‘USA Today,’ ‘Wall Street Journal’ give MacBook Air mixed reviews
Posted by Dennis Sellers 
Jan 24, 2008 at 11:00am
Two new reviews of the MacBook Air like the “world’s skinniest laptop overall,” but note that it has its flaws. “Personal Tech” columnist Edward C. Baig for USA Today praises the laptop’s ultra slim design, sexy looks, full size keyboard, built-in iSight and 13.3-inch display.
“But with too few ports, a sealed battery that you can’t replace on your own and no built-in CD/DVD drive, Air is not the ideal laptop for everyone,” Baid says. “And while battery power is impressive, it pooped out in my tests well short of the best-case, five-hour scenario Apple has been touting.
Meanwhile, Walt Mossberg, tech columnist for The Wall Street Journal says the MacBook Air is beautiful, but is missing features that will disappoint some frequent travelers. He says the laptop is “beautiful,” “amazingly thin” and has innovative features such as athe touchpad.
“But there’s a price for this laptop’s daring design: Apple had to give up some features road warriors consider standard in a subnotebook, and certain of these omissions are radical,” Mossberg says. “Chief among them is the lack of a removable battery. So, while the MacBook Air will be a perfect choice for some travelers, I can’t recommend it for all. It really depends on your style of working on the road and what features you value most.”
He also laments the lack of an Ethernet jack, the single USB port and a dedicated slot for most common types of external cellphone modems. “If you value thinness, and a large screen and keyboard in a subnotebook, and don’t watch DVDs on planes or require spare batteries, the MacBook Air might be just the ticket,” Mossberg says. “But if you rely on spare batteries, expect the usual array of ports, or like to play DVDs on planes, this isn’t the computer to buy.”
The “Macsimum MWSF 2007 Coupon Book” is available for download. You can find it here and print it as a PDF. It has discounts, special offers and promotions.
Article Information
Comment on this Article Print this Article Email this Article Digg This
Contributor
Dennis Sellers
Dennis has been a newspaper editor/reporter (seven years) and teacher (seven years). He has over 4,000 magazine, newspaper and online articles to his credit. He has also covered the Mac and tech industries for over a decade for such online publications as MacCentral, MacMinute and now MacsimumNews.
jackchgo53 Says:
It reminds me of when Apple left out the floppy drives from its computers and everyone gasped! Also DVD-watching on computers is already history when all you have to do is pull out your iPhone. Still, its only fair to point these issues that most will see as deficiencies--that is until we see if Apple has yet again made the right predictions. Anyone still miss their floppy drive?
Posted on January 24, 2008