Processing:
Here you can say "top" only. The unibody design can be anywhere impressions, it creaks nothing and the lid closes cleanly ab.Das also located on one, in the cover integrated, narrow magnetic strip. The whole device acts as a unified whole.
Operation:
The keyboard is backlit and type ideal. However, it lacks its own "Delete" button. "Removal" is just about the simultaneous press of 2 buttons. The touchpad is in my opinion the highlight of the Airs. Just the gestures are accurately identified and implemented, and if you have worked with it a little, you never want to miss it again. Scroll, scroll, zoom in / -kleinern works smoothly and without problems.
Display:
I'm actually a fan of matte displays. Especially in the notebook sector nervous these mirrors. While the Air has a glossy screen, but on the one hand, the frame is weak and on the other hand, the display has a kind of film that mirrors "transferred" into violet. That it also still has a very high luminosity, I have to mention here hardly still. Negative is possibly the small print size, due to the high resolution. An option to enlarge the fonts in all applications there is not. Here you have to use the zoom function frequently.
Connections:
Here Apple has clearly saved. Neither USB 3.0, even a VGA / HDMI or LAN connection is found. The lack of drive you can handle easily, by resorting to network drives (This also works very well). Difficult it is only when one has software that erfodern a permanent CD, to function.
Daily work:
Since this is my first Apple, I had to first get used to the new OS Lion. But with a little training you can find your way quickly. Programs are running smoothly and the "dock" is a fine thing. The boot time is about 25 sec. Very low, and I hardly boats, because I usually only zuklappe the PC him. Waking then takes about 5 seconds. Texts and other Anwednungen remain open and you can continue working.
I've even installed additional Windows 7 on USB flash drive to install programs that I have only for Windows or the not yet exist for Mac. The access of the partition of an operating system to the data of the other works even without detours. The battery lasts at moderate work (WLAN surfing, read PDFs, Youtube) about 5 hours. Flash content load the battery but noticeable. Then the running time goes down to about 2 1/2 hours. If you read only texts are about 6 1/2 hours there. For such a slim device is a really good value.
The fan is taken only when processor-intensive tasks was. In normal operation the air is silent, which was a selling point for me as I often work in the library. On Windows, the fan control is not optimal. Here the fan is running earlier (by no means be described as loud) and a game of Civilization 5 he turns right on (clearly audible). Here it becomes clear that the Air was not designed to play. Older games in between but it creates no problems.
The touchpad works under Windows the way also, but the scrolling runs much "bumpy".
Conclusion:
I use the Macbook Air every day and take it almost every day in the university (The extra weight you realize hardly). A matching bag's Amazon by the company Be.ez LArobe. This fits perfectly and protects your device from bumps and dirt. So far as I could, apart from some details, make only positive experiences with the Air. If you look at the Windows competition in Ultrabook field will be soon notice that the others should not have any "solid" have units in Petto.
Asus (contrast weak and extremely glossy display; bumpy touchpad)
Toshiba (matt, but wobbly display; a loud fan, slow hard drive)
Lenovo (poor free processing; loud fan)
Acer (worst of all processing; wobbly display)
I would like to put a Windows device, but the lack of supply has "driven" to me and I was not disappointed Apple so far. However, one negative point is the only 1-year warranty. Here I would have expected already 2 years. It remains to be seen how the Air strikes in the future and especially how long it keeps (my old Acer laptop has held 4 1/2 years). An opportunity has earned it ...
UPDATE 19/11/2012:
The Air is still running round. I had previously 1x for repair because the Displayschanier has cracked. The display has been without complaint ersetzt.Es is worthwhile in any case to buy a protection plan because I can imagine that this error autritt frequently, due to the high load (frequent opening and closing).
In addition I have Parallels Desktop 8 concerned and use it now instead of boot camps. In conjunction with Windows 8, it is highly recommended, because now also multi-touch in Windows is supportive.
The Buy recommendation is therefore still !!
