Aesthetic Computing: Leather and Bamboo Notebooks

Never having been accused of being stylish in any aspect of my life that I can recall, I suppose it's not surprising that beyond connotations of size like slim and sleek, I've never really considered the aesthetics of a laptop very important. Actually, truth be told, I've never really considered aesthetics at all when it has come to picking a computer and why would I? Computing is all about function over form, right? Well, yeah, but that might be changing, at least when it comes to those willing to pay a premium for a little something-something to set their box apart.

What brought this to mind was a post this morning on Engadget of an Eee notebook that a Russian user had modded with a full body casing of leather. I have to admit, it looks pretty cool in a Naugahyde kind of way, although myself, I couldn't really see trying this out on anything but one of the old laptops I have sitting around. I'll have to keep this in mind as craft night approaches. The posting also pointed out that Taiwanese PC maker ASUS has been offering an entire leather collection for a few years. Again, who knew? Me? Nope. Corporate CEOs, Sharper Image and Sky Mall types? Probably. These units would fit right in next to a leather chair, blotter and pen set. Maybe it is just the do-it-youselfer in me, but I think I prefer the Russian version. The look aside, one thing I wonder about is whether a leather outer can cause a unit to overheat? Hmmm? Something tells me that realistically I'll never have to worry about this. The other thing that came to light as I visited the ASUS site was that they have been making an attempt to go green with their manufacturing over the past several years. Good for them, us and hopefully the planet. The most recent example of this, albeit in a very cosmetic fashion is their upcoming U6 Bamboo Notebook. Somehow it doesn't look nearly as cool as the leather models, but it could equate to a little less man-made materials sitting in landfills around the world for the next 1,000 years. I'm down with that.

If you are interested in going bamboo, you can reserve a U6 through Amazon.com. Here are some general specs, but check its product page for more details.

• Intel Core 2 Duo Processors T9400: 2.53GHz, 1066MHz, 6MB L2 cache
• 320GB 5400RPM SATA
• NV 9300M GS 256MB VRAM DDR2
• 12.1-Inch WXGA LED backlight wide panel for lower power consumption, better luminance and high mobility
• Unparalleled Voile LCD cover with shimmering fibers for stunning sparkles
• $1,999.00

--Tom Milnes