UMPC is just around the corner. Oh, it's here.
Thank goodness they're trying to rescue Apple TV too
As always, I think the more interesting things are the ones that didn't get all the press. For example, the upgrade to the Airport Extreme base station to what it should have been all along, with gigabit ethernet interfaces.
The MBP price/spec ratio is so much better than the Air that the choice is easy for me. That said, the MBP is due for an update and the technology is now out to make the next one a useful piece of kit. Can I wait any longer?
No 3G iphone? No new countries announced? Time Capsule is neat, I've got to get another HD anyway... Otherwise it was always going to be difficult to beat the 2007 announcement. He did say that we were only 2 weeks into the year, there were 50 left, is that Steve-speak for 'watch this space'?
Breite: 31,8 cm
Höhe: 2,21 cm bis 3,38 cm
Tiefe: 23,8 cm
Suits me fine actually - compared to the iThin, it's 65% of the price and does 100% of what I want. And I could load BSD onto it
edit: plus I have two USB ports
1) sucks as already noted that no announcements on iphone availability.
2) sucks that iphone no hardware changes.
3) hmmm, im wondering how would you use time capsule.... it syncs to time machine on leopard right? so if my macbook has 80gb and i get the time capsule with 1tb and wanna store some movies on it, would you have to somehow partition the time capsule? other than that it seems ok, but since i use an external hard drive with leopard and time machine anyhow, i cant see the point of buying the time capsule.
4) macbook air. for me thats a disappointment but to be expected. nice size, i dont like that apple have made it with bulges... seems wrong somehow. my 2yr old macbook has 80gb memory... why would i pay three times the price or more for something a bit smaller and with the same memory (or smaller flash memory), a slower processor, and no optical drive... this product will fail in its current form if you ask me.
4) ipod touch software update.... i dont really want to pay 13 gbp for a software update..... since mostly those features only work in wifi areas and those are hardly ubitquitous are they
5) apple tv updates. rubbish. hardly likely to convince the majority to stop illegal downloads in this day and age. would rather that they actually made a physical flat screen TV... now THAT would be a baby which would have the old krlock mouth watering...
so all in all, a disappointment for me... after all... i want reasons to open my wallet... and steve has given me none. no wonder the stock dropped 5% on it.
krlock3
But the MBA is all about the bling factor IMHO. It's for those dudes traveling in Business/First Class who want to project an image. Not having a firewire port pretty much kills it for me, as I'd want to plug in my video camera. However, it reminds me in many ways of the Dell sub-compact notebook I used to have for work. I'd take it in an instant if supplied as a work machine.
I think it looks great but I'll wait for an update to MBP. I'm sure they'll imbue it with the new sexiness without as many compromises.
I'll have a 2.2Ghz CPU with the Dell vs 1.6Ghz for the Air, 3GB RAM (upgradable to 4) vs fixed 2GB, 250GB 5400rpm HD vs 80GB 4200 rpm, DVD drive, more ports, and changeable battery.
Doesn't look so flash, but I can live with that.
Swiss prices are CHF 429 for 500GB and CHF 729 for 1TB.
Given that it has a Gigabit Ethernet port designed to plug into a cable or DSL modem, plus firewall, Radius etc, it could be the ideal partner for your Air system, wherever in the world your travels take you.
Despite their claims that it uses a "server grade disk", it still represents a single point of failure.
For those of you seeking another solution, just on the left of the Swiss prices page above, we see a Lacie 500GB drive at CHF 319, which has eSATA, FireWire 800, FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 interfaces.
Oh and I paid 1940 for the M1330 with the following:
XPS M1330 CORE 2 DUO T7500 2.20GHz,800,4M
13.3" WXGA (1280x800) White-LED Display with TrueLife (thinner, brighter & lighter)
Memory Dual Channel 3.0GB (1X2GB +X1GB) 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
Hard Drive 250GB Serial ATA (5400RPM)
8xDVD+/-RW Slim Slot-Load Drive, including SW
Primary 9-cell 85WHr Li-Ion Battery
128 MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS
Intel® Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-PCI Card, EUR
European - Dell TrueMobile 355 internal Bluetooth Module
Swiss/German Internal Lightweight Keyboard (QWERTZ)
Mine's basically the same, except I went for 2x 6 cell batteries. And I got an upgrade to 3 years hardware support by ordering through a friend's corporate account.
And I've seen it in real life and it is not shabby-looking. Dell is selling direct in the US of A and you can now touch their stuff before buying...!!
The Dell system I bought was priced at CHF1899 before including the additional battery.
The additional support was free.
With due respect, if you had included the above sentence in your original post, I wouldn't have posted what I did.