Lenovo IdeaPad U110 unboxing and hands-on

Though our pals over at Switched managed to snag some hands-on video with a red pre-production unit, we figured we'd grab hold of the classic black edition of the IdeaPad U110 and give you a closer look. Made available for order just this week, Lenovo's latest ultraportable is high on style (and way high on gloss) and possesses the price tag to prove it. Meander on into the gallery below for a veritable plethora of unboxing and hands-on shots -- and rest assured, impressions are on the way.

Update: Impressions, notes and video are all live. Check 'em out right here. Oh, and a few more comparison shots with larger machines were added to the gallery.

Gallery: Lenovo IdeaPad U110 unboxing and hands-on

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[uclatommy @ May 3rd 2008 12:13PM]

hawt

[HeYo @ May 4th 2008 2:35AM]

PC users are so easily impressed.

[nDee @ May 4th 2008 10:58AM]

James Bond would be pleased

[Clinton @ May 3rd 2008 12:17PM]

looks good... but a bit too overboard on the glossy imho

[Joshua.JWilliams @ May 3rd 2008 12:30PM]

I agree completely. Good looking laptop, but the glossy keyboard is a little much. Neat design, but I think the glossy plastic would drive me nuts after a while.

Nice to see that Lenovo is taking a risk in their laptop designs and trying to change it up a little bit.

[Shiva N Singh @ May 3rd 2008 12:38PM]

Fingerprint magnet

[Jeff @ May 3rd 2008 1:43PM]

I agree, looks good, but over glossy.

and i can't BELIEVE people still buy computers with lame-ass stickers all over 'em.

maybe i'm out of touch, but i thought for SURE that shit would be gone years ago.

[Joshua.JWilliams @ May 3rd 2008 2:27PM]

@Jeff:

If you're talking about the processor & OS stickers, most laptops have them. My lappy doesn't because I had to replace the palm rest. But it's pretty common (aside from Macintosh) to have such stickers. It's not that big of a deal to me. They can be peeled off.

[PeterF @ May 3rd 2008 3:56PM]

@Jeff
Nice way to hide your Mac fanboyism. Its just a sticker, why would you refuse to buy a computer because of it? Guess what! STICKERS CAN PEEL OFF! If you hate stickers so much, take it off!

[monkfishbandana @ May 3rd 2008 9:18PM]

@ PeterF

Oh my goodness! When did Jeff mention anything at all about Macs? Why do that, hmm? Why?

I completely agree with Jeff. Yeah, they're easy to take off and maybe the complaint is trivial, but when you buy a computer from a store or online you tend to know it runs X, Y or Z and that it has X processor in it and what not. I just think that they needn't put them on there.

Oh, and Pete - can I call you Pete? You said that stickers can peel off? Well you've just labelled yourself as a PC cretin. Not to say that Mac users aren't any better, with their stupid sense of superiority just because their product is glossy and they hide well the fact that programs actually do crash occasionally on Macs. And Linux users, trying constantly to claw people into thinking that their OS is the best - even though to get much out of Linux you have to really know what you are doing, unless you get a build such as Ubuntu which is relatively easy to setup.

At the end of the day, people are clever enough (doubtful in some cases) to make up their own minds about which OS they use. You point. You click. Something happens.

Oh, and just to unnecessarily clarify things, I'm writing this on my gorgeously glossy white MacBook (notice the change in case) which never crashes, but also have a desktop downstairs that can actually play games (unlike my shitty / superior Mac) which also dual boots Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon - which you should try, it's much better than Mac or Windows (unless you want to print anything), which are both the best OSs in the world because one can play Call Of Duty and the other also can but I like to pretend that it doesn't so that I can use it in ammo against people who buy products from a company that they think is best friends with them.

I'm sure many people agree with my rant, but not many people will read the entire thing, will think I have offended their beloved operating system and will low rank me.



Oh, and the Lenovo look nice.

