Unfortunately, Apple's MacBook Air still only arrives with a
lone USB port. Save for using a dongle / hub, there's really been no other way to connect a bevy of USB peripherals to the lappie -- until now. Thanks to a curious hacker with a thing for perusing microchip documentation, he discovered that the internal ICH-8 southbridge chip actually has five low-speed and two high-speed USB controllers. After rolling up his sleeves and finding the correct pins, he was actually able to make the partially exposed MBA recognize and talk nice to a USB flash drive. We know, you USB-lovin' Air owners are already dreaming up ways to add new ports to your slim slab of aluminum, so head on down to the read link if you're ready to work (hard).
[Via
TUAW]
posted Mar 22nd 2008 3:02PM
Or buy an X300
Agreed. This has to be the single lamest way to spend your time I have ever seen (aside from playing World of WarCraft or something). If you are that desperate for more USB ports, odds are you didn't even CONSIDER the MBA as an option when purchasing your laptop. So to you, Mr. "hacker with a thing for perusing microchip documentation," with this much attention to detail surely you can find something more useful to put your skills to.
...or buy a regular MacBook - half an inch thicker (boofuckinghoo) then the MBA but w/ ports and costing almost 2x less
But does a regular MacBook fit in a manila envelope? That to me is very important.
Pffft...I only buy laptops that can fit into a standard envelope.
I dunno... I like laptops that don't look like I could accidentally snap them in half.
Chebwa is the sex boy of sex!
Cool beans.
My fellow Mac users, get ready for the Hate-On-The-MacBook-Air-circle-jerk. Watch out for the flying.... uh, well, you know. After all, Mac users are 100 percent gay.
Hey Clak, pass over some of whatever you are smoking this afternoon.
"Mac users are 100 percent gay."
GASP! A mac user itself admits it! I can't say anything...
(/s)
Oh, well, we penguins are like 50% asexual...
I tell you though, if ISA's were women, our kernel would be one heck of a player.
It's funny because I actually know 3 gay gfx designers who use Macs. However, most Mac users I know aren't gay. Not that actually *means* anything - Aguiluz, grow up, just a little. Please.
Actually, my girlfriend's gay friends either owns a Mac or would like to get one. I wouldn't be surprise if the majority of gay population prefers a stylish Mac over ugly PC box.
(After reading half the comments here, NOTHING to do with USB on a MBA and the war between clak & Common Sense)
Damn it Engadget look what you've done!
Not all mac owners are gay, but all gays are mac owners.
Just like an iphone, you need to hack or mod it to make it useful
Yes, because being able to make calls, send e-mail, get on the real internet, look at pictures, play music, videos, YouTube, and plot destinations and locations on Google Maps is NOT useful to normal people. Because normal people need the same thing geeks needs, which means everything in the known universe. Yes, you're exactly right.
Even Chris Pirillo, the biggest geek on the planet said, "I don't need to jailbreak my iPhone. If I can make calls and send e-mail, I'm good...." Oh wait, maybe he isn't the best example.
LMAO! Apple it just works...
when you hack it :)
Hey Clak, my BB Pearl, that I bought for 80 bucks used, can do that too.
@clak:
Me? Get on the "real" internet on an iPhone? Yeah, I'd prefer to go on the internet on my laptop (14.1" screen, full KB and mouse) rather than on an iPhone (3.5" screen, hard text input).
Aguiluz, so does your 14" laptop fit in your pocket? Did it cost $399? Come on man, you are so full of nonsense for trying to compare a smartphone/iPod to a computer.
Oh, durr durr, my Thinkpad is pretty fast but the IBM Blue Gene/L is faster...durr durr. Yes, a supercomputer funded by the government and developed with LLNL will be faster than a laptop...which, having a large screen and faster processor among other things, is more functional than an iPhone.
It's also more expensive and bigger...seriously man, give it a break.
Za, It *actually* cost me $399.
(Acer Aspire 3050-1092)
@ Za
I remember a post about an IBM computer imitating a mouse's brain at -45x the speed of normal. Then I remembered all of the silly 'Can it play Doom' comments, then wondered if it runs on Leopard, Vista or something IBM made themselves.
