MacBook Air
The rumors, especially Wired’s article, were pretty spot on. Apple’s MacBook Air is a sleek, sexy sub-notebook. Hey, I’d totally hit it.
Draws
- Great form factor (only 0.16 to 0.76 inches thick!)
- Multi-touch trackpad (you know how you can “pinch” the iPhone’s screen? Same on the Air’s trackpad)
- 5 Hours of battery life
- Full size keyboard and screen (13”)
Flaws
- Battery not user replaceable
- Memory not user upgradable
- Hard drive not user replaceable
- Solid state hard drive is $1,000 extra
Conclusion: If you’re getting a new Mac laptop, you might want to think about picking up this baby. It’s a bit more pricy than a regular MacBook, but the form factor should help you score some hot dates. If you’re into professional video editing, animation, intense gaming, or the likes, you might want to stay away. The MacBook Air (like the MacBook) still sports an integrated video card.
Starting at $1,799
Apple TV Update
When Apple TV was first introduced, it kinda sucked. Now, it sucks a little less. Before, Apple TV was only a means of wirelessly streaming and storing content purchased from iTunes. While it had HD support, you couldn’t download any HD content. Jobs, however, finally caught up to the rest of us.
Draws
- New, easy-to-use interface
- Rent movies directly from the Apple TV
- Rent HD movies (!)
- Stream rented movies in seconds
Flaws
- HD content cannot be purchased, only rented
- Still no DVR (Tivo-like) service
- Still a little pricey for a college kid
Conclusion: Finally, there’s an easy way to get HD content directly from iTunes. If you ever thought about getting an Apple TV, now is the time.
Price: Starting at $229
iTunes Movie Rentals
I never bought a movie from iTunes. I just couldn’t see paying a premium price (basically $9.99 to $14.99) for a movie I couldn’t even burn to a DVD. Rentals might change my mind about that.
Draws
- Good price points
- Movies begin streaming in less than 30-seconds
- Nearly all the major movie studios on board
- Unwatched movies can be saved for 30 days
- Rentals work on iPods and iPhones
Flaws
- HD content not available (only for Apple TV)
- Can’t rent seasons of TV shows
- Movies expire in 24 hours after they are started
Conclusion: I’ll probably start renting movies off iTunes in the near future. However, downloading movies for “free” off bit-torrent and other sties is still very enticing. Okay, I understand why I wouldn’t want to purchase HD movies (don’t have enough disk space), but I can’t even rent them? C’mon Apple. I don’t have an HD monitor hooked up to my laptop for nothing. Also, wouldn’t it be awesome to rent TV shows?
Rentals are $2.99 to $3.99, Apple TV HD rentals are $4.99
Time Capsule
Time Capsule is basically a router with a hard drive inside. Why is it cool? Now, you can share content to everyone on the network without every computer being on. Additionally, you can back-up important data right to the capsule.
Draws
- Server-grade hard drive inside
- Wireless Time Machine back-ups
- Up to one terabyte of storage
Flaws
- Pricier than some other external hard drives
- Slower than an external hard drive
Conclusion: This is basically an Apple TV for back ups. Additionally, it’s priced quite well. With Apple’s “no wire” philosophy, they needed a product like this. Unfortunately, it’s not sexy enough to score you a date.
Price: Starting at $299
[images via Flickr]