MSL v MER
MSL will be able to work during the night , weighs as much as a car, will have a huge range...
I've seen a video in Paris of the way it will land...No airbags but rockets..The rockets are housed in a structure (Skycrane) that will unfold a rope with MSL underneath it and once MSL touches ground, let go and eventually land quite a distance away if there's enough fuel left.