Chinese 11.6" MacBook Air clone needs to go on a diet

Mac fans in China who can't get their hands on a real MacBook Air can pick up the next best thing something that would make Steve Jobs and Jony Ive nauseous: an 11.6" MacBook Air clone.

Made by China's E-Stary, the HY118 (gotta love that name) has the guts of a standard netbook, including a typical 160GB hard disk, an Intel Atom N270 CPU and 1GB of RAM. For a few bucks more, you can get the HY118 equipped with a genuine Apple logo!

As you'd expect, it's not the most perfect clone. It's more like a clone with irradiated DNA. First, it runs WIndows 7 instead of Mac OS X 10.6. The specs aren't listed, but it looks like this MacBook Air has been snarfing KFC Double Downs and put on a bit of weight. It's definitely thicker and weighs in at 2.97 pounds. There's a cheesy black bezel around the display, which at 1366 x 768 pixels matches the resolution of the real 11.6" MacBook Air. The font used for the "realistic" looking model label isn't even close to Apple's standard.

For about the equivalent of US$260, the HY118 also comes with built-in Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and a pair of USB 2.0 ports. If you're not too happy with the looks of this MBA clone, you can always buy a Mem-Tech "Mini MAC" clone instead. Check out a side shot of the HY118 on the next page.

[via Electronista]


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