What’s different in the C7 Acer opted to use an Intel Core processor for starters. Prior Intel Chromebooks ran on older chips and the Samsung Chromebook that debuted last month actually uses an ARM-based processor that’s typically found inside smartphones and tablets. The C7 does, however, share the same basic screen as that model: an 11.6-inch 1366 x 768 display.

Because the C7 is thicker than prior Chromebooks — at 1 inch “thin” it has the girth of a traditional notebook — but that gives Acer room for a full complement of ports as well as a 320 GB hard drive to supplement the 100 GB of Google Drive storage. By comparison, most other Chromebooks come with 16 GB of flash storage. Three USB ports, an Ethernet jack, HDMI and VGA for video out and HD front-facing camera round out the specifications making this Chromebook more like a standard laptop.

I still use a Google Chromebook as my full-time computing device — I went back to the Samsung Series 5 550 for the better performance over the ARM model — and I’m curious how this Acer device works, given the hardware. I’m anticipating it performs at least as good as the model I’m using now and that one cost me $449 some five months ago. At $199, if the C7 is comparable or better, it’s a steal for the price provided you’re going to be near an outlet more often than not or you have a mobile hotspot device.

The new Acer C7 goes on sale Nov. 13 on Google Play and select retailers in the U.S. and U.K.

Update. I had an email conversation with Brad Linder over at Liliputing and he found out that the processor in the Acer C7 is a 1.1 GHz Intel Celeron 847 Sandy Bridge processor paired with 2 GB of memory.

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Called the GoNote, this one uses Google Android 4.0, a touchscreen and webcam, just like a traditional laptop. But for several reasons, this is a product category — and maybe even a product — that shouldn’t exist.

Here’s an overview of what £149 (US $234.76) buys you with the GoNote:

• 10-inch 1024 x 600 resolution, resistive touch display
• 1.2 GHz Rockchip RK2918 ARM processor
• Support for 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi
• 9000 mAh battery rated for 6 hours of web browsing
• Access to the Google Play store but no support for movies or television shows from Google
• 1.3 megapixel front facing webcam
• 1 GB of RAM; 8 GB of internal storage, expandable via microSD card slot
• 4 x USB ports and micro HDMI-out

If this sounds like a low-end or netbook-like set of specifications, it is; although a netbook would have more processing power. The GoNote is essentially an Android tablet in a netbook that likely won’t excel at either form-factor.

Obviously, at this low price, corners have to be cut in terms of hardware. But in 2012, the time for resistive touch screens is long gone, in favor of capacitive touch displays. Forget the fact that it’s not ergonomically efficient to reach out and touch a notebook screen, you don’t want one that relies on pressure to register touch; it simply is a terrible user experience. We call it “gorilla arm” and it’s not pleasant.

Using Android is another cost-conscious decision: ErgoElectronics doesn’t have to pay a licensing fee to use the platform. But it could have done the same with Linux or chosen another operating system that’s meant for the desktop experience. Android is designed as a touch-optimized environment; not for a keyboard and trackpad. There are some exceptions here, of course. The Asus Transformer has an optional dock with keyboard and trackpad that works well for certain applications. These are tablets first, however; the dock is an add-on, not the primary input method.

The GoNote is targeted towards students and perhaps some will buy this Android-powered laptop. I think they’d be better served by a different device however: Perhaps a Google Chromebook, low-priced Microsoft Windows netbook or the Asus Transformer tablet / dock combo. Even the $199 Nexus 7 with a Bluetooth keyboard could be a better option for some.

Nearly all of these are more expensive, yes, but it doesn’t matter how much money you save if a mobile device doesn’t do what you need it to do. That’s the reason these type of Android-powered notebooks don’t make any sales headway: Combining two great but unlike items doesn’t mean you’re creating a better device. In fact, the opposite is often the case and it surprises me that companies haven’t learned that by now.

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Natural beauty

The Blackbox is a handmade case, currently available for iPad 2 and MacBook Pro. I got the chance to check out the upcoming MacBook Air version, and it’s a beauty in natural bamboo. The good looks owe as much to the craftsmanship as to the materials, as this is one clean-looking case with smooth lines that echo those of the MacBook Pro case created by Apple’s own industrial designers.

Rugged and ready

The experience of having your MacBook Air in the Blackbox feels a little like nestling it inside a cutting board, and that’s a very good thing. Thanks to the leather strap, the corners of your computer are protected, and a snug, secure fit is guaranteed. The wood feels solid despite being hollow, and there seems to be almost an inch of coverage on the edges, making sure that there’s no weak connection points that will come apart or snap apart during a minor tumble. It also means you can stack plenty of weight on top of the case with your computer inside without worrying about hurting your Mac.

