Air's "thinnest" claim thwarted by 1997 PC?
updated 11:55 am EST, Wed January 16, 2008
MB Air vs Mitsu Pedion
Apple's claim to have the world's thinnest notebook in the form of the MacBook Air may not account for a 10-year-old notebook, says a claim from CNET. Although as thin at every point, the 1998-era Mitsubishi Pedion maintained a uniform thickness of 0.72 inches when closed, just slighly thinner than the new MacBook's 0.76-inch figure at its thickest point. This came despite a smaller 12-inch screen and considerably older technology, which included a 233MHz Pentium MMX. The HP co-developed notebook used magnesium instead of aluminum but also required a unique design to reach its dimensions.
Other historical notebooks have also come close, such as a version of the Sony VAIO X505 made partly out of carbon fiber, according to challengers of Apple's claim. However, most past systems have also historically expensive, with the Mitsubishi PC costing $6,000 and most such systems costing $2,000 or more despite slower performance than larger models. The Pedion was withdrawn quickly from the market after technical problems marred its debut.
Apple itself has shied away from making an all-time claim for the MacBook Air's thickness, which gives the Mac builder the ability to focus its comparisons strictly on current-day ultraportable notebooks such as the VAIO TZ without drawing absolute comparisons.
Mitsubishi Pedion
Not thinnest EVER
01/16, 12:12pm reply
just thinnest for sale today.
Eriamjh
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Joined: Oct 2001
despite?
01/16, 12:21pm reply
Why despite a smaller screen? Shouldn't it be "because of" its smaller screen?
bfalchuk
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another...
01/16, 12:23pm reply
...seriously flawed and trollishly misleading headline from MacNN.
keep up the awesome journalism, fellas!
rtbarry
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wow
01/16, 12:24pm reply
Guess cnet has way too much time on their hands!!!
eldarkus
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@rtbarry
01/16, 12:28pm reply
You cant call this journalism... journalists actually write articles, do research, etc. MacNN staff just copy text from other articles.
eldarkus
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Since it's an wedge
01/16, 12:28pm reply
you should average the extereme change in width. I wonder how the '97 machine sold...
danviento
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New Claim
01/16, 12:36pm reply
As soon as it gets into customers hands how about, "The world's thinnest ever actual working notebook."
JackWebb
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average
01/16, 12:39pm reply
i think even tho at its thickest point its slightly thicker i think you should AVERAGE the thickness throughout the macbook air (.16 = .76)/2 = .54 and thats overall thinner than the other
jayparry
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Joined: Aug 2005
do NOT average
01/16, 01:00pm reply
You should measure by maximum thickness not average.
Think about it. If it was average, then you can just extend the machine with a paper thin section for as long as needed, to bring your average down.
Average is meaningless. If you need to fit it into a .5" slot, it won't fit, unless the maximum thickness is less than .5"
Honestly, portability isn't about hard numbers...its about a lot of factors, many of which the Apple Macbook Air lacks, which is why this apple fan, predicts it will be a failure.
Eee PC type portability, or built in broad band....stuff like that would make an ultraportable....not something that is thin. Thin wasn't what people really wanted.
Jonathan-Tanya
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Joined: Oct 2004
decimals?
01/16, 01:01pm reply
Slightly OT but when did you people start quoting Inches in decimals? Inches are divided into 8ths or 16ths, not tenths. It may be slightly awkward but that's how everyone does it.
Yes, I know that's how Apple write it on their website; they're wrong too!
Geobunny
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