MACBOOK AIR OR JUST PLAiN MACBOOK?

The biggest compromises, which have been well-documented, come in its connectivity: The MacBook Air finds room for only one USB port and doesn't include a built-in optical drive, FireWire, Ethernet, or mobile broadband. And like with its other laptops, Apple refuses to outfit the Air with a media-card reader or an expansion card slot.

Offsetting its sparse connectivity are genuinely useful new features including new trackpad gesture controls and the ability to wirelessly "borrow" another system's optical drive.

Choosing the Air over the cheaper, faster standard 13-inch MacBook, or the comparably priced MacBook Pro, will depend on your needs. Travelers who want minimum weight, maximum screen real estate, and who live their lives via Wi-Fi hot spots, with little need for wired connectivity, will find the $1,799 starting price a reasonable investment for owning one of the world's premier bits of high-tech eye candy.

And while the MacBook Air's specs are inferior to those found on the cheaper MacBook, they compare more favorably when you look at other ultraportables, where a price premium is always exacted. For instance, both the Sony VAIO TZ150 and Toshiba Portege R500 cost hundreds more than the MacBook Air and feature slower CPUs and half the RAM as the Air.

Although it shares a desktop footprint with the standard black and white MacBooks, the first thing you notice about the Air is its aluminum chassis--similar to the one found on the MacBook Pro, and much more fingerprint resistant than the standard MacBooks.

Picking it up, the MacBook Air feels a little heavier than you would expect from looking at it, even though it's only 3 pounds. At the same time, it feels very sturdy and solid, thanks in part to the aluminum construction, and we'd have no qualms about carting it around with us all day.

By way of comparison, the VAIO TZ150 features an 11.1-inch screen and weighs only 0.3 pound lighter than the Air, and the Portege R500 is 0.6 pound lighter than the Air with a 12.1-inch screen.

The MacBook Air includes an iSight camera and mic, and an LED-backlit display that works with an ambient light sensor to adjust the screen brightness in response to the light in the room.

The keyboard--the same full-size version found in other MacBooks--has backlit keys that are also controlled by the ambient light sensor, although we had to adjust th

e room lighting a good deal to see any difference.

The revamped trackpad is large, measuring nearly 5 inches diagonally, and it works with new multitouch gestures. Other MacBooks let you do things like use two fingers to scroll through documents--this one lets you use three fingers to go forward and back in your Web browser history, and use your thumb and forefinger to zoom in and out of documents and photos--much like on the iPhone.

The three-finger forward/back gesture was immediately useful, and we're already missing it when using other laptops. Apple tells us these new gestures won't be available on older MacBooks as a firmware upgrade, as the hardware behind the new trackpad is different.

Another noteworthy new feature is the remote disc function. Since the Air lacks an optical drive, you can instead remotely use the optical drives of other systems, PC or Mac, as long as they're on the same network.

The setup was a little cumbersome for the "host" PC--requiring us to insert the OS X disc that came with the Air, run a small setup program, and then find and turn on "CD and DVD sharing" in the Windows control panel (the documentation could have been a little clearer on what you need to do to on the Windows side).

Once we set it up, however, it worked like a charm. You won't be able to stream DVD movies or music CDs via remote disc, but it's fine for getting files and installing apps. A matching external USB DVD burner is available from Apple for $99, but any USB DVD drive should work.

The display offers the same 1,280x800 native resolution as the standard 13-inch MacBook, but the Air's LED-backlit screen means its lid is thinner with an image that was somewhat brighter, at least with both systems set to max brightness.

The real key to finding out whether the MacBook Air is right for you lies in its stripped-down set of ports and connections. Those who regularly use more than one USB device, or need FireWire, an SD card slot, or an Express card slot will find the single USB jack too limiting.

Likewise, we often say the telephone modem jacks and S-Video outputs on most laptops are a waste of space, but the MacBook Air goes even further, removing the Ethernet jack (a USB-to-Ethernet adaptor will run you $29) and offloading video output to a pair of included dongles (one VGA, one DVI).

If you live on Wi-Fi hot spots, use Bluetooth for your external mouse, and only need a USB port to occasionally sync and charge your iPod or iPhone, these limitations may not be a deal-breaker for you.

While most hardware vendors offer a choice of mobile broadband options, Apple continues to offer none, which is disappointing for a system so clearly meant for life away from home and office.

