Lenovo 3000 Y410 tiptoes into the U.S. market

(Credit: Lenovo)

The eagle-eyed crew over at NotebookReview tipped us off to the appearance of a new laptop on Lenovo's U.S. site. Part of the Lenovo 3000 family, the 14.1-inch Y410 was announced in the Asia markets earlier this year, but it arrived in the States without even a press release. Curious, considering the Y410 represents the company's first foray into the consumer--also known as "home/home office"--market here.

Though its boxy silver case is hardly a departure from the conservative look of the Lenovo 3000 line, the Y410 includes entertainment-oriented features you wouldn't find on a business machine, including Dolby Home Theater audio with a subwoofer, the ability to play CDs without booting the system, and a media player called Shuttle Center. The laptop also is the first we've seen to pair a built-in 1.3-megapixel Webcam with VeriFace software to provide biometric security via face recognition.

Another first for Lenovo, which has been slowly growing its presence in retail: the Y410 is available only at retail stores--currently, Office Depot, Micro Center, and Staples--and not on Lenovo's site. Each store has a slightly different configuration, the least expensive being Staples' $700 version, with a 1.46GHz Pentium Dual Core processor and 1GB of memory. Office Depot, meanwhile, seems to be offering the top of the Y410 line, with a 1.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5450 processor and 2GB of 667MHz RAM for $950.

All 5.2-pound Y410 models feature a 14.1-inch display (1,280x800 resolution), integrated Intel X3100 graphics, a 160GB hard drive spinning at 5,400rpm, a built-in DVD burner, and a six-cell battery that the company claims will last up to 4 hours.

Pricewise, the Lenovo 3000 Y410 is competitive with similarly equipped systems, such as the HP Pavilion dv2500t and the Dell Inspiron 1420. What remains to be seen is whether the subdued Y410 can win over consumers who've come to equate the Lenovo brand with work.

[shanx24]

Who cares?

Looking like that, it probably *needs* to tiptoe everywhere. One hopes these manufacturers will take a clue or two from Vaio or Macs for what a computer in 2007 should look like. What a clunker.

[thepoetrydude]

actually, nice

actually, this model has been a strong seller in my store

[Lambert John]

Not a clunker at all

It's pretty darn nice. I'm not sure what a computer's supposed to look like in 2007, but that's not what drives my purchase. I'm a writer, and for me, the keyboard is the feature that interests me most. Lenovo doesn't fail on this important component; their keyboards are top notch. But there's so much more to like - 160 GB hard drive, 2 GB RAM, Core 2 Duo CPU, built-in webcam, photo recognition, 14.1 wide glossy display, subwoofer, ports, ports, and more ports, all piled on top of Vista Premium. Of course, if show and tell is what you're after, this is definitely a good looking computer. But don't take my word for it, go check it out yourself.

I bought mine at Office Depot for $679 after rebates, and am very happy with it. I looked at the Vaios and Macs, but dollar for dollar, they couldn't keep up with this guy. Again, looks are not why I buy a computer. I could care less what people think about my laptop. I buy a computer to work, write, play and surf, not troll for eyes. But that's just me.

Needless to say, I'm completely satisfied with my purchase, and would definitely recommend this computer to anyone. Lenovo's really hit the nail on the head with this one.