Macbook Air wannabe sold tomorrow

source: statesman.com

Dell Inc. plans to launch a new line of luxury products today with the official introduction of a thin and light notebook it briefly showed off earlier this year.

The company's launch of the 13-inch laptop, which it previewed in January at the Consumer Electronics Show, will be the first in a line of products under the Adamo brand name.

The company plans to unveil a variety of Adamo products, all aimed at customers willing to pay a premium for higher-end products.

Dell spokesman Bob Kaufman declined to comment about future products but said the Adamo notebook "was the first of others to come." He said the notebook will start at $1,999 and will begin shipping March 26 in 24 countries, including the United States.

Dell created the Adamo brand — the name is Latin for "to fall in love" — with a heavy emphasis on design and craftsmanship, he said.

The launch pits Dell more directly against Apple Inc., which has avoided the lower-end of the market by designing stylish computers that run Apple's own operating system.

The Adamo notebook has drawn comparisons to the MacBook Air, a thin and lightweight laptop Apple released last year.

The Adamo kick-off comes amid a widespread recession and a recent trend of sharply dropping computer prices. In the past year, sales of inexpensive mini-notebooks have ballooned as buyers looked for cheaper computing options.

Last year, computer makers shipped 10 million of the small, highly portable mini-notebooks and are expected to double that number in 2009, according to IDC, a technology research firm.

The mini-notebooks, which typically feature screens 12 inches or smaller and sell for $400 or less, accounted for 7 percent of all portable computer sales in 2008.