Life resistant

Blackbox cases are treated with a water-resistant finish that helps enhance their good looks and also make sure that an accidental spill won’t fry your machine. I tested it out by dripping a bit of water on top and then wiping it clean; definitely looks like it’ll hold up to all but the most grievous of Starbucks incidents. Thanks to the weight resistance and a very snug fit, it should also stand up well to be tossed in a bag with other loose kit. Just make sure there’s nothing in there with edges that might scratch the exposed portion of your MacBook, as the top is open save for the strap.

Not trim, but light

The one downside, especially if you’re using an Air mainly for its portability, is that this case does add considerable girth to your device. In fact, it more than doubles the height of the Air at its thickest point. But the Blackbox is surprisingly light despite its added bulk. On its site, Blackbox says that the existing versions only add around 1.5 lbs, and I’d say that’s about where the MacBook Air model is, too. It’s not heavy at all, considering how durable these things are.

A good friend you see only once in a while

That’s how I’d best describe the Blackbox MacBook Air case. You won’t need it every time you need your Mac, but for adventurous outings, and times when bringing dedicated computer bags separate from your other luggage isn’t practical, the Blackbox is a rugged performer that’ll give you peace of mind when transporting your valuable, but fragile-feeling MacBook cargo. It isn’t yet available on the Blackbox site, but according to the Kickstarter site for the project it’ll retail for $109 when it arrives sometime soon.

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Challenges with high-res displays

Apple would have to address significant challenges in order to bring a 2880×1800 resolution display to a MacBook Pro, which DigiTimes reports is in the works. Currently, the max screen res on the biggest MBP is 1920×1200, so a bump up to the reported resolution wouldn’t require a doubling of vertical and horizontal pixels, but it would be a considerable step up.

And taking that step would come with a cost in terms of requiring more processor power, and in terms of battery life, too. Also, producing high-res displays at scale is a tricky thing; the higher the resolution, the more difficult it would be for Apple to produce screens in THE numbers they require. But, next-generation chips from Intel could address some of these problems, especially as Intel says it’s investing more on graphics and media.

What Apple stands to gain

Some might think that Apple stands to add relatively little to its MacBook Pro with the introduction of a much higher-resolution display; Apple’s notebook market share has steadily risen for many years, after all, and the last time it changed its max resolution at the top end of its laptop offerings was in 2008. Do users really need higher resolution in a notebook?

The short answer is yes. Digital graphics and video pros invest in larger-screened MacBook Pros precisely because of their real estate advantage relative to other computers. Advancements in this area mean that Apple can continue to maintain a competitive advantage with pro users who still seek portability as well as power, and don’t want to depend on connecting to an external display to accomplish certain tasks. And with HD resolution offerings set to become more common among PC laptops, any measures Apple can take to stay ahead of the game will go a long way in terms of consumer perception.

OS X Lion also suggests that this is something Apple has been working toward for a while now, since it contains resolution independent features that allow developers to include “2X” graphics resources just like those found in apps compatible with the iPhone’s Retina Display. That the system is basically ready to go in Lion suggests the introduction of Macs that can take advantage of it during the lifetime of that OS.

Less of a leap than you might think

A jump up in resolution is actually something Apple is just about due for in its MacBook Pro line anyway. And the proposed change isn’t about something as dramatic as doubling res, as it is with the rumored iPad 3. It’ll no doubt be a big step up, but one in a key area that consumers will easily be able to see and experience, which is crucial in a market where big, visible feature changes are now relatively few are far between.

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Sales

First, there are the reasons Apple executives themselves gave for considering shelving the Pro. Reportedly, the sales of these expensive computers have dwindled to the point where making them isn’t nearly as profitable for Apple as it once was. Apple has never been particularly sentimental about keeping a computer around when it isn’t profitable; consider the fate of the G4 Cube, for example, which was introduced to the world in July 2000, and then discontinued just a year later after failing to impress the buying public. Desktop sales in general have been flagging, with notebooks and tablets picking up the slack.

Apple has been cited as bucking the downward trend in desktop sales, but the Mac Pro isn’t the computer whose sales we hear broken out during conference calls or at Apple special events. That honor is reserved for the iMac, Apple’s all-in-one that’s proving there’s still a market for affordable, sleek desktop computers.

The reason the Mac Pro doesn’t get a shout-out during Apple’s events is probably because Apple has nothing to crow about, because if there’s good reason to talk about how well a product is selling, Apple usually isn’t shy about doing so.

