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Lenovo X300 laptop released. MacBook Air deflated.

editor

editor

hiraethified
It's sure not a looker and is full of fail in the glamour department, but for sheer functionality and full on features in a rock solid, rugged slim case, the X300 kicks fuck out of preening glampussy glitzballs.

Only marginally bigger than the MacBook Air, this puppy packs a DVD burner, Intel X3100 integrated graphics, 13.3in 1,440 x 900 TFT, 802.11abg + draft-n, 1.3mp webcam, 3 (yes THREE!) USB ports, ethernet port, wireless USB, GPS, internal 3G modem, fingerprint reader in a 317 x 236 x 22mm package. Weight: 1.45kg, 27 secs boot up, battery life 3-4 hours, up to 10 hours with additional user-replaceable battery (eat that Apple!).

All hail the new king of compact road warrior laptops!

Reviews:
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/170232/
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=221860 (+videos)
http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/lenovo-thinkpad-x300/4505-3121_7-32864938.html?tag=nefdprod.rev

For the record, I won't be buying the Apple of the Lenovo, but as an interested bystander, you gotta give kudos to Lenovo for this machine, even if it has little of the style and 'coolness' of the MBA.
 
Kid_Eternity said:
I'd still buy a Macbook Air over this.
Click to expand...
Why? Unless you're welded to the OS (which is fair enough) this kicks it ass in just about every department. Built in GPS! Removable battery! Fingerprint reader. Tons of ports all over the place. Built in DVD burner. Built in 3G. Ethernet port - all everyday damn useful things when you're on the road.

Of course, if you just want to pose about around town and give it large in the yup bar, then the MBA does have the edge.
 
If you want to buy an Air or an X300 I think you're in the posers market anyway. £2k for that! You're having a laugh, my laptop has a better spec than that (sans gimmicks like GPS / fingerprinter reader) and has more USB2.0 ports and a firewire port and a far larger HDD for nearly a third of the price.

Still if I had the money to blow on such things I'd buy one of the new 17" macbook pros.

What are you going to use GPS for on a laptop? :confused:

Thought about getting a GPS dongle for my D80.

FWIW, the Airbook is very sexy and spanks this all over. They still have the red nipple and coloured sound ports :D
 
Sadly this thread will only serve to rile the fanboys. Of course it's a lot better spec, but it just isn't wanky enough.

Everyone knows the Macbook Air is a pile of flashy but pointless wank anyway.
 
£1700??

The fuck anyone would buy a Macbook Air with £1700 anyway!

Macbook Pro is what you want, then you could laugh at X300 users and their fingerprint reader.... FFS... unless you're working for forensics what is a fingerprint reader for??

15 inch 2,5 GHz MacBook Pro
Intel Core 2 Duo 2,5 GHz
1440 x 900 Resolution
2 Gb Memory
250 Gb Hard Disk
8x Double-layer SuperDrive
NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT
with 256 Mb SDRAM

£1,599 including VAT

Macbook Air - £1,199 including VAT. Buy a USB hub and fingerprint reader and still have £450 left over!

(not that I'd buy a Macbook Air, overpriced and shit IMO, but there's no way I'd buy a "Lenovo" anything!)
 
pk said:
15 inch 2,5 GHz MacBook Pro
Intel Core 2 Duo 2,5 GHz
1440 x 900 Resolution
2 Gb Memory
250 Gb Hard Disk
8x Double-layer SuperDrive
NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT
with 256 Mb SDRAM

£1,599 including VAT
Click to expand...

You could by a PC laptop withb better spec for half that... it'd do more n' all.

Fingerprint reader is for security.
 
Dhimmi said:
Isn't it user security so any scrote who nicks it's can't get in?
Click to expand...

Either:

(a) Steal laptop, take hard-drive out of laptop, put hard-drive in enclosure and connect via usb. Hey presto, the users files.

(b) Steal laptop, re-install Windows/Vista via DVD drive, sell laptop via Ebay

(c) Steal laptop, hang around for owner to return. Use machete to cut fingers off. (Has happened to Mercedes drivers in the past) :D

Finger-print sensors are just flashy devices for people who can't remember passwords.
 
ChrisFilter said:
Sadly this thread will only serve to rile the fanboys. Of course it's a lot better spec, but it just isn't wanky enough.
Click to expand...

Why...? They're two different machines for two different tasks/markets. The only people the thread will "rile" will be people who don't understand the target markets of each one.

Cue lots of wailing, whining and nashing of teeth, bandying of insults and other general doggeral... :rolleyes::D
 
"Oh god, the Air's such a waste of money, it's just style over substance, it's all marketing, for flash Mac wankers. But every time somebody else puts out a thin notebook let's bang on about how it's much better than the Air, anyway."
 
pk said:
Macbook Pro is what you want, then you could laugh at X300 users and their fingerprint reader.... FFS... unless you're working for forensics what is a fingerprint reader for??
Click to expand...
Err, to make your machine more secure? To make it harder for people to access your personal data? To make it easier to log on?
* Reduced complexity: Unlike the dozens of passwords required to access computers, web sites and corporate applications, a fingerprint cannot be forgotten, misplaced or shared.
* Enhanced security: Personal computers today often store sensitive and confidential data. They are also the access point to corporate networks. As systems become smaller and more mobile, they are more at risk of being lost or stolen. Use of a fingerprint reader in combination with a password offers a much higher level of authentication security for access to data or networks than can be achieved with a single form of authentication.

