Gorgeous isn't everything -- but it helps -Slender new H-P designer netbook is elegant

Marketwatch ^ | Feb. 3, 2009 12:01 a.m. EST | Therese Poletti, MarketWatch

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- For the first time in ages, I experienced serious computer lust.

I'm not exactly what you'd call a gadget geek. I write about technology as a business, not usually as an end user. There are enough gadget-obsessed boys out there doing that. Who wants to compete with them?

But when I saw Hewlett-Packard Co.'s unusual new netbook computer in photos last year from New York's Fashion Week, I fell for it. During the debut of fashion designer Vivienne Tam's spring collection, a model in a red, slinky dress carried the small computer in one hand, as if it were a clutch purse down the runway. The red, pink and lavender peony design on the computer case was a colorful, yet subtle, accent to the dress.

It was a clever way to build up chatter around the new computer, which started shipping last month, with its core audience. The Chinese red netbook, weighing in at 2.5 pounds, was designed with the female persuasion in mind. I think it is the first real elegant effort by a computer company to target women.

So far, most efforts targeting tech products to women are a nauseating shade of pink, or they have over-the-top embellishments such as encrusted fake jewels, that give your gadgetry that Las Vegas showgirl look.

But with the help of Tam -- who blends Western and Asian themes in her apparel -- H-P now has a glamorous, if pricey, netbook with its Mini 1000 Vivienne Tam series. It also has a selection of basic black netbooks.

Taking it for a spin

Another enticing factor of this device was the fact that it is a netbook,.....

[Allegra]

Sweet!

I want one.

[Allegra]

OK, that's one I don't want. I see that all around me. All day, every day. Very comforting, but also reminds me of work, work, work. ;-)

[Billthedrill]

You can keep the new netbooks in a large pair of socks. ;-)

[Lazamataz]

Do you want one that looks like this? :)

[Allegra]

Oh, yeeeaaahhhhh.....{drool}

[Lazamataz]

Oh, yeeeaaahhhhh.....{drool}

Um.... it's only good if you say that about ME. ;)