Actually, I faced the same question a few months back. I'm a Linux user and was looking for a light and decent laptop. I almost got the MacBook Air but was not

Actually, I faced the same question a few months back. I'm a Linux user and was looking for a light and decent laptop. I almost got the MacBook Air but was not ready (yet) to move from Linux to OSX. I finally purchased a Thinkpad X1 Carbon (i7) (http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/x-series/x1-carbon/ http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/x-series/x1-ca...) for less than $1400 thanks to a discount from my University. It's not cheap but definitely a nice machine. It's light, has a cool look (IMO), the display is better than the Air but the X1's battery lasts less than the Air. However, note that the battery life on recent MacBook Air's shows a rather sharp decline compared to older MacBook Pro's: http://www.extremetech.com/computing/164129-macbook-air-battery-woes-show-the-downside-of-the-quest-for-denser-batteries http://www.extremetech.com/computing/164129-macbook-air-batt... A comparison X1 vs Air: http://www.scmp.com/magazines/48hrs/article/1295563/face-apple-macbook-air-vs-lenovo-thinkpad-x1-carbon http://www.scmp.com/magazines/48hrs/article/1295563/face-app...