If You Want a MacBook Air Just Buy a MacBookAir

I’m a gadget nut, so I read a lot of tech articles. And a lot of those are stupid. Behold — the stupidest tech article I’ve read in ages.

SAI is a site I admire, but sometimes the things they’ll do for clickthroughs…

Anyway, the article is headlined “The Best Super-Slim Laptop Alternatives If You Don’t Have The Loot To Spend On A MacBook Air.” If I ever decide to buy another laptop, it will definitely be something in the MacBook Air class — super-thin, super-light, and SSD-driven. So what contenders did SAI find? Here they are:

•ASUS UX21. The price is nice — $799. But it doesn’t exist. Not yet, anyway. And that’s the “expected” “starting” price. How will it stack up in real life? Nobody knows.

•Acer Aspire 3951. It looks very nice. You also can’t buy one, not even for the “under $800” that SAI is “hearing about.”

•Lenovo ThinkPad X1. The starting price is the same as the 13-inch MacBook Air — $1299. So, it doesn’t quite qualify as cheaper. Especially since an 11-inch Air can be had for $999. But it has a hard drive, weighs nearly four pounds (over a third more), has a slower processor, and a lower-resolution screen. This isn’t an Air competitor in any way, shape, or form.

•Samsung Series 9. This is one hot-looking laptop, and it shares the same price as the 13-inch Air and the Lenovo. Size, weight, SSD, and battery life are all competitive, too. However, the Samsung has a slower processor and a lower-resolution screen. Apple will give you slightly more for your money. And again, this is at the top end of the Air price scale.

•Sony VAIO Z. Starts at $2,000. I have no idea what this machine is doing in a price competition.

•Toshiba Portege R835. I couldn’t find this one on Toshiba’s own web site to do a real comparison. But since it sports a hard drive and weighs over three pounds (and has the lower-quality screen and slower CPU), this is another one that just isn’t in the same class as the Air and the Samsung.

And that’s the whole list — two vaporware products, two standard laptops, a $2,000 behemoth, and a very nice Samsung unit that shares a starting price with the most-expensive MacBook Air.

I’ll have whatever SAI‘s Kenneth Butler is drinking. But make mine a single, because Kenneth is in a whole ‘nother from mine.

UPDATE: It wasn’t easy, but I managed to figure out how to upgrade the Lenovo to the same processor, Bluetooth (not included???) and SSD as the MacBook Air. Price: $1,944, with “savings.” You still get a worse screen, though, and an extra pound to carry.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Samsung also makes an 11.6″ model to compete with Apple’s tiniest Air — and starting at the same $999, too. It’s heavier and has a much slower processor for the price, but the screen is competitive, the SSD is the same and the battery life is advertised as longer.