Here is an actual review, not just first impressions, of the MacBook Air by Ars Technica. This review deals with only the standard 4200rpm hard drive version – they will do another review for the solid-state hard drive version of this laptop on February 5th.

Big points of the review are:

• The small size is only based on how thin it is, since in terms of desktop space it only saves a bit compared to the regular MacBook.

• It’s trackpad is bigger than MacBook and MacBook Pro, but the gestures use is still limited.

• For audio it has one speaker (good bye stereo) and it is still louder than a MacBook – but then again what isn’t?

• Lacking a regular CD/DVD drive can be a pain if you don’t plan ahead or don’t always take your installation disks with you

• The weight is a huge attribute; makes it very comfortable

• It’s performance “Achilles heel” is the slow hard drive

• Some users are experiencing louder than normal fans on these, but not the reviewer

• Don’t even try the remote Migration Assistant, just don’t

• WiFi is ok, but not close to the MacBook sensitivity

• Actual usage time on the battery was about 2 hours and 33 minutes. Ouch, that is not even half of the 6 hours advertised!

Read the full review to make your opinions… but seems quite a disappointment for some of us. I could have lived without the DVD drive. I could have lived with the slower performance (on the go only!!). But such a short battery life is really a disappointment; especially for a computer that is made to take with you everywhere you can take a manila folder.