Lenovo X300 vs. Apple MacBook Air... Fight!
By Thomas Ricker 
posted Feb 15th 2008 7:23AM
posted Feb 15th 2008 7:23AM
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X300 FTW. Got a question about the price. Does the Lenovo come in a HDD option or only SSD?
I'd take the thinkpad in the Mac allum shell running OS X.
It does come with either a 64 solid state drive or 120 GB Hard Drive.
I'd take the air. You get OSX instead of crappy Vista and save $1k. And get much more wow factor when using it in public.
@Matthew: Well those are your priorities, and you're certainly welcome to them.
I'm in love with that X300, though I would love it to run OSX. The next computer I buy will definitely run OSX.
X300 + OSX86 = WIN!
@ Matthew,
I think I prefer to put usability in front of wowing the public. But that is just me. I like my gadgets practical.
@Matthew
I think that you just defined everything that the Air is about. Wow factor. Or, in other words, something to make random idiots tell you that your laptop is cool when you sit outside just so people can see your laptop.
Now me, I prefer substance over style, but I actually really like the Thinkpad style as well. Tough, unassuming, and utilitarian. Nothing wrong with glossy, round and silver, but if I want a work laptop, I'm going with Lenovo.
Hmmm... I sense... MS fanboy mods... yes....
Should the fact that the Lenovo X300 uses a LV (low voltage) 1.2GHz Core 2 Duo processor (slow) while the MacBook Air uses a 1.6 or 1.8GHz Core 2 Duo (not earth shattering but not slow by any accounts) be mentioned somewhere in that chart?
@insertAlias: if you ask me, I don't think MBA is all form factor. I use OSX at work and home and it's pretty solid, and very utilitarian. I don't plan ever to buy a MBA, but if I did, the lack of cdrom and 1 USB port would not bother me. I rarely use my cdrom on the go, and I have a bluetooth mouse. The only part that I feel was a mistake was not to include an ethernet port. MBA was not meant to be a main computer. It's supposed to be an on-the-go computer.
Let's see how the X300 does battery-wise, and how that CPU beats the MBA (not on chart?).
Jeez, yeah, you're right. I sit in the middle since I have a MacBook but am just as happy with a PC, but you guys do sound too much like PC fanboys. The article asked for your opinion, Matthew gave his. If yours is different then fine, but let him have his.
I think the Air is built for a market which Apple isn't really a part of. That's the onsite guys who are always on the go carrying around a laptop that they want the be small and light and don't need a whole lot fancy but need portable first and foremost.
Unfortunately that's not really Apple's forte. I think the Air is an important step though, but it's not enough personally for me. In fact, I bought my MacBook AFTER the Air announcement. Just like every Apple product though, I'm sure the second version will be MUCH better.
@Ignacio
Yeah really. I mean, if the situation were reversed, PC fanboys would be making a big stink about how underpowered the processor is, now suddenly it's not even important enough to list on the comparison chart?
Have fun running Vista on such an UNDERPOWERED machine. At least you can watch DVDs while you wait for your apps to load, but unfortunately that will leave you with less battery life to get anything done.
@Ryan
I would take the X300 and get OSX on it... or not?
=)
@Matthew:
Yeah, you'll certainly get a lot of "Wow"s in public, like "Wow, what an idiotic way to have spent 3 grand!" or "Wow, there's an Apple fan boy if I've ever seen one!" or "Wow, that dude actually thinks his laptop is cool!"
The X300 is clearly the better machine. Its problem is price. Lenovo needs a version with a regular hard drive.
My prediction: despite the price, the X300 will sell around 10 times more units than the MacBook Air. Yet somehow, the MacBook Air will continue to receive 90% of the press.
@hans
I never said anything about the OS. I have no problem with OS X, actually I kinda like it. But I've seen the benchmark tests on the MBA, and the iPod harddrive cripples it. Sure, it's got a decent processor and ram, but anything that does a lot of read/write cycles will surely bring the MBA to it's knees. And the bench tests for the SSD didn't fare all that much better, surprisingly.
@Andrew
Sure, he can have his opinion, nobody can take that away from him. But we can also have _our_ opinions about somebody who puts "public wow factor" high on their priority list for a laptop.