Without an Express card slot, your only option would be a USB mobile broadband modem, but with the sole USB jack under a tiny flap on the right side of the system with limited clearance, you may need a small USB extension cable to get a bulky USB mobile broadband modem connected (similar to the problems people had with the iPhone's recessed headphone jack).

While the 80GB hard drive included in the base $1,799 model may be smaller than you're used to, the only other option is a 64GB solid state hard drive. With no moving parts, and advantages in heat, power consumption, and reliability, SSD hard drives are certainly the way of the future.

Well you're going to have to be more specific on 'creative purposes.' If you mean heavy-duty photo or video editing (like that done with Photoshop or Final Cut), then neither will really fit the bill. You'd want something with a dedicated graphics chip, like the MacBook Pro, which you'd be able to snag for just $200 more than the Air.

However, if by 'creative purposes' you mean light-duty work, like that done on iPhoto or iMovie/iDVD, then you're comparison is legitimate.

What is 'better' ultimately boils down to your needs and special circumstances. You already mentioned that you travel frequently. That makes you a prime candidate for the Air. Then you mentioned you think either one is portable, which then negates the primary 'stand-out' feature of the Air.

If you really think either one's as portable as the other, then really, there's no question about it, just get the MacBook. Especially considering they just bumped up the specs to newer, better, slightly faster, but more importantly, less energy consuming (more battery life!) and less heat dissipating (more cool!) Intel Penryn CPUs, the MacBook is the obvious choice.

The Air's biggest feature is it's extreme portability, not much else. There's really NOTHING else that it offers. Sure the backlit keyboard is cool, but we both know it's not going to boil down to that. If you said you were going to do some document editing, web browsing, and email work, the Air would fit the bill perfectly. But you mentioned some 'creative' stuff, which the Air WILL get bogged down in. Make no mistake about it. It may be able to handle the task just 'alright' but when stacked against the new MacBook (That's cheaper, and to you, just as 'portable') it's going to be left way behind.

Don't forget that the Air doesn't use Intel's latest Penryn chips, but rather, a special shrunk-down version of Intel's old chips, which aren't that much slower, but it's still not the "latest and greatest."

I've personally tried out an Air and have to say for it's little 1.6GHz CPU, it does operate quite smoothly. But there's just too many compromises that a normal day-to-day laptop user couldn't really stand to tolerate. If this was to be your 2nd or 3rd laptop (not desktop), then I'd say the Air would be fine. But if it's for primary use, don't even think twice.

Air books are great if you travel,and need to carry one because they are light but a Macbook would be a wiser investment for two reasons, first, the Macbook air starts out around 1700 and a macbook start out at 1000 so you can get a better computer, and what you want on it by starting with the mac book. also, the macbook airs are new, and being so, there are going to be some glitches with it.

Stick to the MacBook.

I say go for the macbook, you get a bigger bang for your buck (computer speed and HDD storage space).

I'm not sure what kind of creative work you are doing, but if you're leaning towards the air, i say spend the extra $200 and go for the macbook pro.

If you're doing graphic design work, i definitely recommend the pro over the 2 models because you get a higher resolution and a bigger screen size, plus the ability to hook it up to an external monitor which extends your desktop space. I do a lot of design work, and trust me, your eyes will thank you.

The air is not a bad computer, its just that not having an optical drive can be a handicap. For traveling and general use purposes, the regular macbook isn't all that heavy and cumbersome to begin with. Go for the macbook.

Definitely the MacBook. As with anything new that comes out, you may want to wait until it's been on the market for a while until they get all of the bugs out (although Mac has some of the best customer loyalty anywhere). You also get sooo much more for your money with a regular MacBook.

macbook....i consider a macbook air a giant pocket pc..lol if that even makes sense...it has no cd drive...no removable battery...its only feature is its light and sleek design. if you are looking for performance, longer battery life then macbook. macbook air is highly portable but who says macbook isnt?

mmm the mac powerbook G4 is good as well, its portable too.

as for the mac air, your paying so much money for a laptop so small and can break easily.

so, if your budgeting get the powerbook g4, if your not get the mac air.

i think the mac air is a waste of money cuz of its size

Generally the plain macbook runs way better. I don't suggest you buy macbooks because they suck.

Plain Macbook; you get more bang for the buck.

Please don't get the MacBook Air. Please.