But yeah, if USB ports were your main concern, you wouldn't be considering an MBA
Very nicely played, Aguiluz. I would be lying if I said that response didn't bring a smile to my face. And that is the joy of having competition in the marketplace which Windows/Linux allow for. On the flipside, because the OS is required to support so many more hardware configurations, it can't be as streamlined as an OS specific to a limited set of hardware. You can compare Windows and Mac OSX in this regards, but I was thinking of something more fun, like SunOS/Solaris on SPARC hardware.
Of course, someone buying a low-end Acer would be buying for straight up function without much attention to the form. I sold Acers/HPs/Gateways/Sonys/Toshibas at a brick and mortar store for a while and I can assure all of you that the return/failure rates on the Acers were pretty much identical to anything but the HPs, which we got back more often than any other. The HPs and Sonys definitely looked the best though, with the Acers bringing up the rear. Substance over style is better though than the other way around.
@Za
my EeePc does fit in my pockets. It surfs the web better than my friends Iphone, it can play games, and holds a lot more music than the iphone. and it can make phone calls with Skype. all for the same price as the iphone.
yeah its kind of like a genious kid that lives in the projects.
all it takes is someone from outside his neighborhood to show him his potential
Whats with people and hacking/moding apple stuff, if they just added everything in the first place they wouldn't have to do this.
Yeah, I agree with you 100 percent. When I was a Windows users, I never had to add RAM to get Windows to run smoothly or install USB PCI cards or upgrade my video card or play around with the registry or install Anti-Virus software or overclock my processor to get 60 FPS in games or download drivers for anything. PCs come out the oven perfect, so what's Apple's problem?
Clak-
Some PCs do come with everything you need. Some don't. At least with them you have a choice...Microsoft doesn't restrict their OS to their own hardware.
@clak
Nobody NEEDS to overclock a processor - EVER. That's for the truly hardcore.
And on top of that, everything you just mentioned is exactly Chris's point. You didn't HACK your system. You bought an upgrade, plugged it in, and enjoyed the benefits. If anything you've just proven him right.
clak, I don't think a pci card is inline with hacking a device.
@Kamokazi
Preach on, brother, preach on. Isn't it sad? You know, there used to be a time when you could go to Apple's web site and configure your computer according to RAM, hard drive size, video cards, processor speeds and install Windows and Linux using Boot Camp. But now, the only choices you have for say, buying a laptop from Apple is the MacBook Air. Apple no longer sells the MacBook Pro or the MacBook, you know, those extinct laptops that had optical drives, firewire, USB ports and ethernet ports galore.
Apple only sells the MacBook Air and that's just insane. I feel sorry for all my fellow Mac users. They really just have no choice, but to buy the MBA. In fact, Congress passed a law making it illegal for Apple users to use anything but the MacBook Air. The police are coming over to my house today to confiscate my Mac Pro. Woe is me!
Like I said above in the 3rd post from the top, CLAK, PASS OVER SOME OF THAT GOOD ISH THIS WAY BRUTHA!
Clak, I want a notebook that runs OS X and has an 8800M GT or maybe an nVidia Quadro. Oh, I see. Not an option (unless you resort to illegal and very bass-ackward methods, which of course beats the out of the box point anyway).
man clak is annoying...why u gotsta be pickin fights?
@Kamokazi
Yes, yes, isn't this a tragedy. Apple used to sell a version of the MacBook Pro with the NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT, but as I stated before, Apple users can only use the MacBook Air now. In fact, when I bought my Mac Pro, Apple offered the ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB, and the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB and the NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 1.5GB, but as you know, the police will confiscate my computer today, so I'm completely screwed. No more expensive video cards for me.
In fact, as a Mac user, I can't even use Boot Camp to play games in Windows! I can't even buy a PC and use it exclusively as a gaming machine! Congress passed laws about this too! I want a PS3 when Metal Gear Solid 4 and Grand Theft Auto IV come out, but as an Apple user, I'm bound by law to the MacBook Air! This world is totally insane! Please write your Congressman and help a brother out!
so he wired up some connections to already existing ports on the southbridge controller. this is hacking? sounds like he just enabled what was already there but due to trendy packaging wasn't available.
@Clak
There is virtually next to zero freedom of picking up specific parts for anything Apple. I am considering on buying two iMacs in the close future for me and my partner. However the only offering of ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT (128MB) and Radeon HD 2600 PRO (256MB) is what is stopping me. And if future iMacs wont give me the option to pick another "better" GFX card I simply wont buy it.
