Intel's Metro laptop concept in the real world

The marketing shots of Intel's 0.7-inch thin Metro laptop prototype caused quite a stir, so we'd imagine the real, physical, meatspace shots of an actual working prototype would be even more intriguing. AeroXperience got their hands on a prototype machine at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference recently, making sure to shoot the open laptop and e-ink display on the back with 1080p video. Unfortunately, the representative walking the reporter through the laptop confirms that this is purely a concept device, and is really only aimed at encouraging OEMs to develop similar models. We knew this already, but it sounds particularly harsh coming from the horse's mouth. Especially when we know that most new OEM laptop designs are few and far between, beyond the obvious clockwork-like updates when new CPUs hit the block. Surely if Intel and co. can do super thin, then so can everyone else.

[Thanks, John]

[michael @ May 26th 2007 2:12PM]

That's one gorgeous laptop. I would give my whole house for it.

[AKBlade13 @ May 26th 2007 2:18PM]

Wait these things actually exist in real life?

I wish I had the money to get me one of those (even if it's running Vista).

AKBlade13

[PS @ May 26th 2007 2:22PM]

sweeeet

[Ismael @ May 26th 2007 2:27PM]

Wow, IT WOULD HAVE TURNED ME ON EVEN MORE IF THE GLOW IN THE DARK KEYBOARD'S COLORS REALLY SHOW! :O

[John Doe @ May 26th 2007 2:29PM]

Intel should start putting out their own laptop line. Nothing major. Just a high end product for enthusiasts, and a ultra thin product like this. The middle ground seems to be flooded right now.

[Bryant @ May 26th 2007 2:45PM]

There wasn't a single Intel soul there. The two employees I was primarily talking to were with Microsoft, so don't lose all hope just yet.

[Roflgoat @ May 26th 2007 2:43PM]

I need new pants.

Do you guys sell pants?

[Shah2B @ May 26th 2007 3:12PM]

Wouldn't surprise me that Apple will introduce such a model with it's new Apple MacBook Pro's just around the corner. If we're lucky even the e-ink screen with the same thickness or should I say thinness. ;-)

[John Doe @ May 26th 2007 3:56PM]

I hope not. I want someone other then Apple so the thing will be reliable. Apple's laptops are for shit. This coming from someone who has had his MBP replaced twice for a total of 6 issues and now has audio that comes and goes on this pile of shit. That and I have several friends who have iBooks who have had their mobos replaced at least twice. I will not be buying Apple again. I'd have less of an issue if they didn't keep the fucking thing for a minimum of 5 days when I send it in. Premium my ass. At least Dell sends a tech out to you house. Never again. I tried Apple. Fuck them.

[dashiel @ May 27th 2007 12:47AM]

yes, because your anecdotes are indicative of the entire product line. here i'll counter your absurd conjecture with mine -- *my* apple laptop has lasted 5 years, runs the latest OS perfectly, survived two around the world trips; from the heights and colds of the himalayas to the heat and humidity of the gobi desert. therefore all apple laptops are just as durable.

[ark_v2 @ May 26th 2007 3:23PM]

It's so beautiful and sleek. I hope someone actually gets inspired by this design and starts doing laptops based on metro for the next gen.

[Luis @ May 26th 2007 3:20PM]

Wow

[MarkG @ May 26th 2007 3:58PM]

And it looks as if it comes with a kinky, black PVC sleeve!

http://aeroxp.org/uploads/newsimg/metro/Metro%20top.jpg

[michael @ May 26th 2007 4:27PM]

I completely agree with you. I remember when AppleCare told me my coverage didn't work for this problem with my MBP. They just told me I should buy a whole brand new one, since my coverage didn't work. Like I was going to buy a whole brand new one. I managed to search all over the whole city for someone actually reliable, and they fixed it. Apple's just lucky that they have some pretty good media software, or otherwise I would stick with my Vaio full time.

[Martin @ May 26th 2007 3:57PM]

Sony's new flexible screen stuff is really thin, maybe 1/16 of an inch?, as shown at http://www.awesome.com/ But so far it's only about two inches across. They hope to get it up to 11 inches soon. Then we could have monitors/T-shirts....

[Jonathan Ive @ May 26th 2007 4:35PM]

Intel should start putting out their own laptop line. Nothing major. Just a high end product for enthusiasts, and a ultra thin product like this. The middle ground seems to be flooded right now.
--

This guy got highest ranked. what a joke. how the hell is Intel gonna get economies of scale selling 300,000 laptops per year. Bad idea. They love Apple.. they worked with Apple on the MBP and whatever comes out in June. They shouldn't make computers.

