Lenovo X300 ad takes the MacBook Air head-on
By Joshua Topolsky 
posted Mar 20th 2008 2:39PM
posted Mar 20th 2008 2:39PM
[Thanks, Amerist]
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rofl thats quite funny :')
The read link is only a jpeg? I can't click buy now!?! Engadget conspiracy!!!!
Fighting words? Theres no fight here...
Drive > then no drive.
Yea, the X300 already beat the Apple Air, especially in a business setting.
Of course, Apple will sell tons of Air laptops through the Apple Hype machine. You have to hand it to Apple, their marketing over the years has been very effective. I meet more and more people who really believe the marketing propaganda - even the outright mis-truths.
Just yesterday I was standing in line at the grocery store and some guy was telling this other person that only macs come with built-in cameras on their laptop. heh.
Who needs an optical drive, and 3 USB ports for a laptop business setting? What you need is a small form-factor machine, a good screen, wireless connectivity and a bunch of solid communication apps. Sounds like a few years ago when we where told we needed floppy drives in our laptops...
Agreed. The Macbook Air hit the mat before the Round 1 bell even rung.
@z
Yes, who wants to use a mouse, USB HSDPA modem and thumb memory drive at the same time. Those silly business men, trying to do real work instead of showing off. And heaven forbid they want to install software quickly and easily. I mean, looking for some-one to borrow you their CD-drive is just being sociable, isn't it.
erm..... who needs 3 USB ports and an optical drive? lots of people thats who, some of us dont like switching between multiple machines so for a system to be your main system it would have to have these things, its not the same as an FDD as mostly those were used for backups or actual technican tasks at the time - people use optical drives much more often.
Plus the X300 seems to meet all your needs - its small form factor, has more wireless options than the air (3G, UWB, GPS and WIFI) and has a better screen than the MBA (higher resolution)
@Surur
Do you seriously use a corded mouse, USB HSDPA, and a USB thumb drive at the same time while installing a CD / DVD ROM on your business ride?
@z
Three of you is me asleep. "zzz"
"Who needs an optical drive, and 3 USB ports for a laptop business setting?"
How do you charge your phone? Bluetooth earpiece? Use a mouse? External GPS? Charge DMP on the road? Use your UFD? Receipt scanner? Ya, one half obstructed USB should do.
@Z
Perfectly simple scenario - You use the excellent Logitech Vx Nano mouse, and you need to e-mail out an attachment some-one gives you on a thumb drive. I did not know 3 USB ports was some kind of luxury.
No-one said anything about installing software at the same time.
@Z... what are you smooooooooking
Anyone who needs a laptop in a business setting (or otherwise) is not going to be able to swap it out with a SFF computer & monitor. A SFF is a great replacement for a basic desktop but that's it.
And yes... my IBM T42 only has 2 USB ports and I'm constantly limited by the lack of more. God forbid I only had 1...
lol.. three @Z's beat me as next reply before i even finished writing the comment
What business who's buying an ultra-portable laptop wants to carry around a wired mouse (or even an external mouse at all), a USB HSDPA card, and a USB thumb drive?
Solutions: TRACKPAD! -or- bluetooth mouse; Bluetooth tether HSDPA? and keep your thumb drive -or- bluetooth it to the memory card in your phone. Hahah. Hooray for Bluetooth!
Now I don't know how practical the tethering is, but I'm just saying, for someone who's going to buy an Ultra-portable laptop, I think there are better ways to do stuff.
@ all the arguments against the MBA, what most of you guys don't realise is that the majority of business users don't install or do anything by themselves on their laptops. Most, if not all of their application installation is done at the office through their company. Most of these guys never really use anything outside those work applications that their companies give with the laptop. So what would you think they would prefer?
@Frz
I bet they watch DVD's while flying though.
@FRZ
I think the biggest problem about your argument is that the Air seems to be marketed more towards the general public rather than corporations. Yes, people may be using it for business but in those cases, chances are that they are using their own personal machines for business. $1800 is quite high compared to other business classed laptops. I doubt that many companies are willing to pay such a large premium for such a limited machine.
I agree that the x300 wins because it is more functional: integrated DVD, 3 usb ports, and you can wipe your ass with it without worrying about damaging its assthetics.
