[Xion]

Some Macbooks are a bit like that. I have the new 13" one and when looking at the screen, there is no branding nor anything that would distract me, unlike e.g. the "Macbook Air" label printed below the screen in MBA. I really like it.

But obviously, this is nowhere near the price point you are suggesting. I think the reason cheap laptops look cheap is that they are, well, cheap. Users do not really expect them to last and therefore manufactures do not focus on longevity or style.

Good design is a premium for which you simply need to pay extra.

[nkorth]

It just seems to me that it should be possible to design a really good laptop that costs less than $1000, if specs are secondary. I think that would be the best way for a PC manufacturer to finally beat Apple. The problem, however, is that such a computer might not run Windows very well. (but Linux would run quite nicely!)

[Xion]

Right, but how big is the market for low spec laptop with good design? As you have pointed out, it may have trouble running Windows which excludes the vast majority of users right here and there. It might work well in conjunction with Ubuntu et al., but that would require some non-trivial marketing effort from Canonical to create some demand for "premium netbook" niche.

However, given the success of Chrome OS, it might not be that difficult, actually.