Apple MacBook Air MC233LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm a PC, but I'm also a Mac. A Macbook Air (MBA) to be exact. I'm very much into design so it just made sense. I first considered something like the Dell Adamo, Latitude Z or the HP ENVY13, But the Dells were heavily under-powered processor-wise. The HP was crazy powerful, but heftier than I would have liked. The Latitude's Euro design gave the MBA's design a run for it money, but it starts at over two grand and you'll easily knock on $2500 with the bells and whistles, Yikes! The HP ENVY 13 is very powerful and the only ultra-portable with the i7 processor. But for what I'll be using this for, the mobility and price is more important to me. The Adamo seemed to match the price and features of the Macbook Air best, but finding that the design, feature and price pretty much a draw (I personally thought the MBA had a very small edge on Design), I settled on the MBA because of the fact that I can run Windows 7 as well as Mac OS X(which I also use for different purposes)and the better build quality. I have to say, the unibody design really makes the thing feel as if it was carved from one piece of aluminum. There's minimal flex to speak of. Closed, it just feels so nice in your hands.
The 1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor is a lot better than the 1.2 and 1.4 that are available in the Dells; more than enough for my usage. This might have been a bit meek had I not already had an Intel Core 2 Quad Desktop computer at home. This also made HP ENVY pointless.
The screen is more than adequate and much better than a netbook. Since it's so light, it really can go anywhere a netbook can. The nice Keyboard and trackpad was also refreshing.
The Solid State Drive is also nice, but after some usage, I really don't find them all that different from a standard HD, perhaps a bit faster, but not that noticeable. It certainly is cooler and less noisy. Some users have complained about it getting a bit warm, but I'm thinking they've got an HD instead of an SSD.
And now for the few CONs:
No optical drive - since I won't be needing this too often it's not a big deal. I already have an external Blu-Ray Drive that I used to install everything. Once that was done, I can only image using it for an occasion Blu-Ray/DVD movie, but even this will be rare, unless I'm in a hotel room somewhere and bore out of my mind.
Connectivity:
No Ethernet, big deal! It's all about wireless!
Weird Mini Display port - also not a big deal since I don't imaging connecting an external monitor to this much.
Only one USB - This one, I admit, is pretty significant. It was a bit of hassle to swap USB devices a bit, but again, I only use multiple devices a handful of times (mainly a USB DJ Console Mixer and an external USB HD containing the music I want to mix). I got a little griffin USB "Splitter" which was nothing more than a very tiny USB Hub, but it did have some trouble getting enough power to the HD from this one USB port, so I did have to add a USB power cable to the mix (the audio was clipping heavily during mixing and transition). So keep that in mind if you're planning to daisy-chain three hard drives, a soda cooler and a reading light to the USB port- just don't. It works fine with the majority of other (low powered) USB devices.
RAM - Here's the other big CON! While 2GB of RAM will probably be ok for now, but I would have loved having the option of adding more. I have 8GB on my desktop and I actually use it (photo and video editing, media center functions, terminal services, etc.)! While I'm not doing much of that (maybe a little Photoshoping) on this thing, all it takes is that killer application that requires at least 4GB of RAM that I can't use that will drive me nuts!
I have a first generation Macbook Pro from work and I always loved the design of it. This takes things to the next level. I'm primarily a Windows user, and this seems to work a bit more seamlessly with Windows than the Macbook Pro(although with the latest drivers and software updates for bootcamp from apple, it got better). It's kinda odd that I went with an Mac to run Windows, but it was a calculated choice. Had I been looking for a full-function laptop, it would have likely been an HP or Dell.

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Buffalo Technology MediaStation 8x Portable DVD Writer with LED Power Indicator DVSM-PC58U2VB (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)It's been 6 years since I bought a laptop with an optical drive, so a good external disc drive is pretty important. I had been using a feature rich LG Lightscribe for the last 4 years, but it finally gave up the ghost and left me without a reliable method to read or write CD's.
For my next drive I wanted something smaller, as there was nothing portable about the old LG. Enter the Buffalo MediaStation. I haven't had it very long, but I can report one 3 important facts.
1. You can run it off one USB port. The drive has two USB cables wrapped around the side and on the undercarriage. Whether or not you can run this off a single port depends entirely on your computer. The drive does make this easy for you by lighting up red or blue depending on your power needs. If it's blue you're golden; red and you're going to need that second USB port.
2. The drive is pretty fast for a bus-powered external. On a 1.3ghz Intel Dual Core 2 laptop with 4gb of RAM, iTunes encoded 160 kbps MP3's at 20x.
3. The DVD drive can be noisy. There's not a lot of room for insulation in this device, so it's going to rattle around some.
I can't speak for longevity, but so far it's been an excellent buy.

