Apple 13.3" MacBook Air 2.13GHz, 4GB RAM, 256GB Flash Storage, NVIDIA GeForce 320M (Z0JH-2.13-4GB)
Product Description
2.13GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB DDR3 SDRAM, 256GB Flash Storage, NVIDIA GeForce 320M, 13.3" LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.1, SD card slot, FaceTime camera, Built-in battery, Precision aluminum unibody. This Apple computer has been upgraded over the base Apple model by Apple in their factory. As a result, it comes with the standard Apple computer warranty. The base Apple computer model this upgraded model was built upon was MC504LL/A. The Apple upgrades specific to this model are: Processor increase from 1.86GHz Intel Core 2 Duo to 2.13GHz Intel Core 2 Duo.Memory increase from 2GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM to 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM
A great performer, super portable, a pleasure to use
There are lots of cool things about the new Macbook Airs. But what stands out most to me is the performance gain from an SSD instead of a spinning magnetic hard drive. It boots up from cold to ready in under 10 seconds. Seriously. It shuts down in about 4-5 seconds. Of course, you don't need to shut it down and boot it up from cold every time - just shut the lid and it goes to sleep in 1 second. Open it later and it wakes up just as you left it - in about 1 second. Really. Windows laptops have this same feature, but in my experience it doesn't wake up about 1/4 of the time, so I stopped using it. But it works perfectly on the Mac.
Reading from and writing to the SSD is very fast, whether you're installing programs or loading files. The difference is striking compared to my Dell XPS laptop, which has a 7200rpm hard drive and Core 2 duo processor with a higher rated speed.
Now that I have a laptop with an SSD as the main drive, I will never go back to one using a spinning hard drive - it's yesterday's technology and just doesn't perform well, compared to this. Of course, part of the performance gain could well be due to the Mac OS X. OS X seems more stable and refined than Windows 7 (and I like Windows 7, though I'd like anything after the disaster that was Windows Vista).
The Air's integrated NVIDIA 320 graphics handles all my needs very well, though I am not a graphics-intensive gamer or video editor, just an average user.
Battery life is really exceptional. At this moment, I've been running my MBA 5 or 6 hours since the last charge, and the battery meter still shows 44% remaining. Since I bought it, I have gotten at least the rated 7 hours of battery life every time. This, too, is due at least in part to the SSD. Regular hard drives use a lot of juice - they have motors that physically spin a magnetic platter 5400 or 7200 revolutions per minute. With SSD, there's no spinning disk and no motor, hence longer battery life.
The MBA runs cool most of the time. After I use it for a few hours at a time, the bottom gets SLIGHTLY warm. This is a huge improvement over EVERY OTHER LAPTOP I've ever owned or used, which get VERY WARM or even HOT.
I've only heard the fan come on ONCE - the first day, when I was installing MS Office using an external DVD/CD drive. Other than that, my MBA has been completely silent and cool.
Once I complete my transition from Windows to Mac, this MBA will be my main home computer. For average users like me, it's plenty powerful enough. At home, I have it plugged into an external monitor (which requires a $20 adapter), an external mouse, plus I have an external USB drive for backups and an Apple Super Drive (external DVD/CD). I slightly regret buying the Super Drive; Amazon sells Samsung drives that perform better and cost about $30 less.
The everyday experience of using the 13" MBA is like that of using a regular Macbook, Macbook Pro, or other "serious" laptop. What I mean is, when you're using it, it LOOKS and FEELS like using a "serious" laptop, not a laptop that makes compromises to achieve ultra portability. But when you take it with you somewhere, THAT'S when you notice how wafer-thin and feather-light it is.
And for something so remarkably thin, it feels very sturdy. Build quality is excellent.
I read a lot of other reviews by long-time MB users, many of whom are disappointed that the MBA doesn't have the backlit keyboard that Macbooks have. I've never had that feature on a laptop, so I don't miss it. But for people who do, you can get an LED lamp on an adjustable arm that plugs into the USB port - not a very elegant solution, but functional and inexpensive - Amazon has some good ones pretty cheap.
This is probably not a huge factor in your decision, but you might be interested in knowing the sound quality coming from the headphone jack is excellent. I did an A/B comparison between my MBA, my Dell XPS, and the Lenovo ThinkPad I use at work. I used high-end headphones to listen to a track encoded in iTunes at 320 bps on all 3 machines. The sound quality from the MBA's headphone jack was great, as good as my iPod touch, and way better than the Dell or Lenovo.
On the other hand, tiny speakers built into the MBA are no better than the average laptop speakers.
If you're thinking about buying this, I have a few suggestions.
First, go to a store and see one in person. Play around with it.
Second, make sure you know all the options available at time of order. The 11 and 13 inch MBAs can be ordered with upgrades (bigger SSD, faster processor, more RAM). But, once you buy a MBA, you may not be able to upgrade these components later. (Apple says you cannot. Some user forums say you can. I'd rather not take my chances.) So, you should probably opt for as many of the upgrades as you can afford at the time of initial purchase.
