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Acer rumored to offer likeness of MacBook Air

If the speculation is correct, Acer will be the latest to offer an ultraslim, aluminum-clad laptop that looks like a MacBook Air.

Brooke Crothers Former CNET contributor
Brooke Crothers writes about mobile computer systems, including laptops, tablets, smartphones: how they define the computing experience and the hardware that makes them tick. He has served as an editor at large at CNET News and a contributing reporter to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. His interest in things small began when living in Tokyo in a very small apartment for a very long time.
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A rumored Acer laptop appears to offer a striking likeness to the MacBook Air, though Acer wouldn't be the first to offer a design that closely adheres to Apple's design parameters.

The 13.3-inch Aspire 3951 will have many of the hallmarks of the Air, including an aluminum chassis, a weight of about 3 pounds, and a thickness of about 0.5 inches, according to Vietnam-based tech Web site Sohoa.

Rumored Acer Aspire as depicted on Vietnam-based Sohoa Web site.
Rumored Acer Aspire as depicted on the Vietnam-based Sohoa Web site. Sohoa

And like other Ultrabooks, it will use Intel's Sandy Bridge processors and come with a 160GB solid-state drive option, according to Sohoa, which says ports include HDMI and USB and battery life is said to be six hours.

Of course, the biggest difference is that Ultrabooks like the Aspire and Asus' UX21 and UX31 (also Air look-alikes) will run Windows 7, not OS X. Price may also set them apart. The Vietnamese Web site hints at prices starting as low as $800, which would be about $200 less than the cheapest Air. No release date information was given, and Acer declined to comment.

(Via Electronista)