Lenovo’s IdeaPad U310 is the comany’s first stab at a second generation Ivy Bridge Ultrabook. Not quite a direct refresh of the premium-positioned Lenovo U300S, the U310 is a budget/value option which sticks with a Core i5 processor, integrated graphics, 1366×768 display and a hybrid hard drive to keep costs down. The step from Sandy Bridge and HD3000 graphics to Ivy Bridge and HD4000 promises enhanced gaming, but how does the rest of the U310 Ultrabook fare? Step inside our full review to find out.

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Three new Ultrabooks have appeared at Amazon US in the last week. The Lenovo U310, Lenovo U410 and Acer Aspire S5

Starting with the Acer Aspire S5-391 you can pre-order for $1399.99. [Amazon link] It sounds expensive but as is often the case, the high-end version is being made available first. Core i7-3517U at 1.9-3.0Ghz with 4GB RAM and a healthy 256GB SSD. Be aware though that the screen is 1366×768. At this price it could be a difficult sell don’t you think?

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We don’t know why but Germany is the country to watch for early release details on Ultrabooks this week. The Lenovo Ideapad U310 (MAG6JGE) is showing up for €599.99 which is just about the cheapest Ultrabook there is right now. If you’re working in dollars, note that this price includes the 19% sales tax in Germany. The pre-tax price in US dollars is $629. Again, look for a $599 price war starting in about 6 weeks.

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Shown at CES and presented as ‘back to school’ Ultrabook solutions, the Lenovo U310 and Lenovo U410 were never going to have the best specification list but at a target price of $699 with Ivy Bridge they are definitely worth watching.

A few images and a user manual has appeared at the FCC clearing-house which gives us confidence they they are preparing for launch. We’ve gleaned a few more specifications too.

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At the CES Unveiled event in Las Vegas this evening, Lenovo was showing off two new Ultrabook, official Ultrabook, notebooks. The U310 and U410 are said to more mainstream 13” and 14” Ultrabooks which I take to mean ‘cheaper with more storage.’ I hope this doesn’t mean the start of the end of SSD-based Ultrabooks!

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