Lenovo IdeaPad U110

Screen Size: 11.1”
Battery Life: 3 Hours / 1.5 Hours (depending on battery)
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium
Weight: 2.42lbs / 2.92lbs

The Lenovo is perhaps the PC world's answer to the Macbook Air. It's incredibly stylish, thin and lightweight. Its 11" screen strikes a good balance between screen size and weight. Its size makes the system one of the smallest 'ultrathin' laptops, only an inch bigger than the larger netbooks. Despite weighing only 3.1 pounds with its 4-cell battery included, the U110 is one of the most sturdy feeling machines around thanks to its aluminium cover and case.

With the size comes an interesting 1366x768 native resolution which allows the laptop to fit an impressive amount of onto its small screen. The display is sharp and bright. Unfortunately the screen is very reflective much like many of its competitors, so while it looks great at the right angle, it's far from ideal for using in direct sunlight. 1,366 is also a high resolution for an 11" screen so everything appears quite a bit considerably smaller than you might be used to on other small laptops. Despite all this, the overall design and clarity of the screen make up for any real shortcomings of the system.

The Lenovo’s option to use a low-voltage version of Intel’s trademark Core 2 Duo chip means the system isn't as fast as some of its competitors, but it still outweighs netbooks by a long way. This is quite an impressive feat considering the size of the system which manages to run Vista with very few problems. There's also plenty of connectivity on the U1110 with three USB ports, mini firewire and an express card slot. The only major drawback on the connectivity side is the same as those faced by Macbook Air users - no internal DVD drive. The difference with the Lenovo is that a DVD drive is provided within the cost of the system rather than as a separate accessory.

Battery life on the U1110 is quite unique. The Lenovo actually ships with two batteries, a lightweight 4-cell and a heavier but much longer lasting 7-cell. The larger battery lasts a full 3 hours but the 4-cell only manages around 1.5 on heavy load. The difference between the two batteries means you are likely to find yourself using the 7-cell far more often. However, it's an excellent design decision to give the user some choice when it comes to how heavy the system is.

There's not a lot of choice outside the world of batteries however, the U110 comes in a single configuration with all the advantages and drawbacks that brings. Finding drivers for the system is much easier because there’s only one set of hardware but it means you can't include many of the higher-end options you might see on many of the systems competitors. There's no option to replace the 120GB spinning drive with a solid state alternative for example.

The Lenovo weighs in at around $1300 and there are some options to upgrade the 2GB ram higher if you find the right store. The Lenovo is a system that takes the great looks of the Macbook Air and hands it to Windows users for nearly half the price. However, the lack of DVD drive and use of a slower Intel chip make it slightly less functional than a larger more complete system.