Lenovo's X300 ultraportable gets official, is available now

Granted, you knew full well today would be the day that Lenovo unleashed its MacBook Air opponent on the world, but just in case you feared some sort of catastrophic eleventh-hour delay, we're here to inform you that all is well. The 2.9 to 3.1-pound, LED-backlit X300 (that's the one on the left, you know) is indeed available today for those who've been drooling for weeks through "Lenovo's business partners," but of course, it'll take at least $2,799 $2,548 (on the firm's official webstore) to gain admission to this slim 'n trim party.

[superfresh @ Feb 26th 2008 8:31AM]

Sweet baby Jeezus, what it that monstrosity to the right?

[zargon @ Feb 26th 2008 9:01AM]

It is a X61 (most likely), the soon to be X300 predecessor, in its portable docking station.

[Kenundrum @ Feb 26th 2008 9:26AM]

The "monstrosity" to the right looks like an IBM Thinkpad 760 circa 1997... Definitely not any thinkpad made in the last 4 years since they all have optical drives on the right side, not coming out the front...

[Ellianth @ Feb 26th 2008 11:53AM]

It's the before and after shots. I also tried the diet that that Thinkpad took. It really works. Honestly, I'm not a paid actor. I was thinking the same thing you're thinking now when I saw the commercials on tv. But this stuff really works...

[Fraggle.Rock @ Feb 26th 2008 12:37PM]

See comment below - probably the Thinkpad 755CD

[superfresh @ Feb 26th 2008 8:34AM]

It's funny to remember seeing those and thinking, "Dang, I wish I had a laptop. Look how portable that thing is!"

[Richard @ Feb 26th 2008 8:35AM]

It's available for $2548 direct from lenovo..

http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:category.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087¤t-category-id=AB685843BDD4412BB8FAB17D26FADACF

[dallas @ Feb 26th 2008 8:38AM]

OOh Ooh, can I be the first Apple Fanboi to laugh at all those who said the Air was WAY too expensive?

[Fred @ Feb 26th 2008 8:42AM]

Now if you dont want people going to Apple threads and making such comments, dont you think you should lead by example?

[superfresh @ Feb 26th 2008 8:43AM]

Yes, go ahead.

[zargon @ Feb 26th 2008 9:05AM]

This has been addressed a million times.

The X300 has a SSD, try pricing out a Air with SSD, it is the same.

[dapkniht @ Feb 26th 2008 11:23AM]

Sure now go price a Pata based SSD drive system from Apple.

[Francis @ Feb 26th 2008 8:39AM]

Apple Store is up.

[Blu-Ray John @ Feb 26th 2008 8:43AM]

"the thinnest and lightest full-function notebook in its class"

Hidden at the bottom of the page:

"Weight of 2.9 pounds achieved with configuration of standard 3-cell lithium polymer battery and empty bezel/no integrated DVD burner."

Full fuctioned eh? Very sneaky!

[JamesR @ Feb 26th 2008 8:49AM]

Ya, who in their right mind would consider a laptop without an internal optical drive fully functional...oh wait ;).

[Blu-Ray John @ Feb 26th 2008 9:07AM]

I meant to add their definition of 'full-function', again atthe bottom of the press release:

"Compared to major vendors offering 13-inch widescreen notebook PCs: Sony, Dell, Apple, Asus and Fujitsu Siemens. Full featured defined as including built-in optical drive".

That's the sneaky bit!

[noyon @ Feb 26th 2008 9:00AM]

dallas >> OOh Ooh, can I be the first Apple Fanboi to laugh at all those who said the Air was WAY too expensive?

[noyon @ Feb 26th 2008 9:01AM]

dallas >> OOh Ooh, can I be the first Apple Fanboi to laugh at all those who said the Air was WAY too expensive?

Don't laugh too hard though. They were right indeed. Apple Air is way too expensive for a web surfing machine. The Thinkpad line has been slightly more expensive than other models and manufacturers. I don't like Thinkpad prices but they are darn good.

[noyon @ Feb 26th 2008 9:01AM]

dallas >> OOh Ooh, can I be the first Apple Fanboi to laugh at all those who said the Air was WAY too expensive?

Don't laugh too hard though. They were right indeed. Apple Air is way too expensive for a web surfing machine. The Thinkpad line has been slightly more expensive than other models and manufacturers. I don't like Thinkpad prices but they are darn good.

[ron @ Feb 26th 2008 9:21AM]

Trolls are so totally into spam. Hey, whatever floats your boat: [e-mail]

[sinai @ Feb 26th 2008 11:37AM]

AND WE SHALL GIVE IT TO THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ellianth @ Feb 26th 2008 11:57AM]

YES WE SHALL!!

