Lenovo ThinkPad X300

The newest addition to the ThinkPad X series incorporates the best of the MacBook Air (13.3 inch display, full size keyboard, thickness less than one inch) with the best of the Portege R500 (solid state hard drive, thorough selection of ports) while also adding its own great features, such as a built in DVD burner, WWAN connectivity, and GPS.

The X300's ThinkPad DNA is evident in its instantly recognizable black, square edged case, but at 0.73 inch thick and weighing anywhere from 2.9 pounds to 3.5 pounds (depending on your battery and optical drive choices), it's simply the sleekest ThinkPad yet. The biggest criticism of the ThinkPad X300 is its price the base configuration costs $2,476 and goes up from there. But innovative design, thorough features, and cutting edge components don't come cheap, and the ThinkPad X300 is truly unique in its balance of portability and usability.

Specification

• Price as reviewed or starting price $2,936- $2,476
• Processor 1.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SL7100
• Memory 2GB of 667MHz
• Hard drive 64GB solid state drive
• Graphics Intel GMA X3100 (integrated)
• Operating System Windows XP Professional
• Dimensions (WDH) 12.5 x 9.1 x 0.73 inches
• Screen size (diagonal) 13.3 inches
• System weight, Weight with AC adapter 3.4 - 4.0 pounds
• Category ultraportable
  

Aside from the laptop's dimensions, the design changes with the ThinkPad X300 have been incremental. The ultraportable still features a rectangular black case built around a magnesium chassis.

There's still a blue ThinkVantage button above the keyboard, a fingerprint reader below it, and a keyboard light on the top edge of the display. However, ThinkPad fans will notice small changes that make the X300 a bit more attractive.

The lid and wrist rest feature an appealing soft matte finish the ThinkVantage, power, and mute buttons glow when pressed and the front edge is devoid of any ports or switches.

In addition to the keyboard light, the ThinkPad X300's display bezel includes a 1.3 megapixel Webcam and a noise canceling digital microphone for Web conferencing. The matte finish display itself features a 1,440x900 native resolution that's sharper than that of the MacBook Air and other similarly sized screens, resulting in text and icons that are a bit smaller than you'd expect.

The sharper resolution doesn't cause tremendous problems, though we did find ourselves pumping up the font size on a newspaper's Web site so we could read a lengthy article. We also zoomed in a bit when working on documents and spreadsheets. The trade off, more screen real estate for multitasking and, when it's time for a break, beautiful video. Given the amount of typing the typical executive does through the course of the work day, a keyboard can make or break an ultraportable.

The ThinkPad X300 actually uses the same keyboard found on Lenovo's 14 and 15 inch models which is to say, not the condensed keyboard found on previous X series models and many ultraportable laptops from other manufacturers. After conducting an entire morning's work and writing this review on the ThinkPad X300, we still don't feel like we've been typing on a laptop. We love it.

Lenovo decided to include both the red eraser head TrackPoint pointing stick and a touch pad on the ThinkPad X300. The decision is understandable many ThinkPad users are viscerally attached to their TrackPoints, while other users can't stand it, so why not include both methods? However, the double sets of mouse buttons seem to run counter to the overall theme of simplification that the ThinkPad X300 embodies.

In order to make room for the TrackPoint's buttons, the touch pad is placed rather low on the wrist rest, with its buttons near the laptop's front edge. Fortunately, the ThinkPad X300 is thin enough that we could use the touch pad with our wrist resting on a desk surface or on our leg, when the laptop was in our lap. Of greater concern is the fact that, during our lazier typing moments when our wrists dropped to the wrist rest, we were likely to graze the touch pad and accidentally misplace the cursor.