MacBook Air hack unearths more relatively inaccessible USB connectors
By Darren Murph 
posted March 22nd 2008 3:02PM
posted March 22nd 2008 3:02PM
[Via TUAW]
posted March 22nd 2008 3:02PM
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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.