Good to see, while push Apple to keep the Air's up to date.
Plus it gives people more choice and those who prefer PCs can get the slim MBA look with a brand they are comfortable.
That said the Air makes quite a bit more sense for someone remotely interested in OS X as it can run that and Windows.
if they use the same intel hardware there should be not much of a problem to hackintosh them quiet easy (needs to be confirmed as there is more inside then just the sandy bridge and ssd , like wifi /bluetooth cards and such )
OK it does not make sense in terms of saving money as the most you could save would be the €150 if you get the Asus .
But if for example the customer wants the Toshiba because of the great idea to put near all the ports on the back instead of on the side which i find extremly handy if you have it on your desk connected to your big monitor and external harddrive and optical drive (there are 2 usb ports on the back plus a VGA and a HDMI , ethernet and power ) , as it makes the desk look tidy.
Stll has the essential ports like 1 usb and cardreader and headphone /microphone port on the sides for on the move
The Lenovo with its anodized coating wont scratch as easy as the MBA
..they are more then powerful enough to replace a desktop , at least for the average user.
but generally speaking, as i dont want to sell you the Toshiba or Lenovo or the Asus .... they all have their own style and personality in my opinion and are not just clones .
Which gives the customer more choice and Apple can profit too , as it can learn why one of those ultrabooks might eventually (we dont know yet) sells better then others , and take that idea on for the next revision of the MacBook Air
