Apple MacBook Air (80GB) Review

Posts about the Apple MacBook Air (80GB)

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Reviews of the Apple MacBook Air (80GB)

7.7

CNET Review

January 25, 2008

The Good: Incredibly thin yet surprisingly sturdy; new trackpad gesture controls are very useful; remote optical drive makes living without a built-in drive much easier.

The Bad: Very limited connectivity; slower than other MacBooks; SSD hard-drive option is ridiculously expensive and standard hard drive is small; battery is not user replaceable.

The Bottom Line: The design is revolutionary, but Apple's MacBook Air will appeal to a smaller, more specialized audience than the standard MacBook, thanks to a stripped-down set of connections and features.

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9.7

alaTest.com

By alaTest | November 30, 2008

Review Summary: Experts rate this product 73/100 and users 74/100. Comparing these reviews to 101377 other Laptops reviews gives this product an overall alaScore™ 97/100 = Excellent.

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7.0

wired.com

By Christopher Null | June 27, 2008

Review Summary: This 3-pound sliver of a computer is truly breathtaking to look at. But here a good processor and 2 gigs of RAM don't translate to speedy performance, and aside from WiFi and Bluetooth, the only connections are a single USB port, a headphone jack and a mi

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8.0

pcadvisor.co.uk

By Mark Hattersley and Jason Snell | May 9, 2008

Review Summary: The public reaction to the MacBook Air has been fascinating. Our original conclusion could probably be boiled down to “it's good for people it's good for, and not for people it's not” – this appeared to be a Rorschach test for readers, since we've receive

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No Rating

fudzilla.com

By Nermin Hajdarbegovic | May 7, 2008

Review Summary: 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

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Manufacturer: Apple

Part number: MB003LL/A

General

Built-in Devices Wireless LAN antenna, Speaker, Bluetooth antenna
Width 12.8 in
Depth 8.9 in
Height 0.7 in
Weight 3 lbs
Notebook type Ultraportable (Under 4 lbs.)
Screen type Wide-screen
Wireless capabilities 802.11g, 802.11b, 802.11a, 802.11 pre-N, Bluetooth

Processor

Processor Intel Core 2 Duo 1.6 GHz
Multi-Core processor technology Dual-Core
64-bit processor Yes
Data bus speed 800 MHz

Cache Memory

Type L2 cache
Cache size 4 MB

RAM

Installed Size 2 GB / 2 GB (max)
Technology DDR2 SDRAM - 667 MHz
RAM configuration features Provided memory is soldered

Environmental Parameters

Environmental & energy standards compliance EPA Energy Star, EPEAT Silver
Min Operating Temperature 50 ?F
Max Operating Temperature 95 ?F
Humidity Range Operating 0 - 90%

Storage Controller

Storage controller type IDE

Storage

Floppy Drive None
Hard Drive 80 GB - 4200 rpm
Storage Removable None
Hard drive type Portable

Optical Storage

Type None

Optical Storage (2nd)

2nd optical storage type None

Display

Display Type 13.3 in TFT active matrix
Max Resolution 1280 x 800 ( WXGA )
Widescreen Display Yes
Features Glossy, LED-backlit

Video

Graphics Processor / Vendor Intel GMA X3100
Video Memory Dynamic Video Memory Technology 4.0
Max Allocated RAM Size 144 MB

Audio

Audio output type Sound card
Audio Input Microphone

Notebook Camera

Camera Type Integrated

Input Device(s)

Input device type Trackpad, Backlit keyboard
Features Multi-touch technology

Telecom

Modem None

Networking

Networking Network adapter
Networking / Wireless LAN Supported Yes
Data link protocol IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, Bluetooth 2.1 EDR, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n (draft)
Networking standards IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, Bluetooth 2.1, IEEE 802.11n (draft)

Expansion / Connectivity

Expansion Slots Total (Free) Memory
Interfaces 1 x Display / video - Apple micro-DVI, 1 x Hi-Speed USB - VGA - 4 pin USB Type A, - USB 2.0, 1 x Headphones - Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm

Miscellaneous

Included Accessories Cleaning cloth
Cables Included Micro-DVI-DVI adapter, Micro-DVI-VGA adapter
Features Ambient light sensor

Power

Power device form factor External
Voltage Required AC 120/230 V

Battery

Technology Lithium polymer
Installed Qty 1
Battery capacity 37 Wh
Mfr estimated battery life 5 hour(s)
CNET Labs battery drain test: DVD playback (min) 243

Operating System / Software

OS Provided Apple MacOS X 10.5
Software Apple iChat, Apple Spotlight, Apple DVD Player, Apple Boot Camp, Apple Mac OS X Mail, Apple iLife?08, Apple Address Book, Apple iCal, Apple Spaces, Apple QuickTime, Apple Safari, Apple Dashboard, Apple XCode Developer Tools, Front Row, Apple Quick Look, Drivers & Utilities, Photo Booth, Apple Time Machine