You know, we see a lot of ultraportable laptops these days, it's not like it's virgin territory for us, but we'd say the last time we were this blown away by a form factor was the
VAIO X, or maybe the
Adamo XPS in all its weird-hinge glory. LG's X300 is simply thin. Cramming 11.6-inches of screen and premium netbook parts (2GHz Atom Z550, HDMI out, up to 2GB of RAM and 128GB SSD, even some 3G and Bluetooth for good measure) into a 0.68-inch thick form factor is impressive, but we're even more struck by how insanely light this thing is -- it feels more like holding an e-book reader in hand than a laptop. The plastic build feels very solid, and the textured pattern on the back falls into the realm of "premium," not "gaudy." The keyboard isn't the best action-wise, but there's zero flex because there's nowhere to go. Our biggest concern is the trackpad: it's nice and big, but there's a "virtual" click mechanism where you tap to click the button portion and get a haptic response -- it might be the evolution of the "click pad" concept, or it might be a pain in the ass. Even the screen was bright and quality, though too glossy for our taste. We're told the laptop is headed to the US, but we're not sure when -- hopefully soon, since it's
starting to ship internationally this month. Check out a video walkthrough after the break.
posted March 24th 2010 12:18PM
woot.
@dreamerkm I was going to comment on how it looked like macbook I have (sorry I'm not a history professor and I don't know who copied who... just looks like mine that's all I know) and then saw the win/mac/sony/mama's basement fanboi wars going on... and I thought to myself... wait what was I even thinking... this is engadget!
@dreamerkm WTF are "premium netbook parts?" Sounds like a bit of a contradiction in terms.
@Spiraling Shape It would be nice if you guys actually replied stuff related to an original post, not just to get your comments high up.
@dreamerkm
Your wise comment "woot" definitely needed these comments for follow up, don't you think?
@dreamerkm
Holy crap its a woot off!
Heh. At first glance in my RSS reader I thought it was a picture of a MacBook.
@crazydog for half a price
@Jimbojones It's actually a few hundred bucks more, and the macbook has a slightly larger screen and better specs: "Update: We've now come across LG's Korean pricing, which is set at 1,590,000 Won ($1,424)." Taken from the first post about it a while back. It is a damn sexy computer though, and i'm a mac lover.
@Jimbojones
As you say half the price of a MacToy.
Talking of price. How much does this thing cost. I saw no mention.
@rederikus the link to "http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/08/lgs-ultraslim-x300-launching-in-asia-middle-east-and-south-ame/" mentions "Update: We've now come across LG's Korean pricing, which is set at 1,590,000 Won ($1,424)."
@poiklpu I can nearly guarantee this wont go for 1400 stateside. Netbooks cost about 600,000 won in Korea, the macbook air with 4200 rpm hdd goes for about 2,400,000 won. This is an example of market pricing, don't bother with currency conversions. I'll peg this at about $1,200.
@juanvaldez I never really thought it would, I just knew it definitely wouldn't be half the price, and at best, you'd be getting a smaller computer with inferior specs for about the same price, if not more. That being said, practicality aside this computer is the sexiest netbook i've ever seen, maybe even the sexiest portable i've ever seen period. I just wish it were at a netbook price.
@University of Pi Also, The LG X300 comes with LG’s Smart Pack software which is designed to synchronize your smartphone to the netbook via Bluetooth, which means you can read and reply to your text message directly from the netbook. Examined: http://bit.ly/x300-laptop-view
this is the way netbooks shoulda been from the start!
nice, thin, light, and cheap. they dont need all the horse power of an octa-core. too bad this LG wont be cheap :(
@dark star yeah, except the battery life is going to be under 4hours so you need to probably carry power cable which I would not mind if it would be a size of iPhone charger and not a brick ... lets see
Nice to see everyone using the same macbook style keyboard now.
*ahem* Sony used it first.
@Professor Hubert J Farnsworth
I know I hate how especially Sony copies Apple with their keyboard.
