02/13/2008, 12:25pm, EST
Wednesday, February 13thMossberg previews Lenovo's 'Air-killer' X300
The Lenovo ThinkPad X300 is real and should have distinct advantages over the MacBook Air, Walt Mossberg says in a preview of the portable. Like its Apple cousin, the X300 will include a 13.3-inch screen and a full-sized keyboard but in a far thinner shape compared to other notebooks in the class through the use of a 1.8-inch hard drive; online store leaks and reports have also suggested the computer will share the MacBook Air's CPU design, albeit at a slower 1.2GHz clock speed.
However, the new ThinkPad should distinguish itself by eliminating most of the Air's drawbacks, according to Mossberg. The system will have room for a DVD burner, an Ethernet connection, and three USB ports; it will also live up to wireless claims with the option of a 3G modem or a GPS receiver in addition to Wi-Fi. The battery will also be user-replaceable, addressing a common complaint about the MacBook by frequent travelers.
Lenovo nonetheless is now known to have made some sacrifices to achieve this profile. The system is generally thicker than the MacBook through the lack of a tapered front (though is still less than one inch thick) and is also heavier when the DVD drive is installed at just over 3.1 pounds; early claims have the system at 2.5 pounds with the optical drive removed. Pricing will also be an issue, says the journalist. While Apple leaves its solid-state drive (SSD) as an option, the X300 will ship with a 64GB SSD as its only hard drive, lifting the minimum price to between $2,500 and $2,800.
Mossberg does not say when the X300 is expected to ship, though a succession of leaks suggest a release within days or weeks.
Filed under: computers
Other story tags: MacBook Air, Lenovo, ThinkPad
, 
, 20
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
Top
subscribe to comments
for this article
[XXXX = array(MacBook Air, iPod, iPhone)]
It cannot be compared at all to the supreme design of the MB Air...utterly ridiculous.
Why, people? Why? Is it really that hard to make an attractive product? Who works in your design department?
Not.
Also, if I have to hear "it can't possibly be good, it's not running Mac OS X" one more time, I'm gonna scream!
Feathers, you're okay, since you said it was personal preference, but even if the system fits Lenovo's usual "IT admin chic," the fact is that it's an extremely compact system that has Apple beat in some important areas. If you're platform-agnostic, it could be a good machine.
True, the MBAir doesn't have a built-in optical drive nor does it really require one. For the extra $99 or so you can have the external one from Apple. Boo-hoo if you can't deal with that. The fact is that it's a dual-layer burner in such a compact design is very nice!
Folks, the MBAir is designed for those Road Warriors that want a small footprint in a laptop -- the extras are just that... extra!
PC users, and I use one too, need to get over the fact that Macs are here to stay, even though I've heard the 'Apple death-knell' scenario over and over again.
Ho-hum... and my personal preference is any Mac, even running OS 9, has a far better user experience than ANY version of Windows.
the word footprint means something different than what you think it means. the MacBook Air has the same exact footprint as a MacBook.
it is just thinner and lighter.