Lenovo's upcoming X300 ultraportable leaked by Best Buy
By Paul Miller 
posted Feb 8th 2008 11:28AM
posted Feb 8th 2008 11:28AM
Nothing much "official" at the moment, but Lenovo is prepping a laptop based on a low-voltage processor similar to that of the MacBook Air, which can only mean one thing: skinny laptop celebrity deathmatch. Lenovo's X300 will run on a SL7100 chip, which is apparently a 1.2GHz Core 2 Duo that fits into the same form factor of the 1.6GHz / 1.8GHz chip options for the MacBook Air. However, Lenovo saw it fit to squeeze a DVD-RW drive inside this 13.3-inch laptop, along with 64GB of SSD, all for a "reasonable" price of $2,744 -- at least, if Best Buy's leaked spec sheet is to be believed. The screen is also WXGA+, which we're assuming means 1440 x 900 instead of the 1280 x 800 MacBook Air. No word on a release date, but we hope it's soon -- that kid in Starbucks with the MacBook Air is giving us dirty looks.[Via Electronista]
Update: Looks like CDW is listing it "around" Tuesday, February 26th, if you want to take that into account. Thanks, Brendan.
I'm pretty sure this will be better than the MBA but still the MBA will be more pleasing to the eyes. I still want to see more eeepc competitors though...
The LENOVO X60 I am currently using is FAR BETTER than a MACBOOK AIR for numerous reasons.
#1 its a tablet
#2 its battery lasts over 7 hours
#3 it has Ethernet, 56K,expresscard, sd reader, 3 USB's, ieee and Penabled Wacom
The MBA is nothing more than a fancy looking paperweight with less than average features and BATTERY LIFE. Even with an SSD the MBA only gets less than 3 hours of battery - PATHETIC.
I always trust IBM machines as they are the computer equivalent of a Mercedes Benz - I'm sure this new ultraportable will blow the doors off the apple fanbots.
The LENOVO X60 I am currently using is FAR BETTER than a MACBOOK AIR for numerous reasons.
#1 its a tablet
#2 its battery lasts over 7 hours
#3 it has Ethernet, 56K,expresscard, sd reader, 3 USB's, ieee and Penabled Wacom
The MBA is nothing more than a fancy looking paperweight with less than average features and BATTERY LIFE. Even with an SSD the MBA only gets less than 3 hours of battery - PATHETIC.
I always trust IBM machines as they are the computer equivalent of a Mercedes Benz - I'm sure this new ultraportable will blow the doors off the apple fanbots.
@Flashpoint - Someone's a little insecure...
Flashpoint,
Did you really just compare the Thinkpad line to the world's laughing stock of unreliable luxury cars, Mercedes-Benz? Interesting.
I've got a Thinkpad T60. It's pretty nice, as PC laptops go. There's a lot that's great about it -- I find the design extremely attractive, it generally works well, etc. I love the light at the top of the screen for working at night (not as cool as an Apple-esque lighted keyboard, but much more functional since you get ambient light too). I also love the trackpoint and wish more laptop makers included them. Way better than a trackpad.
Unfortunately, it is tied to the antiquated PC + Windows architecture. Despite being a 1.8ghz Centrino Duo with 1.5gb ram, the thing takes 10 minutes (yes, I have timed it) to give me a usable desktop after only 1 year from the original OS install. Hibernating/sleeping sometimes causes unexpected behavior. The docking station behavior is very unreliable. Sometimes it switches screen resolutions like it's supposed to, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it changes my wallpaper, sometimes it doesn't. When I flip on the wireless switch, sometimes it finds wireless networks, sometimes it takes a over a minute.
So while I would buy a Thinkpad over any other Windows-based laptop, don't pretend like they're perfect. You're free to dislike the shortcomings of Mac laptops (especially the MBA which is limited in more ways than a conventional laptop), but don't act as if your precious Thinkpad doesn't have issues that a Mac might not.
IBM is the Benz of laptops??!? LOLLLLL!!!!
Before switching to Dell Latitude's for work, we used to work on Thinkpads- or as we affectionately called them 'StinkPads'. Most flimsy, unreliably pieces of garbage I've ever worked on. MoBo fried within the first week I had it, replaced it, fried again. That clacky keyboard was sheer hell to use where I could only stand using that thing on a regular keyboard when docked. Oh and that freakin red zit button in the middle-- AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
Ahhh the memories.
I'm sorry for being so opinionated, but compared to anything I've worked with, Lenovo is just plain sh*t.
I want to see the rest of the big laptop companies(IBM/HP/Acer/Apple) compete with the eee pc too.
@ Andy.. wow
Everything you said is exactly opposite to what I feel and every other review of a thinkpad says. They are built like tanks i can hold my T60 by the screen and have no flex in any part of it.. and the keyboard is exceptional probobly the best on any notebook out there. and the "red button" you speak of is The trackpoint which if you give it a chance and use it for a while is 100's times better than any touchpad.
