Review: A couple of weeks using the Lenovo ThinkPad x300 notebook
The nut: The Lenovo ThinkPad X300 is a no-compromise ultra-light laptop that weighs just 3.3 pounds (or less if you ditch the optical drive), but the famous ThinkPad industrial design is getting a bit long in the tooth.
What a difference just a couple of pounds can make. I regularly hold my 15-inch MacBook Pro with one hand as I carry it around, but there's always a bit of nervous mindfulness necessary. Drop two pounds, from 5.4 pounds to the Lenovo ThinkPad X300's 3.3 pounds, and suddenly moving the laptop around with one hand is no longer an exercise is risk management. There's no worry that the X300 will slip out of a sweaty grip, especially since its matte plastic surface is easier to hold than Apple's aluminum.
Unlike the MacBook Air, its closest rival, the X300 includes an optical drive and a higher resolution 1,440-by-900 pixel LED-backlit display. If weight is a factor, you could even ditch the six-cell battery for a three-cell (which is what my test unit had) and leave the optical drive out entirely, taking the weight down to 2.9 pounds. Or the best option for those who spend lots of time away from power: the six-cell internal battery coupled with an additional battery that fits into the optical drive bay.
The X300 is priced to move...into your stately manse. Depending on configuration, the X300 costs around three grand. All that engineering wasn't cheap, it seems, putting a fully kitted X300 at almost twice the price of the MacBook Air.
But the target buyer for the X300 is the same business traveler at which previous ThinkPads have been aimed. As the diesel Mercedes of the laptop world, ThinkPads have never been the low-cost option. Yet while the X300 is a marvelous bit of engineering — there's not only a touchpad but the infamous ThinkPad pointing nubbin around the full-sized, extremely typeable keyboard, for instance — the slapdash industrial design of the ThinkPad line is showing its age. The big blue Enter key, the garish diagonal "ThinkPad" logo in the lower right corner, the chintzy Windows and Intel badges, the exposed case latches when opened — all of these add up to make the X300 feel like a ThinkPad, which was of course the intention, but I can't help but question if it's time for Lenovo to start phasing out the anachronisms of the IBM era. (Their upcoming U110 laptop looks more like a modern ThinkPad than the modern ThinkPads, to my eye.)
As for a computer to take camping, the X300 is a great solution in most ways. It's light. Its built-in EVDO modem got a signal from what was probably at least a couple of miles away from the nearest tower despite no external antenna. (I'm guessing on range, be warned.) It had great battery life even with just the three-cell battery, chugging through 1xRTTT (and sometimes EVDO, depending on which way the wind was blowing) and standard web browsing, photo editing, and chatting for almost three hours. Its case, however, didn't take to being thrown in a bag along with other plastic and metal fear very well, netting several scrapes and even some chipped plastic near the front edge. That was surprising, but understandable — a properly ruggedized laptop would weigh several pounds more than an ultra-light business portable. And fortunately, it's all cosmetic.
Still, that does bring up a noteworthy point: at this size and weight, the X300 is just the sort of computer you'll want to toss into a backpack or shoulder bag without concern. (The greatest selling point of the Asus Eee is its nigh-on disposable nature.) But at three large, the X300 costs too much to be handled roughly. You'll want to keep it in a soft wrap or separate compartment, typical care-and-feeding for larger laptops, but a bit of a disappointment for something this lightweight.
A couple of final thoughts: The built-in Verizon EVDO modem worked well — I especially liked Verizon's decision to activate the EVDO without a subscription to allow remote sign-up for service — but I wonder why Verizon still hasn't implemented a day- or week-long pass for a fee. Well, I know why: the want subscription money, still caught up in the cellphone model. But for integrated EVDO modems that can't be transferred to other devices, I don't feel comfortable signing up for two-year contracts. Instead, Verizon should offer a reasonably priced pass system that lets mobile users buy a day or a week at a time. I'd gladly spend $30 for a week of EVDO service each time I went on a trip rather than buying Wi-Fi service piecemeal.
Perhaps my favorite feature of the X300 is one that won't matter to most: its screen can be cocked back flat [pictured!], making it possible to put the keyboard on your keys while lying in bed but still face the screen head on. I wish all laptop manufacturers would add a few more degrees of incline to their designs. It really gives you quite a bit more freedom in how you hold and use the laptop, which makes moving around and staying comfortable much easier over long computing sessions.
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Did yours have the 60GB solid-state drive? That, for me, has been the biggest revelation: the thing boots like lightning, and I'm continually being re-amazed that I can do stuff like toss it on the couch while it's up & running, without having to worry about the non-existent hard drive crashing.
Note that I happen to have a job where I get to play with kewl new toys like the X300; ain't no way I'd ever pay $2700 for a freaking laptop (not in 2008, anyway). But count me firmly in the camp of those that believe that solid-state drives are game-changing in a way that few other laptop-hardware innovations have been lately. Can't wait til the price drops into mere-mortal territory.
Nope, no solid state, unfortunately. Just a plain ol' SATA drive. We've got another couple of years before the SSDs really take over, but yeah, I agree. Now they just need to cook up shatter-proof screens!
Joel,
I believe that the X300 is only available with an SSD. Unless you swapped it or got a special system I would double check that...
What's not to like about the spare, faintly-menacing work machine design of the classic Thinkpad?
I love them - the Thinkpads indicate that they are there to do serious stuff - not just look white and ethereal in a designer's 'atelier'
Damn, another positive review, now I am wanting this expensive gem even more.
But what's infamous about the legendary trackpoint - for those who do 10-finger typing it's the most useful pointing device because we don't have to move our hands away from the keyboard to move the mouse. It's one of the many reasons why I love thinkpads.
I cannot speak to the quality of Lenovo's laptops, but I can say that their customer service is a JOKE. I placed an order for a ThinkPad only to find out it wouldn't be ready for 1 month. I've been trying to cancel the order for 2 weeks and am having the most trouble. I had to cancel it twice (apparently the first person didn't finish the cancellation), and they have been holding $1500 from my credit card this entire time. Your first point of contact is always India, and after holding for however long it takes to get there, you have to wait again while they transfer you back to the US for someone who can actually do something. I could not imagine myself living with this customer service for the life of my laptop. You should think about it, too. After canceling, I ordered a MacBook and had it within 5 days. I have never been a mac person, but that company has got their s$%t together. It speaks volumes.