HP Chairman Poses With Apple MacBook Air

[watcha]

And also, look up the Powerbook G3, that had up to 10 hours of battery life in 1998.

http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerBook_G3

Quote:
'It had longer battery life, and the user could double the duration to 10 hours by substituting a second battery for the optical drive in the expansion bay'

 

[Vladislaus]

[citation][nom]watcha[/nom]And also, look up the Powerbook G3, that had up to 10 hours of battery life in 1998.http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerBook_G3Quote:'It had longer battery life, and the user could double the duration to 10 hours by substituting a second battery for the optical drive in the expansion bay'[/citation]
First the PowerBook you're mentioning was launched in 1999 not in 1998, I know because I have one, and if Wikipedia states it was launched in 1998 they're wrong. Also, to get the supposedly 10 hours the optical needed to be replaced by a battery. I say supposedly because I never got close to the announced 10 hours.

 

[Vladislaus]

[citation][nom]watcha[/nom]Incorrect. Battery life is worse.http/images.anandtech.com/graphs/graph4985/41852.pngGraphics:http/cdn-static.cnet.co.uk/i/c/b [...] kbench.jpgThe price isn't much cheaper either:http/www.amazon.co.uk/Apple-MacB [...] 787&sr=1-1http/www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-UX21E [...] 810&sr=8-1In other words, £15 cheaper. You would typically pay more than £15 to configure a laptop with a backlit keyboard, then we factor in the better screen on the Air, better battery life, and better performance.[/citation]
[citation][nom]watcha[/nom]In actual fact, just found that the Macbook air is £768 with free delivery. http/store.apple.com/uk/browse/h [...] air/selectSo it's much cheaper too 🙂[/citation]
[citation][nom]watcha[/nom]Oh and the touchpad is better on the Air.[/citation]
I did said the equal spec MacBook Air. You're comparing the price of the cheapest MacBook Air that comes with an 64GB SSD and 2GB of RAM against the ASUS that has 128GB SSD and 4GB of RAM. The price of the equivalent MacBook Air is $918.

About the graphics. The Geekbench doesn't benchmark graphics. Also in the graph they don't state the CPUs in the laptops. But since the 11'' MacBook Air has a much higher score than the 13'' MacBook Air I will speculate that the 11'' model reviewed has the i7-2677M and the 13'' should have the i5-2557M. If the model reviewed of the UX21 had the i5-2467M (the same CPU that's in the unconfigured 11'' MacBook Air) then the performance is on par, and that is to be expected since they have the same CPU/GPU/Chipset,...
About the battery:
They're comparing the i7 11'' ZenBook against the i5 13'' MacBook, of course it will have less battery life.
http/www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=6289&p=4

I do agree that the Air has a better touchpad, but you do get better sound and a screen with a higher brightness.

 

[watcha]

[citation][nom]Vladislaus[/nom]First the PowerBook you're mentioning was launched in 1999 not in 1998, I know because I have one, and if Wikipedia states it was launched in 1998 they're wrong. Also, to get the supposedly 10 hours the optical needed to be replaced by a battery. I say supposedly because I never got close to the announced 10 hours.[/citation]

You miss the point. Even the 5 hours is long enough to qualify for 'Ultrabook' level - the laptop you quoted got nowhere near that.

You're also wrong because the G3 which was launched in 1998 had the same feature, IE you could replace the optical disk with an extra battery to double battery life. If you didn't do that, that's your problem. The bottom line is that you claimed that Apple battery life at the time wasn't as good as the laptop you quoted as being the first 'ultrabook'. That statement has been proven wrong.

http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerBook_G3

 

[watcha]

[citation][nom]Vladislaus[/nom]I did said the equal spec MacBook Air. You're comparing the price of the cheapest MacBook Air that comes with an 64GB SSD and 2GB of RAM against the ASUS that has 128GB SSD and 4GB of RAM. The price of the equivalent MacBook Air is $918.About the graphics. The Geekbench doesn't benchmark graphics. Also in the graph they don't state the CPUs in the laptops. But since the 11'' MacBook Air has a much higher score than the 13'' MacBook Air I will speculate that the 11'' model reviewed has the i7-2677M and the 13'' should have the i5-2557M. If the model reviewed of the UX21 had the i5-2467M (the same CPU that's in the unconfigured 11'' MacBook Air) then the performance is on par, and that is to be expected since they have the same CPU/GPU/Chipset,...About the battery:They're comparing the i7 11'' ZenBook against the i5 13'' MacBook, of course it will have less battery life.http/www.notebookreview.com/defa [...] D=6289&p=4I do agree that the Air has a better touchpad, but you do get better sound and a screen with a higher brightness.[/citation]

This is a huge mountain of nonsense. First of all, you say that you said 'equal specs' - then you go on to effectively say that there is no equal specced UX21 compared to the low range Macbook Air, which is cheaper and just as fast. Which proves that the UX21 can't compete with that model. Which was my point. If it's more expensive with a different spec, it's not the same. Furthermore, it's again not an equal spec if it no backlit keyboard.

