Many of our reader questions have been about 13-inch laptops, which is notable as a 13-inch laptop is the largest size we'd consider carrying around several days per week, and also the smallest size we'd be able to use for a full day of desktop computing.
Dan Ackerman
Dan Ackerman leads CNET's coverage of computers and gaming hardware. A New York native and former radio DJ, he's also a regular TV talking head and the author of "The Tetris Effect" (Hachette/PublicAffairs), a non-fiction gaming and business history book that has earned rave reviews from the New York Times, Fortune, LA Review of Books, and many other publications.
"Upends the standard Silicon Valley, Steve Jobs/Mark Zuckerberg technology-creation myth... the story shines." -- The New York Times
Apple slightly revamps its basic MacBook with improvements under the hood, but keeps the design and price the same, which makes the latest MacBook tough to beat.
The thin, powerful Asus U36JC-A1 packs a lot of computer under its slim 13-inch hood, but some might want to wait for next-gen Intel processors to sweeten the deal.
Apple's new 13-inch MacBook Pro looks the same as the old MacBook Pro and still has a Core 2 Duo processor, but its graphics and battery life receive an appreciable boost.
We haven't formally reviewed the latest 13-inch version of the MacBook Air, but our impressions of it are similar to what we thought about the 11-inch version: it's a highly portable system with just enough power for everyday use, but a high price that might put off some.