[magneto @ May 4th 2008 5:37AM]

Come on, stickers are ultra tacky and cheap-looking. Why do manufacturers feel compelled to plaster them all over expensive devices like laptops?

[k2001 @ May 3rd 2008 12:18PM]

looks better than the air, just as useless

[中国加油！ @ May 3rd 2008 12:50PM]

那才是你脑子里想的！这台电脑是很好，比很多笔记本电脑好多了！

[swingin' dick hero @ May 3rd 2008 1:00PM]

Yeah, you tell him!

[Gonzo @ May 3rd 2008 1:00PM]

你你脑子他里媽多多的 很好了！

[mymaclife @ May 3rd 2008 1:07PM]

And you own which one to give such a blisteringly educated assessment?

[N30 G30 @ May 3rd 2008 1:19PM]

"just as useless"?

This has three usb ports.

um... not to mention a card reader, and a firewire port.

[k2001 @ May 3rd 2008 5:26PM]

哎呀, 你们太不文明. 满口出话. 丢我们中国人得脸.

n30, I sorry maybe a little bit less useless than the air

[gabe @ May 3rd 2008 12:18PM]

lenovo the dust picker-upper

[Heathen @ May 3rd 2008 12:30PM]

Nice but where is the trackpoint nipple?
I will not buy a machine unless it has one...

[schmitty338 @ May 3rd 2008 12:40PM]

Let me guess, you are at least 30 years of age, correct?

[Miker @ May 3rd 2008 12:41PM]

Each to their own, I absolutely hate "the nipple" and it's the first thing I disable if a laptop has one...you need to invent yourself a USB connected portable nipple device that you can tweak whenever you feel the urge come upon you.

[Heathen @ May 3rd 2008 12:47PM]

I lack the patients to put up with the annoyance of the craptastic touch pad. (though I am open minded if multi touch remedies some of the BS associated with inefficient touch pads)

[kwanbis @ May 3rd 2008 12:53PM]

People that talk about not liking trackpoint, never got to try it for at least a week.

I have used touchpads for years, and the trackpoint is 10 times better.

Faster, more precise, it doesn't makes you take out your hands from the keyboard.

Much, much better.

Just try it for a week.

[kwanbis @ May 3rd 2008 12:59PM]

People that talk about not liking trackpoint, never got to try it for at least a week.

I have used touchpads for years, and the trackpoint is 10 times better.

Faster, more precise, it doesn't makes you take out your hands from the keyboard.

Much, much better.

Just try it for a week.

[john @ May 3rd 2008 1:00PM]

Don't feel bad Heathen, I feel the same. Touchpads suck. Sure, they work.. But unlike a touchpoint, even if you get proficient with them, it still takes longer to navigate and use. And yes, I'm 33, what's your point?

[Unknown @ May 3rd 2008 2:22PM]

No trackpoint = No buy

[Seoultrain @ May 3rd 2008 5:52PM]

Watching someone who really knows how to use a Trackpoint is really awe-inspiring. It can be better than a trackpad, probably even better than a mouse.

The only thing that kept me from trying out the nipple for more than 30 seconds is that there's no way to scroll down pages like going down the side of the trackpad. (is there?)

[Scoopster @ May 3rd 2008 6:36PM]

On Lenovo, which has 3 buttons under the space bar, you hold down the middle button with your thumb (or at least I use my thumb) and then move the trackpoint in the direction you want to scroll. It works for vertical, horizontal, and diagonal scrolling.

Yeah, I'm 32 and have been using trackpoints for about 12 years. I don't buy laptops without them either. Infinite value in your fingers never needing to leave "home row."

[napkindoodle @ May 3rd 2008 8:49PM]

...But I'm only 23.

Trackpoints (I call them eraser-heads) are AWESOME! At times I would even touch-up stuff in Photoshop using the eraserheads, it's that good. Also, the fact that it is in the center and the buttons close to the spacebar means my palms and wrist won't accidentally hit the buttons.

[james.alfred,ngantung @ May 3rd 2008 12:38PM]

Oh my...... such a beauty......but WAY too glossy.....

