Love the Mac Tweetie client, but hate the fact that there’s no Growl integration yet?
According to the developer, “Growl.framework is already bundled in the app ;). Coming really soon!”
If you need to get your Growl on now, Yoshimasa Niwa put together a quick hack plugin to enable Growl support until atebits releases official Growl support. It seems to work great!
You can visit Yoshimasa’s site and download the plugin here. [yoshimasa niwa]
I have traveled quite a bit with my MacBook Air since late February. I didn’t have any problems with TSA at the time since I didn’t have the SSD model. In case you don’t remember, there was a traveler who got stranded after the TSO was not prepared for the differently appearing innards of the MacBook Air (no disc drive, solid state disk, lack of ports.) After that, TSA was able to get its hands on the MacBook Air and disseminate pictures of the computer to its officers (but not to us because it would be a security risk!)
$10 off $200 valid in our Computers, Software, Home Networking, Digital Cameras and Electronic Stores! exp 12/31/08
I have now retired my old MacBook Air and have since carried the Rev B Late 2008 MacBook Air (with SSD!) through three TSA checkpoints. The latest TSA officer sat there looking at it for awhile, noting how empty it was and how he could see the keyboard. (I’m assuming other computers’ guts make the keyboard difficult to spot?) He then mentioned how the lack of pretty much everything in the computer (disc drive, HDD, ports) would “help us fight terrorists!” Indeed! I’m guessing he hasn’t seen a MacBook Air before, unless the parts have changed drastically internally. Here are some non x-ray comparison shots of the two computers’ guts.
So MacBook Air owners, just know that you are doing your patriotic duty as an American by carrying around your MacBook Air. Take that, OBL!
I’m sitting here at a Coffee Bean writing this review on my week-and-a-half old MacBook AIr 1.86GHz SSD. My previous laptop was a MacBook Air 1.6GHz with the 80GB PATA drive. Compared to the previous top-of-the-line MacBook Air, my new MacBook Air includes a 128GB SSD vs 64GB SSD, a standard Intel Core 2 Duo 1.86GHz with 6MB L2 cache vs the custom 1.8GHz Core 2 Duo with 4MB L2 cache. Other differences include a faster front-speed bus and DDR3 RAM. Benchmarks are out there in the wild, so I won’t bore you by running some of my own, but the condensed results are that it’s significantly faster than its predecessor thanks to the new 9400M but still significantly slower than the new unibody laptops Apple introduced (even the entry-level MacBook [non unibody] with the old-style glossy white exterior.)
Obviously my opinions will be biased as I purchased the laptop I am reviewing. Anecdotally, my opinions of the differences between my old Air and the new one will also be augmented by the fact that I was previously using the low-end model (1.6GHz, PATA drive) and am now using the 1.86GHZ with SSD, so do keep that in mind.
Design
The MacBook Air retains the same design as its outgoing predecessor. The only way you’d really be able to distinguish the old model from the new one by the exterior is the new mini DisplayPort port. However, under the hood, the changes are immense, notably the increased hard drive capacity, better processor and the NVIDIA 9400M. The screen quality of the MacBook Air is similar to the old one: excellent. The viewing angles are much better than the unibody MacBooks which share the same size screen (13.3 inches) but little else in common with the Air screen. This is a pro screen, and while glossy, there’s no glass on top of the screen making it even glossier. Speaking of glass, despite Apple’s new love of the material, there is no clickable glass trackpad in the new Air. The trackpad has maintained its large size with small button and includes the new four-finger gestures. If you’re interested, it’s possible to get the four-finger gestures on the old Air. Other standard features include the built-in iSight camera, backlit chiclet keyboard and of course the black keys that started with the MacBook Air. I suppose you could say the original Titanium G4 PowerBook started the black key trend, but the original MacBook Air made it cool again.
Graphics
The biggest difference between the old MacBook Air and the new one is the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics processor that exists throughout the entire MacBook line. The GeForce 9400M replaces the aging Intel X3100 integrated graphics and performance is excellent. No more core shutdowns (more on that below) though the GeForce 9400M is underclocked compared to the MacBooks and MacBook Pros in order to prevent such shutdowns from occurring. In what can only be called a cost-cutting measure, the MacBook Air does not include the DVI or VGA adapters that the previous MacBook Air included. It’s not horrible, but it is an extra $30 per cable or $100 for a mini DisplayPort -> dual-link DVI cable.