Lenovo sucks. They screwed me out of a month of my warranty. I'd get the Air and put Linux on it. Compiz is the big!
I find it funny that the Apple people make a deal about processor saying the faster processor is a big deal, then 2 seconds later say that no ethernet, and only 1 USB (that is almost unusable when on a desk) is a moot point because it is a computer for on the move people. Both seem to go hand in hand. I prefer to sacrifice power on my CPU for battery life. My Fuji 7120D right now has a Pentium M ULV processor and is underpowered, but I can get ~8.5 hours battery life. Well worth the trade off in my book. It runs compiz fusion great, so I am happy. The X300 might be a good upgrade option in the future though....
@ joe23521
"Wow, what an idiotic way to have spent 3 grand!"
If a person only needs the base model of these two laptops the MBA is cheaper even after you add in the portable superdrive.
Let me revise that:
X300 + OSX86 FTW.
@96rt10
How? no optical drive.
you'd have to hack it so you could install from usb stick (proving that you need to hack anything from apple to make it particularly useful) or buy the superdrive, and $100 for linux is a bit steep.
Seems to me most people buying these machines are buying them because they're small. Otherwise why would you want something relatively underpowered. The MBA is still much smaller based on these specs, and on average the same weight, so that makes the most sense to me. Plus it runs OS X.
I use a laptop as my primary computer so I have no place in my life for a secondary mini-laptop, but if I did it would be a no-brainer to go with the MBA. If I wanted 3 USB ports, ethernet and a CD drive I'd get a real laptop. This is a niche market for people who would rather be minimalist.
its not just the Wow factor for you ms fanboys.. you get OSX rather than windows xp/vista. thats a major plus for macbook air. THATS the meaning of 'usability'
x300.. the clear cut winner..
finish him
Yeah, from the stats up there, it appears that niether of them have a multitouch trackpad, webcam, full-sized keyboard, RAM, or any processing capabilities. Could this possibly be to make the Macbook Air look worse? I wouldn't know, but it sure looks like the person who made this article was trying to make the Air look like $#!+...
@Pismodule, while you might ave a point with the RAM / CPU capabilities (as in I would like to see what how they compare)
I am willing to bet that they both have full sized keyboards (they both have the same size screen which ussually dictates the area available for a keyboard).
The Multi-touch trackpad seems to be a big gimick to me without a large practicle purpose. Sure, you can zoom in on pictures with two fingers, but I can do that now by just using the scroll area of my trackpad.
As for a built in webcam, that is not really an important feature to me and is not something I would consider in buying a laptop.
In the spirit of valentine i guess it depends:
do you want a girlfriend who is wife material; can cook, complete all household chore and can easily have fun on a night out but she aint a knockout just good-looking and she also nags sometimes
or
would you be interested in a very beautiful high maintenance size zero "blonde" model who does cooking quite well and loves a night out but very lazy with the chores?
@Paul:
"The Multi-touch trackpad seems to be a big gimick to me without a large practicle purpose"
Something similar to this was said in the late 70's about the mouse. It was a novelty, a toy and not a 'real' computer tool.
You just can't see the practicality of it yet.
I agree, there were many features omitted from the comparison. Sort of like the Hyndai commercials that compare their car to a Mercedes and declare Hyndai the winner. One of the biggest omissions (low ranker trolls get ready!) is the ability to run OSX, or whatever OS you want on it. If a computer doesn't run OSX, it isn't even in the consideration.
@Paul:
I know that they MAY have the same sized keyboard, and MAY have the built-in webcam, but I STILL don't KNOW... I don't know, therefore, I am not buying.
P.S. The Air's trackpad was actually really useful. Kind of like the difference between a mouse with a scroll wheel and one without ;-)
Skeezie, I think you are the troll...
I agree. Can't run OSX? Then it's not really a computer is it?
@Adoniteking
What? So the MacBook Air is the size zero blond? Is she good in bed? Cuz sometimes the "cooking wives" are the freakiest.
@surur
Yeah, possibly a troll - if nothing else terribly opinionated. But you ABSOLUTELY are a troll!
You have great disdain for Apple, regardless what the post is about. What's the matter did they fire you after the floors weren't spotless? Or did Steve Jobs not answer your fan mail?
