jkOnTheRun video- first look at Lenovo IdeaPad U110

I've been using the sweet Lenovo IdeaPad U110 super portable notebook for a couple of days now and I humbly offer up my very first impressions of this little notebook.  Everybody who I've shown the U110 to has voiced the same 3 reactions in this order:

That red case is nice!
Wow, it's so thin and light!
Can I have it?

There is no question that the U110 is the thinnest and lightest full notebook I have used and I am still impressed with that every time I pick it up to take it with me.  Even with the extended (7-cell) battery attached it is one of the nicest forms in a notebook for less than $2,000.  The Sony TZ comes close but the last time I priced one of those babies it was over $3,000 so this is a nice deal for $1,799.  Take a look at this video of the U110 and see if you agree it's pretty darn sexy.

Comments

[Mike Cane]

You are a merciless, cruel fiend! King Fiend!

Yesterday you do the u110, after your spies told you I'd be out for the day and wouldn't be able to read it!

Now tonight you put up this YouTube vid, when your spies have told you I'd be signing off the PC and going to sleep!

My god! You mustn't see the Dark Knight! I fear what ideas Heath Ledger's Joker would give you!!

Fiend!

[James Kendrick]

So what did you think of it Mike?

[Mike Cane]

Fiiiiieeeend! You KNEW I wouldn't be able to sleep until I saw it! My God!!! I want it!! What was your address again?! Heh-heh.

J&R will be getting that in. I must now go consult my GoogleMaps for armored car ruotes. I've heard some of them are due to accidentally drop at least one bag of money on the street. Coincidentally enough to by a Little Red Riding Hood Computer!

And everyone else: Did you SEE the torment he put me through! he made sure to show the YouTube vid of the Mini Note on the u110!! Fiend of Fiends!!

[Stephen Hill]

James,

I enjoyed the video. You've probably answered this question before, but what type of desk is that?

Thanks
Stephen

[Bob Kawaratani]

I'm impressed and the set of design choices make more sense than those made for the MacBook Air for 99% of users. It's certainly powerfulenough and has adequate interfaces for use as a primary computer for most users.

[Scoopster]

James, all the gushing is killing us. Forget not where ye've been with Vista:

Load up all your apps and open 'em up and use them for an hour...then see if it sleeps and resumes fast. My X61t was super fast out of the box. Not so much when excel, word, outlook, firefox, powerpoint, and acrobat is running (which is a typical working scenario for me).

[Steven]

I sure don't get all the excitement over ultraportables that run VISTA.

Yeah, that's mobile... waiting two mintutes to boot up the system.

An ultraportable has to pass the latte test: you have to be able to whip it out, check something quick, and have it back in your back before your latte is made at the coffee shop. That's the latte test, and all of the truly mobile computers that people use today--smartphones--pass the test.

I want a Foleo...

[James Kendrick]

I loaded up my full software arsenal as soon as I got it like I always do. So far the performance is awesome, no doubt due to that processor faster than most ultra-portables.

That desk is a laptop desk from Front-gate, I think.

[Nate]

I'd love to have one of these, but with all of these cheap subnotes around, I can't justify paying 1800.00 for one.

I'm sure the performance is killer. However, for what I do, a 600.00 machine works just as well.

[nomo]

Thanks for the preliminary review. I enjoyed hearing your thoughts.

The Sony TZ model most comparable to the U110 is the TZ270 at $2200. (The $3000+ configuration includes a solid state drive.) The TZ270 has an internal DVDRW, wireless n, integrated Sprint WWAN, and TPM Security. The U110 features a faster CPU, better graphics card, thinner profile, and one more USB port.

The U110 weighs 2.4/2.9 pounds with standard or extended life batteries while the HP Mini-Note weighs 2.8/3.2 pounds.

[Vance]

LOL at you guys... over $1500 for a second computer.

Old school thinking. Old school thinking. The netbook category is going to shut down the IdeaPad faster than you can say, "Eeeeee..."

[Kevin C. Tofel]

Looks to me like it could be a primary device that's very portable, no? Comparing it to lower costing, lower-powered "netbooks" sounds more like "old school thinking" to me. ;)

[Gordon Cahill]

Except for the dual core processor (that didn't exist), my old Acer C111 is about the same size, weight, has the same ports (including firewire) and same(ish) speed for running light software like Outlook, word etc and it's been around for well over three years.

Oh yeah... and it's a tablet with an active digitiser and a 180 degree hydis display.

Sorry but for this price I'm just not impressed.

Gordon

[techgeek32]

Hi James,

It has an LED screen, but can it be used outside or is that impossible with the glossy panel?