Its name comes from the Latin word for “falling in love.” And that’s the swooning response that Dell hopes customers will have for its new Adamo laptop, which, as befits most storybook lovers, is as thin as you can get and still be beautiful.
In fact, the first in the new Adamo brand is “the world’s thinnest laptop,” according to its proud parent. The Round Rock, Texas-based computer maker set a lofty goal for this new line of products, saying it’s intended to do nothing less than “disrupt the personal-computing space with the combination of new design aesthetics, personalization choices, and sought-after technologies.”
The Lifestyle Factor
To get the thin profile that Adamo boasts — 0.65 of an inch compared to the MacBook Air’s 0.76 — Dell milled the chassis from a single piece of aluminum.
The lifestyle factor is a major angle for this first Adamo, available in the colors formerly known as black and white and now known as Onyx and Pearl. Rumors of the new laptop first emerged on a lifestyle blog, and the Web site features a Flash video that slides between fashion-style photos. “Prepare to fall in love,” it warns.
At January’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Dell had fashion model Wakeema show a black Adamo model — but only the body, as the power was not turned on.
But many industry observers have noted that the release of a fashion-emphasized laptop could be a risky strategy for Dell. The vast majority of Dell’s sales are to businesses, and the current recession is making both business and consumer buyers cautious. There has also been speculation that businesses, in particular, will be updating hardware less often because of the economies offered by network-based “cloud computing.”
‘Makes Sense’
Laura DiDio, an analyst with Information Technology Intelligence Corps, disagreed with those who think…