"There‘s something in the air . . .Thinnovation . . .Sexy . . .Too expensive . . .An optical drive to  few . . .Pointless." There are many ways to describe Apple`s new  MacBook Air. I too have something that comes to mind: "Just what I  need!"  The MacBook Air is exactly what I‘ve been looking for in a  notebook. I will admit, there are a few things I miss, but that  is why I still have a desktop computer. There is no cd, there is only  one usb port, and no accessible battery.

Of course, you‘ve heard the rumors, the MacBook Air does *not* have a  cd drive. But then again, technically it does. I‘ve already watched  a DVD on my Air. No, I didn‘t have Apple‘s external cd drive plugged  in. I used the optical drive from a MacBook, and even from an HP laptop running Vista, and it was amazing. The best part was I didn‘t  have to worry about scratching the DVD if I moved the Air. Current  MacBook owners know that one should not tilt the MacBook when a cd is  in the drive, otherwise there is a good chance that some strange  noises will come from the drive.   

The Air is completely sealed up. The battery is not easily  accessible, nor is the RAM. But then again, there are not hundreds of  Apple users who upgrade RAM and change out the battery. The amount of RAM in the Air is already sufficient, and I do not see myself  needing to upgrade anytime soon. I admit, the hard drive is a little small. I‘m used to having my entire iTunes library on my hard drive, all 40GB, but that is not possible. Apple gives two options for the  hard drive, an 80GB HDD drive, or a 64GB SSD (currently the largest 1.8-Inch SSD available, for under $1000). When prices eventually fall, and the capacity increases, I will upgrade my hard drive. iFixit.com has already posted instructions on how to open the Air and replace items such as the hard drive and battery. So contrary  to popular belief, the Air is upgradable.

Also contrary to popular belief is how fragile the Air really is. I  used a 15“ PowerBook in the past, as well as a 17“. Neither seemed  that sturdy, and you could easily bend the screen and leave it  permanently bent. The Air takes a little more effort; however, don‘t  ask me how much! It also stands up to more pressure on the back of  the screen than the old PowerBooks. I do not have a MacBook Pro so I cannot make that comparison.  

So why did I buy my MacBook Air? Because I needed a laptop that I could keep with me. I rarely use CDs. I don‘t need the fastest  processor out there. And I don‘t use a ton of USB devices at once. And just having an illuminated keyboard is pretty awesome. I did pay  a fair amount for the MacBook Air, but it was worth it. If you don‘t  have a laptop that fits you, it‘s just a computer with a big battery.