Golden dream machine

 The talented hands at Computer Choppers have put together this most enticing creature of desire, a gold and sapphire MacBook Air.

Essentially, the modification uberkinds have taken a standard edition of the lightweight Apple laptop and covered it in 24-carat gold, applying dozens of multi-coloured sapphires onto the Apple logo on the lid of the device.

Sure, gold isn't the most 'now' choice in precious metals for the fashionistas, but it's a recession-proof investment, and the modders also offer iMacs in platinum, so it's not all bad. The price isn't too appalling: $5,000 will get you one of these blinged-up MacBook Airs (normal price $1,799), which add just a couple of ounces to the product's base weight. The sapphires cost you extra, though, you'll need another 3,000 bucks for these.

Additional details: The modded-MacBook Air's a standard 1.6GHz model with 2GB memory and an 80GB drive. And the company is also offering a polished gold external SuperDrive to go with its golden system.