Macbook Air vs. Just leaked Thinkpad x300

[ruutiveijari]

According to Gizmodo, the weight is up to 3.17 lbs. Which, I believe, puts it heavier than the MPA?

Lenovo's always have a choice between a normal battery and a heavy use. Normal usually lasts about 4-6 hours (and weighs very little) and heavy use normally 8-10 hours and weighs a bit more. So the smaller weight is with a normal battery and 3.17lbs is with the heavy use.

So the Lenovo is lighter than the MBA.

 

[r00]

I was actually considering waiting for the X300... $2500 for a 1.2GHz C2D... NO THANKS! I'll stick with my air that's thinner and faster.

 

[McGiord]

A Mac is Mac no matter what.
________
Toyota C engine

 

[ahaxton]

I will never spend that much money on something so ugly. I would have never bought a BMW if it looked like a Honda Element or a Toyota Prius, no matter how good the insides are.

Plus I've gotten to like the whole manufacturer creating and supporting both the hardware and software.

 

[Roba]

I wish that Apple would have come out with something similar to this. I also don't think the Thinkpads are ugly having seen one i do quite like the look of them.
I don't understand this thinness obsession. Who really cares if something is a little bit thinner. Weight is really the most important thing. Both of these laptops both have a full sized keyboard so you cannot use that argument. I am just looking at the hardware here and not the operating system.

The x300 will have a 3/4 cell and a 6 cell battery. The battery that is currently used in the MBA is rated as a 6 cell battery because it has about 5800mah.

The MBA is not using a ULV processor. The processor that will be usd in the x300 is a ULV processor which should give it better battery life than the MBA. With a 6 cell battery Lenovo state that you should get up to 10 hours of battery life but that waits to be seen. I would rather take the better battery life.
The 1.2 ULV processor will not make it slow but the 1.8 HD that is used in the MBA might slow things down a little.

Still though ideally i would have liked the 1.8 ULV variant to have been used in both of these laptops. I would have also have liked to have seen an SD card slot in the x300 or something along those lings but i guess with 3 USB ports you can always buy an external SD card reader but for ease i would have prefered that they would have added one. It is good though that Lenovo offer the optical drive as a choice and the x300 offers greater connectivity and it is priced quite a bit lower than the the MBA.

 

[newmaclover]

Roba, won't the 1.2 in the x300 be way slower than the 1.8 in the MPA? The x300 should have a 5400rpm hard disk (at least one will be available according to the specs), but is that even enough to run multiple windows of office, firefox, picasa, streaming cnn, etc? i've never seen a 1.2 in action so idon't know.

 

[chrisbeebops]

Roba, won't the 1.2 in the x300 be way slower than the 1.8 in the MPA? The x300 should have a 5400rpm hard disk (at least one will be available according to the specs), but is that even enough to run multiple windows of office, firefox, picasa, streaming cnn, etc? i've never seen a 1.2 in action so idon't know.

Of course it will be slower. But people aren't buying laptops like this for good multitasking and raw performance. They are buying them for maximum portability and battery life.

If you are just running like Office + Mail + iChat + iTunes + Safari you aren't going to notice much difference between 1.2Ghz, 1.8Ghz and 10Ghz*, simply because these applications combined do not require anywhere near 100% cpu power. You are only going to notice a difference when running processor/graphics intensive applications like Photoshop, XCode (compiling times), 3D Modeling, etc, which actually can use 100% cpu when running.

*Obviously there is no 10Ghz processors on the market. I'm just putting that out there to stress my point.

 

[Catch]

I am just looking at the hardware here and not the operating system.

Let me know how that works out for you... We don't live in a world where 'what ifs' pay the bills. If you want small and OSX you have very little choice.

Personally, if I was happy using Vista I would not be on this site.

Regards,

C

 

[Roba]

In my experience it is usually the HD and ram that is the most crucial thing in speeding up a laptops performance. The x300 can support up to 4GB of ram and it will have a 5400 Sata HD available as an option also.

Neither of these laptops are designed for power users.

If you just intend to do email, MS Office, music and stuff like that on your computer then you will not even notice a difference between any of these processors except the ULV processor should give you better battery life which would be more ideal for travellers.

Just looking at the different processors generally the people that may notice a difference is those who intend to do more intensive stuff with their notebook but i doubt that most people who buy the MBA intend to do anything to intensive with it. It was intended to be used a second laptop and for those who travel.

Even though a higher CPU is nice whether ULV or a more standard C2D i have looked at my useage and i multi task a lot on my computer and do stuff like word processing, iTunes, download pics from my camera etc and i usually hover around 8-10% useage of my current 2.2ghz processor and i never go up to half. I know i probably would not notice a difference. Both of these processors have a 800mhz bus.

Looking at the different processors used it is people who really intend to use their computer in a more intense manner that may notice a difference. I doubt that they would notice a speed difference though. With the lacks of ports and the graphics card that is used anyway in both of these laptops they may well find themselves limited in other ways anyway.


Edited to add:
Catch i just read your post above i know what you are saying and i know that those who cannot use anything but Mac OSX have no other choice but i was putting that to one side and just looking at the hardware. Btw, i am not really interested in purchasing the x300 for myself.

