Does she use the Apple External Superdrive?
If not, Remote Disc?
Whichever one, how is it?

to be honest i cant see any difference in speed with apps like mail, safari, ichat, iphoto, iweb etc to my MBP with 4GB of RAM!!

i think i just run it a bit leaner - with the MBP i dont worry if i have 10 or 15 apps open and i can be downloading flat out from usenet, editing with iMovie or C3S, and screen sharing to the macmini HTPC while converting something with visual hub - i simply would never try to drive the MBA like that so i dont notice any perceptible difference.

as to boot up time, i havent noticed - like huy said i just leave it on and close the lid if i am not using it for a while, i never turn any of my computers off anyway.

EDIT - remote disc or just drag and drop on the LAN or use screen sharing, remote disc is really the least used option - the others are easier and quicker.

Does it not overheat if you leave it on always?

No external SuperDrive.
No Remote Disc.

If anything is needed, it is via an external portable hard disk with disc images mounted on it.

It goes to sleep when you close the lid. Doesn't overheat. I leave my MacBook/iMac on sleep and it has been fine for weeks (until another update forces me to restart...).

There seems to be a trend in the posts in favour of the MB Air - the real question then becomes 80GB 4200rpm HDD vs 64GB (? reports abound of only 60GB available) SSD.

The difference in processor speed is essentially irrelevant.

Any thoughts or experience comparing the 2 models? Ignoring the extra cost, obviously - the HDD version wins on "value for money" every time.

From what I have read, there is no real benefit to having the SSD model. That is, it is not worth the extra $1000 USD or whatever it is, to buy the SSD 1.8 model.

Get the 1.6 or BTO 1.8 model, with HDD instead.

I don't have a source but if you Google around I'm sure you'll find some benchmarks that say that the SSD model is not worth it for the minor increase in speed.

What if the cost of the MBA (next to new) is about 3000? would you pay that kind of money for the SDD version?

I'd consider it if it was about $2999 RRP (less with EDU).

But most likely no. Not until there are 128GB SSDs or greater as standard, which isn't too far off.

My limit for laptops is about $2499 which is the sweet spot. No more.

I can see where your coming from Huy, after $2499 is starts to get a little expensive.

$2499 would probably be the most I'd pay for a laptop too.

honestly, just go MBP, stop wastign your time!

why would he do that? the decision is between a MB & a MBA. for a secondry computer its hard to see why they would choose a MBP.

That's right, the decision is purely based around the MB and MBA and which one out of those I should buy.

EDIT: I can see there's still a significant gap between the MB and the MBA in the poll. Interesting.

I've gotta say that I picked MacBook, but that's purely because I want to get me a battery-powered HDD to connect to my camera, and this would have to be a firewire HDD. Although, given that I plan to upgrade at the end of this year (to a JVC GY-HD201UB and get on the waiting list for Scarlet early next year), that may be less of a concern - I'll be using SD cards to capture HDV and DV with the JVC, and Scarlet records to CF. In that eventuality, I may realistically consider a decent card-reader, and a MacBook Air.
That said, I'd want to check out the performance before I did that. My other issue would be that if I use a laptop its probably because I have to produce content on the road, which would mean needing a DVD burner. Does the MacBook Air's burner need a power supply? Either way, that could be an issue.
But the Air is certainly the more desirable of the two computers, and considering I used to edit on a PowerBook G4 867MHz with a 4200RPM 80Gb HDD (ATA66) I'm sure that the MBA can only perform better.
Reality has one thing going against the Air here, and that is that I'm getting to need a laptop now. Looks like it'll be a black MacBook for me. By the time I'm looking to upgrade from that, the MacBook Air wont seem unreasonable at all I'm guessing.