HP's Pavilion dv2, released last month, is being hailed as the first in a new class of stylish, yet affordable laptops.
An article in BusinessWeek says the dv2 and its ilk are an alternative for bargain hunters that are frustrated with netbooks' cramped keyboards and meager computing power. At $750, the dv2 is also far less costly than Dell's $2,000 Lattitude E4200. BusinessWeek says that "other laptop makers" will offer similar $700 to $1,000 models in the coming months. "Thinbook" and "affordable ultralight" are offered as possible monikers.
That analysis seems right on the mark. As we reported last week, Acer is readying a line of thin laptops with more meat than the company's Eee PC netbooks. Pricing isn't known yet, but I imagine they'll be competitive with Acer's forthcoming Timeline series, which will reportedly sell for $699 to $899.
The comparison to Dell isn't entirely fair, because Dell is pushing the more expensive solid state drives in both its Lattitude and Adamo laptops. But it's worth nothing that HP also cut costs by pairing an AMD Athelon Neo processor with an ATI Mobility Radeon HD graphics card instead of relying on Intel's Core 2 Duo processor. The result is a capable media center at the expensive of battery life, because Intel's solution runs cooler.
That's not the only way to do it, though. Acer's Timeline features Core 2 Duo and boasts more than eight hours of battery life. The drawback is the lack of a premium graphics card, Intel's GS45 Express chipset as the only option.
Down the line, I can see a clear partition of sub-$500 netbooks, sub-$1,000 laptops and more expensive models for gamers and users who want premium materials and features such as solid state drives. That middle range will be crucial for providing the "just right" amount of power for the average user.
