11.6" MacBook Air Review - Part 1 of 2

Just 15 hours ago I received my new 11.6" MacBook Air. I still have a whole bunch of tests to do with some of the more intense applications (Final Cut, CS4, etc...), and I have a feeling I'm going to push the limits of this thing. My hope is that this MacBook Air can sufficiently replace my 13" MacBook (letting me sell the MacBook) while also satisfying my need for an ultra-light laptop to bring with me on bike touring trips.

Here's how the specs compare:

MacBook
Hard Drive: 250 GB
Processor: 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory: 2 GB

MacBook Air
Hard Drive: 128 GB
Processor: 1.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory 4 GB

First impressions: Although the computer feels as sturdy in your hands as all my other laptops, the size of this thing is remarkable . My father said it reminded him off his iPad when he first saw it. It was certainly a delight showing it off at a coffe shop for a little during the day. I worry about the processing capacity, and obviously the computer is a little less computer than my MacBook overall. Don't get me wrong, I love the extra memory since I consistently use multiple heavy applications. But the processing power is nothing to die for (the highest you can get on the 11.6") But I'll find out just how this compares to my other laptop on that front tomorrow (and I'll post the results!). For now, I'll talk about the experience I've had so far.

The laptop came bright and early in the morning and while I've read many descriptions about the experience of first holding this thing, it still kind of shocked me. It really is thin and light! I got right to work importing all the settings from my Time Machine,  which I did not know you could do. My mail, Chrome/Safari bookmarks, dock, and other features imported from the Time Machine letting me skip setting that all up by hand and saving me a butt-load of time.

But I forgot the golden rule. Always check for updates immediately. It seems weird but you almost always need to update software right off the bat. Anyways, I found that out shortly into my downloading-applications process when my newly downloaded flash player didn't work properly. Not sure why, but a quick update and everything was working up and running.

I've enjoyed the feel of this so far. The 11" screen is so high resolution that it isn't all that noticeably different from the 13" MacBook. I was worried about the fact that the keyboard does not light up, but even on the lowest backlight setting, you can read the white on black keys. And the thing barely heats up, unlike every other Mac I have.

So, as for a laptop I can bring with me bike touring, this definitely does the job. What I am looking for is something I can use at night with my phone as a modem to browse the internet, upload pictures, and do some work possibly involving minor web design. The Air is light as can be, weighing in at only 2.3 lbs, so it won't hold me back on the notorious, endless hills of the Blue Ridge Parkway. And it's more than capable of handling anything I might want to do while biking and camping for days or weeks at a time (re: energy. I have a solar panel that attaches to my bike which should provide enough of a charge during the day to keep my droid charged and give me some computer use each night).

That's all great, but I said I want this to be able to replace my 13" MacBook. To sufficiently do that, it needs to be able to run Final Cut, Photoshop, and Dreamweaver (preferably all at once). That's a lot to ask of such a tiny beast, but I think it can just manage it. Then I can put my MacBook up on the market, spend a little bit of the cash I get from it on an external to hang with the Air and pocket the rest! Everything hinges on tomorrow...