Lenovo IdeaPad U310 Touch Hands-On

Lenovo is announcing its fair share of brand new products at CES 2013, but its also giving some of its older products a refresh so they'll act as better Windows 8 machines. One such line of products getting a refresh is the Lenovo U series. This is essentially the same exact thing as older IdeaPad U310 models, but there's one key feature being added with this latest release: touch.

Lenovo has outfitted the IdeaPad U310 with a touch panel for navigating through windows 8's start screen. If you've read nearly any Windows 8 post penned by me, you'll probably know that I think Windows 8 is perfect for touchscreens, so bringing touch functionality to the IdeaPad U310 is a great move for Lenovo.

We're talking 10-point touch to be specific, which is a feature we've seen on a number of Lenovo's Windows 8 machines lately. The addition of touch is pretty much the only difference though, with Lenovo offering up to an Intel Core i7 in the IdeaPad U310 Touch. You'll also have NVIDIA GeForce graphics, so despite the fact that the IdeaPad U310 is an ultrabook, you might be able to get some reasonable graphics power out of the machine.

Indeed, the U310 is definitely an ultrabook, as it's quite slim when it's closed and it's really light. If the smaller form factor of the U310 isn't quite your cup of tea, Lenovo will also be offering the U410 with a 14-inch screen. The new U Touch series will be shipping out in Q1 2013, and Lenovo says that the U310 will start at $799.