I bought the fairly new Lenovo Ideapad U110 recently for work. The hot, sexy Red cover has gotten plenty of looks at Starbucks. I unbox it on video and take pictures of the U110.

Pictures and Video after the break.

My Specs:

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo LV

Screen: 11.1” HD Glossy Widescreen WXGA ( 1366x768)

OS: Windows Vista Ultimate

Video: Intel X3100

HD: 160GB  (32GB - 64GB SSD-Option) 

RAM: 3GB

Webcam: 1.3MP

Sound: Two Dolby Home Theater Stereo Speakers

Network: Ethernet, Intel 4965AGN wireless, Bluetooth

Warranty: 3 year (1 year standard)

Weight: 2.4lbs (according to my kitchen scale)

Battery: 4 hours with Slim battery 8 hours with Extended Batt

Pretty good specs for my design programs, email, office documents, etc.

3 USB 2.0 ports, FireWire, VGA, 6-in-1 multicard reader, Mini-PCIe / ExpressCard slots, audio in/out.

So far I love it. It's light, powerful and simple. Compared to the Macbook Air, It runs cooler and faster and is much more sexy looking. I was surprised that it beat the Air in rendering a design, playing a DVD, Boot time, and amazingly, loading web pages.

Ports:

• 3 USB 2.0 ports

• Firewire

• ExpressCard/34 slot

• Gigabit Ethernet

• 6-in-1 multi-card reader

• Audio out, microphone in

• VGA monitor out

• Kensington lock slot

Pros:

• Powerful & fast

• Vivid screen

• Big HDD

• Nice speakers

• APS protection

• Webcam

• Sexy design

Cons:

• Glossy Keyboard

• Glossy Touch pad

• Fingerprint magnet!

• No Biometric fingerprint reader

• Webcam doesn't work too good in low light

• FN and CTRL keys are in the wrong place. Needs to switched around.

• No latch to keep screen closed

• Power cord is hard to get out of the port.

Vista Ultimate gets a 3.6 WEI score, which is not that bad. The system came with hardly any crapware. Just an Earthlink offer and Norton antivirus.

The fan is silent, unlike some bigger laptops. It keeps the system very cool, The hottest its ever been was around 104 degrees F. The webcam is a nice quality, and the included software is easy to use. The Veriface software works really well. But with my patience I'm not going to sit there for 5 minutes moving around like a frog for it to recognize me.

(Me from the U110 camera)

The speakers are excellent, nice Dolby Hi-def speakers. The screen is nice and bright at night and day, but outside it is glary and dim. When the keyboard is clean, it types nice, once it get some hard blogging use it becomes a wee bit slippery but is easy to clean with the included cleaning cloth. I found that the built in microphone is amazing, much better than the built in one in my iMac. The touch control is very neat and useful. Just wish you could adjust the sensitivity. The 'NOVO' button switches the power scheme, or restores the system to a previous state. The power brick is slim and has a blue LED light to show it's plugged in.

The APS system (Active Protection System) shuts the hard drive off if moved suddenly to protect data. An Accelerometer (like the iPhone) is used in the center of the system. Just think of the possible applications that could use it. For example, a Security app. When moved it can sound an alarm and lock the OS. For gaming, Let's get Monkey ball on here!  (calling all developers!) There is Bluetooth, even though their site doesn't say it. My router says that the U110 is connected over an N line. Even though the U110 doesn't support N Networks, guess my router has gone nuts.

The hard, ridged frame of the U110 adds the durable touch I like to see in laptops. (other than the flimsy MBA)   The cover is a Vivid hot red with a Tendril texture, a floral with vine pattern. Reminds me of Wine grape vines. There is no latch to secure the screen down. They could have used magnets, but instead they used the force of the hinge to hold it down.

I would recommend this laptop to anybody who wants a nice, powerful, sexy, slim computer for work, blogging and personal use.

Pictures and Unboxing video/demo Below.

All these and more at HD res are at my Picasa Albums.

Unboxing Video.