Has Lenovo created the “perfect” laptop?

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holdrege · #31 Post by **holdrege** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 11:57 pm

My biggest problem is that I can't find a store that stocks them. I would pay a hefty premium over list price if I could just find someone to sell me an X300!

It would be the perfect notebook for me if the X300 was generally available.

pianowizard · #32 Post by **pianowizard** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 7:55 am

gunston wrote:because of business competitiveness nowadays, many parts and quality had compromised due to cost reduction .

Don't expect the similar quality similar to the old IBM models.

It's just getting cheaper and cheaper to build a good laptop. Remember that back in the 90s, even the crappiest Dell could cost thousands of dollars. Nowadays, the Dell Lattitude laptops are excellent in quality even though the prices are much lower.

pim wrote:I hope Lenovo designs an ultraportable 11" (or so) with all the connectivity, external ODD AND a "fullsize" butterfly keyboard. And who needs a trackpad on a Thinkpad?

There is an 11.1" Lenovo laptop, the Ideapad Y110. I don't know what features it has though.

cj3209 wrote:Here's the Panny R7:
http://icube.us/product_detail.cfm/prod ... /CF-R7.cfm

PROS: 2 lbs, 10.4" LCD (NOT widescreen)

But it only has 1024x768 resolution.

cj3209 wrote:Or how about the Panny Y7 (in metallic blue - ooh...):
http://icube.us/product_detail.cfm/prod ... /CF-Y7.cfm

14.1" SXGA+ (NON WIDE-SCREEN) at 3.3 lbs WITH a DVD-RW drive...

Before seeing an actual unit, I too thought it was a near-perfect laptop. But when I finally had a chance to play with one, it was quite a let-down, mainly because the material looked and felt cheap. And 3.3 lbs is still heavier than the X300's 3.13 lbs. Also, one cannot remove the optical drive from the Y7, whereas that's possible for the X300, further reducing its weight to 2.93 lbs. 2.93 would feel noticeably lighter than 3.3.

amardeep wrote:I guess the major selling point of the X300 is the small size with an included optical drive

For me, the major selling point is that it's the first 13.3" laptop with 1440x900 resolution. All other currently available 13.3" laptops (e.g. the Macbook, the Dell m1330, etc.) only have 1280x800.

ulrich.von.lich · #33 Post by **ulrich.von.lich** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 10:04 am

It's what I like about the X300: I'll be feeling like using a T series ThinkPad while it actually has only the weight of a X series ThinkPad.

And it also has all the features of a thin-and-light notebook: cool, quiet, long battery life and excellent connectivity. The first three factors are evidently as a result of the ULV processor. And as such, I don't think a dock port is even necessary since the X300 is not designed to be used as a desktop.

It's probably just a personal perference but I find the regular X too small to use. I have two 14" T series ThinkPad because I like their size and full-sized keyboard. But sometimes I do find them too heavy to be carried around in my bag. I've always been wanting a lighter but not too much smaller ThinkPad, and the X300 has filled the space that until now was empty.

Radioguy · #34 Post by **Radioguy** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 10:31 am

nonny wrote:Well, no, it doesn't bother me. You're the one that declared that IBM always made it pure black. I just showed you that that was not true. And on the fabled 600X, no less.

Well, I never actually used the word pure...

nonny wrote:The Lenovo logo on the lid is small and discreet. Many of the pictures that I've seen still have the plastic protection in place on the logo which gives it a silver look, and it shows up as being larger and more visible than it really is. Once I took that plastic off the one I have, the black logo blends in with the black background quite discreetly.

Now, would I prefer it not be there? Yes, if they wanted their logo on the lid, I would have preferred that it be incorporated in the existing logo above or below the word ThinkPad (and smaller than Thinkpad, too). But is it a reason not to like the X300? Not in my opinion.

In my opinion, yes, it's one of the reasons, but again, I do like it better than of the competitors, just not the other current X models.

I know you have one in hand, but here are two pictures on which I'm basing my judgement. They illustrate how large that logo is in comparison to the older TP logo:

http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/9950/x3009dx0.jpg
(yes, I know about the perspective, but look at it in relation to the corner, and not the TP logo)

http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/1004 ... 529ht4.jpg
(Further away, but shows the scale better. It's bigger, and it annoys me)

Now, for height, the Lenovo logo is shorter, but the width is a killer for me. Any additional branding there would be annoying anyhow, but "small and discreet" it is not.

For a collector, this shouldn't sway anyone, and for someone not just looking for eyecandy, this is minor. However, one of the reasons I love ThinkPads is the look, and this new change, more than removing the IBM logo, or red stripes, is an annoying departure from series style. Considering they actually brought back the red stripes, this large branding is an amazing break with TP design. I'd sooner lose the red stripes, but that's my opinion.

