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Striving to meet consumers’ growing desire for lighter, more portable laptops, the nation’s number one PC provider today unveiled what it’s calling the world’s thinnest notebook.

 

Officials at Dell Inc. say the so-called “Adamo” laptop, pictured below, is designed to “disrupt people’s perceptions of what personal computing is today.”

 

“Style-minded people who place a premium on precision craftsmanship and design can now add Adamo to their list of must-have items for 2009,” company officials say. “Dell (News - Alert) today unveiled the world’s thinnest laptop as a kick off to the new Adamo by Dell brand.”

 

That brand, the Round Rock, Texas-based company says, will serve as a line of products that focuses on personal computing space, design aesthetics, personalization choices and desirable technologies.

 

“Great design needs to be timeless and evoke emotion in people,” said Alex Gruzen, senior vice president of Dell’s consumer products. “While a premium computing experience was assumed for Adamo, the intent was for people to see, touch and explore Adamo and be rewarded by the select materials and craftsmanship you would expect in a fine watch.”

 

The bigger picture here likely is that more and more computer makers are targeting mobile devices – no surprise there, with the rapid rise of the mobile Web and popularizing products such as the Apple (News - Alert) iPhone – and that there seems to be competition to see who can produce the smallest, thinnest, lightest, least intrusive laptop.

 

Earlier this year, as TMCnet reported, Sony Corp. unveiled a new ultra-light 8-inch notebook PC, the Sony Vaio PC, weighing in at 1.4 pounds and as thin as a mobile phone.

 

TMCnet also reported, just last week, on the rise of so-called “netbooks” – a low cost, mini-laptops optimized for Internet use – a market that appears to drawing Apple’s interest.

 

Netbooks sell for about $400 and have emerged as a bright spot in the struggling electronics industry – though companies such as Microsoft Corp. and Lenovo have seen earnings dips and have been forced to lay off thousands of workers, partly because of the devices’ increasing popularity.

 

The Adamo is a different animal, priced at $2,000 to start.

 

Some of its features include: a chassis milled from a single piece of aluminum featuring a scalloped backlit keyboard; high-definition edge-to-edge glass display; and it’s fully connected with WiFi (News - Alert), Bluetooth and optional integrated mobile broadband and full complement of connectivity ports.

 

The device is available in Onyx and Pearl colors

 

Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, said Dell continues to signal a commitment to design and personalization across its entire product line and has made significant strides forward in the past year.

 

“The Adamo laptop is a showcase for this commitment and a flagship product that will draw buyers to the brand,” he said.