DailyTech - CES 2012: Lenovo Unloads IdeaPad U310, U410 Ultrabooks

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Gadgets CES 2012: Lenovo Unloads IdeaPad U310, U410 Ultrabooks
Brandon Hill (Blog) - January 8, 2012 7:36 PM

16 comment(s) - last by douchefree.. on Jan 10 at 8:01 PM

The Ultrabook stampede continues

If you haven't noticed by now, Ultrabooks will be a big part of CES 2012. Vizio caught us all off guard this weekend with its announcement of two fresh entries into the Ultrabook sector, and Acer today announced the world's thinnest Ultrabook with the Aspire S5.

Lenovo also has two new Ultrabook announcements today (the company also announced a new ThinkPad Ultrabook last week), although they won't be vying for the "thin and light" crown like the aforementioned Aspire S5. First up is the 3.74-pound IdeaPad U310 which packs a 13" display (1366x768), Intel Core processors, 4GB of RAM, your choice of a 500GB HDD or a 64GB SSD, Intel GMA 3000 HD graphics, and Intel Wireless Display (WiDi) Technology.

^{IdeaPad U310}

Stepping up to the 4.18-pound IdeaPad U410 gets you a 14" display and NVIDIA GeForce 610M GPU with 1GB of video memory. All other specs match up with the smaller IdeaPad U310.

Both Ultrabooks will be available in Aqua Blue, Cherry Blossom, Graphite Gray, Ruby Red, Sapphire Blue and Spearmint. The starting price for the new U-Series Ultrabooks is $699 and they will be available starting in May.

^{IdeaPad U410}

Source: Lenovo

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Garbage

By spread on 1/8/2012 10:28:45 PM , Rating: 3

In the year 2012, Lenovo laptops will still use garbage screens instead of IPS screens to save $3 per device.

RE: Garbage

By douchefree on 1/9/12, Rating: 0

RE: Garbage

By B3an on 1/9/2012 8:55:19 AM , Rating: 2

You're exactly right but somehow they got rated up. Really informed people here at DT.

Apple laptops, both the MacBooks and Air ALL use cheap TN panels. This is true for almost all laptops. But like you say some other companies do offer quality IPS options - like Lenovo.

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RE: Garbage

By douchefree on 1/9/2012 6:12:33 PM , Rating: 2

Thnx for the comment.
In case it wasn't clear to some the racist comments I made were intended to be sarcastic b/c I feel that Lenovo gets a bad rap for being a Chinese company (btw, I'm a Caucasian American) but they actually offer some damn nice laptops.

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RE: Garbage

By priusone on 1/10/2012 3:53:13 AM , Rating: 2

Yellow... I thought at first you were referring to the yellowing screens on some of apples products. Because when the screen is yellowing, even Caucasians look yellow.

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RE: Garbage

By douchefree on 1/10/2012 8:01:51 PM , Rating: 2

Heh, I hadn't heard about that issue with Apple. I'm guessing that's an adhesive issue.

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RE: Garbage

By EasyC on 1/9/2012 8:08:47 AM , Rating: 2

And still garbage resolution.

I was beginning to think that "ultrabooks" were getting the hint when Asus released a 13.3" model with 1600x900. I guess I was wrong.

I'd love to buy an ultrabook, but I actually need it to be useful.

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RE: Garbage

By rudolphna on 1/9/2012 9:45:05 AM , Rating: 1

Still don't understand this that much. I get by with 1366x768 on a 15.6" laptop, and that resolution is perfectly fine. You are telling me that 1366x768 in a 13" notebook isn't good enough? My my must be nice to have microscopes for eyes.

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RE: Garbage

By EasyC on 1/9/2012 10:27:05 AM , Rating: 2

I'm a software architect. I do a lot of work on the road so the attractiveness of a light, portable ultrabook is great, but having to constantly scroll to work in whatever application studio I'm working on is very irritating.

That said, I had 2 UX31's (both had mouse/keyboard problems), and now a Vaio SA (Amazing little machine, actually). 1600x900 is a great resolution for 13.3". I can still see the pixels from 1-2ft away.

I've tried using 1366x768, and it's just very inconvenient from a production standpoint. For surfing the web, I'm sure it's ok.

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RE: Garbage

By rudolphna on 1/9/2012 9:43:53 AM , Rating: 1

I won't argue with this. I had a cheap lenovo laptop- a $380 ideapad Z565-4311 and overall it a great laptop- except for the screen. The screen just looks dirty, and makes it pretty much useless for playing games, on.

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RE: Garbage

By steven975 on 1/9/2012 10:50:01 AM , Rating: 2

My 2011 MBA has a TN screen

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RE: Garbage

By Mint on 1/9/2012 6:17:40 PM , Rating: 2

There's nothing wrong with TN for 99% of people. The problem is that most notebooks have ~200:1 contrast, while desktop TNs are near 1000:1 CR.

Macs, Sonys, and the occasional panel from others (even the budget Asus eeePC) have good TN contrast, so why not others? I can't imagine that it costs more than $10 to incorporate budget desktop TN technology into a notebook.

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IB not SNB?

By chrnochime on 1/8/2012 8:11:54 PM , Rating: 2

I guess it goes without saying that these two laptops will be using Ivy Bridge CPU and not SNB?

RE: IB not SNB?

By dusteater on 1/8/2012 10:42:30 PM , Rating: 2

Not so sure, listed as using Intel GMA3000 and not GMA4000, which is Panther Point. Soo... I am setting myself up for disappointment here.

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Lenovo, not Acer

By whitehat2k9 on 1/8/2012 7:57:35 PM , Rating: 2

I think you mean Lenovo instead of Acer in the article's title...

No AMD?

By alcalde on 1/9/2012 11:38:30 PM , Rating: 2

It's beginning to feel like there will be precisely zero computers introduced in 2012 with AMD processors, discrete graphics, hard drives, screens larger than 13 inches, or weigh enough to be unable to be pushed off the desk and over the side by a hamster.

"We are going to continue to work with them to make sure they understand the reality of the Internet. A lot of these people don't have Ph.Ds, and they don't have a degree in computer science." -- RIM co-CEO Michael Lazaridis