I agree totally on your latter point. I'd rather they do a revision incorporating their corporate logo into the TP one and dropping the "letter/series" part of it.

Hell, if I had my druthers, I'd have them bring back the ridged letters instead of a flat plastic sticker, but I'd settle for the rest.

beq · #35 Post by **beq** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 11:13 pm

milstein wrote:I was considering also the Toshiba R500 due to its light weight
But I found that the screen and the keyboard of Toshiba R500 have a great deal of flex... I saw that here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gKMchnIfWM

Informative video, is that Andrew from NotebookReview.com?

The X300 seems to be on the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of strength and rigidity...

pianowizard · #36 Post by **pianowizard** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 8:29 am

beq wrote:The X300 seems to be on the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of strength and rigidity...

I had the Toshiba Portege R100 for about a year and the display lid was incredibly soft. Toshiba had to sacrifice build quality to achieve such light weights (2.4 lb for the R100, and under 2 lb for the R500). I'm glad that Lenovo is able to keep their X300 pretty light without making similar sacrifices.

radioactif · #37 Post by **radioactif** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 12:27 pm

pianowizard wrote:
beq wrote:The X300 seems to be on the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of strength and rigidity...
I had the Toshiba Portege R100 for about a year and the display lid was incredibly soft. Toshiba had to sacrifice build quality to achieve such light weights (2.4 lb for the R100, and under 2 lb for the R500). I'm glad that Lenovo is able to keep their X300 pretty light without making similar sacrifices.

I think that it's another choice of strength Toshiba made. It's flexy, yes, but to an extent that allows it to resist some strong shocks.

asiafish · #38 Post by **asiafish** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 6:21 pm

They really nailed it on this one. Fast enough, long battery life, no ergonomic compromises.

While the hardware totally outclasses the MacBook Air. The ONLY reason I'm NOT buying an X300 is that I've just had it with Windows, Linux is not an option (need NATIVE MS Word) and as a result OS X is the only viable OS for me.

BillMorrow wrote:i think the current technology limits what can be done to make the display use all the available width and height..

lets face it, theres a small antenna farm in this lid and its very very thin..

while i would like more display real estate i would want an IPS display as much..

so given that a larger display is probably not possible at this moment in time an IPS display should be available..

perfect..?
nothing is, but VERY close in most all criteria..

quiet and long battery life..
silky finish and the usual great keyboard..
and for those who complain about the touchpad, it is very nice being almost flush with the palmrest and it can be turned off in the bios (which is what i did)..
this X300 is simply a slick thinkpad..
smooth..
gosh, what DO you guys want in an ultra portable that this will not provide.. ?

:parrot:

qviri · #39 Post by **qviri** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 10:43 pm

asiafish wrote:The ONLY reason I'm buying an X300 is that I've just had it with Windows, Linux is not an option (need NATIVE MS Word) and as a result OS X is the only viable OS for me.

Have you considered running Linux with a VM running Windows and Word? With Fusion-esque Unity features, you get all the never worrying about Windows as well as the ability to run whatever Windows software you please.

asiafish · #40 Post by **asiafish** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 12:19 am

As a working attorney, I need to be able to just turn it on and have it work. No linux and VM for me as I'd spend more time tinkering than actually working. Little things like watching DVD movies, syncing my iTunes and iPod and getting all of the hardware to work without fuss just isn't there in Linux unless you put in a whole lot of time and effort, which I just am not willing to do.

There is no need to do any of that, I just boot up my Mac and have native MS Word.

Greg Gebhardt · #41 Post by **Greg Gebhardt** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 6:17 am

If given a choice, I think I would still rather have a full size 15" screen model like the T61p with LED lighting and 128GB SSD.

13" is just too small and I know from owning a 13" screen, that I would spend half my time scrolling around on the screen to see what I want.

I would love to have the LED and SSD but not at the cost of screen real estate!

pianowizard · #42 Post by **pianowizard** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 7:41 am

Greg Gebhardt wrote:13" is just too small and I know from owning a 13" screen, that I would spend half my time scrolling around on the screen to see what I want.

Whether or not you need to scroll depends on the number of pixels on the screen, not the surface area per se. All previously available 13.3" screens had either 1024x768 (e.g. the 600/600E/600X) or 1280x800 (e.g. the Macbook or the Dell XPS m1330) resolution. The X300 has 1440x900, meaning you won't have to scroll as much.

Weez · #43 Post by **Weez** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 10:07 am

Well I had my first opportunity to play with a new x300 and i can say its a awesome machine and happy i bought it but the one caveat is the LCD bezel, i know its been discussed in other posts but that is going to take some getting used to.