Granted the iMac isn't a working horse machine, but with the CPUs and RAM upgrades you can have it surely could do with a lot better graphics card and you could actually get some semi demanding work done with them.
Even the Mac PRO is pretty limited in this department, but I guess it's less of a problem to replace stuff there as it is in an iMac. You have no control over what RAM, HDD and other stuff goes into those boxes which is, in todays times, kind of sad.
I want a Mac, but I don't want Apple to tell me what parts are best for me or what parts I want in my Mac. I want to chose it myself and let them build it. Granted there are certain limitations cause of their design and what not, but they need to open up a bit in that department.
You know what's really crazy! I checked Apple's web site and they're still offering all those expensive video cards, even though Congress has made it illegal! Don't believe me, you can go and see here:
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/91054001/wo/vF5Fbvggf1bN2ANHEw52i5x9I5N/3.?p=0
They still have the page up for the MacBook Pro. Why is Apple taunting me!
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?nnmm=browse&node=home/shop_mac/family/macbook_pro
8800M is not the same as a 8600M, not by a longshot. And why should I have to own two computers to do what I want? Maybe I like to do 3D modeling or CAD and not just play games, eh?
Maybe I want a built-in broadband card, or Blu-Ray, or biometrics, etc....the point is you're stuck with what Apple gives you if you want to use OSX (legally and without hacking crap).
And since you just posted the link to the Mac Pro, we're talking laptop hardware here. And even with the Mac Pro, you're still limited (and paying way too much on top of it).
@FTY
You know, FTY, you're exactly right. When I was still running my G5, I wanted a bigger hard drive and the only place I could get one was on Pricewatch and NewEgg.com. While virtually any SATA hard drive will work on a G5 or a Mac Pro, I just still felt unfairly limited having to choose SATA, when what I really wanted was the older parallel ATA.
And then I was dismayed to find out that I didn't have to buy my RAM from Apple. I actually paid less than Apple would have charged me by going to this God forsaken site: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Mac-Pro-Memory
It just isn't fair. I shouldn't be able to get my Mac Pro hard drives and RAM upgrades from anyone but Apple, but that's how controlling Apple is. You HAVE to use the standards that they created. I mean, SATA, who the hell wants to use that crap! It's so obsolete.
@Kamokazi
Yeah, Apple is so expensive! Preach on, brother. Before I bought my Mac Pro (that the police will confiscate today), I priced out a Dell XPS 720 and a HP Blackbird with the same specs. This is what I came up with.
Dell XPS 720
2.93 GHz Intel Quad Core
Vista Ultimate
2 GB RAM
500 GB hard drive 7200 RPM
CD/DVD Double Layer Drive
nVidia GeForce 8800 GT 512MB
Price: $3,529.00
Mac Pro
2.8 GHz Intel Quad Core
OS X
2 GB RAM
500 GB hard drive 7200 RPM
Double-Layer SuperDrive
nVidia GeForce 8800 GT 512MB
Price: $2,599.00
(Note: Apple's default model is a 2.8 GHz 8-CORE model, but there is an option for a 2.8 GHz QUAD model for $500 less if you go to the configuration page on Apple's web site.)
HP Blackbird
2.93 GHz Intel Quad Core
Vista Ultimate
2 GB RAM
500 GB hard drive 7200 RPM
Super Multi-drive
nVidia GeForce 8800 GT 512MB
Price: $3,540.00
Can you believe this crap! Apple was only $1000 dollars cheaper! What a rip off!
That's funny, my Mac Pro cost me less than $1000 and has 2.8 TB of hard drive space, 8 GB of RAM, a 3.0 GHZ quad core processor, and an 8800GT video card.
Considering octocore systems haven't thus far really provided much of an advantage (or anywhere even close to 100% performance scaling) to the two flagship Apple exclusive products (FCP and Logic Studio), you certainly got quite the deal Clak!
Don't you get tired of being so baselessly smug and making other Apple lovers look bad?
@eggothewaffle (nice name. very catchy)
Why are you guys calling me smug? Apple has raped me and is forcing me to use the MacBook Air and yet, you guys are acting as if I'm like, being sarcastic or something. If you haven't noticed, I'm agreeing with you! Apple is the devil. Steve Jobs is the Anti-Christ and eats kittens for breakfast. No doubt Apple will be coming to your house and forcing you to buy a MacBook Air.
