Lenovo IdeaPad U110 First Thoughts Review

by Jerry Jackson

The Lenovo IdeaPad U110 is the latest addition to the IdeaPad family and has recently been garnering a lot of attention. Lenovo might be famous for the ThinkPad line of notebooks, but most average consumers don't find the traditional styling of the ThinkPad line to be very attractive. The IdeaPad U110 might just be the single most gorgeous compact notebook we've seen to date. Is there more here than just good looks? We took a first look at the U110 to give you some idea of whether this laptop is right for you.

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Our IdeaPad U110 has the following specifications:

• Processor: 1.60GHz Intel Core 2 Duo L7500 (800Mhz FSB, 4MB Cache)
• Graphics: Intel X3100
• Screen: 11.1-inch WXGA (1366 x 768, 370 nit) display
• Memory: 2GB (up to 3GB configurable)
• Storage: 120GB Parallel ATA HDD (4200rpm)
• Optical Drive: None internal (external Dual layer CD/DVD recordable drive)
• Wireless and Communications: Intel 4965AGN (802.11 a/b/g/n wi-fi), BlueTooth 2.0 EDR
• Battery: 4-cell Li-Ion and 7-cell extended life Li-Ion batteries included
• Ports: 3 USB 2.0 ports, IEEE 1394 Firewire, 5-in-1 card reader, ExpressCard/34, VGA monitor out port, AC adapter, headphone/line-out, microphone/line-in, Gigabit Ethernet
• Dimensions: 10.8" x 7.7" x 0.72" - 0.88"
• Weight: from 2.42lbs with 4-cell battery and 2.92lbs with 7-cell battery
• Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium
• Other Features: Integrated web camera with VeriFace application
• Warranty: 1-year

The pricing on the U110 starts at around $1,899, and that is the configuration we are reviewing. Needless to say, this isn't something the average consumer will be dropping their money on in place of an $800 Dell. Still, if having a stylish, compact notebook is important for you then the U110 makes an attractive choice.

Build and Design

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The IdeaPad U110 is surprisingly solid in terms of build quality. The aluminum etch display cover and magnesium aluminum chassis provide both strength and light weight. You can press as hard as you want anywhere on the body of the notebook and it simply will not flex. Like the ThinkPad line, the IdeaPad U110 is designed for (accidental) abuse and drops, and we're guessing the U110 might be the most rugged laptop in the IdeaPad lineup. Unlike with the ThinkPads, you don't get a double latch mechanism with button release to make sure the screen is held down when it is closed and being carried. Instead, the U110 uses hinge tension to hold the screen in place.

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The etched aluminum display cover (available in both black and red) is probably the most interesting design element on the U110. Lenovo calls this their "Tendril texture" and it looks like an intricate floral and vine pattern. The IdeaPad designers even went the extra mile with the design by extending the "Tendril" pattern onto the bottom of the notebook and the touch-sensitive media buttons. Even the heat exhaust vents feature an extra touch of class. This certainly isn't a boring ThinkPad.

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Input and Output Ports

The number of ports the U110 has is fairly good, certainly much better than the Apple MacBook Air provides, but you're still left a bit wanting. Here's a run down of the ports:

• 3 USB 2.0 ports
• Firewire
• ExpressCard/34 slot
• Gigabit Ethernet
• 5-in-1 multi-card reader
• Audio out, microphone in
• VGA monitor out
• Kensington lock slot

Key things missing are HDMI and a full-size ExpressCard slot. There's also no option for a docking station, you have to go with a USB-based port replicator (or ExpressCard/34) to get the additional ports you would want at a desk. Obviously engineers had to make design trade offs and you can't have it all on a notebook this small. Personally, I feel like the U110 provides an excellent balance of ports for its size. (The images below show the U110 with the larger 7-cell battery.)

