ideapad

This week in laptops

Driving through West Hollywood earlier today, I found myself stopped by a gaggle of paparazzi standing in the middle of the road. I'm not sure who they were trying to shoot, but for the first time I kind of understood how they felt. I mean, we here at CNET were all over the Lenovo IdeaPad U110 like a 'razzo on a starlet. First, there was the news that it had arrived in CNET Labs. Then we posted our initial impressions after using the laptop for a day. And finally, the full Lenovo IdeaPad U110 review. But who were we … Read more

Lenovo IdeaPad U110: First thoughts

When the much-awaited Lenovo IdeaPad U110 arrived in our offices on Monday, it went straight to the Labs for benchmark testing (the typical order of operations for a laptop review). I finally got my hands on the review unit this morning, and I've spent the day putting it through my own usage tests to see how this little laptop stands up to the demands of everyday computing.

One of my key questions was whether the keyboard, which is slightly compact, would be usable. The unusual key design added to my concern: the keys themselves are made of the same … Read more

Bona fide Intel monopoly: Ultraportables

The MacBook Air, IdeaPad U110, and ThinkPad X300 are the three hottest ultraportables out there. They all sport unique styling outside. And Intel blue inside.

Styling and design are now so crucial in notebooks that when a model arrives in pink the color change alone is news.

Ditto for the styling imperative for some of the sveltest, lightest, and most impressive of notebooks: the Air, X300, and just-released U110.

Scratch the surface (or lift up the keyboard in this case), however, and you'll find that their unique exteriors house similar Intel core electronics.

Does this have anything to do … Read more

Lenovo's IdeaPad U110 lands in the lab

Chinese laptop maker Lenovo, keeper of fabled ThinkPad business brand, seems like its finally getting serious about making consumer laptops. The eagerly awaited Idea Pad U110 has just landed in the CNET Lab, and we're just as impressed with the design as we were when we first saw it back at CES 2008.

This 11-inch ultraportable reminds us of similar-sized systems such as the Sony Vaio TZ150 or the Toshiba R500--but with a newer 1.60GHz Intel Core 2 Duo L7500, we expect it to be a faster performer. With a hi-res display (1,366 x 768), a 120GB … Read more

Lenovo's 11-inch IdeaPad now available

Lenovo first introduced its new consumer notebook line, IdeaPad, back at CES in January. Now, the smallest--and arguably best-looking--of the bunch is set to ship to consumers very soon.

The U110, Lenovo's foray into consumer-oriented ultraportable notebooks, is now available on Lenovo.com, with other retailers soon to follow.

The U110 comes with an Intel Core 2 Duo 1.6-gigahertz processor, 120GB hard drive, 2GB of RAM, and comes loaded with Vista Home Premium.

The screen is 11 inches wide with no bezel and weighs in at a mere 2.4 pounds. The battery life with the original battery … Read more

Details emerge on Lenovo's Atom-based handheld

First seen at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, the mystery handheld Lenovo was showing off now has a name.

The IdeaPad U8 was unveiled at the Intel Developer Forum in Shanghai Tuesday along with a few more tidbits about what it's packing inside.

We already learned at CES that it runs Linux, is Web-enabled, has GPS, plays music, and takes photos.

By the name, IdeaPad, we can assume it's a consumer device, since IdeaPad is the name of Lenovo's newest line of consumer-oriented notebooks. We also know now that Intel considers it an MID (mobile Internet … Read more

Lenovo takes brave step back into consumer PC's

PC industry watchers have long figured that Lenovo, which holds number one market share in China for consumer laptops, would make another play at the consumer market in advanced countries like the US and Australia, markets IBM had abandoned well before it sold its PC business to the Chinese manufacturer.

Even the most dedicated long-time IBM veterans say that IBM "really failed" in the consumer business in the nineties before it abandoned it in 1999. Upon acquiring IBM's PC division, says David Nichol, director of Lenovo's small business and consumer line for Australia and New Zealand, … Read more

Lenovo launches three IdeaPad laptops

Getting a jump on the product-launch blitz that is CES 2008, Lenovo has announced a whole new brand of consumer-oriented laptops and desktops. Called IdeaPad and IdeaCentre, the lines are intended to complement the company's flagship business-oriented ThinkPad and ThinkCentre lines. While today's announcement does not include any specifics on desktop models, we learned plenty about the new IdeaPad laptops.

Watch the Lenovo Idea Pad U110 video on CNET TV.

The first full line of entertainment-oriented Lenovo laptops to hit the United States (we saw one consumer model, the Lenovo 3000 Y410, sneak into the States last fall), IdeaPads include such welcome design touches as textured lid finishes and a sleek "frameless" screen that's ergonomically situated a bit farther away from the keyboard than most laptops. Also key to the IdeaPad look are touch-sensitive media controls above the keyboard and a bright orange button, called the Shuttle Key, which can be used on its own to control volume or in combination with the touch controls for additional functionality (somewhat like a Fn key). There's Front Row-like media software, called Shuttle Center, and Dolby Home Theater sound. Every IdeaPad is also outfitted with a built-in 1.3-megapixel Webcam, VeriFace software for biometric security via face recognition, and a ThinkVantage-like Novo key that provides quick system recovery should you ever encounter a data-destroying virus.

Tonight's announcement includes the first three laptop models in the IdeaPad line: the 17-inch Y710, the 15.4-inch Y510, and the 11.1-inch U110. Individual specs and details after the break.… Read more