Advent Altro: Like a MacBook Air, but cheaper -- much cheaper

Psst! Want a half-price MacBook Air? Sure you do. Just like you want a diamond-encrusted Porsche 911 and a rapping unicorn -- but you're living in dreamland if you think you can have one.

Actually, the cheap MacBook Air bit isn't so far-fetched. We've just got our paws on an Advent Altro, a budget laptop that looks suspiciously like Apple's gaunt gizmo. It's silver, it's skinny, it's lightweight, has isolated keys, a glass-like mouse trackpad, and a dongle that expands the laptop's connectivity over and above its single USB port.

The specs make for good reading. It packs a 120GB hard drive, a 13.3-inch, 1,366x768-pixel display, 802.11n Wi-Fi -- all of which is identical to what you'd find on an Air. Core specs are a little different, though. While the Altro uses 3GB of RAM (1GB more than an Air) it relies on a relatively mediocre 1.2GHz Intel Celeron 723 processor, which plays second fiddle to the Air's Core 2 Duo chips.

So is it worth the £600? That depends on your expectations, really. The Altro has a distinctly plastic 'made in China' feel that doesn't come close to matching the Air's sexy aluminium framework. Still, at £600, you ought not to complain.

We'll have a full review of the Altro in the coming days. In the meantime, head over to the Dixons Web site for more info, and don't forget to check out our pictures for a closer look and more deets.