Lenovo's 11-inch laptop now available

The IdeaPad U110 was one of three notebook models Lenovo announced at CES in January when the company rolled out its new consumer brand, which includes IdeaPad laptops, and outside of the U.S., IdeaCentre desktops. The other two models, the 17-inch IdeaPad Y710 and 15.4-inch IdeaPad Y510, are already shipping.

But the U110 is the far and away the more interesting model because of its size and weight (only 2.4 pounds), a "frameless" display with a novel hinge design, and a textured aluminum case available in bright red or black. It starts at $1,899 with a 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo L7500 processor, 2GB of memory, a 120GB hard drive, Intel integrated graphics and Windows Vista Home Premium. Right now, there are no configurable options--unless you count accessories--though it does appear that retailers will be offering a $1,999 model with 3GB of memory. All of the IdeaPad laptops also have face recognition software (using the integrated Webcam), Dolby Home Theater Audio and stereo speakers, and touch-sensitive multimedia controls.

The U110 also includes an external, dual-layer DVD burner. The slightly larger, business-oriented ThinkPad X300, however, has an internal optical drive, and other features not found in competing ultraportables such as the Apple MacBook Air--the subject of a YouTube video that got the Fake Steve Jobs treatment today.