Lenovo IdeaPad U410-43762YU 3rd Generation Core i7 14" Ultrabook (1.9GHz, 8GB DDR3, 1TB HDD) $749

Quote from magoomba : Battery life is lacking in this so-called "ultrabook". Display resolution could be higher (especially for a 14.1" screen). I picked up a Dell Inspiron 14z Ultrabook (refurbished, similar specs) last month for around $550 with i7-3517U, just for comparison sake.

I was about to jump on this until I saw your post. Been looking for a nice i7 notebook for a while and been eyeing a dell or lenovo. Was yours new or refurbished?

Quote from HirenS85 : IMO, once these ultrabooks start getting close to Macbook Air pricing, I find it hard to swallow. If you absolutely need Windows then this doesn't apply. But for everyone else, I think this is something they should strongly consider. I have a Windows laptop and I'm seriously considering switching to a Mac since it has less bloatware, better display, better battery life, better industrial design, better trackpad, better keyboard, etc. It is very compelling if you look at it holistically rather than strictly spec for spec.

How is a $750 laptop approaching the price of a $1500 laptop?

Quote from ac3c0d3r : ewwww dell lol best looking products i've ever seen *snickers* on a separate note....what did people complain about before hd screens and ssd's came out? i don't get what's the problem with waiting a second for a program to open rather then half a second

Don't get me wrong, I like Lenovo.
But with anything, it's relative...
When settle for a 1366x768 resolution if there are other similar units with 1600x900?

It looks thick and bulky.
Ultrabook should look like a Macbook Air.

Quote from ac3c0d3r : ewwww dell lol best looking products i've ever seen *snickers* on a separate note....what did people complain about before hd screens and ssd's came out? i don't get what's the problem with waiting a second for a program to open rather then half a second

Quote from Steve7463 : I was about to jump on this until I saw your post. Been looking for a nice i7 notebook for a while and been eyeing a dell or lenovo. Was yours new or refurbished?

It was refurbished from Dell outlet.
Keep watching for the Dell gift card promos. I purchased a $400 one last time and got the free promo gift card of $75.
At the same time, Dell Outlet had 25% off on certain laptops.
They finally started having i7 ivy processor-based laptops in their Outlet, so I jumped on it.
The unit also came with a 500GB + 32GB mSATA drive.
Keep in mind my unit only has HD4000 but from what I hear the performance on the 610M is similar.

Quote from HirenS85 : IMO, once these ultrabooks start getting close to Macbook Air pricing, I find it hard to swallow. If you absolutely need Windows then this doesn't apply. But for everyone else, I think this is something they should strongly consider. I have a Windows laptop and I'm seriously considering switching to a Mac since it has less bloatware, better display, better battery life, better industrial design, better trackpad, better keyboard, etc. It is very compelling if you look at it holistically rather than strictly spec for spec.

Ok. Ok. Ok. There's so much things wrong with this statement that I had to make an account to reply.

I'm on an Asus Zenbook Prime w/ Windows 8 that cost me $950. Since I'm not completely retarded, once I get my Windows laptop I do a clean install with zero bloatware and go hunting for drivers/software afterwards. The HD IPS 1920x1080 display panel destroys any comparable Macbook Air. I get 7 hours of battery life on Power Saver and 4 hours of battery life on High Performance. My Zenbook Prime draws more glances from the other people in my lecture hall than any mac does. Brushed aluminum looks beautiful. My laptop weighs less than a Macbook Air does too. The trackpad on my laptop is good enough to the point where I'm able to draw out some of the notes onto Microsoft OneNote. And the keyboard? It's every bit as comfortable as my dad's Macbook Air.

For $200 less, I get better performance, slightly worse battery life, a much better display, a better OS (have you guys tried Windows 8? it's farking fast!! runs all win7 stuff too), a comparable trackpad, a comparable keyboard, and a more striking laptop. I honestly can't agree.

High price for having this drive in it:
Hard Drive
1TB 5400 rpm

that will be slow.

Where/when did you get the Zenbook Prime? I'm in the market for a <4lb 14" laptop with better than the 1366x768 res screen. Something sub-$900 would be ideal. My Dell 1330 from several years ago has a dying battery and don't want to throw any more $$ on it.

Quote from iWriter88 : Ok. Ok. Ok. There's so much things wrong with this statement that I had to make an account to reply. I'm on an Asus Zenbook Prime w/ Windows 8 that cost me $950. Since I'm not completely retarded, once I get my Windows laptop I do a clean install with zero bloatware and go hunting for drivers/software afterwards. The HD IPS 1920x1080 display panel destroys any comparable Macbook Air. I get 7 hours of battery life on Power Saver and 4 hours of battery life on High Performance. My Zenbook Prime draws more glances from the other people in my lecture hall than any mac does. Brushed aluminum looks beautiful. My laptop weighs less than a Macbook Air does too. The trackpad on my laptop is good enough to the point where I'm able to draw out some of the notes onto Microsoft OneNote. And the keyboard? It's every bit as comfortable as my dad's Macbook Air. For $200 less, I get better performance, slightly worse battery life, a much better display, a better OS (have you guys tried Windows 8? it's farking fast!! runs all win7 stuff too), a comparable trackpad, a comparable keyboard, and a more striking laptop. I honestly can't agree.

I got this exact same deal a few months ago, it has a SATA III 6GB/s MSATA interface (rare) and supported my 2x8 GB (total 16GB) DDR3 1600 RAM. Install MSATA, swap in RAM, and disable Nvidia and Lenovo Smart Update to get an easy 6 hours battery on a full charge. Build quality is impresive.

Quote from iWriter88 : Ok. Ok. Ok. There's so much things wrong with this statement that I had to make an account to reply. I'm on an Asus Zenbook Prime w/ Windows 8 that cost me $950. Since I'm not completely retarded, once I get my Windows laptop I do a clean install with zero bloatware and go hunting for drivers/software afterwards. The HD IPS 1920x1080 display panel destroys any comparable Macbook Air. I get 7 hours of battery life on Power Saver and 4 hours of battery life on High Performance. My Zenbook Prime draws more glances from the other people in my lecture hall than any mac does. Brushed aluminum looks beautiful. My laptop weighs less than a Macbook Air does too. The trackpad on my laptop is good enough to the point where I'm able to draw out some of the notes onto Microsoft OneNote. And the keyboard? It's every bit as comfortable as my dad's Macbook Air. For $200 less, I get better performance, slightly worse battery life, a much better display, a better OS (have you guys tried Windows 8? it's farking fast!! runs all win7 stuff too), a comparable trackpad, a comparable keyboard, and a more striking laptop. I honestly can't agree.

Windows 7 is just as fast in my experience, especially off of a SSD. The trackpad isn't nearly as good on the Zenbook as the one on a macbook, but the rest I find preferable - looks a little better, feels a little better, has better windows support, much better performance, superior value, etc; But then I've never been fond of OS X.

My main deterrent from all other "ultrabooks" at a decent price is their insistence on keeping 1366x768. Terrible resolution.

Anybody know if the U410's screen can bend 180 degrees like the Thinkpads?

Needs to be sub-$700 to warrant this number of stars.
You guys are too generous today.

13 by 7 screen nowadays is almost unacceptable...

Lenovo's definition of an ultrabook is sketchy to begin with, but the u410 linked in the OP is not even the ultrabook version. The Ultrabook has a 32 GB SSD too. Not a good deal.