Enjoying Lenovo’s X300

I’m in the envious position of having a number of different mobile pcs and tablet pcs at my disposal. Right now, I’ve got a Dell Latitude XT, Apple MacBook, Fujitsu P1610, Asus 901 Eee PC, Motion Computing LS800, HP tx2500z, Lenovo X200,  Lenovo X300,  and a Lenovo X61 Tablet PC.

This weekend and all of next week, I’m using Lenovo’s X300. I forgot how enjoyable the X300 is. I love the full-size keyboard, built-in CD drive, SSD drive, and the 13.3" screen. What I appreciate more, though, is how thin and light it is with those added features. Except for a lack of a digitizer, there is zero compromise with this notebook and that speaks volumes about what Lenovo has accomplished with this design.

While I was in St. Louis, I spent about an hour in the Apple store playing around with the MacBook Air, and in my opinion, it can’t hold a candle to the X300. When typing on the MacBook Air, there is a lot of tipping and it gets quite frustrating. That problem doesn’t exist on the X300. In addition, I find the X300 keyboard much easier to type on. Then, there are the included ports, removable battery, and included cd drive. Anyone considering a MacBook Air would be very wise to give the X300 a serious look. Dollar for dollar and feature for feature, the X300 shines brightly.

How would I improve the X300? There isn’t much to improve, but there are a couple of things that come to mind. The first thing I would do is include a digitizer. I’d love to utilize this 13.3" as a writing surface. The second would be to include a built-in multi-card reader. I’ve come to really appreciate that feature in Lenovo’s other Thinkpads.  Besides those two improvements, the X300 is pretty well designed.

Next weekend, I’ll begin using the HP tx2500z on a regular basis. Until then, it is thin and light time!