Hasta La Gadget!

Jan 21

Chinese MacBook Air Knockoffs Actually Look Awesome

Posted in: Apple, macbook air, netbooks, Notebooks, Today's Chili

Chinese knockoffs of the MacBook Air could actually be a compelling option for those desiring the razor-thin form factor of the subnote without paying the premium.

Pictured above and below, clones of the MacBook Air are appearing for sale everywhere in Shenzhen, China, according to MIC Gadget. They feature the guts of a standard netbook: a 1.66GHz Intel Atom processor, a 3-cell battery, a 160GB hard drive, 1GB RAM and 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi. What sets the knockoffs apart from netbooks is the 13.3-inch, 1280-by-800-pixel LED backlit screen, which is the same size as the MacBook Air’s. They’ll only cost you about $300 — a hefty discount compared to Apple’s MacBook Air, which starts at $1,500.

There’s even some stuff the knockoff has that the original Air doesn’t: an SD card slot, Ethernet port and HDMI out.

Of course, the knock-off is cheaper partly because you don’t get the aluminum enclosure of the real thing; you get a white plastic simulacrum body instead. Plus, the Apple glows in different colors as opposed to the original white. But that’s not too bad: These differences make the knockoff look special (from these pictures at least). Imagine all the head turns you’ll get at the coffee shop.

Because the insides are so different from the original MacBook Air, it’d be more fair to compare the knockoff to the slew of netbooks available on the market. Want a cheap portable with a bigger screen and larger keyboard? This looks like a really attractive option compared to the crampy 10-inch netbooks out there.

The knockoff isn’t shipping with Mac OS X, but rather Windows XP. Question is, can it be turned into a Hackintosh? We’ll try to get one just to see. We found one at DHGate.com for $325, and we just might order one for testing and review.