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Sony VAIO VPC-F223FX/B Laptop (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this laptop a couple days ago and was very thrilled after weeks of research between other comparable laptops in the same field (Samsung RF711-S02 and ASUS N73SV-A3 to name the main contenders).
The laptop looked great right out of the box. Sony did a swell job designing this laptop. The keyboard is to die for with its chiclet buttons and good use of backlighting. Sound is good for the most part, but can't say I care for it much since I mainly use headphones with my computers. The screen and all of its 1080p 16.4" glory is amazing to look at. The VAIO comes with some bloatware consisting of a Norton trial, many Sony VAIO apps, and a MS office trial. Typical bloatware that one should expect. Battery life was around 2-3 hours. Really depends on what you're doing (My times consist of some web surfing and video files). Expect much lower times with gaming and other intensive apps. If you wish to take advantage of the true aspect ratio of the screen I would suggest putting the magnification percentage to 100%. The VAIO came preset at 125% which gives you less screen real estate. The VAIO is powerful with the equipped engine under the hood. The i7 2.00Gz and NVIDIA 540M are a force to be reckoned with. The VAIO does only come with 4GB of DDR3 ram though,something I planned to upgrade to 8GB, but be warned that the VAIO comes with 2x2GB sticks. Also the 640GB is spacious, but slow with its speed clocking in at 5400RPM.
So I would easily give this laptop a 5 out of 5, but it had one major flaw I could not over look. After all driver updates and MS updates the laptop exhibited a tendency to randomly lag on video and sound. No matter what output I used (HDMI, Built-in speakers and headphone jack). Sound would distort while listening to pandora. Video and sound would distort at random intervals while using Netflix, Youtube, Hulu, Windows media player and media player classic. I searched online and it seemed that I was alone on this so I ordered a replacement from Amazon and surely enough Amazon came through with overnight shipping on a new one that same day (I have 30 days to return my other one with collateral on my MasterCard.)
So I receive my replacement laptop and hope for the best. I open it up and the first thing I do is play some videos VIA Windows Media Player. Not even a minute in and the video once again lags and the sound distorts. I nodded my head in shame. Just to be sure I updated everything and tried again to no avail. I tried Pandora and Netflix with no luck either. I even went as far as to partition the drive and install a fresh Windows 7 64bit on the new partition hoping to maybe isolate a possible software issue. Same problem arose. I'm a big fan of Sony and their products, but this turned me off from any future laptops from them. Amazon's end was superb in terms of support, but the end product falls on Sony's lap. Perhaps I just happened to have gotten 2 faulty machines back to back by pure luck, but the odds of that happening are very rare for a laptop in the $1000+ range.
I looked around forums a couple days later and found that some people experience a problem with random lag in games while others have no problems at all. The people with no problems seemed to have bought theirs from places other then Amazon and Newegg (They carry the same models). Other retail outlets carry the same laptop, but the model numbers differ. So I assume that perhaps Sony is shipping some faulty laptops to certain outlets. I will end up returning my replacement for a full refund and maybe wait for the problem to get fixed. If not I will end up going with the Samsung RF711-S03 when it is released.Edit:
About 2 days into my replacement it has stopped exhibiting the previously mentioned flaw. I've decided to use the VAIO as my main PC for a week and put it under some heavy use to see if it acts up. If not I will end up keeping it and buying a 3-year Square-trade warranty to be safe. After using the VAIO for a couple days, without the hic-ups it had before, I can safely say it is amazing. Runs like a champ with no problems thus far. I will write back in a couple days to address the final state of which it's at and determine if I'll revise my rating.
Edit 2:
After having it for a week and a half I can safely say that the laptop has stopped with the hiccups. Very strange to be honest, but now that the laptop is back to normal I can safely say that it is a beast of a laptop. Revising my rating to 4 of 5 stars. Would be a 5, but due to the difficulties it displayed at first it lost a star. I will be buying the square-trade 3 year warranty just in case though.

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Built with the multimedia enthusiast in mind, the Sony VAIO F22 Series 16.4-Inch Laptop provides optimal performance and a full high-definition display for movies and games. The laptop's Intel Core i7 processor offers eight-way multitasking for the most demanding applications, while a 16.4-inch full HD widescreen display delivers rich color and contrast from almost any angle. Other features include a Blu-ray Disc player and Dolby Home Theater v3 surround sound. A backlit keyboard makes it easy to play and work with the lights turned down.
Intel Core i7 Processor for Smart PerformanceThe Sony VAIO F22 Series 16.4-Inch Laptop features a 2nd generation Intel Core i7 processor that offers superior performance for the most demanding applications. This quad-core processor features eight-way multitasking capability and additional L3 cache for improved computer performance, along with adaptive performance and visual capabilities.