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Performance and Benchmarks

Let's be fair, the IdeaPad U110 was not built to compete with your desktop loaded with a quad core processor. Thin travel notebooks like the U110 use low voltage processors to conserve power and reduce heat build-up. The IdeaPad U110 uses an Intel 1.60GHz Core 2 Duo L7500 processor that's quite capable of running office applications and performing any general web related tasks, but will not serve well for 3D graphics applications or any heavy duty rendering tasks.

Likewise, the Intel X3100 integrated graphics will allow you to play a few light games, maybe even Half Life 2 on low settings (see our Intel X3100 review for more details), but in general you'll want to stick to e-mail, web browsing, Office and photo editing tasks. That's enough for most average consumers ... particularly if you already have a powerful desktop.

The hard disk storage could have supplemented performance if it was a 5400rpm or 7200rpm drive. Better still, a super fast SSD would have given the U110 some additional "snappiness." Unfortunately, the slow 4200rpm hard drive on the U110 only made the system that much slower during everyday use.

Let's take a look at a few basic benchmarks so you can get an idea of how the U110 stacks up.

wPrime is a program that forces the processor to do recursive mathematical calculations, this processor benchmark program is multi-threaded and can use both processor cores at once, it measures the amount of time to run a set amount of calculations.

wPrime comparison results (lower scores means better performance):

Notebook / CPU	wPrime 32M time
Lenovo IdeaPad U110 (Intel Core 2 Duo L7500 @ 1.60GHz)	52 seconds
Lenovo ThinkPad X300 (Intel Core 2 Duo L7100 @ 1.20GHz)	98 seconds
Apple MacBook Air (Intel Core 2 Duo P7500 @ 1.6GHz)	68 seconds
Asus Eee PC 701 4G (Intel Celeron M ULV @ 900MHz)	200 seconds
Sony VAIO TZ (Intel Core 2 Duo U7600 @ 1.20GHz)	76 seconds
Dell XPS M1330 (Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 @ 2.20GHz)	38 seconds

You can see from the results in WPrime the L7500 processor in the IdeaPad U110 is slower than the typical Core 2 Duo processor found in larger notebooks like the Dell XPS M1330.

PCMark05 is a benchmark that measures the overall system performance, so it considers the processor, hard drive, memory and OS as part of the mix. Although the IdeaPad U110 has a slower hard drive it actually fairs pretty well with this benchmark:

PCMark05 benchmark results (higher scores are better)

Notebook	PCMark05 Score
Lenovo IdeaPad U110 (Intel Core 2 Duo L7500 @ 1.60GHz, Intel X3100)	3,445 PCMarks
Lenovo ThinkPad X300 (Intel Core 2 Duo L7100 @ 1.20GHz, Intel X3100)	3,467 PCMarks
Apple MacBook Air (1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7500, Intel X3100)	2,478 PCMarks
Sony VAIO NR (1.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5250, Intel X3100)	3,283 PCMarks
Sony VAIO TZ (1.20GHz Core 2 Duo U7600, Intel GMA 950)	2,446 PCMarks
Lenovo ThinkPad X61 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, Intel X3100)	4,153 PCMarks
Lenovo 3000 V200 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, Intel X3100)	3,987 PCMarks
Lenovo T60 Widescreen (2.0GHz Intel T7200, ATI X1400 128MB)	4,189 PCMarks
HP dv6000t (2.16GHz Intel T7400, NVIDA GeForce Go 7400)	4,234 PCMarks
Fujitsu N6410 (1.66GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400)	3,487 PCMarks
Alienware M7700 (AMD Athlon FX-60, Nvidia Go 7800GTX)	5,597 PCMarks
Sony VAIO SZ-110B in Speed Mode (Using Nvidia GeForce Go 7400)	3,637 PCMarks
Asus V6J (1.86GHz Core Duo T2400, Nvidia Go 7400)	3,646 PCMarks

HDTune measures the storage performance of a PC, the numbers from the HDD are pretty standard for a 4200rpm PATA drive, but performance is sub par compared to most 5400rpm and 7200rpm hard drives found in other notebooks. This benchmark goes to show why the IdeaPad U110 might not be as fast as some other notebooks when accessing data:

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Screen

The 11.1" WXGA (1366 x 768) screen on the U110 is nice and bright, but suffers from a significant degree of "graininess." There is a constant "shimmer" to the screen that makes reading text or watching movies a little frustrating. The U110 also suffers from the same "frameless" glossy display seen on the IdeaPad Y510. The screen isn't just glossy, it's a glossy screen covered with a second glossy plastic layer which sets slightly above the surface of the actual display. This causes major reflections and serious eye strain problems because your eyes are constantly shifting focus between the reflections on the glossy protective layer and the text/images displayed on the screen underneath. We'll have more example photos of this problem in the final review.

Keyboard and Touchpad

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Media buttons. (view large image)

The keyboard on the IdeaPad U110 has zero flex and excellent key travel with quiet presses. Lenovo has added a glossy "piano paint" finish to the keys so that they don't wear and get all shiny over time ... they start out shiny. Beyond the glossy finish on the keys, there's little to complain about here other than the lack of separation for the keys. Touch typists may have problems with the keyboard on the U110 since the keys are so flat and close together that it's hard to feel which keys you're pressing.

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The palm rest area is pretty neat, it has a glossy paint finish so it both feels and looks nice. It's very smooth and the touchpad is nicely textured with the same high-quality paint finish. Lenovo decided to omit the standard fingerprint reader in favor of their new "VeriFace" facial recognition application.

Battery

Lenovo supplies both the standard 4-cell battery and the 7-cell extended life battery with the U110. The 4-cell is lighter and has a quoted life of up approximately 2 hours while the 7-cell is heavier and has a quoted life of up to 6 hours. Preliminary tests show these estimates are quite accurate and we'll have detailed battery life numbers in our final review.

While most extended life batteries tend to be significantly larger than standard batteries, we were pleased to see that the 7-cell battery only adds a minor increase to the overall size of the U110. In fact, the increase in size is so minor that we will probably recommend that people just use the 7-cell battery all the time.

A view of the 7-cell battery on the
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More to Come

As of this writing we've only had the IdeaPad U110 in our office for a short while now. We typically find a few things to complain about after "the honeymoon" is over, but right now there is a lot we can say in favor of the U110. Key things we'll want to find out is how the battery life holds up, how the heat are when the notebook is under stress, and whether installing a bunch of applications slows the performance down. Stay tuned for the full review coming soon. We'll also do a comparison of the U110 to another Lenovo notebook you may have heard of called the ThinkPad X61.

Videos

IdeaPad U110 Overview

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IdeaPad U110 compared to Asus Eee PC

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Lenovo out-VAIO'd Sony, out-Mac'd Apple, and has even bested the beautiful Dell M1330 in appearance. The etching might be a little much, but it's so tastefully done that it's hard to argue with. It's weird how different this is from its Ideapad and 3000 cousins.

 

Amazing... really great look !!

The keyboard seems to be very different than other lenovo models... how does it feel ?

 

No "Pros" and "Cons" at the end of the review ?

 

I think that "pro" and "cons" lack because it has been a "first look" instead of a full review...

 

I have mixed feelings about the keyboard.

On one hand, the key presses are fantastic: deep, smooth, and quiet.

On the other hand, I don't like the glossy texture (too slick and it shows skin oils/smudges from your fingertips) and the keys are too flat with too little spacing between the keys.

 

Correct. We feel like there have been a lot of rushed reviews of the U110 out on the web and we want to take a little more time to give our audience an in-depth look at the pros and cons of this notebook.

The U110 definitely isn't a ThinkPad ... and there are both good and bad things about that.

 

I think this will be a great competitor to the Sony TZ series as they're the same dimension and screen size. However, I am not a big fans of over glossy finishes and lenovo made sure to cover every part of this laptop in a mirror like finish.

 

It looks like... a sony keyboard...

 

nice!! i like it

 

Looks like a sweet ultraportable - I'd probably prefer it more if the gloss was toned down just a smidgen though. I'm looking forward to the in-depth review.

