Laptops – the Apple Macbook Air and the Dell Studio 17

Apple’s MacBook Air has been a very popular machine and there have been many people who have jumped at the chance to own one but is this because of the capabilities of the machine or simply the innovative look of this product? The Air has been marketed by Apple as the “world’s thinnest notebook”, however, have been a few claims that have said there was a Mitsubishi laptop from 1997 that was a fraction thinner but there are no other laptops around at the moment that come close to the size of the Air. The design and the engineering of this product is amazing and we would expect no less from Apple laptops, however, this device is very specialised and will no doubt not be as widely used as the standard 13-inch Macbook system. This could be because the MacBook Air has a few well-documented downfalls; it only has room for one USB port and no room for a built-in optical drive, mobile broadband, Ethernet or Firewire. On top of this, Apple still refuses to include a media card reader or an SD expansion slot in their laptops. However, there are of course some all-important plus-points; the ability to wirelessly connect to another system’s optical drive and new touchpad gesture controls. If you’re after an Apple Mac but aren’t sure whether the Air is for you then you will need to think of what you want from your laptop. For those who travel around a lot and who would benefit from a light-weight machine but with the extra screen space and who tend to hook up to the internet using Wi-Fi hot spots will probably be very impressed with the Air and its £1,199 price tag. If your needs are more complex and the high tech Apple MacBook Air doesn’t impress you too much in the looks department anyway then perhaps the new Dell Studio range laptops will suit you more. Dell laptops are made for a range of different prices but if you don’t want to be seen with the a cheaper Dell Inspiron laptop but the XPS range is well beyond your budget then the new Studio range could be just what you’ve been looking for. The Dell Studio 17 model can, like all Dell laptops, be customised to make it exactly what you’ve been looking for. The options start from the entry-level 1.73GHz Pentium Dual Core T2370 and work their way up to the 2.5GHz T9300 model. This means that there are choices of this laptop that will suit most budgets and performance needs. This model also has an HDMI output port and comes with a choice of three panels for its 17-inch screen; again, you can customise the screen in order to get the laptop of your dreams and with a price tag of £499, this sounds like a real bargain.

The Apple MacBook Air has a fantastic design, but you wouldn’t expect anything less from Apple laptops. If you want an Apple Mac but you’re not sure whether the Air is for you or not, the best thing to do is to think about what you want from a laptop. Dell laptops are sold for a range of different prices.