Lenovo today announced the availability of the IdeaPad U110 consumer notebook PC, the star of Lenovo's IdeaPad entertainment and fashion-oriented notebook collection and winner of three Best-of-Show awards at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show. Select models of the notebook will be available in red and black on Lenovo's website today.Lenovo also announced the expansion of its retail partner lineup to bring the IdeaPad line of notebook PCs to more consumers across the U.S. New partners currently carrying select models of the IdeaPad notebooks and who will offer the IdeaPad U110 notebook beginning in mid-May, include B&H, CompUSA, J&R and RCS Experience. Existing retailers now expanding their Lenovo IdeaPad portfolios to sell the new notebook include Micro Center, Newegg.com and Tiger Direct. Lenovo will also sell the full line of IdeaPad notebooks - select models of the U110, Y510 and Y710 with Game Zone - on www.lenovo.com beginning today.

IDC forecasts the worldwide consumer notebook market to grow annually by 24 percent from 2006-2011 with the U.S. consumer notebook segment growing 16 percent in this time period.1

"Since we unveiled the new line of Lenovo IdeaPad notebooks in January, we've added several new relationships, helping expand our strategy to reach new customers through online retailers, or 'e-tailers', the fastest growing consumer purchasing space, and regional and national retailers," said Scott DiValerio, president, Americas, and senior vice president, Lenovo Group. "We're confident the much-anticipated IdeaPad U110 notebook will give customers a unique and rewarding computing experience, helping them record, share and transform their ideas."

IdeaPad U110 Notebook: Striking Design, Ultra-Portability and Cutting-Edge Features
A striking red or black cover finished in textured metal gives the IdeaPad U110 notebook an eye-catching design that is ideal for the fashion-conscious user. Enhanced by a frameless screen and weighing less than 2.5 pounds,2 the 11-inch wide notebook's infinite-like viewing experience and thin and light frame cater to the highly mobile user, proving style and technology can go hand-in-hand. Equipped with VeriFace Face Recognition, users can quickly and easily log-in without having to remember passwords. Dolby Home Theatre and the MultiMedia Control Center provide excellent sound quality while putting multimedia options at the user's fingertips.

Lenovo tailored the notebook for a perfect fit on performance with a 120GB hard drive, up to 3GB of memory, Intel Centrino processing technology, a built-in camera, WLAN, Ethernet and Bluetooth (select models) connectivity, an external DVD burner and the Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium operating system. To keep this ultimate PC accessory running longer without having to plug in for power, it comes with an additional battery for up to eight hours of battery life total. Additionally, Lenovo's Active Protection System provides extreme durability by temporarily parking the hard drive if the notebook should fall or drop.

Each notebook in the IdeaPad family shares innovations including convenient facial log-in and authentication, fully-loaded entertainment and multimedia and distinctive designs, with each also offering a number of extra features that maximize the user's experience.

IdeaPad Y510 Notebook - Lenovo engineered this versatile 15.4-inch wide notebook for everything from word processing to photo and video editing. Including all the features shared by IdeaPad notebooks, it has a black, textured linen-like top cover that helps hide smudges and wear and tear. It also comes with WLAN connectivity, a large hard drive, fast processing power, a built-in camera and DVD burner.

IdeaPad Y710 Notebook - Designed for the entertainment enthusiast, this 17-inch wide notebook drives high performance. A smooth blue metallic finish and halo lighting give a unique look and feel to the powerful performance inside the PC. An optional hot-swap secondary hard drive provides up to 500GB of storage for games, movies and photos. For the ultimate gaming experience, Lenovo offers models including Game Zone. These notebooks have oversized directional buttons and others that can be customized for easier control in the fast environment of gaming. Game Zone also includes a secondary display showing information like CPU speed. Users can power the notebook up to Turbo Mode for maximum power and drop down to a Quiet Mode to save energy. This performance notebook comes with extreme processing technology, hybrid graphics, WLAN connectivity, a DVD burner and an optional Blu-Ray DVD player.

Pricing
Manufacturer suggested retail price (MSRP) for models of the IdeaPad U110 notebook starts at $1,899. MSRP for models of the Y510 and Y710 notebooks starts at $669 and $1,099 respectively.