CES: The design misery of stickers

u260.jpg

The IdeaPad U260 is, in the words of Lenovo's Stephen Miller, "modeled on a leather journal." It's a gorgeous machine, cast in a bronze-like metal and complete with a leathery texture where the palms rest. It weighs 3 pounds and has a 12.5" display, making it lighter than recent ultraportables like the 13" MBA, even though it runs a relatively powerful i5 CPU. Nice.

But his presentation's key moment–flipping the machine over to show off the beautiful underside and its exquisitely cut air vents–was a sad trombone moment for me. What's the point if it's just going to get covered in ugly partner stickers?

We all mocked HP for the flip-out sticker tray on its Slate tablet, but you know what? At least it took a lick at solving the problem!