Call your Congressmen before it's too late!
Why are you still trying to belabor such a useless point? Like other Mac lovers have pointed out, you're making them (and even me) look bad.
Clak, if you fell down the stairs or had a heart attack no one would miss you.
to summarize: pcs have more options, macs have spotty config options, and you're making some random non sensible argument about something, like everyone else just doesn't get it but you do. or like you're funny, but you're not.
just move along.
Clak = Troll
Okay, okay, I've had enough, PC people. You win. I will act inferior from now on, okay? Happy? I'll dump my Mac for a PC and install Vista and viruses and the Zune marketplace. I won't be a sheep anymore. From this day forward, I'll be one of the underdogs with ninety percent market share. Yes, I will download WMA music and Xvid and FLAC and Vorbis for no particular reason at all. I'll be sure and run Windows Geniune Advantage every chance I get and return my multiple Xboxes as they get the Red Rings of Death, happily and without complaint.
And you know why? No one has a right to buy expensive gadgets or computers and feel good about it. In fact, I will petition BMW to stop making cars and for Rolex to stop making watches and Versace to stop making clothes. Hell, First Class can kiss my ass. I'm riding Coach from now on. And I'm moving to the Ghetto. And buying some crack. And I'm giving away my pony. No one deserves a pony.
Happy now?
Are you done trolling now?
I really shouldn't have clicked to get an email when someone replies to my comment, seriously I got 23 emails in an hour.
@Chris, with all due respect: You're an idiot.
INTARWEB WARS!!!
@Clak
im not sure where you got your $ amount for the DELL system you spec'd. but i did the exact same config (based on the parts you listed) and its $100 LESS from dell, not $1000 MORE. i couldnt confirm your $ amount on the blackbird, because i dont know how you got a 2.93 ghz quadcore from HP, when it isnt even offered (however, if you include a 3.0ghz Intel quadcore, then the $ amount goes WAY up. HP overprices for some reason). epic fail for you.
Hey Clak, this is a System I put together.
3.6 GHz Intel Quad Core
Windows XP AND Mac OSX Leopard
2 GB RAM
500 GB hard drive 7200 RPM
CD/DVD Double Layer Drive
nVidia GeForce 8800 GT 512MB
Corsair 650TX
Thermaltake Armor Full Tower Case
Guess how much this will cost me? 1000 bucks. Beat THAT.
@sjdurfey
Well, now, funny how prices change in the two months since I got my Mac Pro (too bad the police took it back yesterday). I guess Congress forced Dell to finally lower their prices, so that us poor Mac users, who HAVE to use the MacBook Air, will be even more tortured about not being able to buy a "high quality" Dell computer that's 100 dollars less. A whole 100 dollars! Oh the agony! Like I could buy a new version of Norton to kill those viruses on my new Dell PC, if I was allowed to buy a Dell PC, which I'm not since Congress passed that law.
(Of course I did a price comparison and the Dell was still 100 dollars more, but that would just make you look like you were lying or something, so we just won't go there, okay. I won't tell anyone your secret. Trust me.)
But any hoo, about this Blackbird thing. Funny how HP offered a 2.93 GHz processor when they released the Blackbird back in September. I guess they're trying to make me look crazy.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01318219&lc=en&cc=us&lang=&dlc=en&product=3643454
It's so nice to know that the PC users have so many choices that never change.
@Abuzar
As you know, Abu... Abu... is that name even real? Anyway, Mr. Strange name, I'm happy you can build a computer for 1000 bucks without providing any proof whatsoever. If I were allowed to buy a Mac Pro, this is the system I would put together:
75.8 GHz Intel Quadruple Core
Mac OS XI Lions, Tigers and Bears, Oh My, version 8.4
Windows 7 Vienna (it finally got released after a 30 year delay)
512 GB RAM
70 TB hard drive 1200 RPM
Blu Ray Triple High Def (it's from the future)
nVidia GeForce 8800 GT 512MB (Apple still behind with the video cards, damn)
Guess how much this would cost me if Congress allowed me to buy anything but the MacBook Air? 20 bucks. Can you believe that! It's so easy to give insane prices without providing any proof whatsoever.
But I know what you're thinking: "but.... but... Clak, PCs are so much better 'cause like 95 percent of people have the ability to build their own computers. Like only 5 percent of people actually go into Best Buy and buy a computer off the shelf."
