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THE race
to build the world’s most portable laptop can get
ridiculous. Companies will build computers that fit on
one knee, with screens little bigger than an iPhone’s—all
for the sake of having the “world’s smallest laptop.”
For most
users, the contest can seem irrelevant. They don’t lug
laptops through airports for a living; why not focus on
simpler criteria, like price and screen size?
But even
people who rarely roam with their laptops have reason to
follow developments at the ultra-light end of the scale.
That’s where you can spot the future of computing.
Want to
see what features might vanish from next year’s laptops?
Take note of what designers leave out to shave a few
ounces. Curious about what new technologies will show up
in bigger computers? See what high-performance
components manufacturers include to stretch out battery
life.
With the
new MacBook Air, Apple has sketched out a sleek, stark
vision of tomorrow’s computer.
This
$1,799, three-pound machine, which is only about
three-quarters of an inch at its thickest point, leaves
out many of the standard ingredients of a portable
computer.
The DVD
drive, the Ethernet port that links to wired networks,
the card slot for a wireless modem—they’re all gone. The
usual lineup of ports and plugs has been pruned to a
headphone jack, a USB port and a digital-video
connector.
(The Air
does, however, feature two extras absent from many
competitors: Bluetooth wireless and a built-in webcam.)
Although
add-on parts such as Apple’s $29 Ethernet adapter and
$99 CD/DVD burner can replace some of these missing
ingredients, it’s clear that Apple built this Mac to
live wirelessly.
If you
have WiFi at home, at work and in between, the MacBook
Air can make for a good second computer that you can
tote anywhere. (It’s not the best primary computer
because its 80-gigabyte hard drive fills up quickly.)
The Air supports the fastest-version WiFi available,
802.11n, and carrying it causes no strain.
But
unlike other ultra-lights, the MacBook Air includes a
full-size keyboard and 13.3-inch screen to match those
on Apple’s mainstream MacBook. The Air’s keys also
include the clever backlighting of the high-end MacBook
Pro. Its iPhone-like touchpad allows “multitouch”
gestures, such as spreading two fingers apart to magnify
text on a web page.
The
Air’s battery won’t make it through a cross-country
flight, but should suffice for most uses. In playing a
loop of digital music in iTunes while reloading a web
page every few minutes, the battery ran for just over
four-and-a-half hours.
Apple
says a battery replacement costs $129 and can be done at
one of its stores while you wait.
Most
laptop users, however, regularly fall back to wired
networking. And on the Air, Ethernet access will tie up
the USB port and force awkward choices such as: “Do I
stay online or sync my iPod?”
The
Air’s lack of a DVD drive can be limiting. Apple
provides Remote Disc software that, when installed on
nearby Mac or PC, should let the Air borrow that other
machine’s drive. But it often served up errors instead
of CDs or DVDs.
Software
discs usually worked, allowing me to install Microsoft
Office 2008. But DVD movies wouldn’t run, owing to their
copyright controls. Attempts to play music CDs prompted
a response that “the original item for ‘Audio CD’ cannot
be found.”
That’s
not to say that finding the optimum balance of cost,
features, weight and size in an ultra-light laptop is
easy. I’ve yet to find a Windows portable that nails
this formula, either, despite a lot of clever work by
such manufacturers as Fujitsu, Lenovo, Panasonic and
Sony.
Consider
one of the latest contenders in this area, Toshiba’s
$2,149 Portege R500-S5002. By some measures, it looks
better than the Air. It packs a DVD burner, 50-percent
more hard drive space, two more USB ports, SD Card and
PC Card slots, wireless and wired networking—but still
weighs less than the Air, at only 2.4 pounds.
The R500
also feels flimsier than the Air. The DVD drive’s tray
looks like it will snap off—and, in fact, didn’t work on
one of the two units I tested. Its screen and keyboard
are smaller. With half as much memory as the Air’s two
gigabytes, it ran sluggishly. It also got notably hotter
than the barely lukewarm Air. The R500 fares worse
because of its operating system: Windows Vista can’t
match Mac OS X’s simplicity and reliability. Combining
Apple’s software with Toshiba’s hardware might work, but
such a hybrid won’t arrive in stores anytime soon. So
what will happen first? Will Apple craft a more capable
Air, even if it must yield on its goal of building the
world’s thinnest laptop? Or will Microsoft ship an
easier, sturdier Windows?
We may
still be waiting for the “perfect” little laptop a year
from now. But at least our regular laptops may get a
little smarter, if not lighter, from this
experimentation. |
