I don't get the newest hardware BEFORE it's released to review.  I know the product has been out for nearly 6 months and has been reviewed by every major tech outlet, but it's new to us!

Karen and I picked up the base model, 11.6 inch with 64GB memory at our local Apple store yesterday.  Our goal was to replace a 6 year old Dell lugger which had little to no real portability, which Karen desperately needs to work on her job.  We've been eyeing the Macbook Air since it's release last October, but now that we've moved in and settled we wanted to pick one up.

When you go to an Apple store, you're overwhelmed with hardware.  There's iPads, iPhones, Macbooks, iMacs, the whole product line.  There's always enough staff to discuss your purchase.  We arrived around 8:00pm so there was barely a crowd.  The nice Apple staffer explained the basics about the computer, an offering of AppleCare and iWork, and other general items.  We knew what we wanted when we stepped in the door but we let her give her spiel.  Soon enough we were walking out the door with the new hardware.

So now the unboxing.  Apple's packaging design is absolutely amazing.  It's a simple box and when you open it the first thing you see is the new computer.  The documentation and power cords are underneath as to not take away from the beauty that is the hardware.  Everything fits right and everything has it's own compartment.  It's a simple, efficient design that falls right in line with Apple's expected experience.

I've found there's a distinct difference between handling a device inside an Apple store and inside your own home.  I've picked up the demo unit of the Air in the store many a time, but it felt like a different device at home.  It's absolutely shocking how Apple got a computer to fit in the chassis.  It's light, minimalist, and beautiful.  Karen even made mention that when the lid is closed, it's similar in size to an iPad.  It's that thin and that compact, though you still get a full keyboard and touchpad.

The flash hard drive helps make up for the lower end specs on the CPU and RAM.  It's mostly going to be used as a photo editing/word processing computer so based on our initial tests it should have no issues.  The screen is crisp, clear and bright.

I've never used Mac OS X, but setting up the system was a snap.  It takes you through initial config like setting up a user account, connecting the wireless, and setting time zone.  The other cool feature is disc sharing.  The Air doesn't have a CD drive.  You can set up other computers on your network to share their CD/DVD with the Air with a small program that runs in Windows or natively in Macs.  We installed iWork and then ran a system update to get iLife, iWork, and OS X up to the latest code.  The Mac App store is basically like the one in iOS and a lot of the elements of OS X we're familiar with because of iOS.  It will take some time to understand the nuances of OS X.  I like the multitouch trackpad though it's somewhat awkward having to use 2 fingers to alternate select.  I'm certain it'll get easier over time.

Overall it's a solid little machine and no doubt will last us a while.  I'd like to think this is the first step to a no-Windows household and based on the usage we've had thus far, I can see it as a possibility.  For me, I'll likely be using iOS devices in lieu of OS X devices as my iPhone is pretty much permanently attached to me and I imagine the iPad will take over most of my daily computing consumption from the PC.