  We compare our 2+1 flavor, staggered QCD lattice results with a quasiparticle
picture. We determine the pressure, the energy density, the baryon density, the
speed of sound and the thermal masses as a function of T and $\mu_B$. For the
available thermodynamic quantities the difference is a few percent between the
results of the two approaches. We also give the phase diagram on the $\mu_B$--T
plane and estimate the critical chemical potential at vanishing temperature.
