Rom Feria
The Macbook Air has yet to ship to the general public but it has been sent to reviewers and bloggers.
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| Macbook Air | | As of this writing, there are several blogs and news sites with reviews of the Macbook Air. I am waiting for Apple to send me a review unit so at the moment, no hands-on review of MBA.
However, prior to the MBA, the Asus Eee PC has taken the local sub-notebook market like a super-typhoon. Up until now, I have friends asking me where they can get the best deal for the Asus Eee PC. Now that the MBA is out, friends are starting to compare it against the Asus Eee PC.
First, let me reiterate that I have yet to use an MBA but I have used an Asus Eee PC for more than a month - as an internet device and as a full travel companion for a day. I can fairly say that I know what I am talking about when it comes to the Eee PC. :)
First thing to notice is the difference between the price - $ 1800 vs $ 400. A huge $ 1400 difference, right? However, if you check what that translates to, you will realize that the difference is not that much. Take the obvious, the size -- the Eee PC is very small compared to the 13.3" screen with full-sized keyboard MBA. The Eee PC keyboard is usable but I personally do not like using it to write long articles like this one. A full-sized keyboard is still better and an illuminated one is best!
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| Asus Eee PC | | The Eee PC screen is only 800x480 -- requiring few ninja tricks to get your favorite websites to show up in its full glory! Small screen translates to more scrolling and the Eee PC’s trackpad is not comparable with the multi-touch enabled MBA! If the web browser was implemented like the iPhone’s, then the Eee PC would be closer to perfect.
Next is the storage. 4G/8G vs 80GB. Do I need to say the obvious? It is no contest, the MBA wins hands-down.
Connectivity is also better with the MBA’s Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR support and IEEE 802.11n. The Eee PC can use Bluetooth USB dongles, though, and it can support the IEEE 802.11n wifi with the Airport Extreme card for Mac Pros provided that your Eee PC has the mini PCI-e slot available.
How about a higher resolution webcam? The MBA has a 640x480 resolution iSight built-in.
Lastly, Mac OS X and iLife ‘08. These two adds icing to the cake. The Eee PC uses Linux (which you can run on the MBA as a guest OS along with Windows and Solaris) but as it is, only the stock Xandros version best suits the hardware. Other customized distributions still have a long way before it can provide the Xandros Linux functionality and then some.
So - will the 1lb. heavier Macbook Air’s $ 1400 price premium over the Asus Eee PC worth it? You be the judge! Personally, I cannot wait to get my hands on the Macbook Air!
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