thinkpads are ok (if you stay in the T series) and asus eeepc1000 was years ahead of any mac at the time. heck the air is a copy of that machine with a less plastic-ey case.
but neither asus nor lenovo buy billboards in times square and hollywood blvd, or center fold wired.
anyone that swears to buy apple after researching for the best is just a sad victim of marketing. Sadder as they will never accept it.
The quality is not about the cpu/ram/hd specs (which are mighty fine in the MBA). Are those other computers as thin? As light? Some are? Cool. Are those also made of a solid chunk of aluminum? No? Bad. Do they have the highest quality touchpad? No? Bad. Do they feature a very usable "chicklet" keyboard? No? Bad? Do they have the same resolution and display quality? No?
But it's telling you say that "air is a copy of" eeepc1000. It's nothing like eeepc1000. Actually all the "media pundits" were waiting and asking Apple to produce a netbook like it, and they never did, they made the MBA.