Apple MacBook Air

If you're of the belief that you don't have to be thin to be gorgeous, then the MacBook Air will do nothing to help your case. It's super model good looking and, as Apple's marketing machine makes perfectly clear, it's the world's thinnest notebook, coming in at only 19.4mm at its thickest point, slimmer than most laptops at their thinnest. It looks, quite literally, cutting edge.

This uber svelteness, helps the MacBook weigh in at no more than 1.36Kg. I'll say at this point that this is a huge factor in the Air's appeal. The day before I got this review sample I had to take my standard issue work laptop home with me, and at 2.4Kg, it certainly made its presence felt. Doing the same journey the next day with the MacBook Air was a literal relief for my shoulder. It's so light you hardly notice it, and it doesn't cause your notebook bag to bulge.

However, to get to this, Apple has been forced to make several omissions. First of all, there is no integrated optical drive, which places it at a disadvantage to the likes of the SonyVaio SZ series, which manages to fit in an optical drive and at 1.24Kg actually weighs less than the Air.

Moving a step back, even the design of the packaging is a typically special Apple experience, and once you've freed it from its deliberately snug box, you'll find a thin slab of anodized with a surface that's completely smooth save for the white Apple logo in the middle. There's no clip to attach the lid to the base, it's all newfangled magnetic, and thanks to the smooth featureless surface I've even seen a couple of people try to open it the wrong way round.

Once you do manage to scythe it open you'll find that remarkable the lid is about the same thickness as the base, which when you think about the components that are packed in is quite amazing.

Naturally, the design abounds with stylish touches. When you close the lid MacOS X instantly goes into standby in a way that still seems to elude Windows. To indicate this you get a tiny glowing oblong along the front edge. Apple introduced its MagSafe power plug with the MacBooks and it's present again here, only with an even tinier connector. It's designed to come away easily so the notebook doesn't get wrenched, though sometimes it disconnects too easily.

Inside you'll find something that you won't find on most of the ultra portable's out there - a nearly full sized keyboard and a large 13.3in display. This is down to the simple fact that the MacBook Air might be thin and light, but it's not small. Its dimensions; 12.74in wide and 8.9in deep, give it enough scope to avoid cramped keys and having to squint at a small screen - no bad thing. It also means it nestles nicely on the lap, especially as it's not heavy. In that sense it's possibly the most appropriately named laptop computer ever.