Interesting peripherals and pricing. Hey Kit, are we related?

It would be nice to see a slimline BT or WiFi dongle for the air that would be able to connect either of those two (and others) wirelessly. Well, here is hoping.

isn't the idea of a laptop computer to have all necessary peripheral integrated so you only have to carry one single device?

they could have at least integrated the 10/100BASE-T adapter into the thing.

Back in the day, I had an NEC (!) B&W laptop. It was touted as a superlightweight by dumping the floppy disc drive to an external enclosure. Then you could carry it only when you needed it. Thing is, I found I ONLY needed it when I wasn't carrying it! Was a waste of time and space as I ended up carrying it everywhere on the off chance I would need it (and ended up never needing it again!). They should have added the extra space and had it onboard... That said, I can't remember the last time I actually used my superdrive or my ethernet port. A few extra USB's would have been nice too... Where is the wireless USB? For a company so cutting edge on the minimisation side of things, this surprised me a little.

Hmm So this means i can't take My DVD's on the go?
i Pay For a Huge screen WHY? <--- Why? Look at the Specs people! Do u really think your going to Edit Video with this thing?

I pay to Download My Movies that i all ready have on itunes . that i could of simple pop in my DVD?
I understand this Is Marketing to Certain individuals. that are willing to pay the price..
Look People.. its Simple. Its Over Priced.. Looks Cool.. Not worth it.. Prd..
Buy a Apple Notebook!! ! and if you must have small
UMPC : ) or Your iPhone!!

P.S I though Air was Free.. ( insert Joke Hear)

Too bad if you need to use a wired network and read a dvd at once and you didnt bring a USB hub with you.

Not that it will work anyway since IME apple gear always complains about USB port overloads more then PC's

@DJJS: Do you actually take DVD's to go right now? If you need Here is a free utility to rip em to your hard drive: Handbrake

@Joseph: DVDs are actually still a valid backup medium for some.

But no DL? You got to be shitting me (again). What's wrong with Apple these days?

@DJJS:
1. When has 13.3" been a huge screen?

2. Editing Movies with iMovie is possible with a similarly spec'd Mac Mini (and it didn't have a flash drive, which would dramatically improve the speed, and it had half as much memory.) - besides - How many people do video editing anyway? and how many of those do editing while on the move?

3. You don't pay to download movies that you already have on iTunes. You copy them over. this is basic stuff You can copy over ripped DVDs if you like too…

@yogibimbi: DVDs are a terrible back up medium for all. And, more to the point - what issue does that raise - the Air is not made at all to be your only achine, so you can backup whenever you're at home, or near another PC.

@Joseph: So if I want to Borrow My friends Movie .. i have to waist my time Ripping a DVD's For hrs? When i can Just Pop them in and watch them Instantly?
If I recall The C.E.O of Fox (Apple Key note) Said DVD's are Definitely Not Going Anywhere?
Yes Great that i Rip them in to My 4200rmp MacBook Air Harddrive! im sure that will last long!

@DJJS: Hey smart guy. I got a simple solution for you... Don't buy the Macbook Air.

Wow, that was easy.

@WalkerP: It's called Sarcasm Buddy.. I mean im sure its a beautiful screen 13.3 Great! Of course people Edit Videos on the Go.. I though that was the whole idea of a laptop? Having all the RESOURCES of a Regular Desktop? but the Freedom of doing what ever you want.. where ever you feel like it.. ! Looks its great Notebook.. But whats a Notebook with out the Capabilities of an etherport.and a Optical drive?
Sure i can but one for 99 more bucks?
Not all People who Own a Range Rover Go Off roading.. i mean they have the Power and capabilities to.. But i mean its great to know that you can if you get stuck in a situation that you must..
it just feels great when you have everything that you want in one simple great looking Machine.

@DJJS: I'm Not saying im going to buy one.. im just saying its beautiful yes.. But worth the price Defently no.. it has Plenty of flaws and good upside to it.

For God's sake, if you need an ethernet port and dvd burner built-in your laptop, buy one of the other models Apple sells.

