Lenovo Y410 Notebook Quietly Appears in the U.S.

The Lenovo Y400 series has been available in Asia for some time now and recently slipped into the U.S. with no fanfair or any type of announcement from Lenovo. The Y410 is a 14.1" screen notebook with built-in face recognition security, Dolby Home Theatre sound and the innovative Shuttle key for easily controlling media.

Here's the rundown on the specs for the Lenovo Y410:

• Intel T5450 Core 2 Duo processor (1.66GHz, 2MB Cache, 667MHz FSB)
• 14.1" Vibrant View (glossy) screen
• Windows Vista Home or Premium
• Intel X3100 Integrated graphics
• Dual layer DVD/CD Recordable optical drive
• 1.3MP web camera
• 160GB Hard Drive
• 1GB - 2GB Memory
• 6-cell battery with 4 hours quoted life
• 2 speakers, 1 sub woofer
• Ports: 3 USB 2.0, IEEE 1394, VGA, S-Video, 6-in-1 card reader(SD/SD Pro, MS/MS Pro, MMC, XD), ExpressCard
• Weight: 5.2lbs

Right now the Lenovo Y410 is available from Staples.com for $699 and Office Depot.com for $829.99 (Office Depot has a higher spec configuration, thus the higher price).

The Y410 is on the Lenovo site but it is not possible to buy direct from Lenovo. Lenovo is touting the face recognition capabilities of the Y410, called Veriface. The built-in web camera and software on board allow the Y410 to recognize the owner and grant Windows logon. It's essentially the same as biometric security, but more simple to use.

The Lenovo Y410 is the first notebook available in the U.S. that has the Olympic rings on the palm rest area. Lenovo is the sponsor of the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Two built-in speakers and a subwoofer are very generous offerings for a 14.1-inch notebook. You also get a unique "Shuttle Control" for adjusting volume and equalization. The glossy widescreen display further make this a fit as a portable entertainment style notebook. All this for well under $1,000 is pretty good on the price front.