HP, Pioneer, ultrabooks, tablets ... everybody is jumping on the Apple wave ...

Apple's latest MacBook Air may look virtually identical to the previous model, but it's under the hood that most of its improvements lie. Faster Intel Core i5 and optional Core i7 processors gives Apple's ultra portable notebook a huge performance boost. The Air is still an expensive proposition on the whole, but the extra grunt combined with a thin and light design, fast, flash-based storage, and excellent battery life make it a worthy option for road warriors.

The rise of media tablets has inadvertently overshadowed the trusty notebook we have all come to fondly know and rely upon for our daily computing needs. The launch of the iPad a year ago has taken the media limelight, end-user mindshare and even wallet share away from notebooks. But, that does not mean notebooks are out of the picture as yet.

The Australian PC market has grown 2.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2011 according to analyst firm, Gartner. This is in comparison to the same period last year.

The Samsung Series 9 notebook is one of the thinnest and lightest 13.3-inch notebooks on the Australian market to feature a Second Generation Intel Core i5 CPU. It's beautifully designed and crafted and it feels very comfortable to use, whether you're typing at a desk or on your lap. With a price tag of $2499, it's not cheap, but it's definitely worth it if you want superb mobility and build quality as well as very decent performance for office and multimedia tasks.

The Australian Government is investigating American moves to allow Apple MacBook Air laptops to remain in carry bags during airport x-ray screenings.

Apple's previous MacBook Air]], an ultraportable laptop designed primarily for travelling, was widely criticised for its high price and lack of features. Apple has responded with an upgraded version of the MacBook Air; like most Apple products, it once again features a superb design that is marvellously thin and light, but it now comes with fast, flash-based storage, a full size keyboard and trackpad, and a claimed standby battery life of up to 30 hours.

After all the hype about the new MacBook Air releases, all the oohing and aahing over the engineering that slipped a significant amount of power and capability into such a tiny package, I was ready to be somewhat disappointed by the new 13.3-inch MacBook Air that arrived on my doorstep, recently. I've used [every MacBook Air since it was originally released], and I still use an 18-month-old Air for hours and hours every day. What could impress me about the new one? As it turns out, plenty.

Many people today carry multiple mobile devices to access data anyplace, anytime. But a question always lingers: between a smartphone, laptop and tablet, which should you carry on the road?

I really like Apple's newly revamped MacBook Air, which got extensive under-the-hood updates last month. And I really, really like the apparent speed boost offered by the larger solid-state drive (SSD) in the Air I've been testing for the past week.