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Archives for December 2010

Charge Time for the New 13 Inch MacBook Air

How long does it take to charge the new 2010 13 inch MacBook Air? I’m curious more than anything, So I ran a couple of tests. I charged my new MacBook Air the other day, when the system was completely bone dry, until the unit was 100% fully charge.

My results: It takes about 1 hour and 30 minutes, on average, to charge my 13 inch MacBook Air. I have no idea how long does it take for the 11 inch model, since I don’t own one, but I’m curious if the results are any close.

Based on what I’m reading here on the Mac Forums, the older MacBook Airs had on average, a charge time of about 4 to 5 hours. Some longer than others. One poster said it took him 8 hours. That’s a bit too much.

So, based on that information, it looks like the charge time for the new 2010 MacBook Air, is at least 3 times faster than its predecessor. Quite an impressive feat.

Often, users only ask about battery life, but they forget to ask about the battery’s charge time. With the new MacBook Air’s charge time of about a third of a time, it’s one spec Apple forgot to mention.

Next on the agenda, battery life. Apple says it’s between 5-7 hours. I want to test.

Stay tuned.

The New MacBook Air Can Decapitate You

The new MacBook Air is so thin, it’s a mere 0.11 of an inch at its thinnest edge. Not only is it thin, but the case is also made of aluminum. It’s not the hardest metal by any means, but it’s still metal. Thin and metal are usually associated with knives.

With a slippery surface and a narrow edge, the new MacBook Air can be a dangerous device, especially if you like to work in bed. Some people, like myself, love working with the laptop in bed, sometimes sitting up, and sometimes lying down and propping up the laptop on the lap or chest.

The problem with lying down is, there is a tendency for people to fall asleep. With the new MacBook Air’s slippery surface, you can easily loose its grip, and have the laptop slide down to your neck. It’s not quite decapitation, but it sure does hurt.

It’s a good thing, it only weighs under 3 lbs. The new MacBook Air’s thin edge is not the most comfortable against the skin. So, I suggest, if you’re going to work with the new MacBook Air in bed, at the very least, wear a turtleneck!

The last thing we want is a number of frivolous lawsuits against Apple.

How To Connect Samba Shares on the Mac

How To Connect Samba Shares on the Mac

Here’s a quick tutorial of how to connect to a Samba share on the Mac. Samba is a open-source software that provides interoperability between Unix/Linux and Windows systems. The Samba software allows for the sharing of files and printers between Windows, Unix, Linux and Mac OS X systems.

At home, I have NAS (network attached storage) with a 60GB drive running Samba. I use the NAS to store, share and backup files. I can access the NAS drive from my PC, Linux (Ubuntu) and now from the Mac. Here’s how:

  1. Open Finder.
  2. Press Command-K. A window will appear.
  3. Type smb://192.168.xxx.xxx. Use the IP address of your Samba share.
  4. Click connect.

If you’re Samba share is password protected, you will see a login screen, similar to the one below. Just enter your username and password, and press Connect.

Once connected, you should be able to browse the files on the Samba drive, just like any other file or folder on your Mac. The Samba drive will also show up on the left hand panel of the Finder under the Shared section. See snapshot below. Notice the Public folder is available for browsing.

There you have it. How to connect Samba shared drives to your Mac.