Personally I think this comparison makes the MBA look better. Smaller and cheaper to boot. The MBA is not designed for people who want a full-featured laptop, there are other products for that. The X300 may be a good middle ground for some people, but it's not competing directly with the MBA for that real smallness and light weight. It might fit in a manilla envelope, but it looks like it would be like carrying a textbook in the envelope, vs. the Air which looks more like a magazine.
After reading a previous post which was setting up the X300 as the MBA-killer, I just assumed it would be. After reading these specs I see it's not really the same kind of product, maybe more of a Macbook killer or something, if anything running Windows could be said to be so.
Macbook Air has the nicer looking envelope, therefore it wins
Yeah but people are arguing about practicality and stuff.
I don't blame them. A bag will kick a manila envelope's ass any day.
But that gray envelope is more utilitarian! How dare you, you manila envelope fanboy! Everyone knows it's easier to read handwriting on battleship gray than "environment-killing yellow." What, you'd hurt the environment with that harmful yellow dye just so you can sit in a Starbucks for the "wow!" factor?
"You people and your slight differences disgust me!"
Pitty the Mac Book Air kind of sucks balls. Honestly, I'm seen one in the wild and I have to say I was thoroughly unimpressed. Who cares if it is uber thin? That is all it has going for it.
for the price and features i'd go with lenovo. Just for good looks, it's apple.
That's exactly it. If all I want is good looks, I'd go out and buy a painting.
I love sexy gadgets, but function should never be so severely sacrificed for form.
This is probably the most ridiculous Apple product I've seen in a long time. And I'm not an Apple hater by any stretch.
The Macbook Air comes with a faster processor, larger HD, and many other "features" not listed here, for nearly $1,000 less.
what are you talking about?
@Jeff
A faster processor, I grant you, but most of that speed would be wasted when you're using the HDD, WHICH, I can add, is only an 80gig PATA, as opposed to a 120gig SATA (both have an optional 64gig SSD, so it's pointless to mention it.)
Between the extra USB ports, removable battery, Ethernet port, and internal optical drive, how can anyone not choose the X300 over the MBA in terms of hardware? If you're dead set on OS X though, there's not much choice, however.
Could it be... And this is just a guess here... That not everyone wants or needs what you want?
The MBA loses nothing that I need and comes in slimmer and cheaper. Perfect for my current laptop needs.
We nerds seem incapable of accepting that not everyone needs the extra stuff we claim is a must have.
OSX86 Project, nuff said.
@Paul: I'd sooner run XP than a choppy unsupported version of OSX. And hey, on a Mac, I can! On a machine that doesn't look like ass, to boot!
Just because you brought it up, I'll say this; Apple products are very nice visually, great design, sturdy construction, but the problem is that's their ONLY design. The smooth, rounded edge, bar-of-soap, minimalist design. If you want to stand out, getting a mac is a pretty sh*tty way to do it, because EVERYONE who has a mac has a computer that looks EXACTLY like yours.
When you're like me and you have a macbook on a college campus, you do much more blending in than standing out. I have a friend who has a sweet-looking sony vaio running dual-boot windows vista and OSX86 and I couldn't be more jealous.
My point is, I don't think I'm alone when I say, I love OSX, but there are OTHER laptops out there that I would like to use! Apple, if you're not going to make any variety in your hardware line, then for god-sake release and open-hardware version of OSX.
i'd just like to point out that the dell latitude (THE latitude) that has almost the same size specs as the MBA (smaller footprint, slightly taller), but has a removable hard drive (!), removable battery, expresscard slot, ethernet port, modem, the old printer port and a port i don't even recognize. still only one usb, and not built in wireless, but it's from early the 2000s.
and it runs XP SP2 great. it's not the fastest, but for business it's pretty much prefect.
If I had to pick one, I'd go with the Air, only because it's cheaper (and, honestly, I never thought I'd hear myself say that an Apple product is the cheaper buy).
Otherwise, though, these prices are outrageous for the luxury of a little less weight. Go to the gym, people! It's a lot less expensive than lightening your load.
the thinkpad is too much money it needs to be $1700
The problem is, for the Thinkpad to be the same base price as the MBA, it'll need to cut down on the features it has - the SATA HDD, Optical Drive, etc.
The thing is, that Lenovos have ALWAYS been power computers, workhorses, and so they're designed for people who need them, and if they need one, they can usually afford one.
