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MacBook Air 2011: random notes

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macbook-air-lego-3583648
macbook-air-lego-3583648
Image by Wonderdawg777, from Flickr Creative Commons.

Mostly, I like the new MBA 2011 a lot. But two minor nags about this new machine versus its predecessor:

– It seemed, in the hand, ever so slightly heavier, so I looked at the specs, and indeed it’s 2.38 lbs, as opposed to the 2010 model which was 2.30 lbs. You wouldn’t think 0.08 lbs (a 3.4% increase)  would feel detectable, but there you have it.

– When performing an operation which maxes out the CPU, it gets super hot (at least with the 1.8 GHz Core i7 option), whereas the 2010 model (with 1.6 GHz Core 2 Duo) was never warmer than, well, warm. SMCFanControl reported the CPU at 190 degrees F at one point.

– This is more a function of Lion than then MBA 2011 per se, but there are some issues with Windows sharing. I can no longer reliably write to folders hosted on a Windows 7 computer I’ve connected to to; and if I turn on SMB sharing and connect from the Windows computer, copying files on the Windows 7 PC from a shared folder on the MBA maxes out the CPU, making the fan blow wildly and the computer get really hot. More to be looked at here…

Image by Wonderdawg777, from Flickr Creative Commons.

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