The Contender: Ultra Slim Laptop Edition


We probably all know by now that the Macbook Air is by far the slimmest laptop there is, but how does it fair specification-wise with other machines in the market? Gizmodo, made a quick round-up of the slimmest laptops from various manufacturers and came up with very intriguing results.

not bad, not bad at all

Amazingly, Apple’s engineering wonder ranks second to the cheapest in the short list, and the cheapest, Dell’s XPS M1330, seems to be the most power-packed of the bunch. It’s almost a pound heavier, an inch thicker and has a shorter battery life span than the Air, but a lot more powerful in almost all categories. Sony’s VAIO TZ is the most expensive, and ironically, weaker than the Air in almost every aspect except for the HDD capacity and speed, and inclusion of an optical drive. I guess Sony does have valid reason to feel a bit defensive when it comes to the comments about the TZ.

Click to enlarge

Is it safe to say that the Air is a great deal? Hell yeah!

Is it for you? If you can live with 80 GB HDD capacity and do without the built-in optical drive, then this one is highly recommended.

Oh, I forgot to mention, probably the biggest upside to the Air is the efficient and reliable Mac OS X Leopard which has proven to be the biggest bane to Microsoft Vista’s campaign. All the rest run on Vista which, in my opinion, is their biggest weakness.

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January 23rd, 2008
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Comment Number:
1
Written by:
rj
Posted on:
1/24/2008 at 9:46 am

mac air is incomparable to the others that you have mentioned. it is way above its class, leaving both the dell and sony models back to the drawing board. i believe there’s nothing in the present market that could beat it in terms of mobility. It actually gives a new meaning to the word “lightweight” when it refers to mobile computing. could there be anything lighter than “air”?

Comment Number:
2
Written by:
Allan David Reyes
Posted on:
1/25/2008 at 12:48 pm

True, nothing can probably match the air in size and weight, but those models mentioned are probably the best “ultra-portable slim” laptops the market can offer.

Based on the table presented above, it’s obvious that you can’t have it all. If you want size and portability, you have to sacrifice on some features and a little bit of performance. If you want power, then size should be flexible for you.

Comment Number:
3
Written by:
GSF
Posted on:
1/27/2008 at 2:14 pm

If Apple continues the “style over function” program, their new products will fade as fast as Krispy Kreme. This is a one size fits none ultraportable. Very pretty and some nice features, but dummied down processor, one functional port, no wired ethernet, too big for coach class, needs dongles for most practical purposes (such as presentations, high-speed wireless cards, extra usb drive)and it’s the same screen size as the Macbook. A 11″ screen with extra USB and VGA port could have trumped most PC’s for travelers and presenters…those who really want an ultraportable. The new Sony TZ coming out next month wins hands down. Not as pretty…but pretty useful for most functions. Oh…and it’s lighter and has integrated DVD. Just unload Vista and reload XP.

Comment Number:
4
Written by:
Allan David Reyes
Posted on:
1/28/2008 at 9:44 am

I don’t think Apple will completely abandon its other line of mobile computers just to pursue their latest ultra-portable series.

The Macbook Air is, for all intents and purposes, meant for a specific target user group which, like all other Macbooks, is meant to address certain needs.

The Air will not replace the Macbook or the Macbook Pro, but will instead be an integral part of the Macbook family that will garner its own following primarily due to its form and style.

Comment Number:
5
Written by:
TechToyBoy
Posted on:
8/21/2008 at 10:32 pm

I guess MacBook Air and Lenovo X300 are the best for slim laptops. I’ve made my list of favorite light and slim laptops and they share the top two.
http://www.techtoyboy.com/2008/06/27/top-5-light-and-slim-laptops/