Here are a few of the drawbacks to the MacBook Air:

1.    No Ethernet port – in the interests of thinness it’s wireless only.
2.    Only one USB port, and it’s recessed to boot, which will hinder certain peripherals.
3.    No Firewire port. Forget uploading digital video from a camera, or using those spiffy Firewire external hard drives.
4.    No user-replacable battery. A bit of a hassle especially as your battery life drops to four hours, then three, then nothing. Shades of the iPhone battery issues here.

Earlier this year, the Shanzhai vendors released a 12-inch MacBook Air copy with very low pricing. It did well in the market but at the end of the day it was just that – a copy, without the performance and software slickness of the original.

Now, we have a new Apple-inspired device, but with innovations and extra add-in functionality that brings something new to the market. It takes advantage of Apple’s stylish design, combines it with Shanzhai’s practical feature set and good pricing to deliver a much better 2nd generation MacBook-inspired product.



Here are some of the improvements and features:

1.    Full metal jacket for enhanced rigidity and better thermal sinking.
2.    It features a frameless 11-inch screen instead of the Mac Air’s 13-inch screen, for increased mobility.
3.    It has 2 USB ports and a removeab;e battery, plus a reserved PCIe slot inside for a 3G module (no 3G on the MacBook Air).
4.    The dimensions of the device are 277x187x25mm; slightly thicker than the Mac Air but also lighter at 1.33kg (MacBook Air is 1.36kg).



Other specs include:
Processor: Intel Atom 1.6GHz
RAM: 1GB DDR2
HD: 2.5inch 160GB
Screen: 11.1 inch, 1366*768 resolution
Connectivity: Ports are mainly on left and right sides (as opposed to the back), 2 USB ports, earphone port, power, one RJ-45 port. A card-reader and status lights on the left side.
Battery: 3500mAh (removable)

Western Opportunity Analysis: