Lenovo is up to their old tricks again, slipping new models onto the web without fanfare. The model at hand is dubbed the IdeaPad U260 and is an interesting new chassis with a 12.5-inch screen, 3.04 lb weight, and 0.71-inch thickness.
It is clearly aimed at portability with no optical drive, ULV Core i3/i5 processors, and only a 4-cell battery option. Some features are compromised though, with only two USB 2.0 ports and no ExpressCard slot. There are no details on the 4-cell’s capacity, but Lenovo calls for 4 hours of runtime. There is only a single SO-DIMM slot for memory, though there could be some RAM soldered directly to the motherboard to yield the total 4GB system RAM.
Rounding out the specs list is Bluetooth, bgn WiFi, 4GB RAM, and a 320GB HDD on every model. Being an IdeaPad, you do get color choices in the form of Mocha Brown and Clementine Orange. I’m not so fond of the brown color, but the orange could be sharp.
Also of note is that the 12.5-inch HD-resolution display is only available in an anti-glare finish, a nice change from the generally glossy-only consumer laptop displays. Video output is accomplished via VGA and HDMI outputs; it’s nice to see the dual outputs, Lenovo isn’t trying to cheap out on this one.
As for pricing, we have no word just yet. Given the chassis is thin, light, and composed entirely of magnesium-aluminum alloy, this is not going to be a bottom of the barrel machine. Add in the Core i3 and i5 processors, and this one will be in the $1000+ (USD) range.
We’ll keep you up to date on the U260, but in the meantime check out the few images we have available below.
See latest coupons & discounts on IdeaPad U260 at LogicBuy
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
A conspiracy theory: May be this notebook was meant to be a redesign of X301 but Lenovo didn’t want to release it as a replacement. There would have been a far too much outcry. So they killed X301 instead.
Baby, U260′s placement is not same with X301. you can search the I/O point to clear it.
“Some features are compromised though.”
Which aren’t?
It appears to come in your choice of ugly colors (peach, puke, ecru, beige, tan, and extra-virgin ugly), features a low-resolution “HD” screen, an annoying “industry standard touchpad”, and lacks a Trackpoint.
Couldn’t agree more!
Actually I quite like the color in the pics!
Yes, no trackpoint, no deal.
X301 update would be great.
Inconsistency will hurt Lenovo’s chances of taking the reins in the notebook market.
In the last photo, the “Ctrl” key is on the outside (left of Fn key)? Wow.
can we please get a thinkpad pad x201 with a 1440×900 screen or better please ! it would be great if it was capeable of running a 30 inch monitor as well
That’s what I’m waiting for… an X201 that has a usable real estate on the screen. I have pretty good eyesight, so if the option of 1080p was available, I’d add to cart so fast that all you’d hear would be a woosh sound. Call it an X202, I don’t care.
Heck, 11, 12, or even 13 inches at 1080p would be nice. And I would pay the extra what, $100-$200 for the option of true hi res.
I don’t see why soldered ram. 4gb sodimms are now almost at parity with 2gb dimms in price per gb. In fact 8gb dimms are beginning to show up, maybe not for laptops though.
There is an x201 with 1440×900 it’s just not on the Lenovo site for some reason. You can buy them from places like newegg.
I’m a little late here, but a soldered DIMM slot makes sense for Lenovo’s costs. This is already a premium laptop and Lenovo is hopefully hunting for some margin on this product. A soldered DIMM with 1x2GB and an open DIMM with 1x2GB would make a lot of financial sense. Also, you could probably then put in your own 4GB and be at 6GB for relatively little cost.
If there is only one slot TOTAL, then you have to pay mucho bucks for a memory chip larger than 4GB.
Is this notebook includes a turbo boost technology?
The Core i5 and i7 processors do, but not the Core i3.
Trackpoint!!! Please!
I guess their next X series refresh could be 12.5″ X210 or will they shrink it down to 11.6″?
Or maybe this time they will keep it 12.1 16:10 and move to 16:9 as standart on 12.5″ in 2012 Intel refresh?
So are the ULV Core i3 and i5 processors lower on performance than their non-ULV Core i3 and i5? I really love this laptop but I can’t decide on this one or the U460.
To my knowledge, the core is the same for each. So, they do the same amount of per per clock cycle. But the clock speeds are much lower. The Core i5-470UM in the U260 runs between 1.33GHz and 1.86GHz (courtesy of Turbo Boost), while the Core i5-460M in the U460 runs between 2.53GHz and 2.8GHz. Big difference.
I can’t really comment on how fast a slower Core i5 would be, but it should certainly be fast enough for general usage. If you run a lot of processor intensive apps, particularly audio/video encoding/decoding and the such, you would definitely benefit from the faster Core i5.
I hope to have one of these in the labs soon and can report to you first hand how the U260 performs!
So many machines like these popping out now, they look so identical to each other. When, oh when will there be one of them with the Geforce 330M graphics card built in or something with over 4500 3DMarks06′s? Why would I pay this premium price for a machine that basically has the same graphics capability as an old Thinkpad X60 that can be had for $300? if it added half a pound and $200 to the price I wouldn’t mind. What is there to do with this i3, i5 or i999 if its still has slow graphics millstone round its neck?
Forgot to mention, Sony already did this with a 3 pound machine and even packed in a DVDRW, so I don’t see what’s so difficult about it. (Z Series VPCZ112GX)
If only they have 9 cell battery available for this hot stuff … It would be great
Just got it.
Wow! Love it!
I saw this at a Frys store. Design wise, it is beautiful. But 2 major flaws that prevent me from buying it: weak battery and the hefty price tag. You would think Lenovo design this a portable on to go, they would figure out a way to put in a bigger battery. one last note, there’s alot of flex on the keyboard. If you push one key, the surrounding keys sink in with it.
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