Lenovo U310 and U410 ultrabooks unveiled, expected to launch in May with next gen Intel processors

After getting a hold of the second ultrabook from Lenovo, the ThinkPad T430u, a business-oriented notebook, the Chinese technology manufacturer has surprised us with two additional ultrabooks, the U310 and U410, unveiled officially at CES 2012 in Las Vegas.

The two are practically updated versions of Lenovo’s first-ever ultrabook, the U300s, and should be officially released around late spring or early summer.

Update: Here’s our review of the Lenovo IdeaPad U310.

The Lenovo U310 and U410 are significantly thicker and heavier than the U300s, but on the other hand they are both set to come with increased functionality, as well as added power. The first of the two is a 13-incher sporting an already standard 1366 x 768 pixels resolution screen and featuring a memory card slot as well as two USB 3.0 ports (and not only one, as the U300s featured).

The Lenovo U310 is a bit chunky, but should add functionality and power.

The future 13-incher from Lenovo will come in two different versions, with either a 500 GB hard drive or a 64 GB SSD, both models having their upsides and downsides. As far as the Lenovo U410 goes, this sports a 14-inch screen with a yet to be unveiled resolution and comes with the same ports and connectivity options as its smaller sibling.

However, what makes the U410 special is the graphics card, which is not integrated, but a dedicated Nvidia GeForce 610M with 1 GB of video memory. The 14-incher, like the 13-incher, should be powered by the new and improved Intel Ivy Bridge processors, but unfortunately we don’t know all the details about these right now.

The U410 is set to be pretty snappy, with dedicated graphics and Ivy Bridge processors.

In terms of pricing, there are rumors that the Lenovo U310 and U410 will start at 699 dollars, but it’s pretty obvious that for that kind of money you won’t get the snappiest processors around or dedicated video memory.

If you are the least bit intrigued about these new Lenovo additions to the ultrabook market (we personally are), don’t forget to check out our exclusive hands on preview from CES below!