Well, from a business perspective the only issue that I see for the Air is that no one makes a decent Bluetooth mouse. Sort that issue out and only 1 USB port isn't much of an issue in business. If they can get around to distributing the OS on a flash memory stick then the loss of the optical drive is also no loss either. As it stands, wireless installations of the OS via a separate computer sounds a bit iffy to me.
I'm a college student and I have a macbook air and enjoy it, To each his own. I think alot of people get mad because a product doesn't fit their needs so instead of just ignoring that product they get personally offended and see it as horribly flawed.
Joker...."Why So Serious?
@ FRZ: I've done a few small and mid size company upgrades (5-50 people in management roles) where they specifically wanted certain people to have laptops do double duty as their main computers at work.
They have flat panels, full sized keyboard etc at their desks, and they take the laptop when they're on the road.
People who think the MBA is a good solution for business/enterprise users really don't have a grasp of the varying needs of different clients, and running Windows through Boot Camp or Parallels is no option at all.
One of the X300 USB ports should not be required for a USB mouse, learn to use the TrackPoint properly and you will never require a mouse while out and about - only use a touchpad then the majority of people will need a mouse - the trackpoint is just so far superior to the touchpad if you can use it well.
@Scott: Nice summary.
@Kelmon: Tell me how often you actually install software on a Mac via optical drive. Maybe 1-3 times per year. For that you can do it over network, or the external drive. No big deal.
For watching movies on the plane.. Think iPhone/PSP (other such device) or get them on your MBA's hard drive. Nothing like a big screen and an optical drive to kill battery life.
True the Air won back when they started making Vista.
Oh my god! I am so scared of digital files, please get my discs , my giant wall full of shitty plastic DVDS! im so scared of bluetooth! get me more wires hanging off than the back of a receiver!
Who wants a new Laptop with a DVD drive that is not Blu-ray? (There WAS a winner in that fight)
P.S. with all businesses running to wireless web 2.0/ server based applications, such as SAP there is no way that Lenovo wins this fight with just an old school CD/DVD drive, especially since Apple has demonstrated the willingness to license Exchange. Lets face it, the next generation of suits are college kids running around with iPods and iPhones glued, or wired to their heads.
I never warmed up to the mouse, besides, it gave me wrist pains. On my desktop machines, I only use trackballs and a pen tablet when I do graphics. Besides, I can photoshop better with my trackpad than a mouse any day. I have purchased a MacBook Air as well but it was to be my machine on the go and not my main. I don't think I would have considered it if I was looking for my main computer but the funny thing is, I have been using it as my main machine since I have purchased it. All the counterpoints that people have been making have never been issue for me. I can connect my v3xx via bluetooth to connect to the 3g network anywhere and the only time I need the USB port is when I connect my thumbdrive. I don't even remember the last time I bought a movie on a physical media either, they all live on my harddrive. You guys are also forgetting that the x300 is a very expensive machine too. It doesn't have the option for a harddrive, so you have no choice but to pay for the premium of a SSD.
Brian: Marketing hype would imply that they actually said something to that effect in their marketing material(s). I, for one, have never seen a piece of Apple marketing material stating that only their portable computers have built-in cameras. Clearly they cannot state so today. So place the blame on this one person's ignorance rather than Apple's rather successful marketing techniques. People buy things that are flaunted in their face and advertised heavily, which explains the highly successful market share commanded by the iPod. Other manufacturers are where they are for the most part because they do not advertise or market their products properly.
no fight eh? they may as well have said "Two laptops enter, one laptop leave"
Starting at $2,799.99...yeah right. I'll take the air with SSD for a little more.
@Andrew
Apologies, you misunderstand my comment. I am not bothered about the loss of the optical drive with the single exception of when it comes to installing the OS. While it is apparently possible to do this over a network via a shared DVD drive, I'm honestly not that comfortable with the idea and would rather that it could be done via a flash memory stick. They're cheap enough these days and would be a heck of a lot faster.
It's okay, most of these posters are still stuck in the 80's mindset; optical discs, drives with moving parts, needing to plug in 5+ peripherals. We can enjoy cutting edge technology while they bang away on their bricks.
@DvS
why'd you take the air with a little more when it has a lot less?
that was hilarious !!!
