I'm very happy with my Samsung NP900X1B (other than the ridiculous name). It's super-light, very tough (survived a >1m drop onto concrete - which put a bit of a dent in one corner but kept it fully working), runs my large collection of old windows games, has a very handy microsd slot for extra storage, and does HDMI out without an expensive apple-only cable. What's so good about the air?
Actually I've never looked at Samsung as a vendor for a laptop. They make great phones, I loved my S3 until it took a bath when I was drunk (hah).
If it doesn't creak when you hold it at the corners, I could be sold. The airs aluminium case makes it "feel" sturdy, and silent.
I also really like the feel of the keyboard when typing. Most laptop keyboards I fat finger constantly. The air (and probably MBP) actually feel good to type on
edit: Had a look around for Samsung laptops similar spec. MBA still can't be matched price vs perf
>If it doesn't creak when you hold it at the corners, I could be sold. The airs aluminium case makes it "feel" sturdy, and silent.
It's a duralium casing, it feels very solid. You do have to manually switch the power profile (at least, I found the automatic power balance unreliable) with a keyboard shortcut; in low power it's quiet, in high performance the fan whines.
I very much like the keyboard, and use it a lot, but my taste in keyboards is known to be weird.
I'm very surprised to hear of apple being cheaper for the same spec, but I'll admit I didn't really buy by the numbers. It's powerful enough to run eclipse or play supreme commander forged alliance, which are my use cases.