Thunderbolt

Apple may also be able to shore up the demand for added expandability using Thunderbolt technology, which is another point reportedly raised in discussion among Apple execs. Thunderbolt expansion devices will soon allow video capture cards and other devices that use PCI Express expansion connectors to be plugged in outside of the case to an iMac, MacBook or Mac mini. Thunderbolt also allows the direct connection of much faster RAID storage devices, and multiple displays, something the internal PCI Express slots in the Pro once provided exclusive access to.

Anticipating the mass market curve

The Mac Pro could still be a very useful piece of tech for a demanding set of niche customers, but those buyers are less and less Apple’s target market. Apple showed it wants to keep focus on the consumer end of its business when it discontinued the Xserve back in Nov. 2010, and it redesigned Final Cut Pro with non-professional end users in mind. In both cases, it eventually made concessions to try to ease the blow for professional users (Mac mini server model and promised updates to Final Cut Pro X).

Apple succeeds mainly because it keeps its product lines tight, so that it can focus on doing a few things very well, instead of many things adequately. This past fall, it even skipped a substantial iPod touch update, which is the biggest seller of its media player line, which indicates it could already be anticipating a future where the iPhone completely scratches that itch. The Mac Pro, which is much farther away from its core business, could hardly merit more attention.

Closing a door, but opening many windows

Shuttering the Mac Pro could understandably disappoint some users, since it would effectively represent the end of significant, Apple-sanctioned internal tinkering by end users, but as I wrote about before, Thunderbolt could introduce many external expandability options where once there for few.

In the long run, it’s better for Apple’s core business (and where its future customers will mostly be) to focus on making products with wide appeal that can also serve the professional needs of the few with somewhat pricey add-ons, than to sell a prohibitively expensive machine that only a select few can justify buying to begin with.

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Entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pros now have 2.4 GHz and 2.8 GHz Intel Core i5 or i7 processors, depending on which base configuration you choose, and each have more storage by default, with 500 GB in the entry-level model and 750 in the higher-end version, vs 320 and 500 before the update.

The 15-inch Pros have faster versions of the quad-core Intel Core i7 chips that power them, and the option to upgrade to a 2.5 GHz option has been added to the computer’s customization selections. Apple has also upgraded the graphics card options, making the more powerful Radeon HD 6750M standard for the base 15-inch, with 512 MB of dedicated memory, and introduced the Radeon HD 6770M with 1 GB of dedicated memory for the more expensive option.

Finally, the 17-inch MBP now has a 2.4 GHz, quad-core i7 processor, with an option to upgrade to a 2.5 GHz chip. The Radeon 6770M is now the standard graphics card option, with 1 GB of dedicated memory. Also, you can now upgrade your custom drive on the 17-inch to a 750 GB 7200-rpm model.

This is actually a very modest update overall, and Apple clearly thinks so too, since there’s no mention of the changes on the company landing page, and no “new” badge on the MacBook Pro category in the Apple Store home page, either. Still, if you were holding out on a MacBook Pro purchase pending updates, this is probably the best you can expect for at least another four to six months. We’ll likely see benchmarks soon that show just how much the under-the-hood changes affect performance.

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The Joli Originals MacBook Air sleeve might just fit the bill. Joli makes hand-crafted leather sleeves for iPhones, iPads and the MacBook Air, and has recently made the jump from Etsy to its own Shopify-based e-commerce site to sell the Apple device accessories. Joli sent me a sample sleeve to test with my 11.6-inch MacBook Air. Here’s what I’ve found after nearly a week of use.

All dressed up and everywhere to go

Joli’s sleeves are hand-made in The Netherlands, using soft leather finished in Italy on the outside, and 100-percent wool felt for the interior. You can choose from a number of customization options, including four colors of leather and up to four colors of felt, depending on which color leather you choose. My test unit has a brown leather exterior and an orange interior, which makes for an attractive combination.

As soon as you hold the sleeve in your hands, everything about it screams quality. It has a significant weight to it that makes it feel like it can offer a decent amount of protection from bumps and maybe even drops of small distances. The soft leather looks great (as does the stitching holding the two sides of the sleeve together) and feels even better on the hand. The fit is snug, which help makes the sleeve look even better when it’s actually holding the Air.

Despite its good looks and high-quality materials, the Joli surprisingly doesn’t feel like it needs to be coddled. In fact, it strikes me as the kind of leather product that might look better after a certain amount of stress from wear and tear. I’ve been throwing it in the backpack with various other items, and I think the cat’s taken to using it as an impromptu bed; so far, there doesn’t seem to be a mark on it.