[michael @ May 26th 2007 5:40PM]

Actually, they're more a friend of Microsoft, than they are of Apple's. They just jumped in for Apple, only because more business means more money. Not necessarily because they liked them. This link proves that Intel is friends with Microsoft:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/shop/partners/intel.mspx

[John Doe @ May 27th 2007 3:59PM]

The only reason they love Apple is because Apple is spending a shit load of money on them. They work with Apple? Whatever. They probably set up a moderate to large team to help facilitate the PPC-X86 transition but this is nothing out of the ordinary for a large client in any company. Frankly Dell was closer to Intel then Apple is right now. Hell the buddy buddy forward facing attitudes you see from Intel and Apple? Are you really that naive? Did you happen to pay attention to the relationship between Apple and IBM. It was all smiles and roses right up to the BITTER end. No company is going to outright put out a press release about how much their clients suck.
As for scale. Whatever. Intel could design the system. They already design the mobos, the CPU, the wireless. Shit at this point all you need is a hard drive, memory, optical drive, video (Which would be Intel anyways on the ultra thin line anyways.), LCD, etc. Half the work is already done.
300,000 units? Whatever. Try a million minimum. Intel would be like Apple. They are putting everything together so it just works. In the case of Intel since they also write their own drivers I expect it would be even better. God knows I would buy an Intel laptop in a heartbeat. The only catch is driving away customers and customers who will, no doubt, be screaming bloody murder about Intel playing dirty games with their contracts because they want to sell more of their own laptops.

[Colin @ May 26th 2007 6:27PM]

What is this, high school? Intel doesn't love Apple and they aren't "friends" with MS. Like any company, they go where the money is.

OMG INTEL+M$ BFF!!!!1!

[brendan Sheehan jnr @ May 26th 2007 5:56PM]

They didn't show off the fucking "Metro laptop" properly at all.

[csnoke @ May 26th 2007 6:26PM]

...and what should "properly" have included?

I was happy just to see a hands on demo two days after it was announced... pretty nice of them to make it available.

[Jonathan Ive @ May 26th 2007 6:56PM]

No, Intel's been talking about Apple as a design win for years. Your Wintel fantasies are about 15 years out of date.

[LukeA @ May 26th 2007 7:17PM]

My computers are all Macs, but I can't lie: that's a beautiful computer.

[Alice @ May 26th 2007 8:30PM]

That laptop. Its keyboard is the Apple layout.

[PDR @ May 26th 2007 8:56PM]

@ Alice
Sorry to say this but that is a QWERTY layout not an APPLE layout. I don't know why everything has to be compared with an iPHONE, iBOOK, MBP and all. It's a nice concept so appreciate it.

That's just my iVIEW!!!

[George @ May 26th 2007 10:16PM]

how come i have never hear about metro laptop before today???

[Martin @ May 27th 2007 9:43AM]

Apple's designs are beautiful, true. But I'm more excited about that fact that Darwin/ OS X is based on BSD (Unix), making it easier for open source software to run on it. Apple can be so snooty.

[John Doe @ May 27th 2007 4:03PM]

Can be? Apple as a company _IS_ a snobbish asshole. Even worse then Microsoft which is outright amazing. They have nothing to be proud of when I can hang their damn OS with a network share after coming back from sleep.

[mike @ May 28th 2007 8:40PM]

300,000 units? Whatever. Try a million minimum. Intel would be like Apple.

--

Yeah, except for the OS. Which.. is the point of the whole company. Minor detail.

[minion2k @ May 29th 2007 10:36PM]

Thin = easier to break.
If you want a thin laptop expect it to die early and often. And when it comes back from being fixed, it will die early and often.

I used to be a field service engineer for DEC/CPQ/HP's contract clients, and I hated working on the thin laptops. The mainboards were so thin they were see-through, and they would sustain damage just by installing them if you were not extremely careful. Given that often I was doing laptop repairs in front of the person who used it, I always took the time required to do it perfectly. There's nothing worse than going out 5 weeks later and doing another repair in front of a person who's cranky with the last repair. On average, I'd take 45 mins to an hour. The guys in the service centre used to bang out the same job in 15-20 minutes, and in 2 months the laptop would be back.

So, go for thin all you want. Just be aware there are trade-offs in reliability, and make sure you upgrade your warranty. I'll say it again - UPGRADE YOUR WARRANTY.