@erik - thanks for being the only one here to make sense. The two machines are not very comparable. Different things for different uses. I'd buy the MBA if I didn't need tons of USB ports and a DVD. I would buy the MBA if I needed CPU horsepower. I would buy the MBA for its good looks. And for the DVI port which is missing on the X300.
I would buy the X300 if I needed the DVD drive or the other ports.
But frankly, most of the omissions in the Air simply need some getting used to: I have a USB EV-DO card which would not fit in the USB - except it came with a very small USB expander cable which makes it fit. I have a USB mouse but I could use a BT mouse.
Neither the X300 or Air would be for me as I need a big, high-res screen. But the whining about the Air's omissions is getting really old. I think it's mostly people who want an Air but need 3 USB ports, and people who are just scared to drop nearly 2 grand only to find out that they actually do need 2 USB ports of whatever.
I seriously think hat guy asking who needed this stuff was being sarcastic. He meant the complete opposite.
@Alan Strangis
WOW someone who understands business needs
A lot of business 'people' have a couple peripherals they use at work, me for example, I use a laptop, I have it plugged into a 22 inch screen, this allows me to work on our servers much more effectively, Also, I have a separate Keyboard and mouse, sure I may not use them on the road, but I'd rather not have to sync data between 2 different machines every day.
I'm an IT guy for my company, and the ammount of people who use Ethernet at work cause it's faster than the wireless N that we have here is quite high. Plus, unlike the mac's preference, not all of our employees want to conform to the same standards/options that the mac laptops put forth with their limited usability.
While it's not a 'bad' laptop, it has a lot of improving to do before it becomes a 'good' laptop.
And yes, that is an objective opinion. Some people may love the macbook air, I can just imagine how nice it would be for students who only have one computer, and may not need to do much more than type assignments, surf the net, get email, and, on the odd occasion, plug in a usb printer to print something.
However, that market is rather small, and, in it's current form, the macbook air is useless for most businesses, except those in real estate.
Z you are full of shit. Do you even work in a business environment? I mean a real one....not one in your imagination where everyone is on WIFI everywhere on the planet and no one ships multiGB dbases or software to you on DVD. Oh and how's that battery lasting you halfway through the day when you need to find an outlet because you can't swap shit.
as a MacBook Air owner, I agree that the Air is not for everyone. certainly not for business-class users. It's only for people willing to make a sacrifice for a thin, light machine with good design.
that said, I have no problem using an air as my machine. on the road I only use the USB port for my 3G modem (hooked up through a cheapo $5 USB extender). I watch movies by ripping them using HandBrake beforehand. at home I hook it up to a cheap USB hub with my Wacom tablet, my DVD drive, and an external hard drive, as well as a 24" display. that's right, I use the Air as my primary machine, and it works fine for me. all the whining about the air's missing features is simply a matter of getting used to the features. the only thing wrong with the air is the price.
What? Nobody here has heard of wireless mice and keyboards? Or bluetooth cell phone syncing? I mean, the MBA is very limited, but you don't really need wires for everything...
@ Chris:
"What? Nobody here has heard of wireless mice and keyboards? Or bluetooth cell phone syncing? I mean, the MBA is very limited, but you don't really need wires for everything..."
I imagine we.ve all heard of wireless keyboards/mice, its just we prefer not to have to plug in to re-charge the battery every couple of hours :/
it needs to be portable yet usable, and if you need to do external keyboards and phone sync then wired is still the best way on both speed and battery drainage factors
pwnt.
I'll tell you what my pwnt is! :P
Pwnt by Microsoft into buying Vista and a shitty Dell, you should tattoo that on yourself right next to your picture of BIll Gates face.
3, 2, 1 Fight!
Retaliation coming soon.
"Hi, I'm a Mac."
"And I'm a Lenovo."
Ah, the good old Apple commercials with a new spin. Interesting.
Emo boy: I'm a Mac.
Fat, nerdy business guy: I'm a PC. (I think he's supposed to be a Dell...)
Emo boy: I'm a Mac Air.
Cute, slender geek girl: I'm a Lenovo x300.
Emo boy: I fit in an envelope.
Cute, slender geek girl: (watching DVD) Sorry, what was that? I wasn't listening.
To be honest, I _really_ like the iBook G3 (non-toiletseat edition) I picked up for $80 two weeks ago. I do not, however, like Apple's marketing tactics.