 

btw please give us a full review immediately!!

 

Oh , it is difficult to say anything bad about Lenovo since there are so many fanatic fans here and thre,I kinda think it is overpriced, it' almost as expensive as X300(at least with X300 you can get Thinkpad name).

I dont buy it or any Lenovo any more any way but it 's so odd to me that if it is a Lenovo , people forgive all cons but others, I can guess how people'would have reacted if it had been an Apple......

I think being the Thinkpad maker and IBM legend makes it more desirable(there are many name brand lovers) than it actually is and most of people seeing it or any Lenovo through IBM filter ,I personally prefer a Dell, HP or even Acer over it.

Acer makes a similar laptop called AS 2920Z and it 's sold for about 800US and the acer has an optical drive and much faster CPU.

 

and why Acer is not included in these blue-marked companies here?

Acer is a bigger company than Lenov or toshiba.

 

It's really cool but still isn't sexy as my Macbook Air, from looks I also find the keyboard very undesirable, the gloss is bad and not required, there is also no space between the keys, bad for typing, the keyboard looks cheap too.

Overall the laptop looks sexy though, will attract many ladies.

 

Will Lenovo fanhood ever be anything close to Apple obsession? Apple users have often been violently protective and downright evangelist about their brand for well over a decade. I would think people are much more ready to criticize a Chinese brand that is far less established in the United States and whose reputation doesn't yet go beyond picking up the Thinkpad torch and not snuffing it out. I just find it hard to believe there's anything such as Lenovo brand loyalty that can compare to that of even the average Apple user.

By the way, I may be getting a Lenovo as my next computer, but I am much more a fan of Dell. I've been using their computers since I was eight years old. So in no way do I have a stake in Lenovo's brand. The Thinkpad (and certainly not this Ideapad) just happens to be the right laptop for me at this time.

 

Have you not seen the popularity of Thinkpads on NBR? Cheap, simple, durable == perfect combination for the US enthusiast market. People will justify their purchases by any means, and this of course includes product evangelism.

 

Wait, why's there an apple sticker on the back of the Asus EEE in the second video?

 

Right, of course I'm aware that the Thinkpads are popular. I'm getting one myself. This isn't a Thinkpad and I doubt a moderately positive reception of a fancy subnotebook is colored by Thinkpad fanhood.

But enthusiasm for the Lenovo brand, or even the Thinkpad brand, is nowhere near as deep and wide as that of Apple's entire brand. I say this as someone who got an iPod in 2002 and grew up using Macs nearly as often as PCs. I doubt that there is a tech brand in the world as forcefully loved as Apple.

 

I was wondering how long it was going to take for someone to find that "easter egg" in the second video.

There's no real reason behind that ... just trying to keep boring videos a bit more interesting.

 

Disturbing that the U110 has a grainy screen,seems to be the norm instead of the exception.

 

I love the sleek look

 

Out-vaio's Sony and out-mac'd Apple, tell me your joking. Actually i'd call this thing a complete and utter disaster. That keyboard is quite probably one of the worst designs i've seen in a long time. Considering this is coming from a company that creates/owns the Thinkpad series with its legendary keyboard quality what the hell is this thing. Do Lenovo have a complete disregard for the IBM heritage.

As for the battery life the Vaio TZ obliterates this thing in every way and isn't that one of the major points of an ultra-portable. 2 hours from a 4 cell, yippee thanks Lenovo ill try and finish my coffee really quickly before this thing runs out. As for the 7 cell although it would appear to add little additional depth to the laptop it still pales in comparison to the TZ with its BPL or BPX high capacity units.

As for the design perhaps Lenovo's design team should have a little lesson in minimalism and class. Although the design is very well done technically to me its overblown and lacks the subtlety of the Vaio Tz's premium carbon fibre fleck. Vaio = Hepburn, U110 = Hooker. I want professional and poised not plastic prostitute no matter how much of a tank it is.

