I am interested myself in seeing what the new MacBooks look like. Supposedly smaller and more rounded at the edges.

-Brian

Just curious. For those of you that say the lack of an internal optical drive was a deal-breaker. Why? Do you do multimedia production and need to burn DVDs while on the road?

I'm with Tummy. I'm on the road about 80% of the the time and I've had my MBA for about 6-7 months now, bought the optical drive for 'insurance' but haven't had a single reason to use it when traveling yet.

I currently have a Dell Latititude 410 with an external optical drive - the drive is only taken out when installing software. The tricky part is that if I am overseas and break a bluetooth dongle (or more likely forget to take one with me) then I do noeed my optical drive to install the software...

I base it on my personal experience. I used to have a 3lb subnotebook with an external optical drive, and I regretted it. Not only was it cumbersome to use the attachment, but there were several times when I was travelling without it (didn't think I'd need it) and ended up wishing I had it. One time was at a conference when they had given out software demos that I couldn't install; another time was in Japan where I had bought music CDs (unavailable in the US) that I wanted to listen to right away, but couldn't.

After a bunch of those experiences, I made sure my next subnotebook had an optical drive built in. Thanks to technological progress, it was even lighter (2.8lb) and smaller than my previous one, so I don't feel as if I gave up anything for the built-in drive.

Currently, I travel about twice per month, but I only use the optical drive on 2 or 3 trips per year. The problem is, I don't always know in advance which trips those will be! So I would either have to take it on every trip (and carry more size & weight than if it were built in to begin with) or take a chance and guess whether I'll need it on any given trip. A built-in optical drive adds slightly more bulk & weight 100% of the time, but I don't have to play guessing games about whether I'll need it or not.

I certainly can't say the same will be true for you or anybody else, but having used subnotebooks with and without built-in optical drives, I simply won't consider a subnotebook that lacks one.

i haven't needed the optical drive in my laptop for years. all my software is already installed (most of it is available online so there's even less of a need for an optical drive) and i don't need to burn a disc while travelling. anything i would bring on a cd/dvd, i copy to the hard drive. in fact, i'd love to be able to remove the existing optical drive and replace it with a second hard drive.

also, the macbook air can use a cd/dvd drive wirelessly from another computer for the rare times that it is required, even for booting.

When I was doing my Japan gig around eight years ago (same time I joined FT!) I was traveling with a Toshiba Portege sub-notebook. It had an external cd-rom and you really needed CDs in those days. I basically needed it all the time thus a real pain.

I couldn't tell you exactly when it happened, maybe 5 years ago for me, I just didn't need it for work anymore. I hear you regarding buying a unique music CD and really wanting to listen to it.

I admit to carrying the external optical drive, but it's in the 'backup' electrical bag that goes in the the checked luggage and I've yet to use it on the road. Now that I think about it, I'll be leaving it at home next trip. Worst case is I absolutely MUST have a locally attached DVD, I'm not more than 15 minutes away from an Apple dealer in most major cities and the unit's not that expensive.

Will the updated version have the same overheating problems?

That's a pretty obvious / bad question. Of course they will try to fix problems. The new computer isn't even out yet so how is anyone here suppose to know??

In the sense that the question was (I am sure) an expression of frustration with how Apple has handled the MBA heat issues to day, I think it is legitimate.

The supposed fix put in place awhile back just changed the nature of the problem. Until my first-gen MBA works as it should, I am steering people away from it.

-Brian

I have a MBA and honestly I love how small and light it is but i am a bit upset with it's performance and some lack of abilities it has. I will prob go back to a MBP (well a new one) just to get things done and working.

I've already decided to replace my Feb 08 MBA with the new version as soon as it comes out.

The Nvidia graphics should help with the heat as it now will be able to do many of the OS effects in the GPU instead of relying on the CPU. Also the new GPUs have ability to decode HD video in hardware instead of the CPU. Previously videos caused a lot of my overheat problems. The GMA3100 has been disappointing for me.

I'm also expecting a speed boost when the next OS "Snow Leopard" comes out as the GPU will support OpenCL that Apple is pushing.

I'm also looking forward to the larger 128GB SSD.

Do report how you find it. The constant kernel panics watching Flash on my current MBA are annoying, to say the least!

-Brian

Sounds like some other problem, probably software, not a MBA specific issue. They said the MBA won't be out until November, so I have a while to wait still.

Actually, it is an MBA problem, it overheats and then the kernel panics. I am waiting for the new MBAs to come out before I exchange it�it has enjoyed a shop life of nearly 1 month since I received it.

Really? So how is it you now have an answer (below?)

Thank you, that is the type of response I was trying to secure with my original question.