There you have it, folks. The Asus Eee PC is still king of the hill for affordable ultraportables. There were rumors just recently that Apple was to release an ultra mobile computer with dual touch-screens (and not to mention the cool factor). But apparently that’s not their focus.
At the recently-concluded MacWorld Expo, the highlight of Steve Jobs’ keynote speech was the new MacBook Air. It’s razor-thin and definitely lighter than its predecessors.
Think Motorola RAZR, but this time for laptops.
Thing is, the MacBook Air is not really an ultraportable (and not marketed as such), but is a standard-sized, ultra-slim laptop. It has a 13.3″ widescreen, a full-size keyboard, and weighs 3 pounds.
I know there’s a market for ultraslim laptops. And of course, being a Mac, the MacBook Air is likely to have a cult following, too (which is to say the same for hte Asus Eee PC, isn’t it?). But the target market is different from that of the Asus Eee. So I would say the Eee is still leading the pack when it comes to low-priced consumer-grade ultraportables.
In short, it’s like comparing apples with oranges. And in this case, one of them is actually an Apple.
Oh, and one other thing. I noticed the MacBook Air has just one USB port. And even the MacBooks (non Pro) have only two. My Asus Eee has three. I rarely use them, though, but I think the sparsity of USB ports is one big complaint by certain Mac users.
