So about six weeks ago I sold my 2Ghz, 160GB HD 2GB RAM pimped out 1st Gen Core2Duo MacBook and purchased the 1.6Ghz MacBook Air. I had been swooning over it since its release at MacWorld in January, and had spent considerable time mulling over the pros and cons, the advantages and disadvantages of owning the Air versus my trusty, sturdy, and plenty powerful MacBook for designing and developing.

Previously, I had all but convinced myself that the Air just wasn’t fit to do battle in my world. After all, my brethren Matt and Duane are big leaguers, use big daddy MacBook Pros and kick some computer ass with them. “The Air insn’t powerful enough”, I echoed like others. “It doesn’t have enough disk space, nor does it offer me FireWire… I can live without the optical disc but FireWire? No way.”

As time passed and I considered more of the advantages of the thin laptop, I began to change my tune. I mean, carrying around a three pound beauty is a feature. Despite what others have tried to argue, it is indeed a very thin laptop, and coming from the MacBook I can say that I love how as I write this there are no thick, square front edges (like on the MacBooks) and instead the front edge of the Air rests flush with my lap, sparing my hands and arms the chafing I once got previously.

I don’t care what PC portables out there are thin: I’m a Mac user, primarily. When I use Windows it’s mostly for web testing purposes, and the Air still handles Parallels adequately for this purpose. My question was not “Is this the best thin portable out there?” but rather “Is this Apple portable going to be good enough for what I need it to do?”

The backlit keyboard and ambient light sensor are features of Apple’s Pro portables that I loved and wanted- and got in the thin profile of the Air. It has 802.11n, and is able to transfer files speedily on my n-only home network, sharing files and performing Time Machine backups without a hiccup.

Before buying the Air, I also considered just what I use my portable for and it’s mostly:

• Coding & Designing for the web
• E-Mail, web browsing, writing
• Photo management and uploading
• Web administration via SSH, FTP & web interfaces
• Chat, video/audio conferencing
• Personal orgnization & syncing content and media with my iPhone

WARNING: Geek out time- none of these things would be hampered by a 1.6Ghz Core2Duo with 2GB of ram in reality. In fact, the 800Mhz front-side bus is faster than my old MacBook’s 633Mhz. Sure, the drive at 4200rpm is really the biggest bottleneck, but what do you want when you get a computer that’s at its thickest 1.8″ and thinnest 0.16″?

It’s not just about thinness, though. The draw of the air for me is multi-faceted: it’s crafted aluminum frame is sturdy and strong, and not as susceptible to the cracking issues of the MacBooks. The bright LED backlight is far superior to the backlight in my previous MacBook, while the battery life despite what others have said is quite adequate in my opinion. I’ve even installed Coolbook, a nice CPU undervolting application which has reduced heat on the already cool laptop and extended battery life by as much as half an hour.

Despite the lack of ports, I really only need one USB port to dump photos and sync my phone. I was used to having FireWire, and that I’ll certainly miss- but syncing, transferring, and backing up files over my 802.11n network works seamlessly. There hasn’t been an issue to date, and I’ve been feeling gloriously free of cable clutter. I also use a bluetooth mouse and keyboard with my iMac, and use the very cool free application Teleport which allows me to wirelessly share the mouse/keyboard between the iMac and Air.

Before buying it, I tested it out at my local Mac retailer, Light Computer. After examining it in terms of design, I dove into starting apps, using them, and getting a feel for the way the system responded. I was surprised- it was actually snappier than I expected, and was willing to live with. I didn’t pick it up that day but was one step closer to buying it.

Then there was this article by David Gailbriath, which made several good points all of which I hadn’t considered. Here’s a passage:

“The initial reception of the Macbook Air proves that the current process of designing, marketing and selling computers has nothing to do with ‘specification’ requirements, but everything to do with specification lust.

If the critics are right, they show that above all that despite Apple’s great designs, people don’t really care about design, unless its lathered on top of tech prowess.

But what if the problem was with the critics themselves. Perhaps they are out of touch and way too geeky for a world where computers are not sold like self assembly amateur electronics projects.”

I had to agree. This laptop was being considered against everything it’s not: a typical sub-notebook; a MacBook Pro; Apple’s older 12″ Powerbooks; Sony and Toshiba’s thin offerings. The list continues, but they all miss the boat on this one: The MacBook Air is in a league of its own, right now. Those stammering to compare it to even Apple’s other portables need to really use them and have tested an Air for at least a few weeks in order to distinguish just how different a computing lifestyle the Air lives.

A question penned often in various reviews surrounded figuring out just what demographic the Air was targeted at, while answers to it considered mostly its limitations more than its features. “It’s for fanboys with money to burn” some sniffed. Or “It’s for design-types who don’t need much power but want it for style and status” other quipped. None of the answers really served to say much of anything about the demographic Apple targeted, and for good reason: there kinda isn’t one.

As they have done in the past, Apple keyed in on aspects of indecision with customers, alongside the concept that building a very cool device will create its own demographic. In the end, whether it is fanboys, design-types, or BraveNewCodeaholics like me, the Air does have its own mold-bending demographic which will grow significantly over time as Apple is able tyo ramp up its specs with new hardware.

In 18 months time, you’ll see the Air in tandem options of 2 and 4GB of ram, sporting a 128/256 GB solid state drive option between two models. They’ll both be using 2Ghz+ processors, and will be, by all intents and purposes, two magnificent laptops. For now the Air is great at what it does, and has plenty of room (despite its tiny frame) to grow.

I’m certainly happy with my purchase and expect the Air to be my main machine for quite sometime, as Justin Blanton feels:

“I now think that, given enough time, the Air will become my primary, and indeed only computer.

This revelation is informed mostly by how little I’ve used the Mac Pro since the Air came into my life; and when I say ‘little,’ I mean only a handful of times, and even then only for Lightroom and Photoshop. While I don’t think I would like using the current?Air for the sometimes complex and processor-intensive stuff I do with those applications (and I’ll admit I haven’t tried), something tells me that two or three revisions from now, the Air will be wholly sufficient for all of my needs…”