Regarding the battery life - you appear to be correct, the battery is about as good.

Regarding the touchpad - that isn't something to just be glossed over, it's a massive benefit having a touchpad which really works. Higher brightness screen is a very specific and irrelevant fact given that the overall screen is worse.

To quote Anandtech:

'Now if you don't care about OS X and just want a good, ultra-thin Windows machine the Zenbook is a viable alternative. If ASUS can fix the trackpad issues then it's worth considering, however the display in the MBA alone is reason to opt for it over the Zenbook, even for Windows use. If you're used to or don't mind typical PC notebook TN panels then the Zenbook will likely be an upgrade. It is far from the best though.'

http/www.anandtech.com/show/4985/asus-zenbook-ux21-review/8

As for better sound - I'd like to see you prove that? You don't tend to use mobile laptops without headphones anyway, and if you do it's certainly not a professional setup where sound really matters.

Backlit keyboard, however, does matter, for people who want to use notebooks on the move.

So, in summary Anandtech agrees with me, the specifications AREN'T equal in any of the comparisons you made, there is NO equivalent UX21 as cheap as the budget Macbook Air - and there are massive trackpad and screen issues and no backlit keyboard, meaning that it's not a viable equal-specced alternatived.

Furthermore, it came out a significant period of time AFTER the Macbook Air did, so didn't even exist when most people bought their Macbook Airs (eg me). I hasten to add that even if it had been out, I would still have preferred the build quality, screen, trackpad, and illuminated keyboard of the Air. Which is why it's such good value for money.

 

[Vladislaus]

[citation][nom]watcha[/nom]You miss the point. Even the 5 hours is long enough to qualify for 'Ultrabook' level - the laptop you quoted got nowhere near that. You're also wrong because the G3 which was launched in 1998 had the same feature, IE you could replace the optical disk with an extra battery to double battery life. If you didn't do that, that's your problem. The bottom line is that you claimed that Apple battery life at the time wasn't as good as the laptop you quoted as being the first 'ultrabook'. That statement has been proven wrong.http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerBook_G3[/citation]
Apparently the release date of PDQ G3 was different from my country. But since using a secondary is valid the Pedion also had a secondary battery that increased it's autonomy to 7 hours, of course this would mean that the laptop would become thicker and heavier.

 

[Vladislaus]

[citation][nom]watcha[/nom]This is a huge mountain of nonsense. First of all, you say that you said 'equal specs' - then you go on to effectively say that there is no equal specced UX21 compared to the low range Macbook Air, which is cheaper and just as fast. Which proves that the UX21 can't compete with that model. Which was my point. If it's more expensive with a different spec, it's not the same. Furthermore, it's again not an equal spec if it no backlit keyboard.Regarding the battery life - you appear to be correct, the battery is about as good.Regarding the touchpad - that isn't something to just be glossed over, it's a massive benefit having a touchpad which really works. Higher brightness screen is a very specific and irrelevant fact given that the overall screen is worse. To quote Anandtech:'Now if you don't care about OS X and just want a good, ultra-thin Windows machine the Zenbook is a viable alternative. If ASUS can fix the trackpad issues then it's worth considering, however the display in the MBA alone is reason to opt for it over the Zenbook, even for Windows use. If you're used to or don't mind typical PC notebook TN panels then the Zenbook will likely be an upgrade. It is far from the best though.'http/www.anandtech.com/show/4985 [...] 1-review/8As for better sound - I'd like to see you prove that? You don't tend to use mobile laptops without headphones anyway, and if you do it's certainly not a professional setup where sound really matters.Backlit keyboard, however, does matter, for people who want to use notebooks on the move.So, in summary Anandtech agrees with me, the specifications AREN'T equal in any of the comparisons you made, there is NO equivalent UX21 as cheap as the budget Macbook Air - and there are massive trackpad and screen issues and no backlit keyboard, meaning that it's not a viable equal-specced alternatived.Furthermore, it came out a significant period of time AFTER the Macbook Air did, so didn't even exist when most people bought their Macbook Airs (eg me). I hasten to add that even if it had been out, I would still have preferred the build quality, screen, trackpad, and illuminated keyboard of the Air. Which is why it's such good value for money.[/citation]
No ASUS doesn't have an equally specced UX21 for the cheapest MacBook Air. That doesn't invalidate that it's still cheaper than the MacBook Air that has the same spec. Also know that the Black Friday has ended and prices have returned to normal the entry level UX21 costs the same as the entry level MacBook Air. Of course the MacBook Air with the same amount of RAM and SSD space costs £125 more.

