lightest laptop. True to Apple's product launches, they do not make a product by improving one level more than what is already out there. They either make it better by several levels or make it different. each comment I read about the MBA keeps harping on the negatives - no opticals, not enough ports, etc. BUt when I look at it, I ask myself, how often did I use the optical drive when I took it with me on the roads. How often did I run of of battery and wished I had a spare one lugged around in my bag (very very seldom. It is better to carry the charger). Airplanes - frankly, I dont know why people worj on the plane. If it is a really long journey, like US to Asia, they have power plugs anyway (assuming you can afford to have one of these, you would be flying business class anyway). So I think Apple has given a lot of thought to its target market segment for the MBA and not just cramm everything in there that already exists in current models. After all, when Apple did away with floppy disk drives and resorted to the USB, there was also a period of lamentation by critics.

What Dvorak seems to have missed (apart from several therapy appointments) is that the MacBook Air is a particularly good way for Apple to maximise the swing towards customers buying laptops.

Specifically because it's not a full blown desktop replacement, the MacBook Air is a candidate for someone who's bought a MacBook Pro but wants something that's really portable for those 1 bag, work out where you're staying when you get there trips that real road warriors always end up doing.

So Apple's going to end up selling twice as many laptops now.

Don't take Dvorak to task, he does it intentionally [he's a master baiter]. Take Marketplace to task for including his baiting in their reporting.
If you don't believe me, hear it from the man himself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAWDYaWAVQQ

Preface - I have owned Macs all my computing life, which is longer than I like to admit. I love my MacBook, my iPod Touch and still feel pretty fondly about my G4 Quicksilver (but it has to be retired to the old computer home in favor of an iMac or a Mac Pro).

That said, it just gets tiresome that everytime someone raises a criticism of Apple on this forum, instead of thoughtful discourse, you rush like angry drones to protect the queen bee. Funny, it reminds me of Apple's famous 1984 commercial, only the roles are reversed. It's Apple's masses mindlessly listening to the mighty Steve Jobs, who is perfect (just ask him).

For me (and I suspect a lot of people), the MacBook AIr is overpriced. Now, for the person who can afford every new toy out there, it might be the perfect second laptop when you want travel light. I could be wrong, I was wrong about the iPod. Yes, I sneered at it when it was introduced. Who the hell is going to spend all that money on that, I wondered. Turns out it was me, about three times now.

But I do now this, Apple is not perfect. Witness the latest iMac. You get one choice - glossy screen. Not good, if you are a photographer unless you want to lie to yourself about how good you pictures look (only to be disappointed when they are printed). Jobs said he listened and people want glossy screens. I sure don't and I know lots of other people who don't here. I would own a new 24-inch iMac right now, if they came with a matte screen option. Instead I just keep putting off buying a new sorely needed new computer because I just don't know what to do. The only thing I do know, is it HAS to be a Mac.

Expectations WERE high.
The leaks DID ruin it.
It IS a slower notebook.
It has ONE usb port.
It IS expensive compared to a Macbook.
NO media drive.
The battery is NOT removable.
The stock DID tank.
It is for a SMALL audience.
Of COURSE he hates it.
Who cares?
I'm not buying one.

Quote

Guest wrote:
Even if it is Dvorak, it is still believed by the world...

That is why he, and others, has to be called out when he says something that is not true about Apple. Repeat the lie often enough it becomes the truth.

Who would have ever thought that possible?!?!?! Unheard of!!!!

If Apple invented a magic wand and sold it for $20 he would rip it to shreds.....JUST BECAUSE IT'S APPLE! I guess it makes him feel important.

Johnny boy, I know you think you're some tech demi-god and have to prove your superiority whenever possible, but only having negative things to say all the time makes you look like a real ASS.

The battery can be removed and replaced and Apple can do it for you for the same price you would buy a new battery for anyways. This is a non-issue!
Performance? Dualcore 2 is no slouch in performance another non-issue.
Therefore I believe the Macbook Air will be one of the top sellers this year for those that need a full computer to travel with yet without all that bulk. Furthermore didn't he and others whine at the thought of no floppy drive about 10 years ago. The results speak for themselves.

It's STILL true: "You can't argue with a crazy person" As a charter card-carrying member of the "O'Reilley Spin Zone", John C continues to pay dental bills and take vacations on the strength of his anti-mac-rhetoric.

Also - John! - Get rid of that mudflap on the back of your head - at this point you'll NEVER be cute - cut your hair - or at least wash it!

I realize this is easily one of the most biased places on the internet, but DVorak isnt saying anything that a good chunk of the world isnt already also saying.

You guys have a slavish devotion to Apple, thats great. Myself, as a Mac *and* PC user, I take each product to task on its merits.

The fact that you can surgically dismantle an MBA to get to the battery is proof of what exactly? That zealots will go to ANY length to rationalize a bad design? So folks should be dismantling their MBAs on the plane then when they run out of juice on the way to CA? And I suppose that wouldnt void the warranty?

And "in comparison to other thin and lights (THAT is what the MBA is - NOT an ultra portable", the MBA is HARDLY interesting. If you are a tunnel visioned Mac zealot, then it might seem more interesting within the APPLE lineup, but anyone who claims they wouldnt have rather have seen Apple produce a Mac with a SMALLER FOOTPRINT (what is 'thin' for exactly?! posing at Starbucks?) and a REMOVABLE battery, is a full of BS apologist.

Ultraportable means, for MANY, able to be used IN COACH on a cramped airplane. The HUGE (for a REAL ultraportable) MBA cannot. It has the same dimensions as MANY PC notebooks (Sony SZ immediately comes to mind) that cannot be comfortably opened on a sardine can airplane and do NOT get called "ultras". Yet the MBA gets canonized? Why? Because its thin? So was the Sony X505, the Toshiba Portege, the ThinkPad X61... I know, "but those are crappy "WinDoze" machines!"

Fine... well how about the REGULAR MACBOOK? So I get a SLIGHTLY smaller footprint, about .25" thinner, and a couple of pounds lighter (at least they did well on the weight), but I trade a removeable battery, HD size and perf, optical, ports, etc? Come on...

If this thing had been a Sony, Toshiba, Dell, or IBM you humps would all be LAUGHING and declaring that King Steve would NEVER release such a broken POS.