Could Hello Kitty finally be slipping?

(Credit: Hello Kitty Hell)

We didn't this was possible--nor did we ever think we'd be writing about it--but the quality of Hello Kitty laptops seems to be in serious decline. In previous forays into portable computing, the Sanrio emissary at least tried to look different in retaining its "unique" image, even when its mood turned black. But lately it's been reduced to cheesy skins that look like cheap stick-on decals.

The latest example is a second round from Epson that features some new designs (not that we can ever tell them apart). There have been some changes under the hood of these lighter-weight models, which have an 1.86GHz Intel Celeron processor, an 80GB hard drive, and 1GB of memory.

But Kitty, of course, has nothing to do with any of that, content simply to impose its mouthless mug on the cover and continue brainwashing the world with its pop-culture ubiquity. Besides, it has far more important things on its mind.