Last week I was invited to Packard Bell’s rebrand launch event at The Roof Gardens located at 99 Kensington High Street, London. There I was invited to look around a Packard Bell’s new product line up of PC’s, Laptops and Netbooks. As well as watch a presentation about Packard Bell and how they are evolving.

One of Packard Bells’s studies has determined six distinctive user segments:

• Tecno-leaders and Tecno-rationals are real trend setters. They look for innovation and the best performance. They have a complete mastery of technology and are always up-to-date; their primary source for information is the web, which is also their favorite purchase channel.
• “Trends & Lifestyle” consumers trust the brand above all. “Trends” value simplicity and reliability, while “Lifestyles” are also sensitive to design.
• “Conventionals” are influenced by trend setters. They buy the same things as trend setters as long as the brand is known and fulfils basic design criteria.
• The “Simplicity & Value for Money” segment doesnt care about brand or design. Technology has to be simple and cheap, with a good price/performance ratio.

Packard Bell’s new product line includes different new versions of netbooks (“dot m” and “dot s”) and notebooks (the brand new EasyNote Butterfly and the fresh new EasyNote TR series), plus nettops (imax mini), desktops (imedia and ixtreme), monitors (Maestro), which were already a great success on the market and have been refreshed and updated.

The new range of Packard Bell notebooks have LED panels, 16:9 aspect ratio, Dolby® Sound Room® and red capacitive buttons for power saving, backup and touchpad lock. The netbooks have the outstanding qualities of Dolby® headphones, an LED panel and multi-gesture touchpad, allowing an easy and intuitive access to a wide variety of applications, also available with the new Easynote TR series and the EasyNote Butterfly.

Highlights on the new products:

dot – jot it down

As soon as you see it you think about a stylish organizer with a fashionable look and feel and smart compact format. It is meant to be your inseparable companion, always with you in your bag or hand luggage. Jot down your thoughts on it or use it as the perfect tool to access the internet anytime with ease and reliability, enjoyment and comfort, an ideal complement for your digital camera.

In two versions, dot s (10.1-inch screen) and dot m (11.6-inch), both have multi-gesture touchpads, Wi-Fi, optional Bluetooth, optional 3G, VGA webcam and Dolby Headphone. The 10.1-inch widescreen dot s will be available in store July at the estimated price starting at £279, while dot m, with the amazing 11.6-inch widescreen starts at £349. Availability and technical features will vary according to country

EasyNote Butterfly – long life, light and respectful

In Mandarin Chinese, the word for butterfly has become a symbol for a long life. Which better name for a product that, thanks to a combination of new technologies, has one full working day of battery life? But the word butterfly stands for many different symbols all over the world. Often associated with the human soul, the image of a butterfly suggests the sense of lightness.

The new EasyNote Butterfly by Packard Bell is definitely light, 500 grams less than a standard notebook and less than 1-inch thick. With its graceful, elegant, stylish shape evoking the form of the butterfly and the great attention to details, this notebook will win the favour of “in style” people. The EasyNote Butterfly – available in store July.

EasyNote TR series – telltale signature

Glossy cover, matt interior, silver coloured touchpad, ramp speaker and keyboard are the characteristics of a real star, a notebook with great personality and unique design, which makes all the difference. Inspired by a co-work with Pininfarina, the EasyNote TR series is the notebook for those who want to be themselves and express their outstanding personality and love for exclusive pieces of design.

With 15.6-inch widescreen and Dolby® Sound Room®, creating a stunning personal surround-sound listening experience, the EasyNote TR series comes in three different versions: in black with a traditional LCD panel, plus a stunning blue version and an amazing black edge-to-edge version. The EasyNote TR85 in store July with an estimated street price starting at from £599

EasyNote NJ, EasyNote TJ and EasyNote LJ Series – Express who you really are!

The EasyNote NJ, EasyNote TJ and EasyNote LJ Series have an unmistakable look and feel, great attention to detail, elegance and style, while granting the ease of use, typical of Packard Bell’s products combined with maximum enjoyment.

In a market in which PCs have become a commodity, end-users look for products able to fully fit their needs and reflect who they are.

High-end design is a standard of the three new series while the key difference is the LED display screen size: 14-inch for the EasyNote NJ Series, enlarging to the popular 15.6-inch EasyNote TJ Series, up to the outstanding 17.3-inch that characterizes the EasyNote LJ Series. The EasyNote NJ has an estimated street price starting from £499.