This is a ultra portable.

Buy the model that best fits your needs and stop complaining that this particular model doesn't have everything you need.

my real question is: what is the region-lock on this drive? I'd get one for my regular machine, if only it were unlocked for all regions.

It would be nice if they put a Dual Layer compatible drive, with build-in card reader, ANOTHER USB PORT so you'll be able to plug something else when the external drive is using the ONLY port avaliable.

@glibberthwix: I'd imagine it's the same as their other machines, where you can switch between regions for n number of time (Six? Seven? Don't remember) and then it locks to the last one you used.

The thinnest laptop is Just Air, not Apple Air. But Just Air becomes a fully functioning laptop if you just connect a laptop to it, and the good part is, you can connect any laptop to Just Air and it becomes the laptop of your choice, on the go...

Integrated cable? What the fuck is that shit? So if the cable fails you need to buy a whole new unit? That sucks. At least the air only has one usb port so you can only run wired ethernet, optical drive, external hard drive or whatever else one at a time so the chance of cable failure is a little lower.

@WalkerP: well, but I would like something similar to, or smaller than, my 12" Powerbook as my primary machine. I am using the 12" as my primary machine and Apple just isn't offering any options below the 13" Macbooks. And I was hoping against hope that Apple had finally seen the light and was going to offer something smaller. Believe it or not, there are actually people who like to work on small screens (7.5" would be the minimum for me to work with FCPro and Logic) and could do away with a keyboard if only inkwell were complemented by a touch screen.
When I travel, even my little 12" takes up 1/3 of the space and 1/2 of the weight in my 60 l rucksack (i.e. with AC adapter and cables). And 60 l is already a lot. Not much room for socks and stuff, besides that. Throw in the digital video camera and you end up paying luggage extra in most discount airlines while carrying around a bare-bones setup.
And, as to DVDs as backup medium: they have worked fine for me in about 4 years now. I was a bit disappointed by DVD-RAM, though. Once you take them out of the cartridge, you might as well put them into an oven and dial up to 500°C. 100% failure rate in a selection of 10. The promise of random access was unfortunately not backed up by durability.

Understanding that this notebook is intended to be a wireless device, but why is the Ethernet adapter only 10/100BASE-T? No Gigabit?

@xoul: Not on a ultra portable. Seriously I dont get these comments at all. People are thinking Apple invented this term and its going to flop. Ultra portables have been around for years now and none have a intragrated DVD drive.

so now you also need to buy a 20-40 dollar externally powered USB hub to do everything and likely have issues with BW when it comes to watching movies/burning disks while online Fantastic!

@bms: Because its USB based, Even USB2 cant push info fast enough for Gigabit. Truth be told though, the amount of people who even need Gigabit is slim. Most people dont even break 10BASE speeds, and even heavy online gamers hardly break 10/100BASE speeds.

The one thing I don't understand is why they didn't just include the DVD drive in the package. Why bother making it a separate purchase? I'm fairly certain that if someone has $1799 to spend on this they also have $1899.

What does one do if the OS is messed up and you need to re-install it (and you don't have the external drive)? I would assume the DVD drive sharing thing only works when the OS is loaded.

The whole external drive thing makes it a bitch if you are a traveling business person who wants to watch a movie.

At least 50% of the road warriors I see on any given flight are watching movies (the other half are working on their PPT or XLS).

Once you put the Air on the tray, where do you put the external drive?

Lack of an optical drive and 1 USB port is gonna kill this thing.

@windhawk : Are you serious? You're worried about space for watching dvds? The drive is the size of a dvd case. Also Itunes has pretty much every movie coming up. And you take your battery life for granted (or you have an ac adapter on your seat, thank you virgin) if you watch movies on disc on a laptop anyway. Divx'd movies are another way to go or hell even direct rental from itunes once more planes have wifi. I only see the lack of the optical drive being relevant for installing programs with no network in sight.