To put a glossy screen behind a second glossy layer which produces mass reflection and eye-strain should be a sackable offence. Why would anyone want to use a laptop that would cause them pain and strain to their vision. You may go through 20 laptops in your life but you only have 1 set of eyes and they should be protected not punished.

As for the MBA although I have little affinity for it Apple's marketing team are second to none and I honestly wouldn't want to sit in a coffee shop with one of these beside an MBA user if I wanted to impress in any way shape or form. No laptop looks cool covered leg to lid in enough fingerprints for interpol to build a murder trial with and there would be no way to keep the Lenovo smudge free.

Releasing this thing less than 2 months away from the Centrino 2 refresh is IMHO a major mistake. Its very likely that Sony and others are preparing crucial upgrades to their ultra-portables which even if you are enamoured by the U110's design will leave it technically out paced and looking under-powered, which appears to be the only thing the Lenovo currently has over the TZ.

 

It does seem a little over the top, and the gloss certainly wasn't a good idea but they have made it clear the build quality of the chassis and keyboard are brilliant, and Lenovo have a long heritage of good build quality to build upon, though this is one of their first steps into producing a well designed laptop.

And to be honest I've always hated the styling of Apples, simplicity that seems to be drooled over worldwide

 

I wasn't entirely serious, and I was only talking about the looks and basic design. I wouldn't want to own one, I don't think. Glossy isn't my thing. Lenovo don't have a disregard for the IBM heritage here because the Ideapad has nothing to do with IBM's PC division.

I actually prefer the look of the Thinkpad to this, but I'm a bit "form follows function" when it comes to laptops. But as consumer laptops go, they don't get much snazzier than this, and it's without some of the compromises of the MacBook Air. Did you notice that it's even lighter?

As for it being underpowered and without the latest chipset, that doesn't seem to be a practical criticism. These sorts of laptops by definition have low-voltage processors and don't always need tomorrow's technology today to achieve that goal. I don't suppose the MacBook Air is obsolete now that new Intel junk is coming out?

 

Hey Waldo Wainthrop.

I agree with you on the Thinkpad design, I prefer it too although as a consumer laptop I don't think I would have an X300 as my main but for business I would be more than proud to turn up to a meeting or hearing with an X series, very professional and business looking and their build is probably second to none.

As for the MBA I wouldn't touch one. The lack of ports if a compromise too far and with no removable battery I can't even imagine how I would live with it. And your correct as well on the weight. If Lenovo can do this with the U110 and the X300 why can't Apple. I just wish it wasn't so obviously snazzy, it doesn't need to be go god damn glossy and I think that detracts from is coffee-shop show-off potential.

I agree with you as well about ultraportables not needing to be on the high end of processing potential but with Intels new chips literally right around the corner I think Lenovo would have been better to wait, especially considering the U110 is going into consumer territory which always pushes the latest and greatest from Intel. And the Montevino platform really does look like it may be a winner. I wouldn't say obsolete but the benefits of Montevino may be really worth the wait, I just wish Lenovo thought so too.

 

Aughhh...my eyes!!! I can't believe that Lenovo would decide to go all glossy and then use that gimmicky "tendril" design on more than just the covers, carrying it over to the media buttons (lame) and the vents (impractical). But I guess whatever catches the consumers' attention works...

On a positive note, all those enterprising businesswomen will now have something that can double as a mirror while they do their makeup.

 

I guess I'm the only one that thinks that this Lenovo U110 is a disaster. This may be one of the ugliest laptops I've ever seen! Lenovo continues it's very outdated boxy style, the keyboard looks odd, and whats with these "vine" designs on the media keys and the top/bottom of the notebook??? IT'S SOO DAM UGLY, OMG!!!!

 

Did you see "IdeaPad",if they had disregarded IBM's Heritage,they would have ceased manufacturing thinkpads. I think its great that the company is making an alternate product to co exist with the thinkpad lineup

 

I personally think the design is great, it's just let down by the over glossiness and a pattern design that I don't particularly like (I prefer stuff like the style HP puts on some of their notebooks). But apart from that it looks very good.

