Do people agree the economy sunk the x300 series?

[jl123]

None listed on future roadmaps...
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/19/leak ... nuary-2010

Maybe it was just too much money for only but the richest CEO's.

This makes things rather difficult as I - like so many others, prefer just a simple square 12 inch screen; that which has now seemingly gone permanently extinct! And so it was the wide 13 incher that was next in my path. But now what?

Where goes the thinkpad 13inch widescreen? Must we go now to 14 inch screens?
thanks, JL

[Bojje]

Well, I don't think that the economy is the only reason. 16:9 is a very dated format, and that might mean that the x300 did not sell as well as the other laptops.

[LenovoGringo]

The X300 series sport a 16:10 format BTW (Macbooks use the wider 16:9 format).

I think the netbook market has crushed the ultraportables in the last months. The plan is tentative, anything can happen.

[tomh009]

I think the short answer is that few traditional X-series buyers chose the X300 series over the X200 models. The screen is only 8% bigger physically, and you can get an X200s with a 1440x900 resolution and LED backlighting. Then there is little choice in disks -- and a substantially higher price.

T-series buyers, on the other hand, would be disappointed by the expandability and performance. So where to find the buyers for the X301?


In my view, it was always a bit of an oddity, a luxury notebook that didn't really offer value for the money. And I expect that has been reflected in the sales figures ...

[archer6]

My take is that the economic situation has indeed had an impact on all notebook sales. After all, let's look at Apple as one example. I have never seen them slash the prices on their notebooks like they have done most recently. Apple always holds out for maximum profit, and only offers very marginal discounts to students and institutions. So to the question regarding the X3xx series, yes to a certain degree it's been hit hard by the economy and other factors such as netbooks which have taken a large bite out of the portable computing market in general. The price of the X300/301 has also been a factor in my opinion. Finally at the end of the day, timing of a new product intro is also a factor and this time it was terrible.

Cheers...

[qviri]

.

[archer6]

I should restate my position as I did not make it clear, that I do _not_ think it's sunk. However I do believe it's a victim of sagging sales. That said I'm not sure if Lenovo plans to keep it in the lineup since the T400s is somewhat close to it in screen size. Only time will tell.

[basketb]

None listed on future roadmaps...
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/19/leak ... nuary-2010
...

I'm probably missing something but I do see the X301 listed on the future roadmap in the link provided. The only one that apparently will be discontinued in October is the SL300.

[tomh009]

I do, however, notice that to my knowledge, there were no 13" Thinkpad models in the past prior to the X300. A couple models that did optionally come with 13" screens had 14" casing and a cheaper option for the screen.

The 600 series came with 12" and 13" displays -- with the 13.3" it actually had a very nice thin bezel.

Now, I think that a 13.3" display would fit into an X200/X200s housing. And that would be a sweet machine!

[archer6]

I'm probably missing something but I do see the X301 listed on the future roadmap in the link provided. The only one that apparently will be discontinued in October is the SL300.

You're not missing anything. I agree based on that roadmap.

However recently I've read some dialog contrary to that roadmap, but I forgot to grab the link so I could post it here. Either way I'd like to see Lenovo keep the X3xx series alive. I'm truly enjoying mine and find it to be a very good model. In fact for that matter, so was my X300.

I believe that if they have enough sales to support it they will keep it in the lineup.

Cheers...

[tomh009]

I'm probably missing something but I do see the X301 listed on the future roadmap in the link provided. The only one that apparently will be discontinued in October is the SL300.

Not discontinued ... but no upgraded Calpella-based X310 model on the roadmap, either.

[archer6]

Not discontinued ... but no upgraded Calpella-based X310 model on the roadmap, either.

Excellent! I missed that.

I do hope that Calpella lives up to it's potential, as based on what I've read about it, this could be one of the best processors so far. One that truly increases performance on all fronts. More of a major improvement than a minor upgrade. Time will tell.

Cheers...

[Esben]

I don't think you can draw the conclusion, from the roadmap, that Lenovo has sunk the X300 series. Remember that Calpella is a quad-core platform, while the X300 series need ULV CPUs with 10W TDP. When Intel makes a dual-core 32nm version, it might fit in the 10W thermal design. With the X300 heat is also spread across three dies, whereas Calpella fits the northbridge and GPU together.

I originally wished for an X200s with 1400x900 display, but found a nice used X300 that I bought for less. I'm very happy with the size and weight of the machine, combined with enough CPU speed and a very speedy SSD. It makes for a very responsive machine. Since I'm not doing any gaming, the only thing I could use more CPU for, is decoding HD movies. The X301 has that solved with the newer GM45 IGP, and a 1.6 GHz C2D.

X300 started as an exclusive and very pricey laptop, but it's price has fallen greatly. Here the price of the Macbook Pro 13" and the X300 is equal. There is no doubt which I'd rather have

[curious]

Aside from the attack of the netbooks and the gloomy economy, there is also the fact that, for a premium laptop, the x301 has a mediocre screen--and that's being kind...