HP Mini 210 Vivienne Tam edition available for pre-order now at Amazon

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After making its debut on the runway last fall at New York Fashion Week, the Vivienne Tam-designed edition of the HP Mini 210 is finally taking pre-orders and will be released this month.

But while it might be the most beautiful netbook ever fashioned, is it really worth the sticker price?

Dubbed the “digital clutch,” the limited-edition HP Mini 210 features a colorful sketch based on the Chinese love story, “Butterfly Lovers,” and it’s meant to coincide with the release of Tam’s spring collection. The HP “Butterfly” netbook would also go well with another gadget Tam recently unveiled with Monster.

Before we get to the price tag, let’s see what there really is behind that charming exterior: 10.1-inch WSVGA LED widescreen display (1024 x 600 resolution), HP Mini keyboard (93% the size of a normal QWERTY layout), Windows 7 OS, Intel Atom N450 1.66 GHz processor, Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3150, 2GB of DDR2 memory, 5.5 hours of battery life, VGA webcam, Measurements: weighs 2.7 pounds, less than 1-inch thick.

Officially available March 19, this designer netbook will not be for the budget-minded, starting at $599. While it’s a gorgeous piece of machinery and I’d love to have one myself, I can’t see myself actually shelling out that much for a netbook with these specs.

There are many faster netbooks with larger hard drives on the market up to $200 (even $300) less than this special edition HP Mini 210. And it really only has 5.5 hours of battery life? (Amazon even drops that rate to 4.5 hours, although it’s not clear why.)

Yes, I realize that aesthetics and beauty are part of the price spike, and I’d understand the price would go up somewhat, but this is a tad overboard. Yet, I’m sure there are plenty of buyers out there who will pay more for a pretty netbook rather than a more powerful yet affordable one, and other buyers who will simply want it because of the high-end designer name attached.