Apple’s MacBook Air is Thin, So What Competes on the PC Side?

Last week, Apple released its latest iteration of the Macbook Air, and in more than one way, it’s a rather explosive product. While the original MacBook Air proved to be the thinnest notebook around, the latest version takes things to an entirely new level. It’s so thin, that it barely looks thicker than a pen. It might be that it’s not!

Believe it or not, though, even though the latest MacBook Air looks like it could be in a league of its own, there are other notebook vendors that are also building ultra-thin offerings. They may not be quite as thin as the MacBook Air, but come close enough. Tech gear blog CrunchGear takes a quick look at five such offerings, and some might surprise you.

The most interesting pick to me is MSI’s X360, because while I am well aware that the company builds a ton of different notebook models, I was quite oblivious to the fact that it tries also to set the bar when it comes to innovative design. The X360 is less than an inch thick (0.88″) when closed, and its display is a mere 0.23″ thick. It looks to be the perfect mobile notebook for PC users, but unfortunately, it isn’t publicly available yet. Hopefully soon.

The other choices aren’t quite as impressive, but are notable regardless. They include Acer’s 3810 Timeline, at about 1″ thick, ASUS’ UL30A-X5K, at 0.98″ thick, Sony’s Signature Collection X Series Vaio, at a staggering 0.55″ thick, and Dell’s Adamo XPS, at .4″ thick. Personally, only two of those notebooks appeal to me aesthetically, Apple’s MacBook Air and MSI’s X360… both are quite hard to beat.

Well, yeah, but the MacBook Air isn’t for everyone. Good thing the PC world has been doing the ultra-portable thing just as long as Apple and offers some quality alternatives. Sure, there really isn’t one model that soundly beats the new MacBook Air in every category, but the same can be said about the Air versus the five computers listed after the jump.