Lenovo X300

06/05/2008
By Staff Writers
In Cybershack Reviews

What do you do when you want the size of the MacBook Air without any of the shortcomings? You turn to IBM & Lenovo and check out the new ThinkPad X300…

When you look for a laptop, you have to weigh up options like price versus value, screen size versus build quality, specification versus “do I really need that much”? It can often be a hard thing and it’s now been made all the more difficult with Apple recently introducing their MacBook Air, a super thin and still capable laptop that will throw you a curve ball.

But if you’ve been considering a MacBook Air than you likely know that things like a battery that isn’t removable or no optical drive are making you even more confused.

So what do you do when you want the size of the MacBook Air without any of the shortcomings?

You turn to the geniuses at IBM and Lenovo, responsible for some of the most excellent computers to date.

The ThinkPad X300 is quite possibly one of the best laptops they’ve ever produced and it shows the moment you pick it up. At barely two and a half centimetres thick, it already places itself among the thinnest laptops we’ve ever seen at the CyberShack. It’s something of a marvel because it feels simply spectacular and if you’ve ever typed on really bad keyboards or used mice, it’s the first thing you notice and the one thing you’ll remember.

We’re happy to report that the X300 doesn’t suffer from any of that and is one of the best feeling laptops we’ve ever seen. It’s LED backlit 13.3 Inch widescreen is also quite remarkable and it’s nice to see a screen that doesn’t suffer from being overly glossy and giving too much glare.

Ultimately, the insides of the laptop are what matters and with a Core 2 Duo at 1.2 Ghz as well as a 64GB Solid State Drive, the X300 is truly special. Not even one and a half kilos make up the weight of it and as a result, you can hold it comfortable in the palm of your hand though rest assured, it is a full size laptop. The X300 is very easy to use and excellently designed.

You may have seen the MacBook Air and wondered why it didn’t have a replaceable battery or a DVD drive? Well, now that we’ve seen the X300, we’re wondering why too. It comes with a removable battery as well as an Ultraslim DVD burner. It really is a remarkable piece of technology.

The Solid State Drive inside means that there’s less moving parts and therefore less power consumed giving you more life out of your battery than you’ve probably ever seen as well as what is probably the best running version of Windows Vista we’ve seen. It really is something that has to be seen to be believed.

All up, the ThinkPad X300 is brilliant. It’s a true marvel of technology and something that will be on Dad’s wish list for Father’s Day for a while to come.

Should you buy it?: If I had the spare cash, I probably would.