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Lenovo IdeaPad U310 and U410 undress for the FCC's czars
When Lenovo took the wraps off its IdeaPad U310 and U410 at CES, we were left feeling happy / sad. On the one hand, we were dismayed by the half-hearted inclusion of a memory card slot, but the company did earn high marks for sticking to that sleek Ultrabook form factor and pricing the duo at a $700 entry point. Now that luxurious-looking laptop pair's making another public appearance, stopping by the FCC for a step and repeat and splaying its guts and user manual in the process. While the filings reveal no surprise specs for these 13- and 14-inchers -- those internal goodies were divulged back in January -- this Commission pit stop is a solid indication that all systems are go for a planned May launch. Be sure to hit up the source below to trawl the RF reports if diagnostics get you hot under the collar.
Lenovo's IdeaPad U310 and U410 Ultrabooks start at an inexpensive $699, weigh a little more than the competition
If there's one thing we don't like about the Lenovo IdeaPad U300s, it's that it's missing an SD slot, and starts at $1,200 -- a steep price when you can find many an Ultrabook for under $1,000. (Okay, that's two things.) And while the company isn't ready for a complete do-over just yet, it's clearly trying to fill some gaps in its lineup: the outfit just introduced the 13-inch IdeaPad U310 and the 14-inch U410, which will start at a relatively inexpensive $699. On paper, the IdeaPad U310 bears a strong resemblance to the U300s we reviewed two months ago, with 4GB of RAM, 1366 x 768 resolution, an eight-hour battery, Intel Wireless Display and a choice of Intel Core processors. But, it adds an extra USB 3.0 port, along with that all-important memory card slot. In exchange, you'll have to make some tougher choices regarding storage: you can opt for a 500GB hard drive or an SSD that tops out at 64GB of space. The 14-inch IdeaPad U410 offers more of the same, though instead of Intel's integrated graphics offering, it packs an NVIDIA GeForce 610M card with 1GB of video memory -- unsurprising, given that the new ThinkPad T430u Ultrabook also has discrete graphics at a similar price. All in all, not too shabby for $700, though the trade-off for the extra ports and lower price is some extra padding: the 13-inch version tips the scales at 3.7 pounds, versus 2.95 for the U300s. (The U410 weights 4.2.) Then again, when these go on sale in May, we suspect they'll be plenty light for students looking to get a jump on back-to-school shopping. For now, we've got hands-on shots below and some impressions after the break.
