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Gadgets Lenovo Announces ThinkPad X301 Notebook
Brandon Hill (Blog) - August 18, 2008 5:16 AM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 58 comment(s) - last by Cullinaire.. on Aug 20 at 11:53 AM
Lenovo upgrades its ThinkPad X300 ultra-portable

When Apple launched its MacBook Air 13.3” ultra-portable notebook earlier this year, it took the computing world by storm. The notebook didn’t impress people with high-end specifications or an overabundance of features or connectivity options – most were dazzled by the notebook’s sleek aluminum design/construction and slim profile.

Unbeknownst to most people, Lenovo was working on its own thin, lightweight ultra-portable of its own which it was aiming at the business sector (and comically at Apple’s MacBook Air). The Lenovo ThinkPad X300 launched in mid-February with a 1.2GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 13.3” LED-backlit display, 64GB solid state drive (SSD), optional built-in optical drive, and optional WWAN.

Lenovo is now ready to give its ThinkPad X300 a makeover in the form of the new ThinkPad 301. While the original ThinkPad X300 featured an ULV 1.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SL7100 processor, the new ThinkPad X301 will come equipped with either an ULV Intel Core 2 Duo U9300 (1.2GHz) or U9400 (1.4GHz) processor. Lenovo is also adding support for DDR3 memory.

The 64GB SSD remains standard equipment for storage duties, but an optional 128GB SSD is now on the options sheet for those that require more space. The ThinkPad X301 also supports DisplayPort and models coming later this year will also take advantage of WiMAX.

"Lenovo continues to push the technology envelope by giving road warriors the latest enhancements in solid state drive storage and digital display technologies with the new ThinkPad X301 notebook PC," said Sam Dusi, vice president, worldwide notebook product marketing for Lenovo. "This announcement extends our commitment to blending ultraportability and functionality, and equipping today’s business users with the most advanced, highest-performing computing tools."

The Lenovo ThinkPad X301 will start at $2,599 when it launches on August 26.

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By xNIBx on 8/18/2008 8:27:46 AM , Rating: 2
I was always a big fan of ibm(lenovo) laptops. This laptop seems to be the ultimate office on the go. People who are complaining about the cpu seem to ignore that we are talking about an ultra low voltage 45nm cpu with a 10w TDP . This will offer insane amount of battery life which is exactly what a "warrior on the road" needs.




By kelmon on 8/18/2008 9:12:24 AM , Rating: 2
No, I don't think we're ignoring this but I am personally wondering whether it is too much of a compromise. Ultimately, I need to get work done within an acceptable period of time so I don't want to be waiting for the computer to catch-up. If the laptop can keep up whilst maximising battery life then that's great, I'm just concerned that I'm going to be looking at the hourglass or unresponsive application more than I want to be.


By ss284 on 8/18/2008 9:55:09 AM , Rating: 2
Honestly, what the hell could you possibly doing that's CPU intensive on this laptop while on the plane?

All the MS office apps run great on SSD, and aren't CPU limited. I could understand some excel scripting taking some CPU power, but nothing a core2duo couldn't handle, even at these lower speeds. This laptop is for email, internet, word, powerpoint and watching the occasional DVD; just about everything a mobile professional does.

If you are doing anything else, its likely you need a different laptop, and no, the macbook air won't cut it.


By wien on 8/18/2008 10:48:58 AM , Rating: 2
A 1.4 C2D would beat the living crap out of your old P4. You won't be watching software decoded Blu-Ray movies at 1080p of course, but as long as you have enough memory these things are more than enough for basic office use (I have a 1.5GHz C2D Thinkpad myself).


By ss284 on 8/18/2008 10:59:39 AM , Rating: 2
I've worked on a dell m1330 with a t5250 (1.5 ghz) core2duo and it was more than enough for vista, even with aero. I did however, upgrade to a t7300(2.0 ghz) so I could software decode 1080p h.264 files over the hdmi out. I don't believe the average person, much less the average businessman would need to be decoding 1080p files on a 720p screen.

All in all, the speed should be sufficient, especially with a nice SSD for productivity apps.


By pauldovi on 8/18/2008 12:53:59 PM , Rating: 2
This laptop is not competitor to the MBP, it is a lot smaller than one. It is not designed to be a power house. Shop for a Lenovo T500, Dell M4400, or Dell E6500 if you want something that smashes the MBP.


By pauldovi on 8/18/2008 3:28:18 PM , Rating: 1
I am not sure about the MBP being perfect?

I mean, do you really like 6 bit screens that much?

http://img368.imageshack.us/img368/3676/laptopsver...