@Andy M
And on the flip side, we have maybe had a problem with 2 or 3 out of the last 100 or so Thinkpads we ordered last year. I only have experience with the T series, T4x and T6x and the X series, X3x and X6x, but they have been rock solid. Not sure which models you use, but the T6x line up is the strongest and best build consumer laptops I have seen to date. The T61 have the roll cage in both the lid and the chasis, which allow it to support the weight of a 200+ lbs man standing on it and it is still operation (something our Lenovo reps loves to do).
I also feel that Lenovo has carried and probably excelled with the excellent Thinkpad name. We use their desktops also, and like the laptops, have held up really well. With the 1,000 we ordered last year having a very low failure rate.
My experience with Dell and the Latitude and their Optiplex is also the complete opposite of what you have. Dell Latitude laptops, well having a slightly better solid build feel than the Inspiron, they don't compare to the Thinkpads at all. They have a cheap plastic feel to them. On top of that, the former company I worked at, whom I am still in touch with some former co-workers. Maintained about a 33% failure rate on the laptops and %36 on the desktops. Pretty bad if you ask me and they do larger volumes, about 500 laptops per year and 3,000 desktops. They are looking at making the switch to all Panasonic since they got in the Toughbooks for their field units, basically anything to get away from Dell and the horrible failure rate.
@Andy. Have you ever really used a Thinkpad? My old T series was seriously tough. I dropped mine once about 3 ft to a hard tile floor with no evidence of damage at all. No crashes, no problems in the 3 years I used it. everyone that I personally know that had a thinkpad says the same types of things about them. Dell laptops on the other hand, not so much. My 820 crashed continuously, my 5150 blue screened all the time and the USB ports would never run at 2.0 speed. they felt flimsy and creaked a lot when opening them up. No comparison. I'll take a thinkpad over a dell or HP laptop any day of the week.
My aging but still wonderful 2003 Thinkpad A31p survived a 70MPH interface with the tarmac after a stupid Benz pilot decided to cut me up while I was riding home at 1am. Although in an unpadded backpack, it sustained only a broken corner at the bottom corner where one of the speakers is, but came off far better than my carbon/kevlar helmet. The helmet is totally trashed, but the Thinkpad just carries on as if nothing ever happened. I expected at least the gorgeous 1600x1200 LCD to be destroyed, but no. So the spec isn't quite up to today's standards, but with a 2GHz P4M, 1024Mb RAM, DVD writer, very clear and powerful speakers, and that UXGA LCD, my machine still never leaves me short. When the time finally comes to lay her to rest, another Thinkpad it'll undoubtedly be!
Can you imagine how fast Windows XP boots up on this thing? I mean, the Eee PC is a matter of seconds. Too bad it's probably running Vista.
Note to self: Open mouth, insert foot.
It's running XP Pro. Sweet.
XP is not exactly a fast-booting OS.
Someone did a review of the MacBook Air with SSD and found it only booted maybe 30% faster than a conventional MBA.
So if XP boots moderately slowly, I'm not sure a modest speed boost from an SSD is going to be that impressive.
At this price tag, I am surprised that Lenovo didn't brand it as a thinkpad.
nevermind, it is thinkpad
I hope this thing comes with an SSD...
Sorry guys.. couldn't resist being a jerk.
A 64GB one to be precise. Huge by SSD standards... and expensive.
Why must you make me look like a doof? :O
I think you need help with your second personality
I hate thin notebooks for the same reason why I don't really like thin women: I feel like I'm going to break them.
I'm not trying to be crude or anything, I'm just saying. I like feeling the heft of something, it makes it feel more solid...being thin enough to fit inside a manilla envelope tells me one thing: it cracks that much easier.
http://www.livingwithanerd.com
I'd hit it.
Fat Bottom Laptops Make the Rockin' World Go 'Round
My anaconda don't want none unless you got buns hun.
"My anaconda don't want none unless you got buns hun."
Wouldn't that be My anaconda don't want none unless you got RAM...wait...ick....
My anaconda won't run unless you've got your dvd drive in your boot order, hun?
if you work in the sales channel these are already sku'd up at distrubution, and there is an XP and vista model
I would definitely choose the X300 over the Macbook Air, as I'm rather fond of using (and actually having) ports on a laptop. Besides, I really miss my Lenovo z61m work laptop.
Since working with the IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad here at work, I have come to love them. However, I am not sure I can justify the premium price for a laptop.
I am currently looking to get a laptop some what soonish (stupid house buying putting everything on hold). I would love a some what small and thin laptop to slap a real OS on it, linux. Using my server for the horse power when I need it.
If they don't hit the $1,500 max price, I will have to stick to Toshiba or HP, which is what I think I will have to do...
Zargon, all Lenovos are on sale at Lenovo.com and the X61 is sweet and far less than $1500. I use a T61 and find it about perfect for a fast laptop that is compact and relatively light.
We have the T61's and X61's at work. The T61's we have aren't what I would consider small, granted they are the 15" widescreen, but I want a widescreen. Thought maybe the 14" widescreen's would cut it (they didn't for work, but looks like more models have come out since).