[Engadgetluvsappl @ May 3rd 2008 12:44PM]

Did you take these pictures with a Nokia N95, Engadget?

[Peter @ May 3rd 2008 7:57PM]

No, Engadget did not take these pictures with the Nokia N95. You can see what they used in the reflection:

http://www.engadget.com/photos/lenovo-ideapad-u110-unboxing-and-hands-on/786503/

[Rob @ May 3rd 2008 12:46PM]

Nice: I see it has dedicated PageUp and PageDown keys instead of stupidly mapping them to Fn plus an arrow key on the other side of the keyboard.

I don't think I'd mind the glossiness, but at that price it ought to have:
- trackpoint
- DVI instead of VGA (I haven't used VGA in years, and those DVI to VGA adapters are easily available)
- analog volume control (does anyone but Toshiba do this?)

[keleko @ May 3rd 2008 12:48PM]

It'd look a lot better without the tacky stickers on it. And those stickers are not easily removable. I've tried with my T61, and it feels like I need a chisel to get them off.

[The Dude @ May 3rd 2008 4:16PM]

Use a piece of thread to slide under the sticker and across all the way underneath to get rid of it. If you need to remove residue, put a piece of cloth (so as not to scratch the plastic) between your finger nail and the residue and "scratch" away at it. Works for me.

[greg @ May 3rd 2008 6:05PM]

wouldn't a cleaner like goo gone work to get rid of the left overs.

[King Kang @ May 3rd 2008 12:50PM]

Damn, is this a portable computer or a portable mirror?

[iChoiz @ May 3rd 2008 1:16PM]

lol

[SFO Kevin @ May 3rd 2008 4:52PM]

Yes, wish they had this back in my college days when cocaine was reasonably priced :>

[happy_penguin @ May 3rd 2008 12:52PM]

It's beautiful. And if you want it to stay that way, don't touch it.

[huh @ May 3rd 2008 12:52PM]

wow, so many pics.

I just wish they'd included a touchscreen (and made it less glossy), the touchscreen, even a passive one, is good for sketching, a kind of activity you might do on an ... ideapad.

[Scoopster @ May 3rd 2008 6:44PM]

Agreed, why is it that Fujitsu is the only company (that I know of anyway) that puts a touchscreen on some of their regular notebooks (not just on tablet models) ?

[ahow628 @ May 3rd 2008 12:52PM]

I love this computer except for the one thin that will never allow me to ever ever ever buy a Lenovo.

Why in bloody hell do they put the mother!@#$ing FN key where the CTRL key is on every other keyboard in the world. I am CONSTANTLY using CTRL+C and V and that FN key ruins my life. When my job got me a Lenovo, the first thing I did was to rip it off the keyboard. Do they really expect me to buy a $2,000 laptop and rip the key off it?

[jd @ May 3rd 2008 1:05PM]

configure your function key and use the Fn+c, Fn+p

[Mohit @ May 3rd 2008 1:20PM]

I can't agree more with you about the Fn key in place of the Ctrl key. It drives me nuts too. But there's an easy fix: you can just software (I use KeyTweak) to reconfigure the Fn key to act as the Ctrl key and vice versa. Sure, the keys will be labelled wrong, but if you're as much of a keyboard user as you are, I doubt that'll throw you off.

[Craig @ May 3rd 2008 1:29PM]

i have a lenovo, and i was going to say the same exact thing about the ctrl and fn keys. i'm completely baffled as to why they'd layout the keyboard this way. i'll have to try that program.

[john @ May 3rd 2008 2:53PM]

Eh, I've been using thinkpads for a while now, I've gotten used to that.

[Scoopster @ May 3rd 2008 6:47PM]

Remap the keys as mentioned above. Then on most units, you can swap the CTRL and FN keys -- pop them off, look as the way they are designed, and then you can easily snap them back on.

[Tom O @ May 3rd 2008 1:12PM]

If I had the money I would be cradling it in my arms right now :P .