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home reviews news downloads cnet tv On Metacritic The best vampire movies since1980 log in join CNET welcome my profile log out Latest News CNET River WebwareCrave Business Tech Green Tech Wireless Security Blogs More Media Cutting EdgeApple Politics Law Gaming and Culture Microsoft Health Tech Photos Video RSSMarkets Home News Nanotech The Circuits Blog Nanotech The Circuits Blog June 292010 10:51 AM PDT Apple Dell luxury laptops Once cool now old by Brooke CrothersFont size Print E-mail Share 14 comments Share Luxury ultrathin laptops fromApple and Dell were once ultra-hip Now they quietly age at Apple and Dell onlinestores Both the aluminum-clad Apple MacBook Air and Dell Adamo were introducedwith the kind of fanfare rarely seen for laptops Apple CEO Steve Jobs introducedthe MacBook Air at Macworld in January 2008 as the piece de resistance of theconference See video below And in a rare cameo appearance Intel Chief ExecutivePaul Otellini took the stage with Jobs to underscore the significance of the AirDell’s 0_65-inch thin Adamo was introduced at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Showwith an equal dose of theater That’s ancient history now Apple hasn’t upgradedthe MacBook Air in tech eons that’s more than a year in actual time and Dell’sAdamo teeters on the edge of existence on the company’s Web site the originalAdamo is now down to one $999 model Note it’s no longer offered in pearl and thehigh-end 2_1GHz model is not available The Adamo XPS has become little more thana curiosity piece on the floor of select Best Buy stores I saw one at Best Buyin Silicon Valley recently with a buyer-proof price of over $1,900 as it stavesoff rumors of its demise So what happened To state the obvious they were tooexpensive for most people To be more precise they offered an unattractiveparadox While more expensive than almost any laptop they also had fewer featuresno optical drive few ports and lower-performance silicon Other products havegotten in the way too There’s been some speculation that the iPad will replacethe Air And let’s not forget Netbooks Those ultra-small ultra-cheap laptops havemade luxury laptops seem more expensive than ever Then there’s ultrathinslow-cost slim notebooks like Dell’s Vostro V13 which incorporates some of thekey design elements of the Adamo That said I think the MacBook Air and DellAdamo are iconic designs that will last long beyond their tepid contemporaneouspopularity Like other design icons such as the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray and the1962 Studebaker Avanti they’re stunning exceptions to a field of otherwise blanddesigns And to a few consumers like myself who value portability and aestheticsthey’re the ideal laptop MacBook Air left and Dell Adamo Credit CNET ReviewsBoth companies seem unconcerned about the fate of these trend-setting laptopsApple has remained silent about the Air and Dell when contacted said that thehigher-end Adamo model no longer appears on Dell’s Web site because of theunavailability of the built-in AT&T 3G card while confirming that the pearlAdamo has been discontinued Brooke Crothers has been an editor at large at CNETNews an analyst at IDC Japan and an editor at The Asian Wall Street JournalWeekly among other endeavors including co-manager of an after-schoolmath-and-reading center He writes for the CNET Blog Network and is not a currentemployee of CNET Disclosure Topics Laptops Apple Dell Ultramobile Tags AppleDell Adamo MacBook Air Share Digg Del_icio_us Reddit Facebook Twitter Recentposts from Nanotech The Circuits Blog Apple Dell luxury laptops Once cool nowold One Droid X killer feature the iPhone 4 lacks Report iPhone 4 is like aniPad Nano Inside the Motorola Droid X Getting a look inside the iPhone 4Nintendo 3DS uses new graphics tech Intel FTC in talks to settle antitrustclaims Toshiba debuts ultraslim Android laptop Related Laptops with the bestbattery life One Droid X killer feature the iPhone 4 lacks Hands-on with OnLiveIs this the future of PC gaming The best and worst laptop touch pads 12 bigthings we didn’t see at WWDC 2010 First iPhone 4 buyers already camping out inSF Trying to make iPad run my Road Trip Toshiba celebrates 25 years of laptopswith new Portege Libretto models Add a Comment Log in or register 14 Commentsprev next by webguy7 June 29 2010 11:32 AM PDT I picked up the black Adamo for$999 I love it so quick to boot with the SSD Like this Reply to this comment byOniOokamiAlfador June 29 2010 11:44 AM PDT I always hates ultrathin laptopsanyway Feels like I’m going to break them and it doesn’t really increase theportability since the limiting factor there is generally width and not thicknessLike this Reply to this comment 1 person likes this comment by Perry_Clease June29 2010 12:02 PM PDT For me it is the weight of the device well was because Idon’t globe trot as much these days Anyway a MacBook Air is _76 at the thickestand weighs 3 lbs a 15 MacBook Pro is _95 thick and weighs 5_6 lbs Weight notwithstanding I recently bought a MacBook Pro in part for the feel of it but italso because it has FireWire for my cameras Like this by Renegade Knight June 292010 11:54 AM PDT What happned is that they are expensive netbooks that didnteven have an advantage ove thin and light notebooks Like this Reply to thiscomment 1 person likes this comment by behni June 29 2010 12:09 PM PDT I alwaysthought the standard MacBook was a better deal than the Air More RAM more harddrive faster processor built-in optical drive and $700 less_That said the iPadSHOULD have been a tablet version of the Air THAT would have rocked Like thisReply to this comment 2 people like this comment by Perry_Clease June 29 201012:32 PM PDT It ain’t over till it’s over who knows what features/tech specswill be in the next iPad Like this by andStack June 29 2010 12:20 PM PDT Iwouldn’t say they’re about to die just that they need to change If the pricedrops and they can find a good balance of power ports and portability I’m surethey’ll stil have a market Like this Reply to this comment by dennisl59 June 292010 12:36 PM PDT The Dell Adamo was always meant to be a Vanity Project ofMichael Dell Since it’s demise it’s no surprise that Dell just a week or so agolaid off over 200 people here in Austin who supported laptop design/developmentLike this Reply to this comment by stepyourgameup June 29 2010 12:48 PM PDT Dellis dying Wouldn’t be surprised if they got bought out in the near future forpennies on the dollar Like this 1 person likes this comment by Seaspray0 June 292010 4:28 PM PDT stepyourgameup They have a long way to go before reaching thekind of obscurity that apple achieved at the beginning of this millenium Likethis by GEdwards69 June 29 2010 12:54 PM PDT Perhaps they were just ahead oftheir time They are proof of what can be done with modern technology However asmuch as people desired ultrathin and light laptops they also wanted fullfeatures Perhaps a few years down they line the like of Apple will try again andwe will get a full featured MacBook Air Pro Like this Reply to this comment bymrmuppet June 29 2010 1:41 PM PDT A bit like Concorde then Sad really Like thisReply to this comment 1 person likes this comment by mdenson18 June 29 2010 2:08PM PDT I agree the thin ones do not work well for my clumsy hands but thesmaller ones well____I can;t see em Like this Reply to this comment by mikeinsfJune 29 2010 2:58 PM PDT Hence the absurdity of treating tech devices too muchlike fashion items If it works and looks decent get it If you’re paying twice asmuch because it’s a shiny object you’re a fool Like this Reply to this comment 1person likes this comment 14 Comments prev next Add a comment Comment SUBMITClick here to add another comment Popular discussions on CNET One Droid X killerfeature the iPhone 4 lacks June 27 2010 6:00 AM PDT 353 recent comments Applecriticized by left-handed org over iPhone 4 June 26 2010 6:51 PM PDT 178 recentcomments Windows 8 leaks show Microsoft’s eyes on Apple June 28 2010 3:08 PM PDT146 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