Updated at 9:10 a.m. PDT: correcting for refurbished Apple MacBook Air price.
Dell’s ultra-sleek Adamo may be ill-timed and grasping for cachet that’s not there.
Gizmodo summarized its review of the Adamo by saying: “Just don’t dare buy this computer until Dell comes to their senses and realizes that $2,000+ is absurd for a 4-pound laptop with no graphics muscle.”
Though I think Gizmodo misses the mark about “graphics muscle” (ultraportables are not designed or marketed as graphics powerhouses, or anything close to it), the reviewer is right about price–and high price implies cachet. Only Apple (and maybe the ThinkPad x301) can command the kind of cachet that demands $2,500 for a high-end laptop (i.e., the MacBook Air).

From top: Dell Mini Netbook, Apple MacBook Air, Dell Adamo
(Credit: iFixit / TechRepublic)
But there’s a greater force conspiring against the Dell Adamo and even the Apple MBA: the Netbook.
High-end Netbooks, like the just-announced 11.6-inch Acer Aspire One, are priced well below $700, making it hard to plop down $2,700 for the 1.4GHz Adamo. Yes, the four-pound Dell is a stunning, superior design (0.65-inches thick, machined-aluminum chassis) with better hardware (Core 2 processor, 128GB solid-state drive standard, 13.4-inch 16:9 HD display with edge-to-edge glass) . But is it $2,000 better? In the age of the two-pound $500 “luxury” Netbook, definitely not.
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Originally posted at Nanotech – The Circuits Blog