Personal-computer makers are counting on ultrabooks to challenge the MacBook Air, Apple's best-selling laptop, which is less than an inch thick. Still, Hewlett-Packard isn't trying to compete on price: The new Spectre is $100 more than a MacBook Air with a 13.3-inch screen. Hewlett-Packard is emphasizing the laptop's premium features and design, a bid to reach the "savvy fashionista" market, said Page Murray, a vice president of marketing at the company.

"There's always someone who wants to win the race to the bottom," Murray said. "It usually ends with a splat."

Did HP call Apple's pricing of the MacBook Air 'race to the bottom'?

My how the times have changed.