So it looks like you can get a Zenbook Prime that's very similar to the $1099 MacBook Air for $900, but yes, with somewhat better specs. It looks like a compet

So it looks like you can get a Zenbook Prime that's very similar to the $1099 MacBook Air for $900, but yes, with somewhat better specs. It looks like a competitive laptop, although I'd have to hold one in my hands to really know. Looking at the pictures I'm guessing that the trackpad would drive me crazy (I don't understand why other manufacturers have so much trouble here, although Vizio seems to have done a nice job with their new line of laptops in this department -- no separate buttons for one). I'd also be trading OS X for Linux (or Windows), would would be a pretty serious compromise for me[0]. Anyway, yes, the mind can justify whatever it wants, but I don't feel like I have to do a lot of work to justify spending an extra $200. That's substantially less than a day's gross pay if you've got a typical US software engineering job. [0]: I'm no stranger to Linux. I ran it exclusively from 1999-2004, and I have a Linux dev desktop at work. Out of the box I strongly prefer OS X, if for nothing other than the consistency of keybindings across software (including third-party). I could (and have) customized my Linux config to be more consistent, although some things are not easily tweaked.