Comments on: Save 16% on Apple's solid-state MacBook Air

By: Mark I / Scottsdale, AZ

Mark I / Scottsdale, AZ — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:02:57 +0000

As for $2500 for a college students laptop? Compared to what I'm paying for her education, my daughter's computer is a drop in the bucket. My "kid" who's now 21 and I share all three laptops all the time. We have a 17" Mac Book Pro with a 2.6 processor and the 2 gig of memory, a 15" Mac Book Pro with about the same specs, and I just added the Mac Book "Air" to the mix, at her request. She MUCH prefers the Air because of the lighter weight. I don't worry about actually CARRYING my laptop. It's in the car or on a plane tucked away. I only "carry" it between lunch and a meeting occasionally. Or from a limo into a meeting, or into the airport. My daughter, by contrast is all over the campus which is a large one, nearly every day. And the bigger units – while wonderful to use, do get heavy. So we have the three units all set up on .Mac (which will soon become mobile.me it would appear.) And the cross back up of our user files and such just gets better. . the individual user files which need to be on all three machines all the time, and they are! We cross subscribe to each other's calendars and the address book contents are mostly shared. (She can always find her cousin's numbers and I can always find her BF's number even if I don't like him much.) We changed out the Apple Airport Extreme for the version with a terabyte drive built in and put a spare on it just for good measure. Now when we're at home, time machine backups take place over our network without thinking about it. Amazing stuff.

I could do a lot of this same cross sharing of files years back (and did) but the cumbersome products and back-up to tape that it required back then was insane. This is so much easier on even a computer-savvy father.

Like most of my buddies – while all we like the feather weight feeling of the AIR, but we don't like using it. Feels almost flimsy. Oh, it's not. But the thin keyboard and such make it seem that way. I do have the feeling that were I to get angry and slam my fist down on a table top with the"AIR" concealed under some papers at my landing spot – the Air would not fare well. The 17" has survived just such an outburst of pseudo-manly temper on my part and I assume the 15" could do the same. Heaven help the Air if I ever get that angry again and it's the computer of the day, hiding under the documents I hit…

To gripe about the cost of Apple laptops doesn't make much sense. They're on a par with comparably equipped windows machines from high end manufacturers. This is the cost of admission. Will they get cheaper? Yes. Will they get more powerful? Yes. Is that going to dissuade me from buying another one tomorrow if I need it? NO. HELL NO. If I get a touch behind state of the art this year, I can make a quantum leap forward next year. In the meantime I've still got the best laptop on the planet and thankfully, they JUST WORK!

To a man who once paid $12k for a LISA, the current crop of Macs seems like one hell of a bargain!

By: Bob, Cary, nc

Bob, Cary, nc — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 16:02:00 +0000

Lenovo made exactly the same price adjustment on their X-300 on the exact same day.

By: John Providence RI

John Providence RI — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 14:17:56 +0000

I meant to add:

I guess I don't see the reference to this being for college students. I don't understand why there is any discussion regarding it being for college students. It is not the prime market. The hard drive model of the Air can be purchased now as a refurb for $1599.

but for most college students a 13-inch Mac Book is great and a mid priced Mac Book Pro with a 15-inch display is better.

I should have added that the Pratt requirement and the Dell model is a 17-inch display laptop (I prefer the 17-inch mac book pro).

By: John Providence RI

John Providence RI — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 14:13:31 +0000

$2,500 for a college laptop … not unusual at all. It all depends on what you use that laptop for. If you are in architecture, graphics, video or any design field, you will probably buy a $2,000 – $3,000 laptop. Check out some of the college "deals" for certain programs … example: Pratt Institute has a "mandatory" laptop program … for some programs it is a MacBook, for others that have PC only (like AutoCAD), Pratt has a Dell (ugh!) laptop in the $2,500 range.

I do agree that most college students can spend only $1,000 and get the job done. For those, I highly recommend a Apple refurbished laptop (same warranty as new – also ask at Apple store if they have any open box buys – I have gotten refurbs and open box buys most of the times)

By: Doug, Mtn. View, CA

Doug, Mtn. View, CA — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:25:41 +0000

Robert: does that mean you won't be buying a Lexus to get around at UCLA as well? Give me a break: it's as ridiculous to think of a college student buying a top-of-the-line MBA as it is to pop for the most expensive *anything* for your daily life. The MBA is targeted for those high-end professional who put an extreme value on compactness. I fail to see how a struggling college student fits that bill. There *is* an MBA model that retails for $1800, close to your coveted $1500 price, but it has a real hard drive instead of SSM. Life is filled with compromises.

You clearly need to study a lot more than you have, or change majors, if you think that a company can simply price something at an arbitrary price, like $1500, just to suit your whims.

You have a warped sense of entitlement, young man. I hope you grow out of it some day.

By: Robert, UCLA, CA

Robert, UCLA, CA — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:15:31 +0000

$2500 is still beyond most people's price point. I am a college student and I see brand new laptops all over campus every semester (especially the freshmen). Most students pay about $1000 for a laptop. I bought my Sony Vaio for $1299. There's no way I would spend $2500 for a computer, and $3000 would just be ridiculous! Sorry Apple, but most people aren't even going to think about it if it's over two grand. Try fifteen hundred.

By: steve, san antonio, texas

steve, san antonio, texas — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:59:06 +0000

"If they bought at $3000+, it means it was worth $3000+ to them. Seems unfair that they get a free $500 when the computer’s exactly what they ordered."

…and that's why you'll never be the Marketing guru at Apple.

By: Doug, Mtn. View, CA

Doug, Mtn. View, CA — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:25:11 +0000

Ever heard of SLC vs. MLC? Original solid state memory on the Air was the considerably-more-expensive SLC variety. Sounds to me like Apple has successfully transitioned to MLC and passed the savings along. If nothing else, this demonstrate Apple's incredible market agility.

And you call yourself a technical analyst? Whose "reality field" is distorted, Mr. Elmer-DeWitt?

ex ped: You may be right. Press reports in late May suggest that Apple has indeed made the transition from single-level cell flash technology to multi-level cell flash. See, for example, here.

I am journalist, not a technical analyst, and I appreciate good information, wherever it comes from. So, thanks, Doug.

By: Jim, Richmond, VA

Jim, Richmond, VA — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:21:22 +0000

Big Bad Apple Seeems pretty damn nice to me!

By: José Novais, Braga, Portugal

José Novais, Braga, Portugal — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:08:35 +0000

Come-on! Apple should review all their prices, regularly.

By the way, Apple should have a special attention to their long-time customers…

My first computer was a Mac II and it costed me the nice sum of almost $13000!

I have been an Apple customer during good and bad times…