By Pirks on 8/18/2008 3:48:13 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
do you really like 6 bit screens that much?
All the other notebooks besides Macs use 6 bit screens too. So what?


By kelmon on 8/19/2008 2:56:39 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
I mean, do you really like 6 bit screens that much?


In an ideal world the screen would be of the same sort of quality as used in the LaCie and NEC monitors for photographic work. However, it's as good as you'll get with a laptop and it hasn't been turned glossy, which is always a plus. So, I guess the answer to your question is "yes".


By Pirks on 8/18/2008 3:31:25 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
nothing smashes the MBP
Woah, woah. If you never tried to run some pretty games like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. or Crysis on MBP - you better stop making those funny assumptions, okay?


By littlebitstrouds on 8/18/2008 6:11:40 PM , Rating: 3
I had a sharp um12w laptop with a pIII running at 1.0ghz and that thing flew with xp on it... because I kept it clean. Telling me you had a 1.6 Pentium 4 that was sluggish with xp tells me you don't know how to keep your computer running well, hence why you should buy an apple.

If apple fanbois spent half the time they spend reading propaganda and actually use that time to learn how to use windows, something tells me there wouldn't be so many fanbois.


By noirsoft on 8/19/2008 12:29:11 AM , Rating: 2
1) The Vista interface is as "elegant, beautiful and intuitive" as the MacOSX interface. Moreso, in my opinion. So was XP. It's all a matter of opinion: stop trying to pretend it isn't. They both work, and neither is "better" -- only "preferable" to an individual.

2) If you need to use the command prompt that much, you are probably better served with a Unix-based system. I am a software developer, and the total amount of time I have spent needing the CLI since XP came out is less than one hour. Yes, they should fix it, as it is a bit of a PR embarrasement, but it is rightfully low on the priority scale.

3) Default Vista user runs everything as a non-administrator. Or are you complaining that you want to type in your password (like on the Mac) instead of hitting "OK" for a UAC prompt?


By Pirks on 8/19/2008 4:03:37 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
The Vista interface is as "elegant, beautiful and intuitive" as the MacOSX interface.
Bullsh1t. Just try this: press F11 on a Mac and press Win-D on Vista. See now?
quote:
Default Vista user runs everything as a non-administrator
Unfortunately, if you have to make just one click in UAC dialog to become admin - you ARE admin.


By noirsoft on 8/19/2008 4:56:02 PM , Rating: 2
So your opinion is that pressing a completely un-mnemonic "f11" to see the desktop is more "intuitive" than pressing "Win+D(esktop)"? Or are you arguing that it is more "elegant" when using a keyboard shortcut to see all the animations?

Or maybe you are simply arguing that your desktop image is more "beautiful" than mine. I give up.

quote:
Unfortunately, if you have to make just one click in UAC dialog to become admin - you ARE admin.

That makes no logical sense. If I have to do something to become admin, then, by definition, I am not admin. Do you go around saying "If you have to paint something blue, then is was blue to begin with"? Is this some kind of Apple Zen philosophy that I need to get used to?

"If I have to patch a piece of software to make it work, then it was already working." That's deep, man.

Back to reality, the default user in Vista is an "administrator" by name, yes, but everything run by that user account is done so with the same permissions as a standard user. That is not the same as an XP administrator account or running things as root in Unix.


By Pirks on 8/19/2008 10:01:58 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
Or are you arguing that it is more "elegant" when using a keyboard shortcut to see all the animations?
Apparently you haven't noticed how ugly flickering Vista Aero is when you press Win-D twice (compare it with perfect smoothness of Mac OS X interface), and how it likes to mess up your window Z-order when you bring application windows back by pressing Win-D twice. Whatever. Windows lovers are always blind to Windows bugs and ugliness, this is 100% normal.
quote:
If I have to do something to become admin, then, by definition, I am not admin
That's just a formal definition that has nothing in common with sad reality - that is users quickly learning to blindly click through numerous annoying UAC dialogs, essentially behaving exactly the same way they behaved in XP with its infamous "admin by default" policy, which is the same in Vista. All those secutrity "improvements" quickly evaporated when tested by real life, just like many other MS "ideas" that sounded gorgeous and sexy in theory... but fell flat just like UAC did :)

P.S. hey I can also list a couple of the same brain dead totally fcked up "features" in Mac OS X (windows resizable only by the corner, lack of maximize button for every window, lack of folder sharing in Tiger, etc etc) but I feel like poking MS today, sorry :)

In the end Mac OS X is not less braindead and stupid than Vista, it's just some tradeoffs, where Mac OS X wins in UI elegance and polish - it loses and falls flat when we start talking about functionality and comfort. Which is not going to stop my complaints about certain manifestations of Vista ugliness :)