Rubenerd

I’ve noticed the trend to write reviews of devices you’ve used for a short period of time, during which you’ve just bought it and are excited to discuss it. Here’s some real world usage of an 11″ MacBook Air, two years after getting it.

This MacBook Air is my primary production machine. I use a ThinkPad as a glorified desktop at work, but this Air is everything else; including much of the work I should be using the ThinkPad for. I’ve delegated some tasks to other machines (such as file storage and Xen), but this is what I use plugged into my buckling spring keyboard, trackball and 1920×1200 screen.

As an aside, whoever thought 1920×1080 was a great idea for desktop monitors for the sake of a never proven cost saving in production, and those who defend the decision, need to be bundled up to serve their time in an isolated shack in the woods somewhere, for the good of Humanity.

This Air doesn’t have a Retina display, which sometimes makes me longingly stare at those people’s machines that do. The cursor and function keys are microscopic, a cruel irony for a Vim user. The hinge has always been a little too loose. The internal screen is glossy, and low resolution.

And yet, its lightweight, fast and has been able to handle almost anything I’ve thrown at it. I can have it with me all the time without breaking my back. The action of the keyboard is light and tactile. The fact I haven’t seen that reserve power window before speaks to its portability and continued battery life despite two years of heavy use.

With the impending rumours of a 12″ Retina enabled Air, I’m perfectly happy with this machine.