ASUS is getting ready to lay the smack down against Apple’s MacBook Air with its super slim U36. The U36 promises better performance than Apple’s system with either an Intel Core i3 or i5 CPU. The Air has a Core 2 Duo processor.

They also promise up to 10 hours of battery life on a 4-cell battery, compared to the Air’s 5-7 hours of battery life. It will also use NVIDIA’s Optimus graphics with the company’s Super Hybrid Engine. The device weighs 3.2 pounds, just slightly more than the slim Air, and has a thickness at 0.75-inch with a magnesium alloy shell. It looks rather blah design-wise though.

Sony has a thing for super bright colors with their new 14-inch VAIO EA and 17.3-inch EC Series. They come in vibrant 80′s colors, like bright green, blue, and pink. And also the plainer matte white, brown and black. These systems will cost you around $700.

Both sport a Core i3 350M CPU, 4GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive and Windows 7 Home Premium. No Blu-ray options here, but both have optical drives and HDMI ports. Sony also added its instant-on OS, which you can launch by hitting the handy WEB button above the keyboard.

Looks like Lenovo’s new Core i3 / i5-based IdeaPad Z560 is available to order directly from the company now, and they promise a ship date within 13 days. So you’ll be getting it in June. The laptop starts at just $739 and features a 15.6-inch 1366 x 768 LED-backlit display, and your choice of integrated Intel HD or discrete NVIDIA GeForce 310M graphics.

Other features include 3GB or 4GB of RAM, 320GB or 500GB hard drives, a DVD burner, a six-cell battery and a choice of Intel’s Core i3 or i5 processors.

HP continues to out new laptops, like the G42t which just surfaced on the company’s website. You can get it right now and customize it the way you want. You can choose a Core i3 or i5 processor, up to 4GB of DDR3 memory, a hard drive from 250GB to 640GB, integrated Intel graphics, a 1,366 x 768 resolution panel and a built-in webcam.

Other options include WiFi, optional Bluetooth, a SuperMulti DVD burner or Blu-ray drive, 6-cell Li-ion battery and plenty of software. It starts at just $549.99.

Samsung has a new anti-glare screen option for us, with the P580 notebook, which features a 15.6-inch 1,366 x 768 LED-lit screen and keyboard with numeric keypad. Under the hood there’s a Core i3 or i5 CPU, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M (1GB GDDR3) graphics, Trusted Platform Module security, Bluetooth 2.1, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, and 2GB to 4GB of RAM.

There’s also four chargeable USB 2.0 ports (one is also eSATA) and the docking port. It weighs just 5.51 pounds. Hopefully the pricing is affordable enough for your business needs.

The new G62t may be in the same family as HP’s budget-minded G60 laptop, but it has more in common with the high-end Envy 15 as far as appearance. It certainly is stylish. The specs are pretty respectable too. You get a standard Core i3 processor (upgradable to Core i5 or i7), 3GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, 15.6-inch LED-backlit display, and a DVD burner (upgradable to Blu-ray).

Their is at least one downside, the non-upgradeable integrated Intel HD graphics. Then again the starting price is just $699, making that drawback something many of us can live with. Looks good.