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MacBook Air First Impressions

My new MacBook Air has arrived, shipped from Shanghai on October 23rd after I ordered it post 'Apple Special Event' and arriving in San Francisco on the 27th.First impressions: as light as an empty ringbinder and impressively fast.
Written by Oliver Marks, Contributor

My new MacBook Air has arrived, shipped from Shanghai on October 23rd after I ordered it post 'Apple Special Event' and arriving in San Francisco on the 27th.

First impressions: as light as an empty ringbinder and impressively fast. You can see the 11 second boot time in the short video above, where it sits next to my relatively heavy old MacBook Pro.

Boot speed is very impressive, and this is of particular value if you're in a meeting and need to start taking notes or finding information as rapidly as possible.

I'm writing this on my big screen desktop computer but use laptops extensively in client meetings and at conferences.

I made my purchasing decision based on weight and speed: like most Apple products you're paying a premium price for industrial design and quality engineering, which has its place in the fashion driven world of business.

There are some clients where it's more appropriate to show up with a Wintel laptop, and others where this fits pace and culture - like the way you dress, the reality is the computer you're carrying is noted and can be seen as friend or foe.

As I've written here previously I make extensive use of Flip video cameras to record meetings (with participant permission) and make real time written notes which are aligned to the timing of the recording, so I can review and make written notes later as needed.

I use Evernote, a cloud based application note taking and archiving application extensively (I highly recommend the pdf book 'Evernote Essentials' by Brett Kelly) to dig into the capabilities of this very useful tool), and don't have need of huge processing power in my laptop.

I had hoped to review the new Virgin Mifi 2200 mobile broadband device, which allows contract free connection of up to 5 Wi-Fi enabled devices to their US 3G wireless internet which you can purchase as and when you need it, but they are completely sold out right now. This seems like a highly useful device to travel with in the US along with this fast, lightweight laptop.

Internationally I use an unlocked Sierra Wireless Compass series usb modem, as I've written about previously. This device allows you to attempt to get online with a local providers sim, something which is relatively simple to purchase and get online with in some countries and expensive and complex in others.

These are the main uses I currently have for this piece of technology, and I've been musing on whether this is the last important generation of qwerty keyboard laptops as mobile technologies blur the boundaries.  Ipads and other devices are excellent for jotting down information and consuming information, but inputting a lot of written material still relies heavily on a good keyboard for comfort and accuracy.

An 11 second boot time and a good keyboard makes this a very useful, attractive business machine so far.

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