A week or two ago I got a Lenovo IdeaPad U160, a sharp looking little bright red, brushed aluminum 12” ultraportable packed with a Core i5 processor and 4GB of RAM. It looks great, feels great and performs great – effectively a performance PC disguised as a netbook.
That’s why when Lenovo gave me the heads up on today’s release of the new U260 I lit up. It’s the same basic size as the U160 – 12.5” vs. 12.1” – but with beefier specs; the new U260 is available with a Core i7 and a 128GB SSD, and the industrial design is really impressive. It’s really light (only 3lbs!) and strong thanks to a unique one-piece magnesium/aluminum alloy frame, and you can get it in mocha brown or clementine orange. Something that really stood out for me is Lenovo’s new island-style “breathable keyboard”, which helps the PC stay cooler (important if you’re cranking with an i7), but also provides a level of spill resistance. Now if you spill your mocha on your mocha PC, you’ll only be out the $4 for the coffee…not $900 for a new PC!
They’re available today at Lenovo.com starting at $899. Lenovo has one on the way to me, so look for a hands on review soon!