[Jach]

Gamers care. The Macbook Air got away with not having normal things inside it because everyone knew it was for looks alone. This thing is being marketed as a gaming rig, which necessarily means you have to care about what's inside.

[reverend_gonzo]

Nice subtle snark.

There might not be a lot of power in the Air but there is a market. Specifically, for people where mobility is more important than power, but able to get actual work done.

I bought one when I was hauling around my ThinkPad to school, work, coffeeshops, and everywhere else around the city. Since I didn't have a car, it meant it was one my shoulders the whole time. I considered getting a netbook, but after using a friend's for a little while, I realized it wasn't going to work (tiny keyboard, not enough power.)

The Air, on the other hand, has a full-size keyboard. I don't remember what the processor is, but it was more powerful than an Atom. RAM was short but you can survive.

I used it for primarily writing my thesis, making presentations, coding in TextMate, and work in Matlab. I didn't need power, and I definitely didn't want weight. That was lighter and easier to hold than a textbook, and could actually perform the duties I needed to.

So, regardless of what you'd like to think, there is a market for them outside of people who want shiny things.

[count]

The Air is actually really well done. It's a Core i5/i7 (current top of the line), 4GB of RAM, and with a new Intel HD3000 graphics chip, which is able to play TF2 full screen at a usable framerate. I've never used another laptop with embedded graphics that could do that. It's not 'Crysis' good, but it's damn good for a cheap little laptop (especially compared to this Razer monster).

[sbinetd]

Just to add a small correction - the air does not have 'top of the line' i5 or i7 processors. Rather, they use a slower, dual-core mobility model. I'd also argue that it is 'cheap' - but that's more of a relative point. :)

[count]

The Core i5/i7 line of CPUs is currently the top of the line. Of course it uses the 'mobility' model, but it's still the current top of the line.

$1199 ($50/100 off if you're a student) as configured. Show me another laptop with it's form factor and capabilities for that price? Hell, show me another laptop with it's form factor and capabilities?

$1000 for some so convenient is a STEAL, especially if you actually make money using it.

[phaus]

Because they chopped the amount of cores in half and neutered the speed, it is not a top of the line CPU, even if it is called an i7.

That being said, in my opinion no other ultra-portable comes close to the Macbook Air. If I could justify having two laptops I would be ordering one right now instead of typing this.

[count]

What mobile CPU is higher end than the mobility core i7?

[raarky]

bang on.. I've got an air and I play tf2 on it. It's sweet!