The Requirements :
Good portability (around 1kg with an 11' screen, looks to fit the bill), Latest generation chips (ivy bridge), Good keyboard and trackpad, Best screen available (prefer IPS), Good durability (preferably a metal chassis).
The Contenders :
The Macbook Air (2012).
The plan was initially just to wait for the ivy bridge update to the 11' macbook air and be done with it. It ticks all the boxes above and gives the option of running osx without having to jump through the hackintosh hoops.
http://www.apple.com/uk/macbookair/
Asus UX21A.
As I was patiently waiting for the ivy bridge refresh to the air, Asus shows up with a newly revised UX21A, This has all the good stuff, upto i7 ivy bridge processors, small form factor, nice chassis, ssd's etc. Along with a 1080p IPS display, which kills the macbook air for resolution, viewing angles and brightness (according to the reviews).
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5843/asus-zenbook-prime-ux21a-review/1
Both machines have a similar form factor, but the asus has a significant advantage in terms of the processors it can be configured with and the screen. So it comes down to the classic mac/pc dilemma go for the specs(asus) or stick with what you know will be a quality experience, good keyboard, good trackpad everything well put together (macbook). Having used a number of different laptops old and new common sense tells me to go for the one that I know is well put together and gets the basics right. The problems comes when I think about the screen though, I have always found the screen one of the most important aspects of any machine, it is after all what you stare at day in day out, and that has always lead me to favour lots of real estate (resolution) and maximum quality. External monitors do solve this problem when you are at home but on the road you have to live with the compromises made.
The second problem that is blocking the upgrade path is the plethora of new machines recently announced.. basically the same as the above with touchscreens and convertible tablet form factors while still maintaining ivy bridge internals...
The idea of having a fully competent development laptop which can then have the screen undocked to sit on the couch reading tablet style is extremely appealing. The main purpose of this machine is maximum portability along with being able to develop as needed and these seem to fit the bill pretty well. It is however pure speculation as they may turn out to be ordinary laptops and useless tablets as a lot of multipurpose devices tend to. The other downside is the availability which is a matter of scouring webstores hoping someone ships to this part of the world (Denmark).
The third blocker is the is the Macbook Pro retina edition. As stated above I love a big screen with lots of resolution and that things has some nuts resolution. It is however way outside the spec in terms of size (2kg fat!!), and also pushes credibility in terms of budget.. so even though that screen is tempting those two constraints are enough to cross it off the list.
In Conclusion :
I am going to wait! No surprise there, I need to get my hands on the Asus UX21A and see if that screen is good enough to move me away from the air, once I have done that I'll flip a coin and see whether I want to wait so my next device can be all about the touch.
Update :
The Asus UX21A seems to have fallen off the planet in 4 months of looking, as best I can understand it never made it to the market while ASUS prepared a touch enabled version and somewhere along the way that seems to have disappeared as well :(
