How Does the MacBook Air Match Up Vs The Competition?

After weeks of rumor and speculation, the much anticipated MacBook Air is finally upon us, but does the machine’s reality match the hype?

With it’s 13.3-inch LED backlit display and illuminated keyboard, the MacBook Air combines elements of the MacBook and MacBook Pro, while maintaining one of the slimmest and lightest profiles this side of the Sony VAIO VGN-TZ150N. The Macbook Air measures a remarkable 0.1-inches at its thinnest point, and weighs just 3 pounds. (the TZ-150N is 1.2-inches thick and weighs 2.7 pounds).

But with the MacBook Air’s extra weight comes additional screen real estate, as Apple’s machine eclipses the TZ-150’s 11.1-inch display by 2.2 inches. Apple keeps the notebook slim by ditching an optical drive, but the MacBook Air’s innovative Remote Disc lets users “borrow” the disc drives of other Macs (or PCs) in its vicinity.

In terms of capacity, the TZ-150N one ups the MacBook Air with a 100GB HDD (the Air has 80GB for $1,799). If you’d like t0 configure the system with a solid-state drive, you’re out of luck with the TZ-150N as there’s no SSD option available. You’d have to move onto tho Sony VAIO VGN-TZ190, which you can add a 32GB SSD for $3,199. The MacBook Air offers twice the SSD capacity (64GB) for about $100 less ($3,098) - - and includes the spankin’ new multi-touch interface that allows users to control onscreen items with their fingers, similar to the iPhone.

Apple claims that the MacBook Air is capable of five hours of battery life, which just may be on point considering the power-saving backlit LED display and solid-state drive, but will a system with a traditional hard drive see the same numbers? Obviously, there are many questions still to be answered, but the MacBook Air looks like it’s going to be one sweet machine.