 

Sorry, but it just looks very cheap, used and old with the glossy and dirty palm rest and keyboard, I also don't want to type on this sort of keyboard.

Vaio TZ:
- just looks better
- has a superior screen
- has an optical drive!!
- better keyboard
- probably much lighter
- ...

 

I'm looking at the point of view as if there was no/very little gloss and it was replaced with a matte black plastic, which in my opinion would make it look much better and make it much more usable and if you can imagine it without the gloss it does indeed look like a nicely designed laptop. And the keyboard looks pretty good to me, again only let down by the gloss.

 

I like everything about it except for its gloss. Small, lightweight, functional, good looking. I can see who the target demographics is.

However at that price, I'd go for the X300. But then again the U110 is not targeted at me.

 

I don't like the mirrored screen, and I hate the keyboard layout.

 

This look nice, but I always go for Dell. I will get the E4300.

 

I do indeed see the branding 'Ideapad' but the point is Lenovo took over IBM and many of their very loyal (and rightly so IMHO) customers consider the company to still be IBM who invented the Thinkpad series. If one product line reflects badly on another (and everything about this monstrosity is reflective) then that is disregarding the overall brand. And the keyboard is one extremely important component which IBM/Lenovo have sold and continue to sell a lot of laptops because of its legendary reputation/quality. In fact probably more than any other laptop company out there IBM/Lenovo lay rightful claim to the best keyboards in the business. This glossy, soon to be greasy design hurts that. I reckon the hardware underneath is typical Thinkpad but this thing is meant to catch peoples eyes, I hope they don't try to touch it. I would just hate to see the U110 harm the reputation in any way. Just my Opinion.

P.S. Typed this on a not very good MBP keyboard, get it together Apple.

 

You can get an X61 for a starting price of $800 - $900 these days. I'll take two ThinkPad X61's over one U110 thank you. The economics don't make sense for this very consumerish and not terribly usable laptop from Lenovo.

I'm a curmudgeon and extremely biased towards ThinkPads, so take that with a grain of salt.

 

Wonder who'll buy this, you can get a Macbook Air + Superdrive for that price, at least MBA has a good keyboard and not so much glossed up screen.

The laptop looks attractive but the screen and keyboard would be deal breaker for me.

MBA has the best keyboard among all Apple's Mac, it feels very close to thinkpad's keyboard which I once used to own, the leaked apple fresh reports online say apple is going to put them on MBP and MB pretty soon.

 

i dont care its name ideapad or thinkpad and the design is nothing to write home about.
actually, I think its look is very cheap kind of flsahy(gaudy sense).

if you are after a good loking powerful enough mobile pc under a grand , get this Acer.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Acer-Aspire-2920-5A2G16Mi-Subnotebook.9051.0.html

or if you need ultimate batterly life in a durable mobile package, then get one of these below.

http://www.notebookjournal.de/top10/subnotebooks

I personally choose the Acer 2920g and Panasonic CFY7or Toshiba R500.

 

Or get HP2710p.

 

Colorful comment but interesting and insightful nevertheless.

I agree the "glossyness" is simply over-the-top; too "pimped", if I was to use a similar analogy as you did. The fingerprints on the keyboard is going to be a nightmare and will nullify most of the coolness and beautifulness this IdeaPad might have had.

The initial price is a bit too steep as well but I expect it will quickly go down.

I'm in the market for a laptop and I like this form factor. I wish this IdeaPad's design was more in line with the design of its IdeaPad siblings.

Oh well, I can wait for Centrino 2.

 

Attractive computer, but price point is wrong...

Anyone know if Lenovo is going to come out with a 13.3 or 14.1 u-series laptop?

 

I dunno what happened, but on the main site review the videos automatically start - it freaked me out for a second when a robotic D) voice came up on my speakers!

 

way too glossy...

but, overall, i like it.

would i buy it?

no.

 

I wish it wasn't glossy and didn't have flowers all over it.

And, yeah, that'll probably be the reason I don't buy it.