Yes, Abu... Abu... Mr. Crazy name, you're right, most people build their own computers. That's why HP and Dell and Apple are on the verge of bankruptcy and why Best Buy keeps shrinking their Apple inventory. Did I say shrink, I meant, expand. Expand. Yeah, I'm so happy my sixty year old Mother can buy a bunch hardware off the web for $1000 and then pay Microsoft another 250 dollars for the functional version of Vista and pay for another 400 dollars to get a new version of Office. Microsoft! What a nice company!
Jesus Tapdancing Christ, the internet really *is* serious business!
Though, Clak, you really are a prick. Stop being such a troll.
Stop trolling you idiot. It's not my fault your Granny can't build a computer, mine certainly can.
Q6600 w/Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro(Cost me 245 from eBay) OC to 3.6 without any problems
Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3R(130 at newegg)
Crucial Ballistix Tracers 2GB(29 at newegg)
Seagate SATA 500GB HDD(100 at newegg)
8800GT(190 at newegg)
Antec 900(90 Bucks at newegg)
Corsair 650TX PSU(88 at Buy.com)
Lite-On DVD Burner(35 at newegg)
Comes out to 907 Bucks. All the prices include Shipping and handling. Windows XP and Mac OSX can be had for free. Both will work perfectly with that setup.
Now stop trolling, go in a corner, and DIE. My name is Arabic in origin by the way.
@Abuzar
Wow, your name is Arabic. I thought you were related to that Indian guy from The Simpsons.
But heres, the thing, Abu. What if I don't want to steal Windows or more importantly, what if this is my first computer and I don't have a computer where I can go online and download it from a peer-to-peer? As you know, Congress outlawed my Mac Pro and there's no Wifi where I live (for my wireless MBA), so how does a poor guy like me, who's starting with a clean slate, get Windows?
Oh, borrow a disk from someone? But what if I don't have any friends? You see, the only way you can say that custom built PCs are the cheaper alternative, is if a guy who walks off the street can get it cheap, just as if he were walking into the Apple Store. But now you're saying to me, no, Mr. Clak, you can't walk off the street and just buy the cheap PC. The cheap PC must be bought off a web site. But then I have to ask, Abu, to buy the parts off the web site, don't I have to have a computer first and maybe an internet connection?
So you're stumped for a moment before saying, "go forth to Kinko's, my son" with a song of triumph in your voice. But I have to pay for Kinko's, don't I? You lay your hand on my shoulder like a father would do to his child and say, "but that's the price for getting the cheap PC" and I say okay and I go to Kinko's, paying 12 dollars an hour for access to the internet. So now I'm on the internet, but I don't know where to go and you tell me, after I've wasted an hour paying Kinko's for internet access, to go to New Egg.com. So I go to NewEgg.com and buy all this stuff and I wait for it to arrive in the mail. And by the way, shipping alone costs me an extra $50.
So I'm looking at all these computer parts and I have no idea how to put it together because like, I've never had a computer before. So then you say, take a class and learn, so I enroll in a class and it costs $500 (just to be fair). So that's $500 more dollars to add to the cost of the cheap PC. Now I put together the new computer and I'm all happy at the accomplishment, but when it comes time to turn it on, I realize that I don't have a monitor or a keyboard or even this thing people call a mouse.
So I travel to Best Buy and I buy the cheapest piece of shit monitor they have (after all this is CHEAP PC) as well as the cheapest piece of shit keyboard and mouse from Logitech, which turns out to be another $300 dollars. I get home all excited, but when I reach to turn cheap PC on for the second time, I realize I don't have an operating system.
Okay, so I go out and buy an operating system from Best Buy and it costs $250 for Vista Ultimatte. I install it and I'm so happy that I finally have my new cheap PC. I start jumping around the OS, looking at shiny translucent windows, marveling at Flip3D and wishing I had some porn. So I download some porn and I'm so happy that Internet Explorer is the one thing that IS free, that I open up Wordpad to write you a letter about it. But then I realize, Wordpad is a piece of shit and that I just spent ($12+$1000+$500+$50+300+250= $2112) major bucks on a computer with no programs.