Overall experience
The new MacBook Air feels significantly faster than the old one in everyday usage. Start-up time is zippy, a mere 25 seconds, though that doesn’t affect me as much (I have had average uptimes of 40-60 days with the old one.) The last MacBook Air I had really had one horrible, horrible problem: core shutdown. I couldn’t play YouTube videos without the computer overheating and shutting down one of the two cores, essentially making the computer unusable. These issues, based on a week and a half of usage, have seemed to be resolved. I was able to play x264-encoded 720p videos without an issue or nary a hiccup during playback while connected to power. While on battery power, 720p videos sometimes stalled or skipped frames, but there was never an issue of core shutdown. Point: You won’t have any problems playing YouTube videos, but you’ll probably want to stay plugged in if you want to best experience smooth HD video. That being said, the power management does clock-down the processor, in some instances, to 800 MHz, to preserve the computing experience. I haven’t tried CoolBook on this computer yet but if the results provided are similar to my old MacBook Air, I’ll seriously consider it. I previously raved about CoolBook here. It’s not for the faint of heart as it involves underclocking your processor but the settings are easily accessible.
Value
You are probably thinking that for the same price as the MacBook Air with SSD, you could get one of the beautiful new unibody MacBook Pros and gain a multiple-fold increase in screen size, processor power, storage, etc. You would be correct. You could get the 2.53GHz model with the gorgeous new 15-inch glass display and trackpad, 4GB RAM, and oh yeah, don’t forget the SuperDrive and extra ports you’d be reclaiming. Or you could even go the new MacBook route and be only 1.5 pounds or so off the Air weight while still maintaining much of the power/speed/storage size benefits of the bigger-brother line.
Conclusion
It’s definitely a tough decision to make but I can try to clear it up this way: Is your laptop your only computer? The MacBook Air is not for you. Not enough storage space for most people and it is definitely underpowered compared to the rest of the MacBook line. To match a MacBook, you’d need an external hard drive, SuperDrive and a powered USB hub to make up the difference and that doesn’t even include the difference in processor speed. Do a lot of Photoshop work and/or video editing? The MacBook Air is not for you. Do you need the flexibility of changing out the battery/upgrading the hard drive at some point in the future? The MacBook Air is not for you. Processor/RAM are soldered on and good luck finding a hard drive to put in there. Mobile gamer? The MacBook Air is (probably, depending on what you play) not for you. But let’s be real, if you’re a gamer, even the new MacBook Pros aren’t that satisfying. If you leave your laptop on your desk, connected to your display and other things, the MacBook Air is not for you. You’d be far better off getting a real desktop replacement like the Pro or even the regular MacBook.
If you travel a lot or take your laptop everywhere you go and weight is at a premium I’ll tell you this, 1.5 pounds may not seem like much of a difference, but I honestly can’t go back to carrying anything heavier than a MacBook Air. Sure, it may sound like I’m spoiled, but that’s what the MacBook Air does to you. It makes you used to carrying such a slim and relatively light laptop that it’s hard to go back to anything heavier (and 4.5 pounds is actually not that heavy.) There are times when I had my old 15-inch Aluminum PowerBook G4 or even my 13.3-inch black MacBook, and I thought about taking my laptop but just decided against it. That thought never occurs with my MacBook Air. The only thing that pops into my mind if I am deciding whether or not to bring my laptop is “Why not?” Leaving my weak shoulders out of the picture, there IS a noticeable real-world difference in weight (MBA: 3.0 lbs vs MB: 4.5 lbs vs MBP: 5.5 lbs.) Whether or not it matters is a personal decision. Most of my media files are stored on my desktop which serves as a file server and dishes out my music and other files to my MacBook Air whenever I’m wirelessly connected, a habit I picked up during my frugal storage days of the 80GB MacBook Air HDD. If I want to watch a DVD while I’m traveling, I’ll usually rip it and temporarily store it on the hard drive. The computing I do while on-the-go is nothing intense and mostly involves reading my newsfeeds, reading/writing email, Word docs, watching some HD videos, and maybe the occasional PowerPoint presentation. I did try out a Handbrake encode yesterday, but that was more of a set-it-and-forget it. I started it, came back in a while, and it was finished. I leave most of that heavy-duty conversion work to my quad-core Hackintosh.