@yogibimbi:
Yes, some of us still use DVD's for backups. Optical media will survive an EMP (!), full submersion, magnetism, etcetera where flash and magnetic hard disk cannot. I don't think it's a deal-breaker here, since I'm putting your average MacBook Air user somewhere between Starbucks barista and gossip girl.

Hmm.. would it work for any laptop or is there something that makes it Macbook Air specific?

My Macbook Pro has taught me a hard lesson in "don't carry your open laptop around by the corner the cd drive is on because after doing this too many times it will bend inside and not work anymore so you can't upgrade OSX or watch movies". The repair price is pretty salty compared to $99 for an external drive.

Anyone else think that these peripherals will spawn a new generation of cases with little pockets for the external drive? Long live the MacBook Err!

Great, so no internal optical drive (can only use the Apple manufactured peripheral), and no removable battery for when you need a new one. Way to keep churning out the proprietary shackles.

The real irony is that Jobs claims that Sony made sacrifices in their TZ. Well, the last time I checked, there is an optical drive and network jack in the TZ.

Hilarious to to see the MS Whores trying to shoot this one down

Best of luck!

Apple hit another one out of the park with superb design, and intelligent options for peripherals

@Noobs-R-Us: Nope DVD is optional just like the Air. It does have a Ethernet port though, but regardless of this fact, the price difference is staggering. Its over 400 dollars more even if you include the two optional USB devices.

@Falconfire: What do you mean? According to this, it does have a DVD built in...

[www.notebookreview.com]

People, get over it! If you NEED to lug around a DVD drive when you are traveling -- there are at least 3 other models to choose from: MacBook 13", MacBook Pro 15", MacBook Pro 17".

As for watching DVDs, I guess you missed the part about being able to download Movie rentals. Watching movies on any laptop is not optimal when compared to watching it at home. For $3-$4, you can rent a variety of movies to entertain you.

Need more ports? Again -- MacBook, MacBook Pro.

The reality is that most people don't need to lug around this extra stuff if they are traveling. If you are trying to use Air as a desktop replacement machine, you've chosen poorly -- again, MacBook or MacBook Pro are better suited.

Apple's focus was on light and thin, which is a great combination for the traveler. Me, I don't want to drag around a DVD drive when I'm traveling, whether it is external or built-in. MacBook Air will be used by normal folks that do normal things: check email, surf the web, perhaps work on a Keynote presentation or a Word document.

Air is NOT a 12" PowerBook -- get over it. Don't like the specs on Air, then don't buy it (did I mention you can get a MacBook or MacBook Pro with your wanted ports and drives if you need it?)

For me, Air is sleek and sexy. If that doesn't work for you, don't buy it. I could understand these complaints if this was the ONLY laptop Apple was selling, but they aren't. Get Over It!

@Noobs-R-Us: Only some models do, the thinner ones do not in fact have a DVD (which funny enough are also the most expensive ones that are ranging in the 3000-3500 range)

If you really want a thin ultraportable with an optical drive, look at the Toshiba Portege R500. Not only does it have an optical drive and actual ports, it's nearly a pound lighter. That is if you could deal with the horrible burden of it being a quarter of an inch thicker.

Christ, would you babies shut the fuck up, please? If this computer doesn't fit your needs, don't buy it. It doesn't fit mine, yet somehow I don't feel this overwhelming urge to try to convince everyone else that it's wrong for them too.

Also, I've owned a lot of laptops, going all the way back to a b&w IBM Thinkpad 700 in 1993. I have never purchased a spare battery for any of them, and I have never had to replace a battery. I can easily see Apple going to non-replaceable batteries across the board.