Likewise with the MBA, it's designed for people who want a computer that looks REALLY fantastic, and are prepared to pay for the privilege.
Somewhere, somehow in this article, someone will make a "M$" comment starting a thread war...again
...
You just did.
The only reason any rational person would pick the Air is because he has to have OS X. Otherwise, it's so lopsided in favor of the X300 that the comparison is almost laughable.
Oh, and just to clarify, with the SSD, the price difference between these units is $100, so that's pretty much apples to apples on that front.
i mostly agree. it's always come down to OS X for me, regardless of the system. that said, for $3000 i'd rather have the sleeker machine. but the general features of the x300 are better. then again, the mba with a ssd also has the hdd, so much more storage...
i choose...neither.
@EMoShunz: I may be wrong, but I think the SSD option in the MBA *replaces* the traditional HDD; you don't get it in addition. So, I think the total drive space on both is the same (64B).
@EMoShunz: I may be wrong, but I think the SSD option in the MBA *replaces* the traditional HDD; you don't get it in addition. So, I think the total drive space on both is the same (64B).
No, your not wrong. Its one or the other, not both (as in the Vaio TZ).
The SSD's they are using today are an absolute disaster compared to 2.5" drives (in terms of transfer speed), but they are still faster than the garbage 1.8" they use. That makes the MBA unbuyable.
your right. one or the other at the store. steve's keynote however was very misleading.
"your right. one or the other at the store. steve's keynote however was very misleading."
Who'da thunk it?
Except that the Air's 1.6GHz C2D is nearly 2x as fast as the 1.2 GHz ULV (Ultra low voltage) processor in the Thinkpad.
The Thinkpad's processor is the same as the Toshiba's in this comparison test by zdnet:http://review.zdnet.com/laptops/apple-macbook-air-core/4505-3121_16-32818756.html
Glaring omission in the above table.
Both machines make different compromises, you get to pick which ones work best for you.
@Nikster: Not quite. The Toshiba's proc is a U7600 C2D whereas the X300 above has the newer SL7100 (which is very similar to the Mac's). Both the Tosh and the X300 run at 1.2GHz, but the newer Meron chip has an 800MHz FSB and some other nifty improvements that should make the difference in raw power between the MBA and the X300 fairly minimal under all but the most demanding applications.
If only the Lenovo ran Lepord and was pretty Apple wouldn't stand a chance
For business user:
IBM KO MAC in round 1
For poseur:
Mac win by point, OS X user to suffer irreversible brain damage
i agree with loz :)
i assume that the x300 is SSD?
otherwise, it's too expensive
i'm curious why lenovo didn't provide a hdd option?
The MBA is more of an statement to a lesser physical media world covered with Wi-Fi. I carry a MBP 15" mostly to make presentations, email and docs and work with that. It is too much for my needs. I would take a MBA because that is my specific need. From the specs of the X300 however, it could replace any other notebook in any range from ultraportable to mainstream with not much further thought. It is an easier sell. So I would argue the Lenovo is more of a VAIO SZ and Dell XPS killer.
Is it just me or does Lenovo always have the same black design over and over and over again?
You just don't spit on a winning & proven design, now don't you?
Don't forget to quote your source for the graphic! (i.e. BusinessWeek)
Well this comparison isn't biased at all...
Do you remember a particular comparison that Apple themselves did when the iPhone came out? Comparing it to a Treo, N95, Blackjack, etc.
That wasn't biased at all either, was it? Of course a company is going to make their product look better, it would be an exercise in futility if they made their product look inferior to their rival companies', wouldn't it?
Good looking is not all!!
I Prefer performance at the first point them good looking.
You failed to include processor speed (in which the MBA trumps Lenovo) and RAM (in which MBA also trumps Lenovo). So for a thousand dollars less, you get twice the RAM, faster processor, sleeker, cooler, thinner machine, OS X, and you lose 2 USB ports and a removable battery.
How is this a competition? And people say Macs are overpriced...
Hey! Take your fair comparison bullshit to another blog! There will be none of that here.
I own both. The Lenovo feels like a shanty that is ready to fall over at any time. It creaks, it twists, it sweaks, it contorts. That is the "usual" tradeoff with ultra-light notebook. You get a thin plastic shell to house all the innards.
