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When Apple launched MacBook Air, little did we expect that Lenovo was also about to launch its very own super thin and lightweight laptop, the Lenovo Thinkpad X300. The X300 is the PC’s equivalent of MacBook Air, except it packs more punch.

The Lenovo X300’s thickest point is 2.34cm. Compared to the MacBook Air’s 1.94cm thickest point, there is barely much difference. Weight wise, X300 is 1.42kg (With DVD burner) while Macbook Air is 1.36kg (Without DVD burner). The X300 is so light that I have to open the bag to confirm that I packed the laptop inside. Do try to get your hands on a unit if you can. You will be amazed by it’s lightness.

Compared to the MacBook Air, the Lenovo X300’s spec sheet seems pretty impressive. For that extra 60 grams and 0.4cm, you get a lot more features. For a start, there is a built in DVD burner. It’s amazing that they managed to squeeze a DVD burner into such small package. There are also 3 USB ports. (NB: My existing T43 notebook only has 2 USB Ports and is meant to be a full sized laptop) There is a fingerprint scanner for better security and faster login. Good for people like me who are just too lazy to type my password to login. The X300 also comes with a user removable battery, a Ethernet port and VGA port. These are essential to business users which the Macbook Air would’ve missed.

But processor speed wise, the X300’s Intel Core 2 Duo 1.2GHz loses out the the MacBook Air’s Intel Core 2 Duo 1.6GHz. The Macbook Air also comes with a bigger Solid State Drive (SSD) Harddrive (depending on how you spec it out). I sure hope that Lenovo will refresh the specs on the X300 soon. Speaking of the SSD, the 64gb SSD Harddrive that comes with the X300 is great. Personally, I feel that SSD is on its way to replace our standard Harddisks. SSD provides a faster startup, fast read/write speeds and low power consumption. It’s great that the brains behind the X300 decided to adopt this “Harddisk for the future”.

The X300, like most Thinkpads, also comes with Roll Cage technologies. In fact, this is the first time Lenovo included Roll Cage in its X series. The Roll Cage makes the X300 durable and at the same time keeping the laptop light. I was told that they have used a very light and strong carbon and glass fibre construction for the Roll Cage, the same material used in Formula One race cars and the Airbus A380 super jumbo. Which makes me wonder…. is the X300 bulletproof too?

I’ve been using the Lenovo X300 for 2 weeks and the experience has been great. The X300 is very light and portable. The keyboard, as with on all Thinkpads, is very comfortable to type with. I love the fact that it has an SSD. This makes the X300 bootup faster despite it’s slower processor, and having a SSD also means that I can shake the laptop during operation without fear of any harddisk malfunctions. You must be wondering, why would anyone shake their laptop during operation? One such situation would be trying to use your laptop on a bumpy taxi ride. Most laptop will have some lag issues because the harddisk cannot operate when on the move. The X300 doesn’t have this problem since it is using a SSD.

Lenovo is generous to provide 3 USB port on this machine. The video port is useful too although I didn’t get to use it. But I do know that a video port will come in handy when doing presentations. I’m also glad that it comes with a trackpoint. Yes, I’m a huge fan of the trackpoint. The battery life is good. The review set that I received came with an extended battery (6 cell) which provides around 4.9hr battery life. OK, I know that’s cheating. But even with standard 3 cell battery, it can also deliver 3.3 hr battery life.

There is a 3G SIM card slot in my review unit. But from what I understand, the review unit doesn’t comes with the mobile broadband module. In fact, the sets being sold in Singapore will not provide such an option. Which is kinda disappointing actually. 3G mobile broadband is very useful for mobile warrior. The Lenovo X300 is positioned as a ultimate tool for the mobile warrior, yet it lacks the 3G mobile broadband.

One thing to note, the Trackpad for X300 is rather small compared to most laptops in the market. For me, it doesn’t really matter since I prefer using the trackpoint, but this is something you should note if you intend to use the touchpad.

The X300 is currently selling at $4,171. It’s very expensive but worth every single cent. The question is, do you need such a high end laptop. If you are always on the move and can afford the price tag, then X300 is the notebook for you.

In Short:
The Lenovo Thinkpad X300 is light on weight, heavy on features. Definitely a mobile warrior’s best friend.

Likes:
Slim and light weight
Durable
Feature packed

Dislike:
Price tag
Small trackpad
No 3G broadband built in (For Singapore)

For more pictures, check out my first look at Lenovo Thinkpad X300.

Many thanks to Derrick from Lenovo for making this review possible. It was hard to return such a wonderful unit to you.