When Thunder Meets Lightning: Sony Laptop Rentals Could Put Damper on MacBook Air Demand

As a laptop rental company we try not to show undue preference to one vendor or another. We carry all kinds of Lenovo, HP, Samsung, HP, Apple, Panasonic, Sharp and Sony products – so we do our best to remain impartial.

But it’s still in our best interest to note current market trends so that we can stock the equipment that our customers expect to see.

Since Apple’s Thunderbolt  technology was so wide received, we beefed up our MacBook Air laptop rental offerings.

And now that Light Peak has officially landed, we’re planning on stocking up on notebooks powered by that technology as well.

But what exactly is Thunderbolt – and Light Peak? What makes one better than the ot her.

We looked into this for you, and here’s what we found out.

Light Peak

This new I/O tech is a port that allows new standards for the transfer rates of data. Featured on several high-end laptops, like the brand new Sony VAIO Z Series ultraportables, Light Peak transfers data at 10Gbps.

Thunderbolt

Thunderbolt is very similar to Light Peak – except that it’s been hybridized with Mac’s Mini DisplayPort (MDP) video connection standard. DisplayPort is a 20-pin connector meant to replace DVI and VGA ports (and compete with HDMI) – and it’s one we can expect to see more of in the future.

Featured on the latest MacBook Pro and iMac models, Thunderbolt gives access to both high-speed peripherals in a single port. It’s convenient and speedy – two adjectives that should appeal greatly to the American business consumer.

And best of all, it’s not technically limited to Mac’s. Thunderbolt is an Intel branded technology, just like Light Peak, and so its apt to show up on other brands’ spec sheets.

In Conclusion…

So there you have it. Light Peak and Thunderbolt aren’t so different after all – it just depends what platform you want this high-speed technology delivered on.And while both more closely resemble new transport mechanisms rather than protocol standards, they’re changing business rapid-speed style. Faster transfers=faster computers=faster business=more productivity.

Everyone wins.