The Macbook air is good.... but ,
I dont get half of the stuff , you guys only talk about dvds and the superdrive and ripping movies to your hard drive. But why dont we go one step back. I know if you want more Usb ports then buy a other model, or a usb hub..But dont u guys get it.. every computer has a psu(power supply unit) and if u plug in a super drive you use power from the psu> makes computer slower no 2 gb ram can help u with this problem if the psu cant give more power. Now Imagen plugging in a Usb Hub. that splits the one port from the psu for the usb hub. Now ppl would plug in 1 or more usb products this will slow it so much down. again no 2 gb ram can help you out. The speakers are under the keyboard > bad sound. But going back to the computer hardware. They are using a 80 gb hd with only 4200 rpm. I get it it should be a travel computer. But when you travel you hook up a superdrive , then ur digicam to import the photos and then an ipod . I would buy this maybe for a child or a school. School dont need a dvd drive. They only need something small, portable and what has wifi. So I bet tons of school are pre ordering this

I don't think you people get it. Eventually DVD as a medium will be gone. Everything will be wireless. This laptop is perfect for: journalists, people that travel, secondary laptop. it is not perfect for: nerds, gamers, editors. Get a grip.

I THINK IT'S OBVIOUS: This product is not meant for most of the commenters here. This was not made for YOU, as you are a move middle of the road user--you should get a Macbook/Macbook Pro.

This laptop does 99% of what my home computing consists of (e-mail, web, office, light photo editing, iTunes, etc...), and based on the specs, it probably does it better than my current desktop. And if I had it, I could actually take it with me and be able to do that 99% of computing untethered to my desk.

The other 1%, the hard stuff like AutoCAD, Solidworks, Maya, etc...? I prefer/need a workstation class graphics card, and that means either a desktop or Lenovo T61P--and that is a laptop that is overkill for most people, and a little large/heavy to have with me at all times.

Maybe you don't feel the Air has the features for you, but for me, someone whose computing needs are at opposite ends of the spectrum--light use and really heavy use--I could easily integrate an Air into my life and enjoy the size/mobility of it.

If, however, you do things in the middle of the road--photoshop, video editing, gaming, DVD watching, etc... I don't think this computer is for you, nor was it designer to be.

@JoeKing: Sure it does 99% of home computing but the price puts it with computer that do more for less money. For simple on the go computing it should be much cheaper.

@Narual: I was wondering the same thing... The website states that it's intended for the MBAir specifically, but it could be handy for people (like me) who have a combo drive and don't want/need/can't afford an entirely new computer.

Ok I think we should do an exercise

Hands up who considers buying a Windows Laptop - ok the macbook air is not for you go buy a Sony vaio

Hands up who is on a tight budget and would be happy buying a Asus Laptop - ok the Macbook air is not for you go buy asus

Hands up who does video editing on the move - ok the macbook airs not for you, go buy a 17 inch beast

Hands up who can't encode there dvds and cd's to there hard drive - ok the macbook air is not for you, go shoot yourself you are petarded (no thats not a typo)

Hands up who plays cutting edge games - ok the macbook airs not for you. go buy a ps3 you are not after a laptop

All those people please don't post about a product that is not for you

And finally hands up who wants cutting edge design , the slimmest laptop, the best operating system, something hardly anyone else owns and does not mind pay over the odds. This is the sexiest piece of kit at the moment all the features will filter to the macbooks and macbooks pro so dont sulk and patients, good things come for those to wait I have wanted this machine since I saw the powermac duos. Oh tablet pcs are so retro and no one bought them then and no one wants one now.

"isn't the idea of a laptop computer to have all necessary peripheral integrated so you only have to carry one single device?"

No. Thats "an" idea of a laptop computer.
My idea of a laptop computer is pretty much the MacBook Air, but with built in EDGE/3G so I can access the net from anywhere. The DVD drive/Ethernet port/etc. are just fine sitting at home in my idea of a laptop computer :p

This I DO want. The Air, not so much.
As long as this would work with my Mini, which..uhm.. I sort of... uhm.. Well this would be nice!

@richms:
what the hell are you talking about?

@OENOPHILE:

yeah cause you never know when that Nuke is going to land in your back yard and EMP your PC...

OH NOES! OH NOES OH NOES OHHHHH... NOES!!!!
that superdrive looks like it has a breakaway cable!
the most evil feature of the xBox
Apple, do not be taken by the evil of the 2-cable cable ("where the fuck is the other damn part!?")

@mferrari: I might be wrong but some other people must see the evil circleiness in the 1st big pic.