Aaugh!

Still no MacBook Air!!

99% of the free world (and even most parts of the non-free as well) believed today to be the date new MacBooks were arriving.

Nope.

Steve Jobs said OSx Lion would be coming in July to the Mac App Store, and "experts" all speculate that the MBA will be released alongside Lion simultaneously. Well, I guess we have up to another 16 days of waiting left!

Although, MIC Gadget is saying it could be as early as tomorrow!

Let the false hopes rise again!

(images from Google images)

When to buy a Mac

dealnews, a 9to5mac partner site, says that Macs become cheaper after the day (and even the same day, apparently) that they are released.

obvious blog post is obvious.

Ok, so what does this really mean? That I can buy an electronic product for less if I am willing to wait a little bit? Well, isn't that the case for all e-goods, outside of limited quantity, high demand items, especially the ones that will never again be released? The only example I can think off the top of my head is the Super Mario game for Wii that was limited edition. And we all remember the days of sky high eBay auctions for the Xbox360 and PS3.

So dealnews posts 4 examples. The MacBook Pro must have had a promo the same day they were released. Ok, I'm sure I would have been in on that one.
Next, the iMac went down $100 one week later. Well, in that case, I'm sure Apple would have (not sure if they actually did) refund the difference somehow, since it was only one week. I recall instances of Apple doing this for iPods and such.  Third example is the iPad2 dropping in price, a whopping $10!!, a little over three months after launch date. Whoo. Hoo. And the last example, which is most applicable for me, the MacBook Air, dropped what looks like $40-50 one day later, and another $100 or so about six months later.

I'm going to ignore the first three, because they seem irrelevant.
The price drop for the MBA a day later, again, I'm sure a refund/credit can easily be attained. The $140ish price drop SIX months later? Well, sure, money is money. (Obvious = obvious, again.) But I'm NOT going to wait six months to save on a "new" product, because then I get caught in a bigger predicament. Six months after a product is released, you get caught in between.

Do you get the "new" product six months after release at a discounted price and risk becoming the owner of an "old" product less than a year after the purchase? Or do you wait for the "new new" thing, and then start this cycle all over again?

Clearly, you are either in a permanent predicament (if you base your purchases according to articles like this one from dealnews), or you just go and buy what you wanna buy, when you wanna buy it.
Sure, you should be diligent and do your homework, like knowing release date cycles, but don't wait simply to save, cause then you'd just wait forever. No one wants that.

So when should you buy a Mac? When you want one.

Should I get the new MacBook Air?

I've been looking forward to getting the new MacBook Air for a while. I've wanted a sleek, portable, lightweight and attractive laptop for even longer. Ever since the days when Sony's Vaio was the only one out there. I settled on the 13" unibody aluminum MacBook when it first came out, bypassing the MBA since it lacked an optical drive and was hundreds of dollars more expensive than the MacBook.
Now that my MB is more than just a few years old and the MBA dropping to a nice $999 entry level price, I'm very intrigued. Rumor has it that it will have an even lower price point, but no one is sure that will happen for us in the US. Well, if it does, that just makes it a no-brainer, doesn't it?!

Nah, I'm just not sure if it makes enough sense. I'm not convinced that its anything more than an accessory for me at this point. Granted, I would use it more than the iPad (if I owned one), but I don't really need it, do I?

Let's see.

Pros:
- Backlit keyboard, at least according to Macrumors (my MB was one of the first ones, so it lacks the backlit keys. Grrrrrr..)
- the ultimate Ultraportable (PC World has a great piece on this new class of laptops that is to take the world by storm)
- new, so a product of envy (until it becomes "old" when the newer one comes out)
- I just love Apple product so much!

Cons:
- $1000ish out the window
- that's it.

Other factors:
- I've wanted to partake in the yearly Apple Back to School promo, where every Mac purchased nets you an iPod touch, so I waited on it. When they finally announced it this year and said that the promo is that you get a $100 iTunes/ App Store card instead, I was bummed. But that $100 GC should still net me about $70 on eBay! Plus the $50 off for the discount, that means I get a $999 MBA for around $879+ taxes/etc.
- I sold a 16GB iPad2 that I got as a gift, and intended on spending the proceeds towards another Apple product. If I don't get the MBA, it will be hard to announce that I sold a gift and simply pocketed the cash. Plus, if I don't do anything specific with the $, it will feel like I lost an iPad..
- Getting a MBA could render my current MacBook obsolete. I could just sell it though..

It really does just come down to a matter of money. Yea, the economy sucks. Yea, we're in a recession (are we? still??) Yea, saving is important. But is it SO important that I should deprive myself of a shiny new toy? I just don't know yet.

I told myself, and my lovely adorable girlfriend that I will wait for the final specs of the MBAir to come out before deciding, but I'm pretty sure I'm gonna get one no matter what. It will just be a matter of whether or not I sell my current MacBook, since having two Macs seems wasteful.

What I would REALLY love, is if the new MBA was like the Asus EEE Pad, the tablet that's also a laptop. Think: iPad with a detachable but form fitting keyboard!
O wait, that's already been done.

But maybe it will be better if it's OEM and not a third-party add-on! And I'd rather it be a MacBook that's got a touch screen with apps, rather than simply a iPod touch plus a Mario Super Mushroom. I like apps and all, but I enjoy the full functionality of a regular ol' computer.

Sigh.. Just a few more hours to go, a MacBook Air review is probably on the horizon!