I was happy with the old PATA drive, but drive speeds are great with the new SSD and the price difference has dropped from $500 from $1000 in the last-gen model. If you want a MacBook Air but don’t care about the SSD or marginally faster processor, then get in the game with the $1799 model. If you’re feeling some SSD-loving, there is no longer a storage penalty for upgrading to the SSD. In fact, you get 8GB more storage. Of course, real-world storage will be a little less than that. I wish the new MacBook Air included 4GB RAM as 2GB just feels too constricting in late 2008 without the ability to upgrade as the chips are soldered on. If you’re missing FireWire 400 on the MacBook Air, you’re now in good company. Apple has omitted the port in the new MacBooks and they only exist in the MacBook Pro with a FW800 -> FW400 adapter. You should get used to that fact, if this email from Steve Jobs is to be believed.
Hopefully this review will give you a better idea of whether or not the MacBook Air is for you. If you crave the MacBook Airs but the pricepoint is a little high, there are great deals to be had on the outgoing Rev A MacBook Airs. Honestly, you can’t go wrong with any of the new unibody MacBook models, but if you place thinness and weight at a premium (wow, how superficial does that sound), you’ll be enthralled with the new MacBook Airs.
NOTE: Pictures and battery life tests coming soon.
This is a pretty amazing deal for those with Starwood Preferred Guest accounts and a Delta SkyMiles account. Right now, Delta is running a promotion where you can earn up to a 150% mileage bonus when you use a select group of 150+ SkyMiles partners. If you look in the Terms and Conditions, you can see
Convert Partner Points to Miles:
Club Rewards from Diners Club International; Banco Santander Brazil—SuperBônus Program; HSBC Clube de Beneficios; Hertz #1 Awards; Choice Privileges; EA$Y CHOICE; Hilton HHonors; Hyatt Gold Passport; Sirius by Jumeirah; Marriott Rewards; Priority Club Rewards; Radisson goldpoints plus; Sofitel Compliments Points; Sol Meliá MaS Rewards; Starwood Preferred Guest; Taj Inner Circle; Wyndham Rewards.
Unfortunately, American Express Membership Rewards is not listed. Basically, transfer 20,000 SPG points to your Delta account and SPG automatically bumps the transfer to 25,000 as usual. Add the 150% bonus on top of that (37,500 miles.) The 25,000 points then becomes 25,000 + 37,500 miles = 62,500 miles.
Let’s say you wanted to buy SPG points. Starwood will sell them to you for 3.5 cents/mile. If you were to buy 20,000 miles, you would be paying $700.00. Transfer those into a Delta account with this promotion, and you would be paying $700 for 62,500 miles which would come out to 1.12 cents/mile.
Now, the question that is up for debate is how much are DL miles worth? That’s up to you. It’s pretty tough finding a domestic SkySaver (Delta’s lowest redemption option) flight. SkyChoice flights are 50,000 miles roundtrip. Let’s say, worst case scenario, you bought miles from SPG at 3.5 cents/mile and used them for a SkyChoice flight, you’d be paying $560 and have 12,500 miles left. If you were lucky enough to find a SkySaver ticket, you’d be paying 25,000 miles or $280 with 37,500 miles remaining. I find SPG points to be pretty valuable, but I might transfer 20K of them over to Delta since I fly NW anyway. On the other hand, Business Class to Europe is 100,000 SkyMiles. Mathematically, it’s only 32,000 Starpoints though you’d have to transfer 40,000 to realize the benefit.
If you’re still feeling saucy,
1) Go hereand register [delta.com] with your name and SkyMiles number.
2) Then head to the SPG site here and click on the TRANSFER NOW button
3) Login and transfer 20,000 Starpoints. You should be all set.
Discussion and the original thread can be found here [Flyertalk.com] Credit goes to OP andymo99
