I know you're asking about Air alternatives... But I bought the top-of-the-line MacBook Air (i7 1.8ghz, 4gb ram, 256gb sdd) right after it came out, and it's one of the best purchases I've ever made. It's my first Mac and won't be the last. Definitely the best computer I've ever owned. I run Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign on it, and do minor video editing. The thing's blazing fast.