Comments on: Hands-On With The Lenovo ThinkPad X300: MacBook Air Killer?

By: Nic

Nic — Sat, 17 May 2008 21:58:02 +0000

As I write this on my old trusty T42, I will not be buying this notebook. Nor will I be buying the Apple. Personally, I think the Apple is for people who know nothing about computers, but like either the style or are a bit arty-farty. Being a non-arty techie, I always loved the tough IBM laptop, and have been constatly been amazed and IBMs service in keeping them running. I have not owned a Lenovo and am not convinced they will be as good.

My next laptop will be a Panasonic Toughbook. Hopefully my experience will be as ood as that with IBM!

By: smallbox

smallbox — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 00:10:49 +0000

http://scam.com/showthread.php?p=498481

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:52:11 +0000

Well, while the IBM ThinkPad certainly gained a reputation for sturdy longevity, you will not be able to convince my service department of the reliability and longevity of the Lenovo ThinkPads. My service guys are simply overwhelmed with failing T61s… I will -not- grant road-warrior reliability status to the Lenovo X300 until there is -ample- evidence that it’s as strong a performer as the IBMs from which they are descended…

Sturdiness and longevity are characteristics that we do not have the evidence required to compare these two laptops… Get back to me in a year about this topic.

And yup, Dave, it would seem from my experience, that you’re right… We couldn’t get more than a quarter of our x60 users to buy (or use) an optical drive. There’s such a difference between full sized laptop users and small and ultra-portable buyers… Our T60/61 users don’t understand how you can use a laptop without an optical drive and our X60/61 users can’t understand why laptop users would want to carry around a device they use a rare fraction of the time?

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:09:58 +0000

Right!! No one ever installs software from a dvd drive these days.

By: Jai B

Jai B — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:44:31 +0000

Well, if you were to ask me, are you willing to subject a macbook air to severe physical punishment? Well, the rationale for buying a Thinkpad X300, or any Thinkpad for that matter, is not only to maximize your mobile computing experience. Any thinkpad is built to take any physical punishment known to a laptop. And the Thinkpad X300 clearly wins the battle in the ultraportable laptop wars. Because you’re paying US$3000 not only for the SSD, the slimmest DVDRW drive in the market today (the same i think with the Toshiba Portege, which has an integrated DVDRW drive), and for all the bling-bling that you could think of. You’re paying such huge amount because of the technology inside a Thinkpad that makes it popular not only to the business realm but also to anyone who want a sturdy, quality laptop. Yes, you heard me right, a rock solid laptop that will endure any punishment you throw to it.

By: benny

benny — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 12:46:59 +0000

It’s dog ugly and compromises speed and screen quality for a couple of USB ports and a DVD that noone will use.
Ah, the tables are turned … why all these compromises when you can also have a Macbook Air without compromises at all (pun intended).

By: Dan

Dan — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 19:09:50 +0000

…leave it to a Linux fan to stir up a fight where this isn’t one. (if that was just an attempt at sarcasm or humor , I’ll apologize now).

We weren’t extolling or debating the virtues of Mac versus Windows here; only discussing the merits of each laptop on it’s hardware.

A user is able to run Linux on either machine.

…so back to the topic?

By: Robbie

Robbie — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 13:01:01 +0000

stupid windows, stupid OS X, stupid fights over which is better. hey hey i know the answer. LINUX!

By: Dan

Dan — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 23:26:15 +0000

No question, that was the topic of the very first paragraph in my last post… Apple definitely made a questionable decision with the battery. They were willing to bet that ultra-portable users care more about squeezing every last millimeter of thickness more than they care about the utility of a replaceable battery.

Now to be technically accurate, in the long term, you -will- be able to change the battery… you’ll just need to take the unit to an Apple store. That doesn’t speak to the convenience of carrying an extra battery with you when you need a quick swap.

It’s a fair criticism of the iPhone and iPod as well, but the Air is certainly a -very- different animal and I don’t know how that battery/design issue will affect users or sales, long-term. I have little doubt that a market will pop up to provide people with replacement batteries and instructions about how to make the swap yourself… such businesses already exist to service iPod users, but even so, such a swap will require more effort, time, and surgery than just popping a battery off and throwing a fresh one on. Furthermore, its a safe bet that replacing a battery yourself will almost certainly void the warranty.

Maybe Apple is right to make that sacrifice, but I’m not clear on that topic, myself. It’s fair to criticize the unit for that…

By: chao

chao — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 20:25:11 +0000

Well, how about battery? After 2, 3 year, you wont be able to change your Air’s battery! It definitely a huge issue as a laptop!