Built-in Intel Turbo Boost Technology automatically speeds up your processor when you need extra performance, while Intel Hyper-Threading Technology allows each core to work on two tasks simultaneously, letting you move between applications quickly and smoothly.

The laptop comes equipped with a standard lithium-ion battery that offers up to five hours of battery life.

Rich Color and Contrast from Any AngleMeasuring 16.4 inches, with a cinema-style aspect ratio of 16:9, this laptop's 1,920-by-1,080-pixel resolution, full high-definition widescreen display allows you to view video games and movies in sharp detail, with rich color and contrast, from virtually any angle. Thanks to an anti-glare coating, distracting reflections are minimized.

Blu-ray Disc Movies and Games in High DefinitionThe F22 Series laptop contains a Blu-ray Disc player that enables you to enjoy movies and video games in full, 1080p high definition. In addition, the player offers the convenience of full read/write capabilities for DVDs and CDs.

The laptop also combines Dolby Home Theater v3 with S-Force Front Surround 3D technology for cinema-style surround sound that's true to the original source--ideal for listening to music, watching movies, or playing games. NVIDIA GeForce graphics with 1 GB of dedicated RAM delivers optimal graphics performance and responsive game play.

Robust Wireless ConnectivityThe Sony VAIO comes equipped with built-in Wi-Fi, so you can connect easily to your wireless Internet network. It also contains Bluetooth technology for cordless connections to your smartphone and other compatible mobile devices.

In addition, this laptop features Remote Keyboard, which is pre-installed software that lets you wirelessly play online games, surf the web, or enter text on your PlayStation 3 video game console from the laptop.

Windows 7 and Office Starter 2010The F22 Series laptop comes pre-installed with Genuine Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium as well as Microsoft Office Starter 2010, which includes limited versions of Word and Excel.

Product and Warranty InformationThe laptop measures 1.7 by 15.69 by 10.69 inches (H x W x D) and weighs 6.85 pounds including the battery. It has a 640 GB SATA hard drive.

The Sony VAIO F22 Series 16.4-Inch Laptop is backed by a one-year limited warranty.

What's in the BoxLaptop, standard lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, and power cord.

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Apple Macbook Air SuperDrive (MB397G/A) Review

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(More customer reviews)The MacBook Air SuperDrive is light and compact as advertised. It slides into a bag pocket and hardly adds any weight or bulk. And it performs as advertised, quickly and quietly.
But, it consumes the MacBook Air's only USB port and works only with that one port -- it does not work with USB hubs! With no downstream ports of its own, you can't use your SuperDrive and any other USB device at the same time. Like a keyboard or mouse, or your iPhone or iPod, or a USB printer.
This is a remarkable oversight. But if you want to install Boot Camp or play DVDs, you'll need this -- or something like it.
(In my original review on 2/10/2008, I wrote "it's pretty much the only game in town right now." But since then, some commenters noted that generic USB optical drives will work, such as the LG GSA-E50L. Thanks to C. Ross and PenPal for chiming in! I haven't tested the LG or any other USB DVD drive sold on Amazon with the MacBook Air, so I can't attest to how well they do or don't work with MacBook Air.)
*updated 7/27/2008*

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The Apple MacBook Air SuperDrive is the perfect complement for the new, sleek MacBook Air. You can read and write CDs and DVDs, and it is perfect for watching a DVD movie, installing software, backing up your data, and more.
Burn and Play CDs and DVDs The new Apple MacBook Air is thin and beautiful, and is able to do tricks such as borrow the optical drive of another computer on a network. But sometimes you need an optical drive on the go, and that's where the Apple MacBook Air SuperDrive comes in. Made by Apple with a design to complement the MacBook Air perfectly, the MacBook Air SuperDrive connects to your MacBook Air with a built-in USB cable you'll never lose. No extra power adapters are needed, as the SuperDrive simply draws power from the USB connection itself, regardless of whether or not your MacBook Air is plugged in.
The SuperDrive features speedy performance, writing DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL discs at up to 4x speed, and DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW discs at up to 8x speed.
Small Size for Easy Portability The MacBook Air SuperDrive employs a slot-loading design that makes it miniscule--barely larger than a CD case. You can easily drop the MacBook Air SuperDrive into your bag and take it everywhere you go. Now you can enjoy a DVD movie while on the plane or you can burn onto a CD that song you've been working on while you were on the tour bus.
What's in the Box MacBook Air SuperDrive with attached USB cable, user's guide.

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