$1,500 would be the top of what I want to spend on a laptop, I actually would like to spend closer to $500. But I really need to assess what I need in a laptop and I know SSD and stuff like that adds to the price.
While the X61's are nice, I could never use them since they don't have a touchpad, that is a deal breaker for me.
Those stats are accurate. Unfortunately, there is no SD card slot.... If they had that, the machine would be great. 16GB cards are becoming affordable.
To give perspective: I have an x41t and recently purchased an MBA/ssd
I saw the x300 before I purchased the MBA... and was rather impressed by the specs. However I do not regret my purchase. I wanted an ultraportable Mac and before you say 'why don't you load osx86 onto the x300?' ... I've done that on my x41t, I've become intimately familiar with hacking kexts and so forth... it's not worth it. I'm willing to pay extra to run OSX on well supported and designed hardware.
Granted I had higher expectations of the ssd, but it'll do.
Once you track point, you can never go touch pad.
Speak for yourself. I hate those damn touchpoints.
They are introducing this laptop initially with SSD and then offering a spinning HD shortly after launch. I would suspect you will be able to get into one of these things for $1500 a month or 2 after release at the end of this month. This is going to be a pretty sweet machine. It won't be as 'pretty' as the MBA but much more functional.
Meh,
I was really hoping for an impressive X70 with a thinner bezel, high powered (low-drain) 45nm CPU, no optical drive (last time I used a DVD was 3 years ago), and some major improvements. They gave us this instead. Lighter, but significantly more antiquated-looking, and battery life sucks compared to the X61s.
I'll stick with my good ol' X61s (best Thinkpad ever made, IMHO, and I've owned A, T, and X series from Pre-Lenovo days too)
FYI - The T43 was made by Lenovo! They purchased IBM around the time the T40 series came out! Haha, your beautiful machine is a Lenovo. Good company, actually.
Agreed. I also own a X61s and also love it. ;> 6hr+ battery time on real-world use, and at its slowest speed it's almost as fast as the ultra low volt VAIO's (and *much* faster when on high perf mode).
With all this talk of the Macbook Air, lately, I keep hearing that with ultra portables certain comprimises *have* to be made... well, I don't really feel that way about my X61s (except maybe sans optical, but I also feel optical drives = dead tech, of little use to me, and I'd rather lose the little bit of extra weight they add).
Actually before the MBA was announced, I was hoping it'd be an X61s-type laptop that runs OSX (legally, that is). Ah well.
Someone should make me head of Apple's subnotebook engineering
1) Macbook Air form factor, but slightly thicker, and take an inch of the width
2) 12.1" 1440x900 or 1680x1050 screen
3) use 6-cell battery
4) Get rid of port "door", add another USB port, 1 firewire800/400 port, 1 GigEthernet, 1 34mm expresscard slot
Narrow expresscard-34 slot can be used for hidden-away 3G broadband card instead of unwieldy USB dongle, eSATA/300 external HD connection, TV tuner, future 802.11x card, etc
2.5 pounds
13.3-inch LED backlit WXGA+ display
Santa Rosa Crestline SFF GMS @ 800MHz, 802.11n
Bluetooth, EVDO Rev.A, HSDPA, WiMAX, 64GB SSD Wireless WAN, a built-in GPS
4GB RAM
camera, microphone
3-cell for 4 hours
and 3 USB ports
What else could you ask for ?
I am holding out until May for the new 22mm Penryns (http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/15/intel-releasing-15-montevina-cpus-in-may/)
The 1.86Ghz SL9400 fits the same 17W power profile of this guy. I would also prefer the 6 cell battery.
Hope this puppy reviews well, so that there is a new lappy in my future! My HP/Compaq TC1100 is dying by the days (can only suspend, restart causes screen to scramble requiring intervention by trial and error case torque!)
I got to see and play with one of these bad boys today because our Lenovo rep took us out to lunch to show us.
Pretty awesome, seems like yet another solid Thinkpad product. The price is a little steep, but the non-solid state HDDs should bring it down and possibly something we will look at for our customers and maybe something I will pick up.
They apparently are redoing their line, doesn't sound like much changes to the computers itself, but the model numbers are totally changing. The T6x and X6x are gone. They are switching to a scheme that will indicate screen size, T2xx = 12", T3xx = 13", etc...
Looks like we also scored a trip to their HQ in North Carolina in May all expenses paid, that should be a good time. Hope I win the X300 with SSD!
Flashpoint wrote "I always trust IBM machines as they are the computer equivalent of a Mercedes Benz - I'm sure this new ultraportable will blow the doors off the apple fanbots."
Um, Thinkpads are no longer IBM machines. They are built in China, by Lenovo as the article says. Lenovo is an unmbrella corp wholly owned by the Chinese Communist Party. Lenovo is considered such a security risk that US, UK and other governments military and security departments backed out of longterm hardware contracts which were "transferred" during the sale from IBM.
Lenovo plans a "special announcement" tonight, 2/25, on the Computer Outlook radio talk show ( http://www.computeroutlook.com ).