• by Sarah Mahoney , January 4, 2008

With the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas just days away (Kevin Costner will be there! And Yoko Ono!), computer marketers are lifting the curtains on their latest offerings, including a new line of laptops from Dell, and a brand-new brand from Lenovo.

Dubbed Idea, Lenovo's IdeaPad notes and IdeaCentre desktops are designed to be the consumer version of its ThinkPad notebooks and Think Centre desktops, currently aimed at business users. (IBM sold its PC division and Think brand to the China-based Lenovo back in 2004.)

Lenovo will launch an "Ideas" campaign via Ogilvy & Mather that supports both the Idea and the Think brands, beginning in early February. In the U.S., ads will begin online and in print, "building momentum around the world leading up to the Olympics," says a Lenovo spokesperson. "The brand positioning focuses on delivering the best-engineered PCs for both kinds of users, and focuses on the creative power of people and their ideas," she says. "Ideas can come from anywhere at anytime--to anyone."

Ads will run on broadcast, online, direct mail, point of sale, and collateral.

Three IdeaPad notebooks will be sold in the U.S., powered by Intel Centrino, "combine cutting-edge and easy-to-use technologies" such as facial recognition, which allows people to use their face as a password, Dolby Home Theatre surround sound and dedicated gaming controls." Starting at $799, plans call for the computers to be available at such outlets as BestBuy.com, Micro Center, Newegg.com, Office Depot and Tiger Direct.

Meanwhile, the new Dell 15.4-Inch Inspiron notebooks, 25% thinner than previous models, have gotten an update straight out of iPod's closet: There are now four new patterns, in addition to the eight colors previously available. Starting at $499, the laptops also offer its WiFI Catcher, and its MediaDirect technology, which allows access to music, photos and videos and some Microsoft Office programs without turning on the notebook.

Dell is also offering a new data migration service, a secure way to move data and personal settings to new computers, straight from the factory. The PC-to-PC transfer allows Dell customers to download an application to their old system, and then loads it into the new computer.