HP Chairman Uses A MacBook Air, Says No Thanks To ENVY

If HP's latest ENVY series of laptops didn't strike you with a hint of blunt ripoff of Apple's MacBook Pro, this certainly sums it up. HP chairman Ray Lane is a Mac user. More specifically a MacBook Air user. Oh the irony and awkwardness! We wouldn't be surprised to see him using an iPhone instead of a webOS smartphone as well. Just goes to show HP's laptops and Windows OS just doesn't cut it. 

Suit Up Your MacBook Air With Vaja's Ivolution Leather Suit Case

 

Oh yes, Vaja doesn't just make the most amazing leather cases for the iPhone and iPad, but apparently also for the ultra portable 2010 and 2011 MacBook Air. Fortunately for you, Vaja's Ivolution Leather Suit case isn't as expensive as you might think and costs only $210. That's how much some of Vaja's iPad 2 folio cases will run you like the Leather Agenda folio case clocking in at $220. Sure that's no cheap way of protecting your MacBook Air that you take everywhere with you, but it's the most stylish and luxurious way of doing so that's for sure. The Ivolution Leather Suit is only available for the 13" MacBook Air featuring Vaja's exclusive supple, floater cowhide leather, soft microfiber interior and offers full protection at a slim package without ever having to remove your MacBook Air with access to all ports at all times. 

Vaja's Ivolution Leather Suit can be customized with over 18 leather colors and trimming. As with all Vaja cases, expect to wait nearly a month for Vaja to handcraft your Vaja case and ship it out to your doorstep. Does it get any fancier than this? It might if you fancy carrying around your MacBook Air inside a vintage leather BookBook. Then yes.

SwitchEasy Intros SafeKeys MacBook Keyboard Covers

SwitchEasy is slowly but surely starting to out products not just for the iPhone and iPad, but also for the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. SwitchEasy's new SafeKeys are silicone keyboard covers made for 2011 MacBook Air and MacBook Pro and include the updates Lion keys for Launchpad and Mission Control. The SafeKeys keep your keyboard protected from accidental liquid spills, Cheetos covered fingers and small debris and are available now in 5 different solid colors including clear for $24.99. SwitchEasy hasn't made it clear whether these silicone keyboard covers actually let the keyboard backlight shine thru or not.

If $25 is a wee bit too expensive for you, check out our handy guide for the most affordable (and most likely less quality focused as opposed to the SafeKeys) keyboard covers money can buy.

TBS iOS App Ad Shows A 15" MacBook Air?

We're not so sure what's up with TBS using some sort of MacBook Air mixed with a MacBook Pro hybrid in its latest iOS app video ad, but it sure look good and makes us wish Apple's next redesigned MacBook Pro will hopefully sport a similar thin design. TBS wants you to download its new free iOS app so you could watch TBS shows right on your iDevice. The video ad showing the MacBook Pro/Air hybrid has appeared throughout TBS shows online. Very funny, TBS.

Acer Rips Off The Macbook Air

With an earlier article that we posted about the redesigned 2011 MBA, was actually a unreleased Acer Product. The picture is Acer's rumored Aspire 3951 that looks very familiar to the MBA. It has SSD, Sandy Bridge Processor, and is also light and thin. It is almost an exact copy and paste of the MBA, though the Acer is a tad bit heavier on an electronic scale. Looks like Acer is trying to copy Cupertino's design and cash in, but this isn't the first time someone has tried to do this. The Acer Aspire is expected to cost between $770 and $960.

Fake MacBook Air Brought Into An Apple Store For Service

What happens when someone brings a knockoff MacBook Air into an Apple Store to have the Genius Bar try to repair it? You get help of course. The amused Geniuses at an Apple Store in China were nice enough to help out the ballsy owner of this fake MacBook Air out with whatever the problem may have been. Someone must have gotten fired after that though. And yes, this is a real Apple Store in China. Oh China, you never cease to amaze us.

Some MacBook Airs Have Slower SSDs Than Others

With useful tools such as the free Disk Speed Test found in the Mac App Store, one could easily benchmark his or hers hard drive and SSD. As it turns out, Apple is still using two different models of SSDs in the MacBook Air from Samsung and Toshiba. It is reported that all Toshiba SSDs found in any 2010 and 2011 model, 11" and 13" MacBook Air, are slower than the Samsung SSDs Apple is using. Before your heart sinks to the bottom of your stomach, check to see which SSD model you've got inside your MacBook Air by going to your About This Mac - System Report or More Info under Snow Leopard - Serial ATA. If you see the Toshiba TS128C SSD model then you've got the slower SSD that's able to perform read and writes speeds generally below 200Mbps. If you're lucky, you'll find that you've got the faster Samsung SM128C SSD.

The difference in speeds may not necessarily mean that you will notice a significant difference in your day to day usage, but if it does bother you then you should try to get a replacement.