Higher brightness is not irrelevant. We're talking about a laptop that we supposedly take it everywhere. Sunlight is something that doesn't mixes well with screens. So having a higher brightness does help a lot more than a better quality when outside.

A back-lit keyboard is only important in areas with low lighting usually it's not an issue when on the move.

About the sound read reviews of the laptop that state the sound is louder and crisper one the ASUS. Also a sound professional usually doesn't rely on an on-board SPU.

Also you're talking like there has been any kind of review that says that this laptop has an inferior build quality than the MacBook Air.

Take note that I'm not saying that the ASUS is better or worse than the MacBook Air. I'm saying it's a cheaper but very good alternative. For me both laptops are irrelevant. My 13'' MacBook Pro is portable and light enough and has about the same battery life.

 

[watcha]

[citation][nom]Vladislaus[/nom]No ASUS doesn't have an equally specced UX21 for the cheapest MacBook Air. That doesn't invalidate that it's still cheaper than the MacBook Air that has the same spec. Also know that the Black Friday has ended and prices have returned to normal the entry level UX21 costs the same as the entry level MacBook Air. Of course the MacBook Air with the same amount of RAM and SSD space costs £125 more.Higher brightness is not irrelevant. We're talking about a laptop that we supposedly take it everywhere. Sunlight is something that doesn't mixes well with screens. So having a higher brightness does help a lot more than a better quality when outside.A back-lit keyboard is only important in areas with low lighting usually it's not an issue when on the move.About the sound read reviews of the laptop that state the sound is louder and crisper one the ASUS. Also a sound professional usually doesn't rely on an on-board SPU.Also you're talking like there has been any kind of review that says that this laptop has an inferior build quality than the MacBook Air.Take note that I'm not saying that the ASUS is better or worse than the MacBook Air. I'm saying it's a cheaper but very good alternative. For me both laptops are irrelevant. My 13'' MacBook Pro is portable and light enough and has about the same battery life.[/citation]

You open by saying the words 'same spec' again. I struggle to wonder if I typed the words 'backlit keyboard' and 'not the same spec' in previous comments in vein. I don't really think I need to re-make the same point which defeats your argument, do I? Bottom line? You're comparing prices for laptops with DIFFERENT specifications. You're hand-picking the specifications YOU decide should be equal, and ignoring the reality.

Banging on about sunlight? Come on. 90% of people, 90% of the time, use laptops inside. That's just reality. But even if it wasn't, again, I've already very clearly defeated your entire screen argument with the following quote:

'however the display in the MBA alone is reason to opt for it over the Zenbook, even for Windows use'

I think you should stop, for a second, and make sure you've actually read that sentence, before your next reply. The point being, that TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the higher brightness, the MBA screen is STILL sufficiently better OVERALL to justify getting it over the Zenbook, in an experts opinion (Anandtech). Now do you see why ranting on about screen brightness is silly? I'm not going to sit here and explain to you why OTHER factors are important in screens, I hope you can maybe work that one out.

'About the sound read reviews of the laptop that state the sound is louder and crisper one the ASUS'

Again, I'm starting to wonder if the ability to read anything has completely escaped you. Rather than write new material, what I wrote still completely invalidates your point:

'As for better sound - I'd like to see you prove that? You don't tend to use mobile laptops without headphones anyway, and if you do it's certainly not a professional setup where sound really matters.'

(none of which has been addressed - the point being that ultraportable laptops aren't needed to be loud or have excellent sound quality).

Saying a laptop with a lower specification and one which is unable to compete at the lowest price point is 'cheaper' is both wrong and illogical. The cheapest air is cheaper, and has an illuminated keyboard, and a much better screen which alone is 'reason to opt for it over the Zenbook'. You're hand picking a specific model in the range which doesn't necessarily represent the value of every product, and then you're incorrectly equating the specifications, failing to take into account the screen or the illuminated keyboard.

As for Macbook Pro's, give me a break, they are nowhere even remotely close in value for money. They are the reason Apple have a bad reputation. The Macbook Air was the first properly positioned laptop price wise from Apple - Pro's have always been overpriced, and still are.

 

[watcha]

[citation][nom]Vladislaus[/nom]Apparently the release date of PDQ G3 was different from my country. But since using a secondary is valid the Pedion also had a secondary battery that increased it's autonomy to 7 hours, of course this would mean that the laptop would become thicker and heavier.[/citation]

Yes, exactly, in order to match up with the level of battery life of laptops of the time, it needed an extra battery which took away its portability.

That's why the Macbook Air was the first 🙂