Telstra has revealed the addition of almost one million new mobile services in the six months to December 2011, but Sensis revenues plummeted 24 percent in 12 months.
Practically all of the usual Mac experience has been brought to this remarkably slim device. The micro-DVI port supports extended desktop or mirroring. DVI and VGA adaptors are included, while composite and S-video are optional extras.
As I said, almost all of the usual Mac experience can be found in the MacBook Air, including 802.11n and Bluetooth wireless connectivity and a built-in videocamera. There's no FireWire port, though. It remains to be seen whether this is a sign that Apple's turning away from the interface it pioneered, or if it was just something that had to be sacrificed to achieve that slim profile. If you need FireWire on the road, you're probably carrying a lot of gear (eg a videocamera) anyway, so maybe the reasoning was that you won't mind the extra bulk of the MacBook Pro and you will want its greater processing power and storage.
Ethernet is only available via a USB adaptor, but given the widespread use of Wi-Fi that shouldn't be a no big deal for most potential buyers. Most of the travellers I know carry a portable wireless router such as the Airport Express so their computers aren't tethered to in-room wired connections.
Two questions always asked about notebooks are "how much does it weigh?" and "how long does the battery last?" Not only is the MacBook Air slim, it's also light, weighing in at 3lb/1.36kg. That's a full 2lb/0.91kg lighter than the MacBook, and less than half the weight of a 17in MacBook Pro.
While weight is easily measured, battery life is trickier. Apple quotes "up to five hours," but it would be unusual if buyers don't complain that they need to plug in more frequently than that.
So, how much is this going to cost you? The $US1799/$A2499 base model includes a 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo processor (the slowest CPU fitted to any current Mac notebook) and the 80G hard disk.
Opting for the 1.8GHz processor bumps the price by $US300/$A430, but it's he solid state drive that really hurts your pocket. It might boost the computer's performance and be more shock resistant, but can you afford an extra $US999/$A1409? Depending on where and how you plan to use the MacBook Air, you might also throw in the Ethernet adaptor ($US29/$A39), modem ($US49/$A79), MagSafe airline adaptor ($US49/$A69) or the Apple Remote ($US19/$A29, normally included as standard with Macs).
Small and light notebooks always attract a premium, but as long as you steer clear of the solid state drive you're not talking about outlandish prices. The 1.6GHz version sits neatly between the black MacBook and the 15in MacBook Pro.
My PowerBook is showing definite signs of age, and the idea of trimming a few pounds from my hand luggage is very attractive...
David Bass
| For the fourth year in a row, IDC has placed content security provider Websense (NASDAQ: WBSN) at the top of the IDC Worldwide Web Security 2011 –…
How to Make Business Discovery Work for Your Business
Business Discovery takes its cues from consumer apps. Like Google, it encourages us- ers to hunt for and explore data without worrying about or even noticing the underly- ing technology. Their entire experience is working within an intuitive interface to get real-time, self-service results with only minimal training. ...more
Try an easy-to-use set of web-enabled
tools for business-class productivity services. Office 365 provides
anywhere-access to email, important documents, contacts, and calendars
on almost any device.