So I go back to Best Buy looking for Microsoft Office because that's what everyone else has and it's $400 freaking dollars! But what happened to the bundle I was going to save by buying the cheap PC? Certainly Mr. Abu wouldn't have lied to me! So I pay for Office and I get back home and discover in my haste, that my computer has crashed and has an unrecoverable error. Although I was careful enough to wear a Anti-Static strap while putting together the cheap PC, It turns out that I accidentally dripped sweat on the open motherboard while connecting the cables.
So I disassemble the case and ship the motherboard back to the manufacturer, which is covered under warranty. The part arrives back two weeks later, but when I connect everything, nothing works. Turns out, my motherboard and hard drive were ACTUALLY shorted out during a lightning storm and that the instructor in my computer class failed to tell me about this little thing called a surge protector.
So I go back to Best Buy and buy the surge protector for $30 and I get all happy when I get home and see my cheap PC, laying on the floor waiting for me (Hey, the cheap PC doesn't come with a table or chair, this is the CHEAP PC). It only cost me $2112 for training and parts and another $430 for a surge protector and programs to make it work, but that's okay, because I'm just happy to have the Cheap PC.
So I get on the phone to tell you how happy I am and about all the money I saved and about the porn I downloaded and I hear nothing but static on the other end of line. "What's wrong, Mr. Abu, aren't you happy for me?"
"But Clak," you ask, "You mean to tell me that you downloaded PORN without Virus protection?"
@Abuzar I wish my Granny would build me a computer instead of making me sweaters.
I don't think many who just spent more than $1700 on an Air is up to do this kind of mod b/c it can ruin the one strongest thing the Air has going for it: aesthetics. Besides didn't everyone who defended it say that it didn't NEED more than one USB port?
Hey Jake - I'm the guy who did this. I also made a carbon fiber back for my Air, which I like, but lots of other people hated. So, I guess I've messed up the aesthetics already :-) I'm fine with only one USB port - I just want to add an internal SD Card reader so I don't have to mess with cables and/or external adapters. 99% of the time my USB port will be empty - my mouse and external back-up hard drives are all wireless. Now if my digital camera was wireless, it would be perfect! (no, I haven't tried the eye-fi yet).
There are a couple of things pointed out in the full article that should be mentioned.
1) there's no 5V power supply for these extra ports, so you have to supply your own 5V and ground.
2)The only pins he was able to access were the low speed pins on the controller, which isn't very useful unless you just need to plug in a mouse, and who would do that and give up the awesome functionality of the massive trackpad on the Air. ;)
I agree. This is an impressive mod in its own right (I suppose), but not especially useful.
And, as another poster above pointed out: This would completely destroy the vaunted aesthetics of the Air, which is the whole reason for its exorbitant cost in the first place.
Props to the modder though. He has much more patience (and disregard for money, apparently) than I.
Great... just when you thought the MBA had no useless crap built into it someone goes and finds this. I bet they could have shaved nigh a 100th of an ounce of that thing if they woulda left it out.
If you're a MacBook Air owner fishing for more USB ports then you have bought the wrong laptop, haven't you?
if you're a windows user,
you have bought the wrong os, haven't you?
If you're a MacBook Air owner ------- --- ---- --- ----- then you have bought the wrong laptop, haven't you?
why?
if you do your research there would be no reason not to buy a macbook air
a windows os on the other hand.... is absolute crap
"why?
if you do your research there would be no reason not to buy a macbook air"
Well.. lets see.
No removable battery... reason #1
No internal optical drive... reason #2
Only 1 USB slot... reason #3
Mag safe power... reason #4
Integrated video... reason #5
No way to watch a DVD... reason #6
These are all reasons for many people to not choose the MBA and none of those are changable options.
Jagster, you silly Windoze fanboy! Clak is *absolutely* right about there being no reason not to want an MacBook Air. Let me explain to you and perhaps persuade your poor misguided brainwashed soul!
"No removable battery... reason #1" - That's a good thing! This way you know that there is no possible way for you to mess up your laptop as it is being lovingly repaired by Apple technicians :D
"No internal optical drive... reason #2" - Oh silly Jagster! An internal optical drive is great if you want to install antivirus software, but remember that this is a Mac! It just works!
"Only 1 USB slot... reason #3" - Get a Bluetooth mouse and have you forgotten so quickly? A Mac doesn't need silly things like "peripherals;" but let me become irrationally defensive of a mod for the MacBook Air users that allows it to have more peripherals!