Fit and features

Like I said, the fit is snug. In fact, it actually takes quite a bit of shimmying to get the Air into the sleeve to begin with. It does get better with use, and using two hands, it shouldn’t prove unduly stressful. Plus, the grip means you don’t have to worry about your Air sneaking its way back out in a moving bag.

The Joli is open-ended, so one side of your Mac will be exposed, although it is deep enough that the edge of the computer won’t stick out. The open edge actually proves quite useful if you want to charge your Air while it’s encased, which is something I found myself doing often. The lack of a zipper or flap also didn’t seem to negatively affect my Mac during the course of my use, although if you plan on using it regularly on a sandy beach, you might have cause for concern.

Price and availability

The Joli MacBook Air sleeve retails for €55, which works out to around $79 U.S. before tax and shipping. Considering that a basic neoprene sleeve will likely cost you around $40 at the Apple Store, it’s not a bad price for something that’s hand-made using premium leather. Joli sleeves are available right now, and shipping estimates vary based on where you’re located in the world.

Verdict

If you want something to house and protect your MacBook Air that’s as stylish as the Air itself, the Joli sleeve is a very good choice, especially if you’re looking for a unique case that you’re unlikely to see carried by others very often.

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Without iPad sales included, Apple ranks last out of the top six global notebook manufacturers in terms of sales. But once you include the tablet, Apple jumps to the number one overall spot. Including tablets in global PC sales makes sense, because since the iPad’s introduction, sales share of traditional notebook devices among top companies like HP, Acer and Dell have either been in steady decline or more or less stagnant.

Even last December, it was apparent that the iPad was propelling Apple’s stake in the mobile PC market higher, and that doesn’t appear to be showing any signs of slowing. Competitors are still having trouble finding a foothold for their own tablets, although some predict that they’ll manage to do so in the next few years. But even if Apple doesn’t have as commanding a lead by then, it will still have secured its spot atop the mobile-computing heap, if trends continue along the path outlined by Whitmore.

A recent report from Jeffries analyst Peter Misek suggests that Apple might be moving toward a unified OS for its desktop/notebook and portable devices as early as next year. I’m still skeptical of this, since it involves a complete overhaul of the Mac line using ARM-based processor architecture, which would also necessitate huge shifts on the software side. But the iPad’s continued strong performance is a sign that Apple’s time and money may be better invested in efforts that benefit that platform most. After all, Apple has realized an additional $6 billion in revenue from the iPad alone, according to the company’s most recent earnings call. Predicting what comes next for such a game-changing product isn’t easy, but it definitely makes waiting and watching that much more exciting.

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In addition to the always-attached keyboard, the Eee Pad Slider adds a full-sized USB port and microSD card slot for memory expansion. Adding these ports and the keyboard adds some bulk and weight, however, two things I’d say actually reduce the portability of the tablet. The slider is larger overall than the iPad or Galaxy Tab 10.1, for example, and at 31.3 ounces, weighs just under two pounds.

Yes, that’s still lighter than a notebook or netbook computer, but it is noticeably heavier than comparable tablets. From a design standpoint, Ritchie says the sliding mechanism on the tablet works well. It’s a spring-loaded design that Ritchie claims is “very smooth action.” The screen angle is a fixed position, however; don’t expect to tilt the screen at different angles.

Maybe I’ll feel differently once I get an Eee Pad Slider to look at, but I’m not sold on the design for my personal needs. Honeycomb is a touch-driven interface, so your hands will be moving back and forth between the keyboard. Even though the distance looks small, it’s not ideal from a usability standpoint. With either the USB port or Bluetooth radio, you could add a mouse to address that problem, but that’s more to carry, which reduces portability even more. And the added weight of the keyboard and sliding mechanism is something buyers will be carrying the whole time, although they do gain a stand out of the design.

Again, perhaps the heavy slate will impress me when I see it for myself. And I’m not suggesting the Eee Pad Slider is a nonstarter: It will surely appeal to some who don’t mind carrying a larger device in order to gain an integrated keyboard. My concern is that I’d be “carrying” the extra weight and size for the keyboard all the time, yet I’d likely be using the keyboard for a very limited amount of time. Folks that are supplementing a true slate with some type of wired or wireless keyboard would likely feel the opposite and for them, the Eee Pad Slider might press all the right buttons, assuming Google Android is their platform of choice.

Keyboard or not, I haven’t been impressed enough by any Android Honeycomb tablet to buy one for myself. I actually still prefer Android 2.3, or Gingerbread, on my lighter 7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab. And that’s a problem that no keyboard will fix.

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Specs and stats

The 11.6-inch MacBook Air I’m reviewing has all the customization options available for the machine. That means a 1.8 GHz Core i7 Intel processor, 4 GB of RAM, a 256 GB SSD, and an Intel HD Graphics 3000 integrated card with 384 MB of shared memory. The price before tax for this computer as reviewed is $1,649.