#44 Post by **erik** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 10:28 am

pianowizard wrote:All previously available 13.3" screens had either 1024x768 (e.g. the 600/600E/600X) or 1280x800 (e.g. the Macbook or the Dell XPS m1330) resolution.

although 0.4" larger, don't forget the 770Z with the rare 13.7" SXGA (1280x1024) panel.

pianowizard · #45 Post by **pianowizard** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 12:30 pm

erik wrote:although 0.4" larger, don't forget the 770Z with the rare 13.7" SXGA (1280x1024) panel.

Interesting, I always thought that one was 14.1". But if you round it off, it becomes 14"!

#46 Post by **erik** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 1:08 pm

iirc most of them were 14.1" XGA. mine was a 13.7" SXGA. thinking about it brings back fond memories of what was one of the first high-density hi-res notebook displays.

w0qj · #47 Post by **w0qj** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 3:51 pm

X300 is pretty close to a perfect laptop for people on the move...

-need ExpressCard slot (for mobile card broadband modems for REAL portable computing), and

-docking station?

But it has all you really need in such a small package, and finally including an optical drive!

RaysMD · #48 Post by **RaysMD** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 4:28 pm

Well, I have one on order. I thought the initial T40, T41, and T42 were the best Thinkpads that I have ever owned. Light and long battery life.

The X300 brings it to a new level. I do hope that Lenovo makes a X300p or TX00 series that incorporates some of the features from the X300.

Ideally, a X300p would include a more powerful processor and 2.5" hard drives. I'm sure they would sell a bunch of X300p by making it slightly thicker to accomodate the cheaper hard drive. Target this at the macbook at around $1400 is it'll sell like hotcakes.

dr_st · #49 Post by **dr_st** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 6:19 am

w0qj wrote:-need ExpressCard slot (for mobile card broadband modems for REAL portable computing), and

-docking station?

Yeah, these are the two biggest deal-breakers (1.2GHz ULV is the third, but I hope it will be available with 1.8GHz LV at some point).

sayagain · #50 Post by **sayagain** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 12:37 am

dr_st wrote:
w0qj wrote:-need ExpressCard slot (for mobile card broadband modems for REAL portable computing), and

-docking station?
Yeah, these are the two biggest deal-breakers (1.2GHz ULV is the third, but I hope it will be available with 1.8GHz LV at some point).

Mobile broadband is included in some models as an internal mini-Pci-Express card, and if not, you can buy it on eBay or from Lenovo and add it yourself. It is much better than using ExpressCard/PCMCIA as you get to use the excellent antenna that's built-in to the X300's screen (higher speeds when you've got full-reception), plus the internal card is much more power-efficient, too, which leads to longer battery life.

That said, very few people need ExpressCard/PCMCIA for non-Broadband purpose (specialty equipment (storage/comm/graphics), very uncommon).

As for the docking station - Lenovo has announced a USB-Docking-Station in a form of Box-of-Ports, due on April-2008.

dr_st: the built-in broadband works well in Israel, too. Just make sure to get the HSDPA/AT&T type for "Cellcom" or 'Orange", as I am not sure if the EV-DO/CDMA2000 can be unlocked to work with "Pelephone"

asiafish · #51 Post by **asiafish** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 12:54 am

Where any USB docking falls flat ia video. It needs real docking with real DVI and (hopefully not or) VGA.

The lack of docking is my biggest complaint about Mac laptops.

sayagain · #52 Post by **sayagain** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 1:26 am

asiafish wrote:Where any USB docking falls flat ia video. It needs real docking with real DVI and (hopefully not or) VGA.

The lack of docking is my biggest complaint about Mac laptops.

Erik wrote that USB-dock does comes with VGA, and can drive 1400x1050 @32bit: http://forums.lenovo.com/lnv/board/mess ... age.id=730

I agree that a DVI/HDMI port is needed, but Lenovo commented on that question in their Blog, stating they prefer waiting to move over to "Display Port", and skip HDMI/DVI: http://lenovoblogs.com/insidethebox/?p=139

In fact, Dell's upcoming E4200 and E4300 ultraportables, include "DisplayPort" as standard.

#53 Post by **erik** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 10:21 am

i'm guessing the next X300 (X301? X310?) will have displayport. i'm sure i'll be kicking myself for not waiting for the next generation but at least i'll get to enjoy it in the meantime.

i believe the 1400x1050 limitation via the USB dock is because of USB's bandwidth. had the X300 and dock been USB 3.0 then i wouldn't doubt 2048x1536 would have been supported over VGA or 2560x1600 over DVI or displayport.

one thing i've learned over the last few weeks in testing my X61 over VGA vs. T61p over DVI is that the difference isn't that noticeable. i loaded a detailed vector drawing in adobe illustrator on each machine and used the digital/analog input switching button on the L220x to toggle between the T61p and X61. i have perfect vision and found it difficult to discern the two at normal working distances with my eyes about 3' away from the display. up close (6"), VGA did look slightly less sharp, but not enough that i would lose sleep over it. in fact, i've since sold my T61p's advanced mini dock and am now on VGA using a high-quality 3' VGA cable.

dr_st · #54 Post by **dr_st** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 12:13 am

sayagain wrote:As for the docking station - Lenovo has announced a USB-Docking-Station in a form of Box-of-Ports, due on April-2008.