As a fan of OS X the system I'd choose is an obvious one, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate the design, construction and features of other OEMs, unfortunately the X300 doesn't offer anything that other ultra-lightweights offer for a better price.
@bender
How can you own a computer (X300) that hasn't been released?
we dont know the options and specs of the x300 until its released on 26th and the price is only an estimation... but iguess you read all this and made your homework before you made you judgement...
and besides: what people tend to forget is that the x300 is for elite users.. it has gps and other stuff...
i think the *elite* can afford to pay 3000+ USD for a laptop especially if it has such a high build quality.
@bonevbs,
the specs have been released, as has the price. Yeah, the Leonovo has a GPS option (for more money), but I didn't even mention multi-touch trackpad, backlit keyboard and display and built in camera for the MBA. The point is, people say the MBA makes huge compromises, but the fact is it has a far better feature set than the Lenovo save a few options, and on top of that it looks much better, runs OS X and is $1000 less.
totally agree with you.
And Lenovo is for nerds. It looks ugly compared to MBA.
And what about Vista with only 1 GB ram?
@ fashionista,
It hasn't retail outlets, but that doesn't mean they aren't available. I was misleading my the word "own" but I felt for a blog post stating that I had the opportunity to test drive it for a couple days would have been too wordy.
Note: I don't like the classification of these machines as "ultra-portable", i much prefer "ultra-lights" to describe their light weight but large footprints.
How about we add to the chart illuminated keyboard, isight, multitouch trackpack
Why are you comparing a computer to an apple macbook air? I don't get it.
since when is any mac book not a computer?
Didn't say any, I said the air, that's just a large PDA isn't it?
The real question is: what's more important to you? Thinness,aesthetics, and OSX vs. ports, connectivity, and convenience...
I think the air is more conceptualized as a large fancy PDA/PMP, rather than a notebook as such.
pfffff.....Yes, Thinkpads are great - they're powerful and reliable and all that and now that it's thin and more mobile, it's like a brainy girl turning into a brainy hot girl!
But...
The other one...it's an Apple.
Go on, admit, it's sexeh, you like it!
Lenovo X300 because it's a complete laptop. Too much obsession with slim = compromises. The 'thinnovation' would be great for a select few who can live with those long list of 'Sorry, can't do that directly' but the X300 gets most things right. There's nothing much to separate between the two when it comes to pricing, hardware abilities and dimension.
the Lenovo is nice ... Problem is:
It runs Windows and not MAC OS
You always forget to mention: when buying an Mac, you get Mac OS ...
That's an advantage ... a big one.
Uh, oh ... let the flaming begin ...
Even a mac OS benefits from some basic connectivity, that is to say more than 1 USB port for example.
the Lenovo is nice ... Problem is:
It runs Windows and not MAC OS
You always forget to mention: when buying an Mac, you get Mac OS ...
That's an advantage ... a big one.
Uh, oh ... let the flaming begin ...
Well, I think that's bullshit:
It is a notebook that's been designed NOT to rely on external ports.
If you don't like that idea, that's fine ... it doesn't alter the fact, that it's well designed for the market it's meant for.
And frankly, I don't get why'd you pay a 1000$ dollar more because of two usb ports and and drive that's internal - remember the external for the MBA is only 99$ and very nice.
The only advantage the Lenovo has in the screen res. Everything else is not significant or worse.
And: I knew I'd be flamed ... ha ha ...
Flamed? That was more of an educated response than a flame- and he's right, too.
The MacBook Air was designed to not rely on external ports? Right, so that explains the lack of 3G, internal disc drive, and all the dongles and adapters to give it the features that have been removed?
The disc drive is a VERY important feature, and a computer is nearly useless without one, and the very fact that it relies on an external drive removes it's credibility as an "ultra-portable". I'm supposing that the lack of internal 3G was a showing of it's design, considering that you would need a dongle for that as well? Yup, you sure are right- connectivity is not needed, because none of us like to use our hard wired internet connection and disc drives at the same time.
One missing comparison: OSX vs Vista.
and vista lost by like only 2 points not as much of a lead as u thought. not enough to push the macbook air a head at least, and just so u know the x300 max cpu is 2 ghz which is better than the mba too