Just to prove that I don’t just rave about Mac’s and slag off Windows, this post is about Apple’s latest treat - The MacBook Air. Apple is back at doing what it does best. Marketing a product that isn’t that great, so well that you feel you can’t live without it (iPhone, iPod Touch).

I’ve decided to gloss over the good points in favour of the bad.

After purchasing a MBP last year, I was jealous to hear that a newer and sexier model was out. The jealousy soon turned into glee as I read the specs.

However Apple may like to jazz it up, the MBA (MacBook Air) is crap. As a mobile machine, carrying an external drive, usb hub and god knows what other peripherals around is just silly. The lack of an optical drive Apple says is due to the fact that you can download your Movies right from iTunes. But what if I need to rip a CD or burn a DVD when I forget to take my external drive with me?

What if I want to use my Mighty Mouse, and my USB stick at the same time?

What happens when I decide I need a boost of Ram or increased HDD?

Apple has created a wonderful machine, but it’s only good if you already own a desktop Mac. My point is that if you would use a desktop and notebook, then your the type of user that demands a higher spec than the MBA currently offers.

Saying that, with the lack of peripherals it will still run better than any Vista based machine!!

Want to use your new MacBook in clamshell mode, but don’t have an external keyboard and mouse?I figured this out last night. Don’t know if this is a known thing or not, but I was pretty psyched about it.

If you want to use an external monitor with your MacBook in “clamshell” mode, but don’t have the peripherals, here’s what to do:

1. With your MacBook on and running, plug in your external monitor and turn it on (if the monitor isn’t already on).

2. Depending on the way you have your display prefs set, you’ll either be in mirror mode or extended desktop mode. If in extended desktop mode, change to mirror mode. If in mirror mode, keep it that way.

3. Close your MacBook. The whole system (including external display will go to sleep).

4. Take any kind of USB device and plug it into the MacBook (I used an external media card reader).

5. This will wake up the external monitor and the MacBook. You should have your desktop displayed on your external monitor at it’s full resolution (as long as it’s equal to or less than the MacBook’s highest achievable resolution - I think).

6. Now, you don’t have an external keyboard and mouse, so how do you control the MacBook?

7. Well, just open the MacBook up now. The screen will stay off (and it is off, not just dimmed), but the MacBook’s keyboard and trackpad will be fully functional, controlling the pointer on the external monitor’s desktop!