Adopting a distinctive brand to separate the Adamo from the rest of the range isn't the only lead Dell has followed.

There are some clear similarities between the Adamo and Apple's MacBook Air, including cases machined from solid aluminium.

There's just a tenth of an inch difference in screen size (in the Adamo's favour), and it's slightly thinner - 1.64 cm compared with the Air's 1.94 cm at the thickest point.

But the MacBook Air is slightly narrower (32.5 cm vs 33.1 cm) and shallower (22.7 cm vs 24.2 cm) - and more importantly lighter at 1.36 kg compared with the Adamo's 1.81 kg.

So let's call it a draw on dimensions, with the Air winning on weight.

Styling is a subjective matter, and you'll probably have a preference for either the square lines of the Adamo or the smooth curves of the Air. Let's just say that the Adamo is more similar to the majority of upmarket notebooks.

What's inside? See page 2.

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Both use Core 2 Duo processors - 1.4 GHz in the Adamo, and 1.6 or 1.86 GHz in the Air. And both use DDR3 memory, but with 4G the Adamo comes with twice as much RAM as the Air. If your pattern of use is anything like mine, extra memory is generally more use than a fractionally faster CPU.

As for storage, Dell has opted for a 128G solid state drive while Apple went for a 120G hard drive on its basic model and a 128G SSD on the 1.86 GHz version. (So why is the Adamo so much heavier?)

Neither has an internal optical drive. (Lenovo's ThinkPad X300 was only a little thicker than the Adamo, and it found room for an tray-loading DVD burner.)

Battery life is an another important aspect. Apple claims 4.5 hours use per charge, Dell says "5+" hours. Since user experience tends to be very different to manufacturers' figures, I'll give the Adamo a provisional half-point.

Both notebooks include an illuminated keyboard, camera, microphone, Bluetooth and draft n Wi-Fi.

But the Adamo comes out on top when it comes to ports. It has three USB ports (one of which does double-duty for eSATA) and a Gigabit Ethernet port. Compare that with the Air's single USB port (that's taken up if you use the optional Ethernet dongle), and the Adamo's streets ahead.

How do these two thin and light notebooks stack up on price? Please read on.

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And talking of options, the Adamo comes with a DisplayPort to DVI adaptor, but that's an extra-cost item from Apple. Whether that's a good thing depends on how you feel about paying for something you may not need. What if you require a VGA adaptor instead?

Dell also offers a mobile broadband option - no details are provided, but presumably it's the same internal arrangement as on the Inspiron Mini 9.

As for price, the Adamo starts at $A3699, the MacBook Air at $2899. If you option up the Air with the SSD it comes to $A3699. Coincidence?

And do you remember when the Air was announced and all those critics said it was far too expensive and you couldn't do without an optical drive?

Is Dell making the same mistake, or did Apple get it right after all?

But at the end of the day, the choice largely comes down to which operating system you favour. If you want a machine in this class and you want Mac OS X, you'll choose the MacBook Air.

If your preference is Windows, then the Adamo is the obvious choice unless you're more concerned with saving 300 g rather than 3 mm, or you have a thing for the Air's curved profile.

Linux users are on their own - neither company appears to provide support for that operating system.