"Mag safe power... reason #4" - There's absolutely nothing wrong with proprietary technology! Sure you pay more, but at least you won't risk saving money by going with another company's accessory :]
"Integrated video... reason #5" - "Integrated" actually means it's better! As the Apple Store rep explained to me, imagine it being like the video card is hugging the rest of the computer. Don't you like hugs?
"No way to watch a DVD... reason #6" - DVDs? Just use iTunes; the selection is simply gigantic!
I hope that helps, Jagster :]
Clak made me cry eggothewaffle.
Can I have a hug please?
Only if you pay the overpriced OEM surcharge for integration! *mwahaha*
Sorry, guys, you've just been conned by a guy using my name. If you notice, when I post, I don't use a period (.) at the end of my name. And I tend to be more sarcastic than the impostor and capitalize my sentences and my comments are usually very, freaking long and well thought out. Okay, now that you know, carry on bashing me.
Imposters... damn them.
FFS this has nothing to do with making either a MacBook Air or an Iphone useful, quite simply it's the challenge. If you gave a man a unit that would end all wars and hunger he'd take it to bits and figure out how to mod it before telling the rest of the world!
I wonder if they are leaving themselves room for a future upgrade path.
Robert Hernreich
There's no need to write your name.
Not Robert Hernreich
nope, they stuck with that chip cos theres not enough space to fit another port in; add to the fact the chip they use is already available and losing 2mm of extra space by fitting the current chip is a perfectly acceptable trade-off instead of wasting £000's on creating a new one just for the macbook air...
You nailed it. An article about hidden, useless USB ports on a MacBookAir has turned into a "I hate Macs" rant. I guess it was an easy call. No wonder wars are so easy to start and hard to end. There is definitely a lot of pent-up anger here on Engadget.
And doing this doubles your warranty right?
doubles = invalidates*
yeah. doubles. it makes it 2 years instead of two.
instead of one. damn it.
I can't tell if that was intentional or not, but it was entertaining.
I am happy with mine just the way it is!
Martha Stewart approves.
One does not buy a MBA in order to hack it for more USB ports. It's like buying a sports car and adding rear seats in order to drive around a family of four. Mods for EeePC are better, imo, because of how much more functionality you can get out of it for a significantly lower price than the MBA.
you people are idiots
a macbook air is a UMPC, not a laptop
how many UMPC's have more than 1 USB connector?
NONE.
The eo UMPC v7110e has 2 :)
No, it really isn't. It has 2GHz of ram, 1.6GHz or 1.8GHz dual-core processor, 64 or 80GB of HDD, near-full sized keyboard, and a large screen. Now I am not saying it's good or bad but it's definitely not a UMPC because it's *almost* but not quite a full-fledged laptop. UMPCs are significantly smaller - they *never* have near-full sized keyboard and generally use Core Solo/Atom/ARM processors instead of full-on Core 2 Duo.
@Za
Where can I get this magical "2GHz" of notebook RAM?
Who are you working for? The Army? NASA? Chinese government? JAPAN?
I meant 2GB. You understood what I meant. You can laugh at me if you want. For what it's worth though, the only time I think it's acceptable to point someone's clear and apparent mistake out is if it is either completely necessary for informational clarification [which I don't think this was, since you knew what I was talking about] and when some douche goes: "You're grammar sucks", in which case the person is asking for it.
Thank you though, for your kind, thoughtful, and useful addition to a wonderfully sane, cordial, and mature thread.
Wait, you thought I was trying to be an arsehole?
I try not to, but if I came off as being one then I'm sorry. Just trying to liven up the thread.
People get too angry over these things when there are better things in life to do.
well, no its not a UMPC, because a requirement for a UMPC is that it MUST have a touch screen 7" in size. (courtesy of wikipedia) so in the end the MBA is just crap.
Anyone knows if you could just go with a $20 data plan on a iPhone?????
Apple is lame, why overhyped company that has a bunch of apple fanboys spreading FUD about microsoft and linux and telling them to switch to apple which has a glorified Linux GUI and requires everything to be micromanaaged by apple in order to fool the public that everything is easy with mac.
okay, you go use ur precious vista with its awesome UAC
Vista's UAC wasn't properly ripped off of Ubuntu. They did a lot of desperate catching up to things like compiz, but there's nothing in the end like FOSS itself.
Still, Vista is technically the most secure windows yet. ..not that that says much.