That's lame. There are obvious bandwidth issues (how the hell are you going to have bandwidth for a USB hub and all other peripherals through a single USB port?). Also, with a docking connector that plugs straight to the mobo, all the ports (LAN, VGA, USB, whatever), are truly replicated, completely transparently to the OS. How are you going to achieve that through a USB device? Also, in most corporations lock the docks to the table and the computer to the dock, providing at least some protection against casual theft. With a USB connector you can't do that. Finally, attaching something to the USB port just doesn't feel the same as "docking" your computer properly.

sayagain wrote:dr_st: the built-in broadband works well in Israel, too. Just make sure to get the HSDPA/AT&T type for "Cellcom" or 'Orange", as I am not sure if the EV-DO/CDMA2000 can be unlocked to work with "Pelephone"

That's very good to know and makes the absence of PCMCIA less of a problem.

obpsym · #55 Post by **obpsym** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 6:14 am

Honestly, for the price Lenovo are asking for the X300 here in Asia you could buy 5 new Lenovo 13.3 inch laptops!!! and have enough cash left over for an iPhone.

Lenovo C2D (HK$4,700)
X300 (HK$26,888)

Saying that, I would buy one in a minute if it had the following.

1. Express card slot.
2. ATI or Nvidea graphics.
3. Docking port.

I like the size, weight, screen resolution and camera. I also like the battery location, I hate the extended batteries on my T60P and X60.

The reason I can still use legacy hardware is that all my laptops have expansion capabilities, this gives them many more years of service and adds to their value.

I hate to say it but without expansion capabilities I won't buy one, even though I want one. Having USB ports is great until you are handed an SD card to read.

PC Cards I still use and need.

Ethernet Card
Wifi Cards
Card Readers
Twin Serial port Cards
GSM Card
Firewire Card

Give me an updated X32 anyday with decent graphics, lots of expansion options, docking, I don't mind the added thickness or weight.

#56 Post by **erik** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 6:50 am

as has been said before, the X300 isn't the last ultraportable thinkpad from lenovo and it's not meant to replace the dockable X6-series. if the X300 doesn't fit someone's needs then he or she will just have to patiently wait for the X6 replacement.

pianowizard · #57 Post by **pianowizard** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 7:19 am

erik wrote:one thing i've learned over the last few weeks in testing my X61 over VGA vs. T61p over DVI is that the difference isn't that noticeable.

I totally agree. I've used both types of connection and have tried comparing them side by side on at least two occasions, and the difference was not obvious at all. I suspect that in many (though not all -- I don't want to start a debate) cases where people do see a significant difference, that's simply because a cheap VGA cable was used, or hardware/software settings weren't optimized. Yesterday, when I hooked up my HP nc2400 to a Dell 2007WFP via VGA, I got a fuzzy image. I was actually happy about that because I thought I had finally encountered the VGA problem that many people had been [censored] about. But then I hit the monitor's "auto adjust" button and within a few seconds the fuzziness was gone, and the image quality became as good as any DVI-driven monitor I had seen.

Weez · #58 Post by **Weez** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 7:57 am

What is it going to take for someone to copy the mac's magsafe adapter? In all my years of owning thinkpads, the only real problem ive ever run across is the ac adapter either fraying or the dc card failing.

I don't know why others dont jump on the proverbial bandwagon.

Radioguy · #59 Post by **Radioguy** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 8:14 am

Weez wrote:What is it going to take for someone to copy the mac's magsafe adapter? In all my years of owning thinkpads, the only real problem ive ever run across is the ac adapter either fraying or the dc card failing.

I don't know why others dont jump on the proverbial bandwagon.

Good point.

However, since it's magnetic, don't the contacts attract metallic particles that might close the circuit? I always wondered how safe that was.

qviri · #60 Post by **qviri** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 8:53 am

Weez wrote:What is it going to take for someone to copy the mac's magsafe adapter? In all my years of owning thinkpads, the only real problem ive ever run across is the ac adapter either fraying or the dc card failing.

I don't know why others dont jump on the proverbial bandwagon.

Funny you should mentioning fraying, considering the adapter cord on the Macbook Pros is notorious for breaking off from the connector.

Has Lenovo created the “perfect” laptop?

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