Apple MacBook Air 13.3" Laptop - MB003LL/A (January, 2008)

This is a nice looking Macbook, thin, portable, and so sleek. It does all the basic things like web browsing, email, and most of your ilife programs, but that's all I thought it was good for. The most frustrating thing about the Macbook Air is the lone usb port (which is a pain to get to). Never mind using a wireless internet card with this because it will barely fit. Most have tried a usb hub to no success, as it has to go directly into the usb port. The intel graphic card is no good for photo editing or running most Adobe programs, but that's probably due to the video ram being low. You cannot install too many programs due to inability to exchange the hard drive with anything bigger, nor can you do a memory upgrade on your own. There is no dvd superdrive, so you will have to purchase that separately, and the one Apple makes is no good. You will constantly have to worry about the hinges, due to the known issue of them breaking easily.

So essentially, once you add the fact that you have to carry all of these extra items around: your external hard drive, external dvd superdrive/burner, & usb hubs, your bag is much larger than it would be if you just bought a standard Macbook or Macbook Pro. You might as well just lug a Mac Mini around with a small display, as it would take up the same amount of room.

The MacBook Air is quite an amazing laptop. It is literally as thin as my iPhone 4, and as always, is a beautifully made product from Apple. Some of my favorite features about this model are the thinness (you can literally fit it in a large padded flat rate envelope), the backlit keyboard, and the beauty of the design. I found a few things lacking in in this laptop. I really didn't like having only 1 USB port, and the hard drive was way to small for my vast music library, and the processor was a bit slow for my taste. I found that not having a CD/DVD drive wasn't a problem, a lot of programs today are moving to digital online downloads. Coming down to the bottom line though, unless you just really really like this model, I would save your money for a and equivalent MacBook Pro for the year, or buy the newest MacBook Air, which has a much better processor, hard drive, and battery. Do your research on other MacBooks before buying this one, I think in the long run you would be happier with a newer MacBook Air or a 13 inch MacBook Pro.

The laptop itself runs really smoothly and fast like a mac should.

However, there is a lump in the middle from something that has been installed by the seller. It makes shutting the laptop for sleep mode not possible as it doesnt actually shut properly unless it has a constant slight force.

The battery life is fairly non-existent and it barely lasts past 30-40 minutes.

I also cannot sign in to app world clearly undermining why I got the mac.

But for the lump in the keyboard, it would be an amazing value for money purchase.

I bought me an Apple MacBook Air for Christmas... I did lot of research before because it's not an inexpensive product and there is a lot of variety "a lot cheaper" butttttt..... It all depends on your taste and needs... I like things to look nice, even though you could find this macbook with many extras sometimes you end up paying same price as a new one. But I paid half of the price for a new one and I can still have money to choose the extras I need and want.

For me Apple is the BEST, the price is always worth it even if it's the regular price. If you haven't try it, give it a chance. I have a friend that bought 3 laptops for her kids, and end up buying Mac because viruses are harder to get and kids sometimes doesn't know and tend to catch more viruses in computers.

So it's a 'computer' portable for every member of the family: home, kids and professionals. And you can do/edit/create more things with music, pictures. I found my iphoto has a feature to create effects on pics, tag names on it and add info on pics of exact location that drops a pin on a google map. So next time you don't know where you file certain picture you could search it by file names or place you've have already tag... that's neat for me that I'm not a pro at it!! And instructions and tips are very easy to follow as I said, I'm not an expert in computers, but I feel like one. Iphoto also have a direct menu button you can export you pics directly to Facebook (log-in), e-mail, etc. And syncronize with Iphones your pics, music and address book just by plug-in your usb or by bluetooth.

You could take a pic of yourself with photo booth at the moment and do everything already mention with this pic, make effects, turn it black & white, sephia, create a scrapbook with just one button touch, etc. Still learning fun things that you could not do with a Windows PC.

Hope this help some people that are not to computer friendly to know that this could be easier that a regular one.

First off, if you want a Mac, this is a no brainer. The Pro is outdated and very big, and the Retina is a huge chunk of change; save it for the professional use. For the everyday user, the Air is fantastic.

For the PC users (as I was before I got this Air), I would strongly recommend this laptop. It is more expensive than possibly a similarly priced PC, but the build quality and design I believe is second to none. Mac OS is so phenomenal to use; I already hate simply scrolling on my PC. There is almost nothing wrong with this computer. The only problem is the upgradability, but with the SSD, speed is almost a none issue. Having no drive is a good thing in my opinion, I almost never use it and having an external is more convenient. Same goes for hard drive. Obviously I want a 512 GB SSD, and the 128 is a tad small, but it is SO zippy. Truly incredible performance. I also upgraded to 8 GB beforehand, and I don't see how this computer would excel for at least 2-3 years. Add in the incredible resale value of Macs, and this is a great, great buy.

Unless you're a hardcore gamer, I see absolutely no reason to not buy a Macbook Air as your new computer. The 13 inch is fast enough to replace a desk top, and it can handle almost anything you throw at it. This is THE best student laptop you can buy, and instead of buying a cheap PC that you will need to dole out more money to upgrade or replace, I'd invest in one of these and I'd be surprised if it doesn't last you the rest of your HS or college years.