/s
@macmann: I think you meant: "That chicklet style keyboard that Sony used first and Apple copied, just like they did with that commercial they stole a couple of years back"...
just because it's expensive and shiny doesn't mean that it's an entirely original concept by the company putting the item out there.
jackass.
(for the record, I just got rid of my iphone and still have my macbook pro, so I'm not a "winfanboiLOL11111one!". just not delusional)
@Prokanda
Jesus Christ, will you geeks calm down. I didn't say Apple came out with it first. Keep your anti Apple ramblings for somewhere else please.
Easily one of the best looking laptops out right now.
@LanDROID er... announced... best looking laptop announced...
@LanDROID Netbook, best looking netbook announced
@LanDROID I've had it in my hands, it's real, it's good looking, it's light. Now I just need to find an upgrade disc like they have in the US so I can upgrade to Ultimate and get the Korean language off of it.
That thing is thin, whoa really portable. But as he mentioned in the vid, battery life isn't probably the top of the line :D
I'll stick to my 1201n thank you very much.
A friend of mine is the red headed model at that booth!!
Atom? I'm disgusted.
@Hydraulics is it dual core at least?
Any Price ?
I would be very interested in a convertible tablet version of this, as my main complaint with my XT is its just too heavy for extended use with one hand supporting, one hand writing.
So LG couldn't come up with an original name for this thing?
http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/15/lenovo-x300-vs-apple-macbook-air/
Isn't that name taken already? Lawsuit, anyone?
@Nitesh
Maybe that's their strategy. People search for X300 and see this instead of the Thinkpad :P
No one else sees a problem with that touchpad/ capacitive buttons right where your palms wrest while typing. I love my IBM thinkpad but I'm always hitting the pad while typing. This looks like it could be a huge pain.
@Mack211
*rest
price?
2 gigs ain't for shit. Windows 7 run ok on 2 gigs? Vista sure as fuck didn't, and imho, 2 gigs is a minimum for XP.
@jimbonics
I ran XP on 1 gig for the longest.
Windows 7 is currently running on 1 gig. And RAM isn't the choke point in that system.
I had a laptop with 1 gig of RAM and one of the newfangled Pentium processors. Windows 7 ran as fine on that as it did when I ran it with 2.
Try this, open the task manager. Are you actually USING all that RAM? If not, you will probably waste money by upgrading the RAM.
@jimbonics
Are you serious? God...people. Before Vista was released and jacked up memory requirements, the average amount of RAM for an XP system was 512 MB...why am I the only one who remembers this?
@demonicpascal
Yeah... I remember 512. I also remember Slot 1 PIII processors. Shit wasn't fun.
Windows XP, on a clean install, is gonna want more than the 64 meg minimum requirement. Outlook? Word? Excel? Firefox with more than one tab? Have fun with 512.
I'm at work so whatever's in the video won't do me much good.
Does this have Ion2? If so this is a must buy. If not, I'll pass.
thats a nice slice of netbook!
i can see hdmi out but i hope the chip can handle 1080p
Erp. Ack. Prices I found in foreign currency convert to well over USD$1000. Thanks, but no thanks. Not for something toting an Atom.
Eh I don't know about that.
Something about this laptop just doesn't strike me as attractive. I've noticed that with most laptops recently - Apple, HP, Dell, etc. They all are missing something in my opinion - with this exception of the black, brushed metal Dell Latitudes.
In summary, I'm not a fan of this design.
Looks nice, to bad the price point and battery life usually sucks on ultrathins : / I'd rather grab a UL30 even though it isn't as sexy...
@kopmis: I gotta agree... according to the LG press release, it "ships with a spare 2-cell battery to provide up to seven hours of use."
http://www.lge.com/global/press-release/article/slim-sleek-and-simple-lgs-latest-mobile-pc-marvel-hits-the-market.jsp
So MAX 3.5hrs on one battery.
I hate 2-cell batteries.
@Francis L4D I always thought I'd be able to contend with the shitty battery life of ultrathins in exchange for portability, but after playing around with my sisters UL30Vt and getting a low battery warning when there was 2 1/2 hours left I am permanently smitten.