Lenovo's IdeaPad U110 available for order, shipping soon

Just as expected, Lenovo has updated its webstore with the shiny new IdeaPad U110. The 11.1-inch ultraportable is available for customizing right now in black or red, and both hues start at $1,899. Currently, the red variant touts a 3- to 5-day wait before shipment occurs, while the black model isn't likely to head your way for 2- to 3-weeks. Of course, Lenovo may be padding those figures a touch, but there's your worst-case scenarios, anyway. Your route to being nearly two grand poorer starts at the read link below.

[Ace b @ Apr 29th 2008 5:55PM]

I'm tempted to say first,but I'm kinda distracted by the color of the notebook.

I'm likin the red on black action

[Mihir @ Apr 29th 2008 6:02PM]

bah...paid $500 less for the sony TZ i just got. oh lenovo, why must you only give me a 5% discount when sony gave me 28%?

[Steve-Oh @ Apr 29th 2008 6:08PM]

Because it's Lenovo and superior to Sony. Case closed. Buy cheap, get cheap.

[PJ @ Apr 29th 2008 6:05PM]

No nipple, no care.

Give me the TrackPoint or give me death.

[giuliop @ Apr 29th 2008 6:13PM]

I absolutely agree. Pointing stick or nothing.

[Chuckles McGee @ Apr 29th 2008 7:02PM]

I always imagined it as some other anatomical part...

[Reader @ Apr 30th 2008 1:37AM]

I'm with Chuckles, much more fun to imagine it as a clit.

[apeguero @ Apr 29th 2008 6:40PM]

This is hot!

[que @ Apr 29th 2008 6:42PM]

i really don't understand how this is worth $1900.

[patriotsn1 @ Apr 29th 2008 7:38PM]

yeah seriously someone stick a fruit sticker on it to justify that price! (sarcasm)

[tekdroid @ Apr 30th 2008 12:42PM]

here's a hint:
It's not!

...but that said, it is to some people. Clearly those that pay for the thing.


(you can't blame the marketers for milking the market and grinning at the nice margins 'boutique' computers give them)

[dc @ Apr 29th 2008 6:56PM]

"Your route to being nearly two grand poorer starts at the read link below."

Who's the target audience? Ditto comments above. No TrackPoint was moronic. Then again they probably aren't targeting existing ThinkPad owners, wouldn't want to cannibalize sales from the T or X series. A pity though because more choice is always better.

[tekdroid @ Apr 30th 2008 12:48PM]

can't remember where I saw the Lenovo Market Strategy/ Business Development/ Product Guy demoing this thing, but demo it he did and I remember him saying the all-gloss thing was about "eye-catching design" at retail (or something like that), and the target market is certainly not the ThinkPad crowd, it's pretty evident to me they are going fully boutique (and sacrificing usability) on the masses with this model.

They are certainly not the first company to do so. They have identified a market niche ( perhaps not-so-niche) and are going for it, particularly after all the eee and Air talk...they think this is the direction things are going, at least for some section of the market.

[modern_messiah @ Apr 29th 2008 7:14PM]

Any word on whether or not this will find it's way to Australian shores? I like it a lot and it fits in with what I’m currently looking at purchasing (bit more grunt than a sub-notebook, but a bit less weight/size than a 13.3" notebook) although if it's $1999 in the States as with everything here the price may be too high for my liking….and that slow HDD is a killer as well.

[0megapart!cle @ Apr 29th 2008 7:29PM]

Looks like the Black model has a 5400 RPM harddrive for the same price as the Red's 4200 hard drive. Don't know if that is a mistake, but if not, I would definitely wait for the Black, as there is a huge performance difference in Windows between those two speeds.

[lee @ Apr 30th 2008 9:42AM]

Looks like XP is not an option. One model has WiFi; one doesn't. One has 4200 drive; one has 5400. Same price...for now.

[0megapart!cle @ May 3rd 2008 1:48PM]

Looks like they fixed the website, 4200 RPM hard drive for both now and Home Premium.

On the plus side, I am very impressed that they include both the standard 4 cell battery plus the 7 cell extended battery for that price. They also include the external USB optical drive for that price. Much better than certain other ultraportable makers new to the market. That's how it should be done. The price doesn't really seem so bad when you take that into account.

The one thing that is a little weird is they don't let you upgrade anything on the laptop. No N wireless, Vista Ultimate, 3 or 4 GB or RAM, nothing. Not a big deal, (especially the memory, as most OEM's overcharge for RAM so much that it is significantly cheaper just to upgrade yourself), just curious.

[0megapart!cle @ May 3rd 2008 1:51PM]

I just wanted to comment on the slow hard drive. Yes, you will notice the slowness in everything you do. Yes, it is incredibly annoying. But it is not a dealbreaker, at least with XP, IME. And given all the attractive characteristics of this computer othen than the hard drive, I would suggest all onlookers to take a serious look at it.