*attacks Sinai's weak points for MASSIVE DAMAGE!*

[James @ Feb 26th 2008 4:39PM]

hey at least engadget let's anyone post. unlike gizmodo where you must be an apple sackrider to post.

[PynkFloydd @ Feb 26th 2008 9:01PM]

Actually, they've been better about it lately! If you look at some of the other blogs, it's all PC hate and Apple propaganda... Where else do they let you opt out of Apple stories?

Gotta give credit where credit is due...

[Frederik @ Feb 26th 2008 9:23AM]

Come to think about it, this is exactly how MBA should have been. I am so switching back to the Dark Side.

[David @ Feb 26th 2008 9:24AM]

Looks like I need to send an email to our IT people officially requesting a computer upgrade.

[Blake Bowen @ Feb 26th 2008 10:24AM]

That one on the right was the first computer I ever owned. Tough as a rock, those things are.

[Joe @ Feb 26th 2008 10:30AM]

People who split hairs over ounces on a laptop that weighs in under 4 pounds need to reevaluate their lives.

[eggothewaffle @ Feb 26th 2008 10:41AM]

Or their view of personal arm/back strength.

[Mark @ Feb 26th 2008 4:01PM]

@eggothewaffle: Just because one can bench press X lbs doesn't mean he would want to carry even a fraction of that weight around all day. I'm a big fan of thin and light notebooks, after going from a Thinkpad X20 to a 6 lb Acer monstrosity.

[fhammond @ Feb 26th 2008 12:26PM]

I've been using an SSD-equipped X300 for a couple of weeks now and it's pretty nice. Relatively, it's much thicker than the Air but in absolute terms, both computers are really, really thin. The Air's screen is brighter but the X300 does have higher resolution. Battery life is about the same for both - four hours - both go into standby really quickly (which is a big deal for me 'cause I catch a train and am always hurrying to finish up that last email before getting off). There are only two things I definitely don't like about the X300: 1) Its fan comes on too often and when it does, it's quite noticeable; 2) It's got *four* different colors of LEDs just below the screen! Lenovo isn't Apple! (Yeah, it's a little thing).

I don't have an X300 with built-in 3G (I have model 6477-1TU) but that'd be pretty cool.

An X300 would definitely replace my T61 but I'm not sure if the Air would replace my MacBook Pro.

[Fraggle.Rock @ Feb 26th 2008 12:36PM]

I'm pretty sure I had the old IBM Thinkpad on the left, it was the Thinkpad 755CD (extra cool because it had a built in CD reader, wow. Plus mine had a Pentium 75MHz, booyakasha!)

Close of the two: http://mms.businesswire.com/bwapps/mediaserver/ViewMedia?mgid=126182&vid=5&download=1

IBM 755CD: http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:755CD

[Fraggle.Rock @ Feb 26th 2008 12:38PM]

I meant lappy on the RIGHT, close-up of two..

Damn I hate not being able to edit comments! Funk-dat

[SuperQ @ Feb 26th 2008 4:32PM]

Hell yea! The 755CD was an amazing laptop. I always drooled over that one. I couldn't afford it at the time (poor college student), but I did have a slightly older ThinkPad 500. The 486 50MHz and 4MB of ram were just enough to get Slackware working without X. Used to use it to dial into the modem bank at the university and connect to my Cyrix box in my dorm room.

[FT @ Feb 26th 2008 1:06PM]

As a Lenovo employee, we have mixed feelings on the X300:

We are pleased that everyone is all hyped up and excited on this. And we're flooded with requests for a demo on the X300, however all of you guys had no intentions to buy at all! You just want us to give you a demo to impress you! Bummer!!!

[contreras @ Feb 26th 2008 1:48PM]

I'm sorry to say, but it seems that for the first time, you (as a lenovo employee) have a really sexy product and don't know how to handle it.

If your company keeps this nice approach on laptops, start getting used to it.

[SuperQ @ Feb 26th 2008 7:19PM]

I'll likely be upgrading my X60 to an X300. I'm mostly upset that it has an optical drive. I would rather had the space/weight savings. Hopefully I can replace the optical drive with a 2nd battery.

[Erik @ Feb 26th 2008 2:26PM]

The X300 isn't a MacBook Air opponent. It was nearly completed when the Air was announced.

[Edward @ Feb 26th 2008 4:10PM]

No, it's a ThinkPad 760 for sure. It has the LCD status screen above the keyboard, which the 755 line did not have. There's also the latches that lower the angled keyboard, one of the coolest features of the 760 line.

[free radical @ Feb 26th 2008 5:11PM]

Does drool go good with my Velveeta sandwich?

[Deven Davidoff @ Feb 26th 2008 5:16PM]

Where is the wireless WAN feature?
It doesn't look like this feature is included.