If the x300 and Air could talk...
Air: Hi, I'm a Mac!
x300: Hi Mac, I'm a PC...let's hang out and surf the web a little bit, shall we?
Air: Wifi?
x300: Oh..thats right, you don't have internal HSDPA, I'm sure we can find you some interwebs...
Air: Fine, I'll just an external one.
x300: Sorry Mac, your single USB was poorly designed to the point of non functionality, you can't fit an external HSDPA card.
Air: Oh...
x300: Don't worry about it, here, let's just install some new software together.
Air: Hold on I just have to find my extern....
x300: Anyday now Mac....
And then the slogan:
At Lenovo, we just assumed you wanted your laptop to actually do something.
:)
that was hilarious !!!
Jason, if I knew the award that writers receive I'd give it to you right now!!
Someone needs to make a youtube video out of your skit!
way to stick it to em ibm.
i mean lenovo
And they will stick it to them in Sales... oh wait they wont. They will fail at that. WHATS THIS YOU SAY? These companies are multinational corporations trying to make money? REDICULOUS
I must have missed something (or did I?) Why are a bunch of people saying Dell? It's not a Dell (right? Right, I thought so).
I see what you did there.
Ooh, a lolcat meme. I see what you did there.
lolcat meme? epic fail, gb2gaia
I concur with sinai.
Please take the next express train back2gaia.
isnt the processor in this thing a lot slower than the Core 2 Duo chip in the Air?
True, but imho a decent screen resolution, better keyboard and a trackpoint mean that i'll be way faster when operating it which should compensate a little for any MHz performance loss and you can have 4GB RAM (in Dual Channel mode too) with the X300 and only 2GB with the MBA which will also have an impact
can it play crysis?
can you?
Your mom plays Crysis.
Crisis must be hard.
yes we can!
"Crisis must be hard."
That's what she said!
lol you beat me to it abuzar
Your mom gets hard playing Crisis.
shame about the OS
Still, it doesn't run OS X :(
You say that like its a bad thing
That's a good thing. Most of us want an OS that supports many different programs. So yeah either Linux or Windows.
You mean... like a Macbook Air running windows through Bootcamp or Parallels?
I fail to see your point.
Damnit Fivepoint, you're too fast.
You two knuckleheads still don't know OS X runs XP and Vista?
I think the point is that as a Mac user you seem to HAVE to run XP or Vista because OSX just doesn't cut it in the real world, as opposed to the self-delusional ego world that some Mac users live in.
"OS X runs XP and Vista"
Dual boot setup != OSX "running vista." Mac users FTL.
Why should you need XP then? I don't need to dual boot into Mac.
They know. They just don't want to admit it.
Or maybe they're ignorant? Maybe they think that Windows > Rest?
One has a Zune for an avatar picture so we know he's bias already.
Oh having a Zune makes me Biased? Maybe I just like that fact that it has radio, a bigger screen, better sound quality, and better design for the same money. Even think about that?
I actually do have both OSX and XP on my PC. So I've tried it, and it's not exactly all that. Haven't used that Mac partition in months.
Hahaha. I use a PC every single day, all day, at work. I have no tremendous gripes with it.
However, I've been using a mac at home as my only computer for the last 5 years, and I would NEVER go back to owning a PC. Other than gamers, people who build their own hardware, and large businesses, there is absolutely no one that would be better off with a PC than with a mac.
The hardware is better, the software is better, the communities are better. There is no replacment for iLife on the PC, there are no viruses on Mac... is is quite simply head and shoulders above the PC experience.
It's too bad you're too ignorant to try it for yourself and find out. Keep spewing your hatred man, and the rest of us will be enjoying our computers... virus free.
Actually I guess it comes down to whatever program you're using and if that program can run on XP/Vista/Linux/OS X then it's your personal preference of which operating system.
Seem fair enough?
I just took a giant "zune" about 10 minutes ago. I feel bad for the next person that walks in the bathroom.
I'm not gonna argue the software, that's your own personal opinion, but you're ignorant if you say the hardware is better.
I can build a much higher quality machine for much less if I do it myself. The hardware on Macs is mediocre. It's not bad, but it's not the greatest.
so if you have to run XP or Vista to use a bunch of programs that OSX doesn't run, why get OSX in the first place? I have not understood why I need to have a machine run OSX so I can still be forced to run Windows to use programs. Doesn't seem quite right to me.