With those specs, I ran the Air through the Geekbench tests to determine how fast it was relative to my existing machine and previous Air models. On average after three tests, my Air scored 6308 on the tests. Higher scores on Geekbench are better, and that number is in line with (and slightly exceeds) the Geekbench scores for the 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pros from early 2010. The highest-scoring MacBook Air before this latest release was the top-of-the-line 2010 13-inch model, which rated just 3292 on Geekbench. The bottom line? Thanks to the new Core-series chips, these new Airs can handle quite the CPU load.

Real-world performance

The tale of the tape is promising, but how does the new Air respond to real-world challenges? Quite well. My typical workflow involves fairly heavy use of a browser (which is becoming Safari more and more often with OS X Lion), Twitter for OS X, Reeder for Mac, Mail, Sparrow and Photoshop. It can be a demanding mix, but the Air held up well. I was particularly impressed with Photoshop CS5′s performance on the Air; the program launches quickly, and photo editing doesn’t feel like a chore on this ultra-portable, as it can on some notebooks.

But how it behaves when running apps is only half the story. The Air has remarkable startup and shutdown times, thanks to its solid-state storage and Lion’s new emphasis of that as a feature. From the time I press the power button to full desktop takes only 16-18 seconds on average, and shutting down is even faster: around 2-5 seconds. But if you’d rather save yourself even more time, closing and opening the lid to enter and resume from sleep mode shaves off precious seconds.

Tradeoffs

Apple has reduced the sacrifices you have to make in exchange for the Air’s gains in portability and drive speed, but a few still exist, and they may be deal-breakers for some. For example, I found battery life on my Air to be just shy of that on my 2009 13-inch MacBook Pro, even though one has clearly been through far more cycles than the others. You can probably squeeze out the five hours Apple promises, but to do so, you’d have to go with keyboard illumination off (a shame because it’s such a welcome addition to the Air), a fairly low screen brightness and not very much multitasking or video viewing. With average use, I can probably get about three hours out of the Air, compared to about four on my MacBook Pro. The 13-inch Air, with its larger battery, should provide more usage for those looking for it.

Two other sacrifices are the lack of optical disc drive and relatively few ports. You don’t get an SD card slot on the 11.6-inch Air (though you do on the 13-inch), for example, and only two USB ports, with no FireWire and no Ethernet. Apple has brought Thunderbolt to the Air, however, which could more than make up for the lack of other on-device ports when hubs and other Thunderbolt accessories start hitting the market. It’s also worth noting that the Thunderbolt spec used in the new Airs is different from that used in Apple’s Pro notebooks and desktops, so you won’t be able to power more than one external display using it.

Like the Thunderbolt tech, the Air’s FaceTime camera isn’t exactly the same as those that ship with new iMacs and MacBook Pros, since it lacks the “HD” designation. Unless you do a lot of video calling and care deeply about resolution during said calls, however, this shouldn’t prove a major buying consideration.

The lack of an optical disc drive and the presence of only a few ports honestly don’t affect my opinion of the Air, but that’s because I use my notebooks almost exclusively while on the road. For those who want a laptop that can be both a docked desktop workstation and a road warrior, a Pro might be a better option.

Form factor and design

Arguably, the MacBook Air’s greatest asset is its unique hardware design. At just 0.68 inches at its thickest point, and only 2.38 pounds for the 11.6-inch model, it’s a portable computer that truly redefines the meaning of the term. The aluminum unibody construction, and the LED-backlit 1366×768 screen also make it very easy on the eyes, as does the new backlit keyboard. I also found that the screen, while glossy, was less prone to glare than the glass screen on my older MacBook Pro — a definite plus if you’re thinking about using the computer outside at all.

Of all the benefits of its design, it’s the weight that many will most appreciate. When held in hand with the unibody MacBook Pro, the difference is startling. And in a backpack or shoulder bag, the weight it adds is virtually unnoticeable. The only downside to its design that I can see is the inability to easily upgrade system components like RAM or storage, something which DIY aficionados might want to consider before making a purchase.

Verdict

The new MacBook Air is the best Air yet, which is saying a lot after the impressive update it received last year. If you’re currently working with an older Pro notebook and wonder if the Air is a suitable replacement, the answer is probably yes. If you bought the Air last year and are wondering if this Air is worth an upgrade, consider that the processor powering these latest models is two generations newer, and it shows. Like the iPad and the iPhone, the MacBook Air sets the standard for its entire device category, and the latest upgrade is a worthwhile raising of that bar.

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