# Replace Microsoft Windows and BIOS passwords with your fingerprint for easy, fast and secure system access. Also swipe your finger from hibernate and standby modes to log on to your PC. BIOS password (also known as power-on password) replacement is currently available on select ThinkPad notebook systems.
# Use your fingerprint to access Web sites and applications using Password Manager, a feature of Client Security Solution, available on select ThinkPad and ThinkCentre systems. Password Manager lets you store multiple Web and application passwords in a hardware-secured location, and access these passwords through a single passphrase or by swiping your finger.
# Perform wireless authentication with the swipe of your finger when logging on to windows and using Access Connections, available on ThinkPad notebooks.
http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/security/fingerprintreader.html
Click to expand...
The next laptop I'm going to get will have a fingerprint reader. And if you were honest, you'd probably admit that you wish your laptop had one too. They're useful things.
 
FridgeMagnet said:
"Oh god, the Air's such a waste of money, it's just style over substance, it's all marketing, for flash Mac wankers. But every time somebody else puts out a thin notebook let's bang on about how it's much better than the Air, anyway."
Click to expand...
You don't think the X300 is a direct rival to the Air?

This thread really wasn't meant to be about Mac vs Windows, but about two new machines that have received a lot of press attention and are clearly competing in a similar marketplace.

I think its fair to see how they stack up against each other, and like I said earlier, unless you're welded to a specific OS, it's an interesting debate.
 
Crispy said:
Well don't put it in the thread title then! Sheesh!
Click to expand...
Err, hello? Which bit of [these are] "two new machines that have received a lot of press attention and are clearly competing in a similar marketplace" are you having trouble understanding?

Just about every review of the Lenovo mentions the MBA, so why on earth shouldn't I mention it here?

Sheesh. Some people.
 
No reason why you shouldn't - it's a reasonable comparison to make - two luxury lightweight notebooks. One mac, one windows.
 
editor said:
You don't think the X300 is a direct rival to the Air?

This thread really wasn't meant to be about Mac vs Windows, but about two new machines that have received a lot of press attention and are clearly competing in a similar marketplace.

I think its fair to see how they stack up against each other, and like I said earlier, unless you're welded to a specific OS, it's an interesting debate.
Click to expand...

I don't really think it's a rival, I can't imagine the consumer or IT department who would be thinking "hm, an Air or an X300?" The Air is a pretty specialised device.

I also think the whole recent reinvention of "thinness" as a "sector" in the media is bogus quite frankly. I can accept UMPC as a product sector, there are things you can practically do with an UMPC that you can't with a larger laptop, but none of these are UMPCs. Laptops have been getting thinner and lighter for ages but that's no more new than them having faster processors or better batteries. There's nothing you can do with a 2lb laptop that you couldn't do with a 4lb laptop, and they've not got _that_ much thinner (apart from if you really want to go all out for it, like, well, the Air).
 
editor said:
Just about every review of the Lenovo mentions the MBA, so why on earth shouldn't I mention it here?
Click to expand...

Tescos sell nice oranges. Sainsburys sell apples. Lets compare them...

editor said:
Sheesh. Some people.
Click to expand...

Damn them for not wanting the same rehashed points that all the industry hacks reviews have made so they can increase the amount of traffic their "tech" blog receives... :eek:
 
firky said:
What are you going to use GPS for on a laptop? :confused:
Click to expand...

Finding wireless access points .

The main reason this laptop is expensive is because it has a LED display and a 64 GB Solid State drive. 10 hours battery is also good.
 
Crispy said:
No reason why you shouldn't - it's a reasonable comparison to make - two luxury lightweight notebooks. One mac, one windows.
Click to expand...

Sorry but thats in-accurate,

One is mac, windows or linux.
The other is windows or linux.

:D
 
editor said:
You don't think the X300 is a direct rival to the Air?

This thread really wasn't meant to be about Mac vs Windows, but about two new machines that have received a lot of press attention and are clearly competing in a similar marketplace.

I think its fair to see how they stack up against each other, and like I said earlier, unless you're welded to a specific OS, it's an interesting debate.
Click to expand...

Well not really, The thinkpad's an ugly looking, safer option with more bells and whistles. The Air's a more stylish, much more striking, but more functionally stunted laptop.

And there's the rub - both of these machines are stunted in some way, boasting low powered processors (only 1.2 g in the Thinkpad's case), less storage and having compromises over their full sized brethren. Now, given that these are likely to be additional machines to users, style is likely to play a big role in the purchase decision - personally I'd rather have the more striking looking machine than an admittedly impressive shrunken mini-me of the laptop I've already got.
 
editor said:
Err, hello? Which bit of they are " two new machines that have received a lot of press attention and are clearly competing in a similar marketplace" are you having trouble understanding?

Just about every review of the Lenovo mentions the MBA, so why on earth shouldn't I mention it here?

Sheesh. Some people.
Click to expand...

C'mon mate you know you can't put a thread up about a windows based machine and a Mac on here without it turning into an anti this that the other thread...:hmm:
 
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