See fivepoint, if you were more mature it would be worth discussing something with you. That zune comment just makes me pity you.
What viruses? I'm smart and got AV software. No worries for me. Never had any viruses. I don't download tons of freeware that will kill my computer. No viruses.
And yes, there are Mac viruses. Not many or not effective ones, but there are. So please stop spreading that FUD around. http://www.macvirus.org/
I think a lot of Mac users don't try protecting their systems from viruses because of that, and that leaves them pretty vulnerable. For all we know, there's probably some underground black hat group waiting to launch their goodies on unsuspecting Mac users. It'd be sad to see the outcome.
Remember, the only think keeping your average PC from running OSX is Apple, not some technical limitation of the hardware.
"Oh having a Zune makes me Biased? Maybe I just like that fact that it has radio, a bigger screen, better sound quality, and better design for the same money. Even think about that?
I actually do have both OSX and XP on my PC. So I've tried it, and it's not exactly all that. Haven't used that Mac partition in months."
Radio - Some will use it, most of us won't
Bigger screen - While you have a bigger screen the ppi is less then the iPod classic. However it's personal preference on that one.
Better sound quality - Never heard one, they don't sell them where I am.
Design - Personal preference again.
And yes, stating that the Zune has a "better design" does make you bias as it isn't a fact. My opinion? That guy on the street's opinion?
Again, same with the OS X argument - personal opinion.
I'll just go ahead and correct that for you.
"Still, it doesn't run OS X :("
should probably be
"Still, Apple refuses to sell PC owners OS X :("
Pretending it's a hardware thing is laughable, in fact anyone claiming it should probably go ahead and throw themselves down some stairs to bring them back to reality.
Apple moved to x86, they moved to Intel reference design hardware, they use PC components in practically everything they do now, the only even remote difference is the use of EFI. Outside of that, nothing is inherently better.
You still have the Mac Pro crowd going "LETS SEE UR ALIENWARE BeAT DIS" when they can't even comprehend that Apple opted not to go for the consumer space desktop and instead opted to use Intel workstation parts inside the Mac Pro and that if you bothered to make an equal comparison in that field, the advantages would be few if any at all.
This comment field so far has been pretty sad though, is that all that we're really going to see? "WHO NEEDS 3 USB PORTS" "IT DOESNT HAVE OSX" I mean really now, you think there'd be something actually noteworthy to come out of the unhappy Apple folks, maybe they're all doing their prayers to Steve Jobs right now hoping for that next big update to catch up to the existing marketplace.
@Miker
"I think the point is that as a Mac user you seem to HAVE to run XP or Vista because OSX just doesn't cut it in the real world, as opposed to the self-delusional ego world that some Mac users live in."
Pardon? You are kidding, right? I run a MacBook Pro at work attached to the corporate ActiveDirectory, can read/create standard files and exchange them with my colleagues - what do I need Windows for, precisely? I'd be interested to learn what I've been missing in the "real world" for the past 18-months.
I'm sorry, that you NEED Windows is the result of not understanding what a Mac can do these days and believing that only Windows will do.
Buying two OSs for one machine is awesome!
@Kax02
"Still, Apple refuses to sell PC owners OS X :("
Yeah. There are reasons for that.
Apple gets most of it's revenue from hardware, so if they open up OS X to the masses... bye bye profits (yes they are company that wants you to be happy to make money, not make you happy out of love).
And it is kind of a hardware thing. They don't have to support every third party accessory and their dog if they keep it in a controlled environment. While some might not like it, the general population will rarely see what's inside a computer, let alone upgrade it.
i hate nearly everyone in this conversation.
I still love you though... No homo.
Hot air... sounds like a jab to the gut to me...
yep
Even without the ad, I would still consider getting x300 over MBA. x300 in reality is more functional and accessible with ports and removable battery.
Winning the MBA hands down.
And I'd be agreeing with you with the exception that the Air is considerably more powerful. If you need the extra ports all the time then that's a good reason to go with the X300 but if not then surely a more powerful system is more important since you're going to be maxing-out that processor a lot. As and when Lenovo gets its hands on the same processor as the Air then the X300 will be more tempting but at the current time it seems both underpowered and overpriced in comparison.