Gadgetory

hey guys this is Austin and today I'm here to review the MacBook Air 11 inch this is the latest 2011 model and the one I have here has the 1.6 gigahertz Core i5 processor 4 gigabytes of RAM and a 128 gigabyte solid state drive take a look around the air and you'll see it is unlike most other laptops with a razor thin design and tiny footprint what I found most impressive is just how usable the 11 inch air is it features a full size keyboard impressively large trackpad and bright 11.6 inch screen inside you'll find a new dual core Intel Core i5 clocked at 1.6 gigahertz don't let the low clock speed fool you the air is actually quite respectably fast it can turbo all the way up to 2.3 gigahertz and features hyper setting which looks os10 see it as a quad core CPU ordinary tasks like web browsing a write on paul with my 4 gigahertz quad-core Windows desktop and even when you get to heavy lifting like video editing and gaming the air can keep up I work with video all day and while I still go to my editing rig most of the time I've used the air to edit some high-definition videos and have been quite impressed with how well it handles it you probably won't want to spend your days editing and final cut with this but it certainly will work in a pinch gaming performance is a bit less impressive but certainly doable even newer titles like Starcraft 2 can run without a problem as long as you don't mind turning the graphics down the secret sauce behind this performance and a laptop that's largely thinner than the iPhone comes down to a few key components the ultra low voltage core i5 is a big part as are the integrated HD 3000 graphics however the real kicker as to why the air is so snappy is the salt State Drive if you aren't familiar with what a SSD is I'll be brief most computers use a spinning hard drive which well typically gives you more hard drive space or just flat-out slow a solid-state drive is just a collection of chips which not only are vastly faster but are also less prone to being destroyed by something like dropping your laptop tech jargon aside this makes the air absolutely snappy it boots and wakes up from sleep in seconds and applications load in a fraction of the time the normal laptop would take I'm a huge proponent of solid-state drives and very glad to see Apple including one on the air battery life is also quite impressive for an 11 inch laptop under a light load with simple web browsing you get around four and a half hours out of charge and with a very intensive use such as video editing or game you're looking at something more like two and a half hours the 11.6 inch display is impressive in several ways it sports a resolution of 1366 by 768 giving it a very high pixel density text and graphics really pop and in addition the brightness and clarity on the panel are good the keyboard is the exact same size and layout is on the MacBook Pro it's among the best laptop keyboards I've used a decent throw and nice spacing new with the 2011 model is backlighting which is adjusted with the f5 and f6 keys and makes using the air and darker places much easier I can't say enough about the trackpad it takes up as much surface area below the keyboard as possible without getting in the way of the palm rests and works well the new gestures included in Lion unfortunately it's not all good the webcam is only VGA quality and while you can see it's not awful I do have very good light here and in general is not even going to compare to the FaceTime HD cameras on the MacBook Pro and the iMac taking a closer look around the computer on the left you'll see the MagSafe power adapter a USB 2.0 port headphone jack as well as a microphone on the right you'll find the second USB for a total of two as well as the new Thunderbolt port for connecting high-speed accessories as well as doubling as a mini DisplayPort for an external monitor even with a close look at the sturdy aluminum construction you won't even notice the exhaust until you fire up the air cleverly hidden in the hinge is where hot air is released from the chassis and only when you really get the air doing something strenuous does the fan become noticeable at all the laptop does get uncomfortably hot at these times though one question I've been asked quite a bit is how the 11 inch form factor works while everyone's tastes are different I found myself loving it it's still large enough to get work done without straining your eyes but it gives you a highly portable design if you're looking for a computer to stand in as your main machine the 13 inches probably would be a better choice but if you have another computer or want something more portable the 11 inch is absolutely great after seeing generation after generation of MacBook Airs come and go this was the one that finally got me to take the plunge this model retails for $11.99 and is really the only base configuration I can recommend there is the option to go down to 2 gigabytes of RAM and a 64 gigabyte SSD for $9.99 however unless you plan on using the air like a netbook you would be better off to spend the extra money as upgrading and yourself would be more expensive for the SSD and nearly impossible with the RAM using the air for the last month has been interesting experience for me it has been the right blend of performance superb design and form factor that makes an excellent secondary machine if you are in the market for a laptop and the price doesn't put you off I highly recommend at least trying out the MacBook Air it's easily the best laptop I have ever used if you want to be awesome and help the channel leave this video a thumbs up and if you want to see more videos like this be sure to subscribe