“Chinese knockoff makers gets into the super-thin notebook game in a big way with the $499 AirBook. We’ve played around with it for a while now and can say that it looks very similar to Apple’s MacBook Air, and it’s very cheap,” Chris Chang reports for M.I.C. Gadget. “Unfortunately being cheap comes at a price.”
“We went to Huaqiangbei, the best place to shop for electronics, digital products and knockoffs in Shenzhen, to purchase the AirBook for review,” Chang reports. “Some people say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, the AirBook has no shame with the design and that could be mistaken for the MacBook Air with its sleek lines, and ‘teardrop’ shape that is slightly thicker. It has a distinct MacBook Air-like feel, but it comes with a silver plastic body (in matte finish) and we can feel it’s all-plastic interior, and you would not believe this, the entire piece of plastic is sprayed with silver/steel spray paint to look like aluminum.”
As for battery life, “we had a bad time with the AirBook. On our standard rundown test, where we’ll loop a video until the machine calls it quits, the AirBook clocked in at just 2 hours. What’s more, it offers a disappointing 1 hour and 26 minutes for web-surfing (Wi-Fi on).
Much more in the full review, including photos and more videos, here.
MacDailyNews Take: If Apple’s legal team isn’t on this one already, they should be soon!
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Joe Architect” for the heads up.]