Slide Show: The MacBook Air in Perspective

The Air is more than a pretty face. At its core: Intel's 1.6-GHz Core 2 Duo P7500 processor--a miniaturized CPU that remains exclusive to Apple, for now. Also inside: 2GB of memory, Intel 965 Express integrated graphics, and an 80GB, 4200rpm hard drive. These specs powered the Air to a PC WorldBench score of 57 (read our analysis of the Air's performance).

The Air measures 12.8 by 8.9 by 0.8 inches. In that footprint, the Apple laptop packs a 13.3-inch-wide screen--an LED-backlit display with 1280-by-800-pixel resolution. It also has a roomy, full-size keyboard with backlit keys. A built-in ambient light sensor regulates the brightness of both the display and the keyboard. The Air has a generously sized touchpad--large even by comparison with the touchpads on desktop-replacement-size notebooks with 20-inch screens. Somewhat like the iPhone (but with differences), the touchpad can handle gestures.

The MacBook Air's graceful contours, so visible both in the first slide and here, come at a price: The unit lacks a competitive complement of inputs. The Air's sole ports--headphone, proprietary video out, and USB--are tucked away beneath a flip-open door. And "tucked away" is the operative phrase: Because the edges of the Air taper off, the ports are inset beneath the tapered edge, which may make it difficult to see where you're inserting your USB drive (assuming your drive's design doesn't interfere with the Air's surface). The unit also has integrated 802.11n wireless, a Webcam, and a mono speaker.

The Fujitsu LifeBook P8010 measures 11 by 8.3 by 1.6 inches, with a 12.1-inch LED-backlit wide-screen display with a native resolution of 1280 by 800 resolution. The P8010 is less powerful than the MacBook Air--it comes with a 1.2-GHz Core 2 Duo L7100 CPU, Intel 965 Express graphics, and 1GB of memory; but, unlike the Air, the P8010's memory can be upgraded, to 4GB. The P8010 also offers a range of hard-drive options: The default size is 80GB, but 120GB, 160GB, and 200GB drives are also available. The P8010 uses 5400rpm SATA drives, while the Air has a slower 4200rpm PATA hard drive; the P8010's drive is shock-mounted and has integrated shock sensor technology.

The P8010's keyboard has a solid feel, with finger-friendly keys conducive to touch typing. The touchpad and mouse buttons are larger and better designed than on this model's predecessor, the P7200-series. A biometric finger scanner doubles as scroll wheel. And an SD Card slot is conveniently located at the front of the unit, to the left of the touchpad. Beneath the card slot is the wireless on/off switch. Alternatively, you can use one of the four handy shortcut buttons above the keyboard to implement Fujitsu's power-saving mode (which turns off the wireless and disables other power-sapping features and components). The other buttons provide one-touch access to Internet Explorer, to changing the display settings, and to Fujitsu's Support Center.

The P8010 proves that it's not necessary to sacrifice function for the sake of form. On the right-hand side of the notebook (top) is a 4X multiformat DVD burner; cleverly built into the top-left corner of the drive is a PC Card slot. To the right of the DVD burner is a USB 2.0 port, one of three on the system. Wall-to-wall ports line the entire left side of the notebook (bottom, from left to right): a Kensington lock slot, a power port, a VGA port, gigabit ethernet, two USB ports, a 4-pin Firewire port, a microphone jack, and a headphone jack. (By comparison, the MacBook Air trades off its clean design for the flexibility integrated ports offer--it has only a headphone jack, a proprietary video-out port, and one USB port.) The P8010 also has integrated 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth wireless, and a 1.3-megapixel Webcam.

The Portege R500's specs sound familiar in some ways; in others, not at all. This model runs Intel's 1.2-GHz Core 2 Duo U7600 processor and Intel's 945GMS graphics; it also comes with 1GB of memory (expandable to 2GB). The display measures 12.1 inches and carries a native resolution of 1280-by-800 pixels; it's also LED-backlit--this technique is increasingly the technology of choice for laptop displays. The hard drive is a shock-mounted, 5200-rpm 120GB SATA drive; that's 30 percent more storage than on the MacBook Air's slower 4200-rpm drive.

The R500 has a streamlined design--no extra buttons, but a reasonably large keyboard (albeit one whose somewhat flat keys might impede some touch typists). Like the Fujitsu P8010, the R500's touchpad has a fingerprint reader--a security safeguard that the MacBook Air lacks; and status lights are integrated into a display beneath the touchpad. The mono speaker is above the keyboard, up near the display.

Whereas the MacBook Air has just a small port for power on its right-hand side, the Toshiba R500 (like the Fujitsu P8010), packs in the ports. Shown here from left to right (top): power, VGA port, USB port, and 4-pin FireWire 400, USB port, microphone and headphone jacks, and volume dial. The right side of the unit integrates an 8X multiformat DVD burner (bottom). Sharing portions of the space occupied by the optical drive: An SD Card slot (upper left of the optical drive; supports SDIO cards, too) and a PC Card slot (lower right). Also on this side of the notebook: a slider switch for enabling/disabling the integrated 802.11a/g/n and Bluetooth wireless, one of the laptop's three USB ports, and the gigabit ethernet port. With the MacBook Air, you'll be out of luck if you need to use USB and ethernet: The Air lacks a dedicated ethernet port, and requires you to use its sole USB port for a USB-to-ethernet dongle. That translates into no CD, DVD, or flash media card access while you're on a connected network.