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Editor's Rating:

The Good: Nice design, lots of handy ports, great value

The Bad: Premium sleeves are a little gimmicky

The Bottom Line: A smart-looking small PC with bona fide

As it turns out, Dell's (DELL) new Studio Hybrid PC has little in common with Toyota's (TM) thrifty Prius sedan. No high-end batteries. No carpool lane privileges. And I'm pretty sure it won't do much to improve fuel economy on your daily commute.

Instead, this "hybrid" PC is a small computer that puts a dual emphasis on energy efficiency and design. Dell is trying desperately to break from its past reputation as a maker of mind-numbingly beige PCs. The Studio Hybrid is one of its first products to have been styled by former Nike (NKE) design whiz Ed Boyd. (Read more about Boyd's efforts to make Dell cool (BusinessWeek, 11/6/08).)

Like all Dell computers, the Studio Hybrid is available in a dizzying array of configurations. The most basic model features a zippy Intel Pentium Dual Core processor, DVD burner, generous amounts of RAM and hard drive space, and it costs just $499. But while a wired Ethernet port is standard, that price doesn't include a wireless card, so plan on adding another $70 for that vital accessory.

As with similar small form factor computers such as Apple's (AAPL) Mac mini, ASUS's (AKCPF) Eee Box, and Hewlett-Packard's (HPQ) Slimline series, the Studio Hybrid comes without a monitor. Such computers are generally aimed at college dorms, living rooms, or as second family computers. To that end, the Studio Hybrid is small enough to sit on a crowded desk or be tucked underneath a television. Lying flat, it's about the size of a Thomas Pynchon hardback.

Dell vs. Apple?

Still, when I first heard about the Studio Hybrid, I was a bit skeptical. Dell? Design? Yeah, right. But if Dell wants to swim in Apple's pool, so be it. Still, as a pretty dedicated Mac user, I was more than a little shocked to find that the Studio Hybrid gives the Mac a run for its money—both in terms of hardware and industrial design.

For the money, the Dell represents a better value than the Mini with more plentiful and up-to-date features. (Admittedly, the Mini is in desperate need of a refresh.) An HDMI port that allows the computer to plug into a high-definition television is a standard option, as is a 7-in-1 media reader for camera memory cards. Normally, feature-packed PCs like this look more like 80s-era boom boxes, overloaded with blinking lights and buttons. But taking a cue from Apple's design manual, Dell integrated these extra ports so that they disappear seamlessly into the black case.

The model I tested also included a slinky, removable bamboo sleeve, which is a $100 built-to-order option. Bamboo is the green material du jour for consumer electronics and therefore teetering on the brink of cliché. But in this instance the sleeve transforms an otherwise humdrum box into a distinctive, attractive case. Other premium shells made of brown or black leather also cost $100. Six significantly less interesting colored plastic sleeves are available for free.

ENERGY EFFICIENT

Dell says the hybrid moniker comes from the computer's use of some laptop components to help reduce its energy usage (it meets Energy Star 4.0 standard). The company also claims the Studio Hybrid uses about 70% less power than a typical desktop, while the power supply that plugs into the back of the PC is 87% more efficient than is usual. These savings won't really affect your energy bills; they simply help mitigate green guilt and supply bragging rights. What is useful is that Dell designers really thought about the physical design of the power supply too, turning out a slim, flat black box rather than the usual unseemly brick.

One of my favorite things about the Studio Hybrid is likely its least sexy feature, the packaging. Bucking the Apple-led trend to enshrine consumer electronics in intricate packaging, Dell ships the Studio Hybrid in a modest, minimalist brown box that would surely warm Al Gore's heart. Overall, the packaging is 95% recyclable and contains about 75% less printed materials than typical tower desktops. This is a significant feat considering Dell ships most of its PCs through the mail and its packaging meets rigorous standards—computers must survive repeated drops, bumps, and knocks, after all.

It would have been easy for Dell to check off one or two of these boxes and still label Studio Hybrid a green PC. But it really seems the computer maker's designers tried to think through every element of the computer to meet its green mission. For that and an overall handsome design, the Studio Hybrid is a compelling PC for those who must run Windows.

Ford chief executive Alan Mullaly, with a Fusion Hybrid, a car that could be pivotal in the company's future pl

Many members of Congress believe they know what the car company of the future should look like.

"A business model based on gas -- a gas-guzzling past -- is unacceptable," Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said last week. "We need a business model based on cars of the future, and we already know what that future is: the plug-in hybrid electric car."

But the car company Schumer and other lawmakers envision for the future could turn out to be a money-losing operation, not part of a "sustainable U.S. auto industry" that President-elect Barack Obama and most members of Congress say they want to create.

That's because car manufacturers still haven't figured out how to produce hybrid and plug-in vehicles cheaply enough to make money on them. After a decade of relative success with its hybrid Prius, Toyota has sold about a million of the cars and is still widely believed by analysts to be losing money on each one sold. General Motors has touted plans for a plug-in hybrid vehicle called the Volt, but the costly battery will prevent it from turning a profit on the vehicle for several years, at least.

"In 10 years are they [at GM] going to solve the technological problems with respect to the Volt? Sure," says Maryann Keller, an automotive analyst and author of a book on GM. "But are they going to be able to stake their survival, which is really more of a now to five-year proposition, on it? I'd say they can't. They have to stake their future on Malibus, the Chevy Cruze, and much more conventional technologies."

U.S. automakers faced a barrage of demands last week that they provide evidence and assurance that they would use federal bailout money to transform their companies to produce automobiles of the future, using advanced technologies and featuring hybrid or plug-in vehicles. And in his "60 Minutes" interview on Nov. 16, Obama said that before backing a big loan package he wanted to be sure "that we are creating a bridge loan to somewhere as opposed to a bridge loan to nowhere."

But there's no guarantee that the new business model would be any more viable than the current one. Automobile experts estimate that the battery in a plug-in vehicle could add at least $8,000 to the cost of a car, maybe considerably more. Most Americans will be unwilling to pay the extra price, especially if gasoline prices languish around $2 a gallon.

That's why one of the mysteries about GM's plans to introduce the Volt in 2010 is how much it will cost to buy one. "What's the Volt going to cost? I would be happy to answer that if you can tell me the price of oil in 2010," said Robert A. Kruse, GM's executive director of global vehicle engineering for hybrids, electric vehicles and batteries. "I can tell you to the penny what it will cost GM, but pricing is much more related to market conditions."

The hurdles ahead for the Volt and other cars with new technologies pose dilemmas for automakers trying to gauge a market that is still very young for cars that don't exist while trying to stay in business during a downturn.

"These are hard choices," said Toyota chief technology officer Bill Reinert, part of the Prius design team. "Do you bet on lighter, smaller, more fuel efficient but ultimately less profitable cars or do you hold back a little on technology development and look at new versions of existing cars."

Many experts say that gas guzzlers will not fade away as long as Congress fails to impose higher taxes on gasoline to steer people toward fuel-efficient cars.

"You'd think from reading the media that we have had a burial ceremony at Arlington cemetery for the last pickup truck," said James Womack, a management expert who has written about the automobile industry. "I can easily imagine three years from now when public is focused on a new set of priorities . . . that this whole thing would go poof."