It’s time to upgrade and downsize, all at the same time
Text by Ophelia Ren and Joana Melo, Edited by Jerry Chan

The Macbook Air has turned the laptop market on its head, just like the e iPhone did to the mobile phone industry, and it seems that now every manufacturer is coming out with its own razorthin laptops. Weighing in at less than 1.4 kg and measuring less than 18mm in thickness, these sexy machines are the slimmed down version of their ancestors, the netbook, and boast some of the latest in PC technology: blazing fast boot-up times (thanks to Intel’s ‘Rapid Start’ technology), longer battery life (five hours and counting!) and a lack of clunky extras (no optical drives and unsightly Ethernet ports). The following are some of the most popular models that are readily available online and around town.

Acer’s Aspire S3

Available at Zhongguancun Electronic Kemao City for RMB 6,150  Weighing in at just 1.4 kg and measuring just 13 mm in thickness, the Acer Aspire 3951 (S3 series) comes in a sleek aluminum casing and with a 13 inch display on all of their models. Reboot time is lightning fast (under 1.7 seconds) and the battery life lasts up to six hours on a full charge and up to 30 days on standby. It’s also built quite strongly, so you don’t have to worry about accidental cracks while carrying it in your bag. All this, combined with 160GB storage capacity and a Dolby Home Theater speaker system, make this one of the more powerful ultrabooks on the market.

Lenovo’s IdeaPad U300s

Available at Lenovo.com for USD 499 and up The Chinese-based PC manufacturer has muscled its way into the market with this ultrabook that manages to be even thinner than the 13 inches MacBook Air (the Lenovo measures in at around 0.6 inches). Weighing in at 1.3 kg, this minimalist-designed laptop is surrounded by a single aluminum casing with no unsightly vents – heat is dispersed through the spaces between the keys. Other specs include up to 30 days of stand-by battery life which has the ability to charge up by 50 percent in a mere half an hour. Those features, along a 256GB SSD and up to 4GB of RA M make this a definite maybe when it comes to considering your next purchase.

Toshiba Portégé Z835

Available at Toshibadirect.com for USD 879 to 1,429 The ultra-light Toshiba Portégé Z835 weighs just around 1kg, with a 13 inch display. With up to eight hours of battery life, 128GB SSD, 4GB of RAM and costing less than a similarly-sized Macbook Air (for the basic configuration), this is a particularly appealing option for buyers on a budget, and is probably one of the best deals on ultrabooks available on the market.

 Asus UX21

Available at zenbook.asus. com. UX31 available at Zhongguancun electronic Kemao City for RMB 8,800 Another contender in the featherweight division is Taiwan-based Asus’s UX21, which weighs a mere 1.1kg and comes with an 11 inch display, 4GB of RA M and 128GB SSD . Re-boot time clocks in at less than two seconds and the battery can go up to two weeks in standby mode. It even saves your work anytime the battery life falls below five percent. The UX21 was not yet available in China at time of print, but you can upgrade to the UX31 and get a 13 inch screen, a 256GB of SSD memory along with 20 more grams to carry around in your free Asus provided sleeve!

 Samsung 9 Series

Available at Zhongguancun Electronic Kemao City for RMB 10,999. Also available at Samsung.com Made from ultralight “Darulminum” (which, according to Samsung is used in the manufacture of military aircraft and is twice as strong as standard aluminium), the Samsung 9 Series weighs just 1.3kg and measures 0.64 inches in thickness at its fullest point, along with a 13 inch display on all models. Equipped with 128GB SSD, 4 to 8GB of standard memory (depending on the model), the boot-up time is less than 13 seconds and rebooting takes a mere three seconds. Like the newer generation Macbook Airs, the Samsung 9 boasts a backlit keyboard and multi-touch trackpad (up to 21 gestures), two USB ports, and a HDMI connection port.

 Lenovo Ideapad U260

Available at lenovo. com.cn from RMB 5,899 to RMB 7,999 The Lenovo Ideapad U260 is slowly exciting consumers. This 12.5 inch laptop is now more stylish and bold than any other from the Chinese brand. It comes in either Orange or Mocha Brown and is entirely constructed of magnesium-aluminum alloy that makes it lighter than usual. Weighing in at 1.3kg, it has battery to keep you going through three straight hours of work, putting its Intel Core i5 CPU to work, although you‘ll probably have to carry your adapter. Inside this lightweight beauty sits a 320GB hard-drive, 4GB or RAM, a on/off switch for the Wi-Fi connections, a couple of USB ports and a HD MI connection. And if you like a touch of luxury, you’ll be sure to love the leather hand rest.

 Sony VAIO Z Series

Available at taobao.com for RMB 12,300 Sony has created light, thin, and very reliable computers over the ages, but this is bound to be one of the best. To be able to be called an “ultrabook” Sony left most of the things they usually have at the door, or at least into an external dock that comes along your new laptop, making it now thinner and lighter than the last version. It weighs 1.2kg and it measures from 0.65 inches and has a 13 inch display screen on all models. It is thicker than a MacBook Air but it is also lighter, considering it has more ports that the MAC does (such as a Ethernet jack, USB 2.0 and 3.0 sockets and separate SD and Memory Stick slots).Open the lid and you will find a Wi-Fi switch, an island style keyboard (with backlit lighting) and a buttonless track pad. Inside, you’ll find 6GB of memory and a battery that will keep you going thru multiple tasking up to four hours, and more if you focus on one project at a time.

Macbook Air

Available at the Apple Store and Zhongguancun Dinghao Electronic Mall for RMB 7,200 to 11,900 Last but not least is the ultrabook that started it all: weighing in at just around 1kg and measuring just 0.68 inches in thickness these babies come with up to 256GB SSD and 4GB of memory. The battery lasts up to five hours on a single charge and the newest generation comes with Thunderbolt connection allowing you to connect multiple high performance accessories using one single cable. When it comes to the keyboard and trackpad they have become better: the trackpad has now become quieter and the keys are now backlit! All this, combined with all the goodies that come with OSX Lion make the Macbook Air reign supreme in the ultrabook market.