Macopinion

The MacBook Air Is The Sports Car Of Notebooks, But Some Of US Need A SUV

There was an interesting batch of communiqués in Ye Olde Road Warrior Mailbag this week, and they got me to thinking that the "right" choice of computer has a great deal of subjective preference about it. Among Apple's three distinct Family categories of notebook computers, you simply can't go wrong; you just have to figure out which best suits your particular mosaic but needs and tastes.

Windows - users have a fairly broad spectrum of alternatives in laptop hardware to choose from. If a Dell Inspiron isn't quite what they're looking for, maybe a Sony VAIO or a Lenovo ThinkPad will better suit, or if one is more exotically inclined, perhaps an Acer Ferrari or an Asus Lamborghini laptop. However, for Mac-users, it's an all-Apple show, so it's important for Apple to offer a reasonably broad range of choice. They of course can't cover all the bases that horde of PC vendors do, especially niches like ruggedized computers, but with the introduction of the MacBook Air, Apple now has three distinct families of notebook computers spanning price points from $1,$2,695, and sizes from the paper-thin three-pound MacBook Air to the wide-widescreen high-resolution 17-inch Mac Pro model. Neither is the smallest or largest laptop on the market (although I think the Air may be the thinnest), but there is a decently expansive range of choices in the Apple 'Book stable, and none of them is a "bad" choice. They are all great machines in their respective contexts.

The last time Apple offered three diverse families of laptops was back in 1997 when the line included the PowerBook 1400, the PowerBook 2400c and the PowerBook 3400c. While there are not a larger number of individual models now than were available at the end of the Power PC era - a 17-inch PowerBook, two 15-inch PowerBooks, the 12-inch PowerBook, three iBooks books in two the screen sizes, the current fleet of MacBooks, MAcBook Pros and MacBook Air probably offer the broadest range of choice Apple has ever offered at one time in portable models, and even cooler is that every one of them provides a very decent level of performance, even the MacBook Air is much closer in power to be 2.6 GHz MacBook Pros than, say, the 117 MHz and 133 MHz bus speed challenged PowerBook 1400 was to the 240 MHz, PCI-based PowerBook 3400c.

Frequent mailbag correspondent and fellow Pismo user/enthusiast Jim wrote to say that to handle a MacBook Air is to want one, and he reasons that since he still getting along reasonably happily with his faithful Pismo, the Air, while significantly slower than the bigger Macbook models, would represent a major performance boost for him; which of course is indisputable

Now, I've been somewhat critical of the MacBook Air, but raw speed isn't a particular priority for me either. It's the limited feature set, limited range of connectivity, lack of provision for specification upgrading, and some concern as to whether a 1.8-inch hard drive (which is also too small in capacity at 80 gigabytes) will be rugged enough to withstand the long haul.

However, one of the best MacBook Air analogies I've run across compares the Air to a sports car, with the implied corollary being that the MacBooks and MacBook Pros are sedans, or SUVs or station wagons of the computer world.

Ergo, the MacBook Air would be the Mazda MX5 Miata or Pontiac Solstice of the computer world - not a powerhouse with a big V-8 or V-10 like the Corvette or Dodge Viper, but a light, well-balanced and nimble package with a high-revving little four-cylinder mill and limited luggage space, but great fun and a pleasure to use. Indeed, back in the day, I owned a 1957 MGA and later a 1967 MGB, both of which were tremendous fun to drive, albeit not be most practical transportation, although my wife and I did manage to make a couple of extended road trips in Canada and the U.S. in the 67 B, and managed quite well, but of course we were a lot younger then!

Anyway, the sports car analogy works for me with the MacBook Air. Nobody needs a sports car, but they can be tremendously rewarding to own and drive so long as one is prepared to live with and work around the logistical realities, or just don't need much carrying capacity.

Personally, these days on more of a four wheel drive pick-up truck kind of guy, and often find myself wishing for a bigger truck than my Mazda B-4000, although not at the gas pumps. I suppose, if one extends the automotive analogy, the 17-inch MacBook Pro would be the Cadillac Escalade or Toyota Land Cruiser of laptops, with my 17-inch PowerBook representing an older model.

Moving on, Mailbag correspondents Pete and Brett have both recently acquired MacBook's, and fascinatingly, offer diametrically opposite opinions about the MacBook's unorthodox and somewhat controversial "chiclet" keyboard. Pete describes the keyboard action as "unacceptably stiff," and noting that "you really have to push those keys hard to avoid dropped characters," and says it is the only thing he really dislikes about the machine.

Brett, also a former Pismo user, on the other hand, professes to "just love the new keyboard - by far the best I've ever used, including four PowerBooks and two iBooks.... I make far fewer typos with this MacBook keyboard, I love the firmness of it."

Seems almost bizarrely contradictory referencing the same keyboard design, but it's really that subjective preference thing I've been getting at. The "key" if you will to the dichotomy of impression is the respective "love the firmness/unacceptably stiff" characterizations. Some folks like stiff keyboard action; others detest it. I fall in the latter camp. I haven't had an opportunity to do any extended typing on a MacBook, so I have to reserve judgment a bit, but firm or stiff-action keyboards are a nemesis for me due to my ongoing struggles with fibromyalgia and peripheral neuritis, which my general rule my general rule being that the key action can't be too light to suit me, although other issues like smoothness, short travel, and a "soft landing" (the latter probably the most important of all) being factors as well.

For example, the Kensington Slimtype freestanding keyboard I'm using right now does not impress as having a particularly light-effort key action, but it does have a very positive one with an admirably short travel and a softish landing when the keys bottom, or perhaps more accurately, the keys are so responsive you don't have to make them bottom to register the stroke. Whatever, the Slimtype is one of the most comfortable keyboards I've ever used, and in the same ballpark, although perhaps back a row or two from the superb keyboards in the PowerBook WallStreet and Pismo. The operative question for me is whether the MacBook keyboard has that sort of firmness. Some friends of mine own MacBooks, so I've been able to try the keyboard out experimentally, but it would take a work session to determine whether it's a keyboard I could actually use for production. OTOH, I know I can live with the keyboard in the aluminum PowerBook, which is the same as the ones used in the MacBook Pro, so that might be compelling argument for the MacBook Pro for me in a purchase decision.

As for the MacBook Air, seductive as its form factor is, for me it presents to many performance, versatility, and connectivity shortcomings for a lot of us, but there's definitely a place for it in Apple's portable lineup. It's something distinctly different from anything else on the market, captures people's imagination, and makes them really want one at the visceral level, even though they know there will be a lot of practical compromises associated with using one, very much like the sort of compromises would-be sports car owners need to consider before taking the plunge.

However, if your rational side (or your budget) dictates that you need more of a sensible four-door sedan or SUV type of computer, a MAcBook or MacBook Pro will likely do what you need of it quite handily and enjoyably. No Apple 'Book is a hardship to live with, and that's a good thing.


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cmoore@macopinion.com


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