Mossberg Reviews the Lenovo X300 Vs. MacBook Air

genji256 writes "Adding to his first impressions, Walt Mossberg has published a full review of the soon-to-come Lenovo X300. As a bottom line he 'recommends the X300 for road warriors without hesitation, provided they can live with its two biggest downsides: a relatively paltry file-storage capacity and a hefty price tag.' Gizmodo lists all the comparisons with the MacBook Air that Walt inevitably makes. Final score: it's a tie, though certain points are arguable ('Doesn't use Mac OS X Leopard. Winner: MacBook Air')."

Re:Why compare?

[CastrTroy]

Which OS [osx86project.org] would that be?

Re:Why compare?

[0100010001010011]

OSX86 is a nice little hobby, but for someone that wants a full working computer it's annoying. Even people building from computers scratch using 'ideal' components can't always get things working perfectly (eg, Me). Laptops it's even harder to find drivers, etc. Oh sure it'll run, but sleep won't work. Sound is flaky and wireless won't work. Especially considering there might not even be OS X WiMax drivers.

Should should go look at one in person

[SuperKendall]

The X300 is like a tank, the Air like a sculpture, one is purpose built to get the job done, the other is purpose built to woo the eyes.

Have you ever held one? The Air is quite solid, for something so thin. I would have no hesitation lugging one around in a backpack ad not having to worry about treating it gently.

I really don't see the advantage here...

[ogl_codemonkey]

I'm really not sure I see the advantage of this point:
  Has USB Wireless. Winner: Lenovo X300.

Missing are Fujitsu's lightweigh Lifebooks

[postbigbang]

I usually use Mac portables, but the ultra-lightweight, while a decided gift, also means reduced functionality. I don't want to load my stuff via a wireless connnection; it's slow and ties up the resources used.

The Lenovo when compared to the MB Air SSD version comes out nearly the same in price as might be expected, and for good Cost-of-Goods reasons.

But if you want to use a Fujitsu Lifebook, you can get a tablet-based notebook, airline usable, all the ports and guts, and a reasonably decent (Lenovo and Apple are known for theirs, sorry Dell users) and run whatever you want if it's Windows or Linux Something.

It's very cute and sexy, and if that's why you buy Apple, you'll be happy. Still, it's a stunted machine, and the Lenovo, while pretty cool, is pretty expensive, too. The Lifebook ain't cheap, but it's a contender here.

Re:Tie doesn't seem quite right - battery, process

[rjmars97]

Personally, I'd take my Thinkpad X61s over either of those. Much cheaper, faster, and (the deciding factor for me) 10 hours of battery life. The small size increase of the X61s is trivial to me when I can get MUCH longer battery. Stock OS does not matter to me either, as I use Gentoo on all of my machines.

Re:Why compare?

[p0tat03]

Oh come on, way to let zealotry get ahead of you. OSx86 is a hack project, not a stable distribution of any OS. One has enough trouble just getting the most basic functions to run, even with a machine spec'ed to emulate Mac hardware. Getting OS X running on run of the mill generic hardware is EXTREMELY difficult.

Mod parent down. It's like suggesting a Vista install for a Pentium 300. I'm sure with enough hackery you can get it to work, but the results will NOT be professional, nor will it be stable, and in any case it's far beyond the abilities of your average user - or even your average power user.

Okay So then get a macbook

[goombah99]

You are comparing the Lenovo to the wrong machine. For tour usage pattern, you discount thickness and weight, but like more screen, built-in ports and a DVD. Why not get a macbook pro? But in that fight the Lenovo really takes a dive.

Re:Reviews for Macbook air are strangely high

[Saint Fnordius]

Of course, the fact that it's more expensive to make things lighter and smaller doesn't register, nor the metal versus polycarbonate case. Or other little things like the automatic adjustment to meet ambient lighting conditions, or the quality of the screen...

The price of the MacBook Air doesn't surprise me. To make something that thin and yet so sturdy takes a lot of R&D, a lot of precision engineering that the more basic MacBook doesn't require.