Roba, won't the 1.2 in the x300 be way slower than the 1.8 in the MPA? The x300 should have a 5400rpm hard disk (at least one will be available according to the specs), but is that even enough to run multiple windows of office, firefox, picasa, streaming cnn, etc? i've never seen a 1.2 in action so idon't know.

 

[newmaclover]

Roba, Your posts are the best! So heplful. I'm still trying to figure out if I should purchase the MPA or not. I only do office tasks -- I keep 10 windows of email, excel, outlook, work, and firefox open. BUT I also like to stream cnn video. i'm at 97% to 100& cpu usage on my pentium m 1.6 ghz 2 ram dell d600. it's driving my crazy since the video freezes up. can i get away with the mpa since i don't do any graphic intensive video editing or photo editing? thansk! (i also use skype video to chat w/ family abroad.)

 

[Roba]

newmaclover based on what you have written i think that you would be ok with the MBA. The x3100 graphics card is a integrated card but this card should be able to cope with what you intend to use your laptop for.

 

[ij3ffy]

I don't think its ugly, its simple, functional.
Nothing wrong with that, and I can see how it appeals to others. Sometimes I wish apple would try a little less harder on looks, and a little bit more on functionality. MB Air is nice, don't get me wrong. I like it. But 1 usb port? I would sacrifice 1/16 of an inch for another..

 

[Techguy172]

I think as long as the CPU is powerful enough for simple tasks then it will be fine for the people using these computers but it will be that horrible hard drive that will be slow I think the Lenovo will beat the air because of a "real" Hard drive and up to 4 GB's of ram that's why it will be fast.

 

[Catch]

I think as long as the CPU is powerful enough for simple tasks then it will be fine for the people using these computers but it will be that horrible hard drive that will be slow I think the Lenovo will beat the air because of a "real" Hard drive and up to 4 GB's of ram that's why it will be fast.

Vista v. OSX. How can it 'beat' the MBA? They are in two different markets...

You want Vista buy the Lenovo. You want OSX, buy the MBA. It really is very simple if you think about it...

C

 

[hexonxonx]

That ThinkPas is all fine and good, if you don't mind going back to a Windows machine. I'm trying to avoid that and eventually never use one again. I don't have to use Windows laptops in my job thankfully. I still have two at home that hopefully will be replaced by MBP and possibly an Air.

 

[iTeen]

i like the thinkpad

 

[BWhaler]

But the MBA with SSD is at that price range. And the X300 is lighter, smaller, faster.

And runs Windows.

And there, my friend, is the rub.

 

[Mikebuzzsaw]

Bottom line is, if IBM ran Leopard, I'd buy it. Since it doesn't, MBA is what I bought.

 

[ahaxton]

Personally I think the MBA SSD is a better deal than this Thinkpad. If it ran Leopard I still wouldn't.

 

[stevegmu]

It looks like a crappy laptop I had in the mid 90's.

 

[ahaxton]

It looks like a crappy laptop I had in the mid 90's.

I remember the thinkpad commercials from back then. God did I hate them back then, probably even more now.

 

[dsnort]

I think there's something fishy here!!!

Okay, I just saw the leaked specs on the Lenovo Thinkpad x300. I was kind of shocked at how much the X300 outclasses the Macbook Air (lighter, faster, smaller footprint, optical drive, lots of ports, removable battery, also SSD and only a smidgen thicker).

I am really depressed to see just how inferior the mac turns out to be. Consolation - the Lenovo is as ugly as ever.

Here is a link or two
http://gizmodo.com/346797/ultralight-lenovo-x300-series-thinkpad-leaked
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4213

Here are the specs:
* Display: 13.3" widescreen WXGA+ (1440 x 900) display, LED backlit
* Processor Chipset: Intel Santa Rosa 2.0GHz LV
* Storage: 64GB SSD
* Wireless: Bluetooth, 802.11 a/b/g/n, Wireless USB, WWAN, WiMax, GPS
* Optical Drive: Ultrathin DVD Burner (7mm)
* Memory: up to 4G
* Dimensions: 12.5 in (width) 9 in (depth) x 0.73 in - 0.92 in (thickness)
* Ports: 3 USB ports, Mic in, Headphone out, VGA Adapter, built-in web camera, stereo speakers
* Input: ThinkPad keyboard with TrackPoint, touchpad
* Battery: 3-cell Lithium-Polymer

How on earth do they fit a 13.3" display into a comp that is not 13" in any dimension?

 

[Jaffa Cake]

How on earth do they fit a 13.3" display into a comp that is not 13" in any dimension?

The MacBook doesn't have any dimension that's 13"+ either, according to it's specs page. The monitor dimension is measured on the diagonal, the width of the computer itself is measured straight across.

 

[David G.]

I think there's something fishy here!!!

How on earth do they fit a 13.3" display into a comp that is not 13" in any dimension?

13.3 Diagonal vs. 12.5 horizontal.

 

[ahaxton]

Not like it matters, the leaked specs aren't true for what you will actually be able to buy. CPU is a big difference right from the bat.