Asus ditched their plans for all-bamboo laptops, much to the delight of bamboo chewing Pandas everywhere. Instead they’ve revealed the U6, which is only bamboo trimmed for that we’re still green statement. I have to say, the look works.

If laptops evolved from the old wood-grain atari console, this is what they would look like. You’ll pay for all that elegance, as it will cost you around $2000. Apparently, plans for the all-bamboo Asus EcoBook were scrapped when heat management became an issue. Good thing too, because otherwise we wouldn’t have this looker.

This strange bamboo-encased eco-PC concept was unveiled at Fortune’s Brainstorm Green conference today. They’re saying it’s Dell’s smallest-ever computer. For comparison, it’s 81 percent smaller than a standard desktop and more importantly it uses 70 percent less power.

No info yet on what’s inside or an official name for that matter, but according to Dell the machine is scheduled to be released later this year, with a price between $500 and $700. I suppose if anyone can make people buy bamboo computers, it’s dell. Maybe they can bring the Dell dude back and instead of saying, “Dude I’m getting a Dell”, maybe he can say, “Dude, I’m getting wood”.

These days everyone is going green. It’s not just for peace loving hippies anymore. That’s why Asus has their eye on a greener line of products. The idea is to make computers and notebooks out of environmentally friendly materials like bamboo. It makes sense, and not just from a Panda luring standpoint. Bamboo is not only environmentally friendly, but also very tough.

Asus products that will be made with bamboo include notebooks, LCDs and Mini PCs. They claim that they’ve figured out a special manufacturing process to make it even more durable. While the idea will not singlehandedly save Mother Earth, it will help a tad, while giving everything a nice retro look. My one concern is that when they harvest all the bamboo, the Pandas will be coming for our laptops.