By Star Chang, posted Dec 21, 2011 at 6:00 PM, 1,038 views,

Lenovo Launches IdeaPad U300s in China to Compete with MacBook Air (Video)

What a long wait. Lenovo has finally announced the launch of their IdeaPad U300s Ultrabook for China market. The sharp-looking 13.3 inch, 1.34kg ultrabook comes in clementine orange or graphite grey colour schemes. It features a breathable keyboard and a battery back-up of 8 hours (30 days standby time). Lenovo has also brought in Intel’s second generation i5 processor, 128 GB of SSD storage to the new laptop, that puts U300s in the league of other ultra thin and high performance laptops like Apple’s MacBook Air. U300s will retail in China with a starting price of 9999 yuan (US$12,271), not so cheap for average Chinese consumer.

Lenovo’s ultrabook embodies many of the best aspects of this new notebook category, including a seriously thin design coupled with impressive performance. The design is singular instead of following the Air-clone crowd, with a Clementine Orange option that stands out. Still, the IdeaPad U300s excludes several features to keep the size and cost down, including some needed ports and a backlit keyboard. Even at that, it never reaches the sub-$1000 (USD) goal.

Apple’s MacBook Air line is obviously the template for the ultrabook concept and the summit to which many PC makers aspire. Lenovo avoided making their entry into an obvious Air clone on the outside, though both have similar internal specs. In China, Lenovo is trying to sell the new laptop as design for fashionistas who are looking for slim and stylish laptop with superb system performance. The company stress on some unique design handbag and pouch which are custom made for IdeaPad U300s. We will see how Lenovo competing with Apple in its homeland for the ultrabook’s market in 2012.

IdeaPad U300s full review : The Verge, ZDNet

Source: SINA (in Chinese), PCPOP