Lenovo ThinkPad X300 Review Discussion

The Lenovo ThinkPad X300 is a 13.3" widescreen ultra thin-and-light notebook. Though it's less than 1-inch thick, the ThinkPad X300 is still choc full of features and a demonstration in usability. The X300 was meticulously thought out and designed by veteran ThinkPad engineers to raise the bar on what a notebook can be and put Lenovo at the vanguard of business notebook design and utility.

Read the full content of this Article: Lenovo ThinkPad X300 Review

 

I can't believe it scores that low in wPrime. Try using 1.55, as the latest 1.60 is known to add more than a few seconds compared to 1.55-tested processors.

Anyway, nice review! A bit disappointing though that the screen is slightly grainy. You don't want that from a laptop that costs at least $2,500.

 

very nice notebook...umm I WANT IT NOW!!!!!

 

Awesome review, awesome machine, hoping Lenovo will keep this trend with the next Thinkpad T and R series.

 

Great review! I'm waiting a couple of months before buying though (hoping processor speed and disk capacity options will improve).

I agree a light sensor for the ThinkLight would be a neat touch, but on every ThinkPad I've ever owned, and the X300, the Fn and PgUp keys are at diagonally opposite corners of the keyboard and therefore very easy to find when it is dark. I've always thought that was a neat touch too!

 

Another thorough review. Thanks Andrew!

 

I've waited so long for this (and willing to pay exorbitant prices for it if it's perfect), but ultimately I discover through this review that it didn't really suit me at all. The battery life is too short for an ultraportable at this price point and the screen is only average. It looks like I have to turn back to the cheaper alternatives (either HP 2510p or Toshiba R500).

Thanks for the fair and thorough review Andrew!

 

I want that one.

 

This will likely be replacing my Dell Latitude D420. The only downside I see is it lacks a good docking solution but Its still doable.

the 1.2 CPU is workable, maybe in the next 6 months when I save up the change it might get a bit better with the new, smaller architectures rolling out.

 

Great review. I love everything about the x300, even its slower cpu. However, one thing that bothers me the most is its battery life. Being touted as a laptop for road worriors, I find the battery life extremely lacking as less than 4 hrs. Having the screen at the lowest level, shut off all wireless options and have nothing opened and not use the laptop for it to last 6.5 hrs defeats the purpose. In order to achieve maximum battery life, you can only look at it. hmmm. I've been spoiled by the TZ's and the Toughbook's battery life to go back to anything under 5 hrs. Otherwise, fantastic machine.

 

Actually it's very easy to find the buttons by touch alone even in pitch dark, as both buttons are exactly in the corners of the keyboard.

 

Yup, wPrime version 1.60 gives a result that's almost double that of 1.55. You might want to check the difference between the versions for yourself Andrew; if you no longer have the X300 you can delete the wPrime results or if you do, you can update it to 1.55's results. Otherwise people are going to be misled by the processor performance.

 

nice review of a nice laptop, i may consider getting one, but ssd storage of 64gb is a bit too small for me...

greetings,

 

I'm willing to bet that tweaking the OS settings would achieve some more battery life. Also, using the 3-cell bay battery should give 50% more battery life. If I can get over 8 hours on my X61s with the 8-cell battery (real world usage), I see no reason why the X300 can't achieve at least the same since by every measure it is a more power thrifty notebook.

 

thanks for the thorough and empirical review. above all, thank you for testing the x300 with 3dmark. I was very, very curious how this little machine would perform with 3d stuff and it looks like the CPU is the bottleneck.

 

to be honest, i'm a bit disappointed with the battery life. 3.5 hours on the 6-cell? that is what i get on my hp tc4400 with a regular cpu, non-led screen with active digitizer (75% brightness), and regular hard drive. with all these extra power saving features i would expect 4+ hours.

 

The battery life is also the big drawback for me. I find it odd that they chose a LV CPU (17 TDP) and not an ULV CPU (10W TDP). Here's to hoping the refresh will fare better.

 

I second that.

Moreover, I cannot understand why X300 with its LV processor is slower in wPrime that Sony TZ with the same clocked ULV processor.

 

Great review

Just a random question, can't the airplane tray be pulled out (towards you) So that the opened screen does not touch the seat in front?


EDIT: so the seat doesn't get in the way of the screen, sorry badly worded up there

 

Nice review + awesome notebook!

 

The battery tests are with the 6 cell, right? I'd expected those numbers to be much better....I'd be curious to see if others got around the same. I was hoping for at least 5 hours of normal use with the 6 cell. Does this mean the 3 cell would come in at <2 hours for normal usage?

 

Close to perfection. If I had the funds I'd pick one up today.

 

Do you people think that lenovo may ever place in the T9300 or one of those penryn chips since they are smaller and faster and more energy efficient? Or can it physically be done in the first place? I know they purposely chose the LV chip for battery life and energy efficiency reasons, but I thought the beautiful thing about the penryn chips is that they are extremely energy efficient, smaller in size, and super fast all at the same time!!!

What are your thoughts? please let me know!!

 

I re-ran with WPrime 1.5.5, the score was very different, 98 seconds. We're going to standardize on 1.6 from here on out.

Yes, with the 6-cell, we don't have the 3-cell in house. You can assume 50% of the score with the 3-cell. So not very good.

 

Good things come to those who wait.

Hence I will get the refurb Latitude E when it comes out.

 

Andrew,

What's the part number on the battery in yours?

 

I wonder why those small-form factor processors are extra slow.
And the battery life isn't too great either, on both air and x300.
Weird.

 

Why does Lenovo loooove making edgy laptops??

 

A great review of a great notebook. Too bad it's so expensive. If I was in the market for an ultraportable today, I would choose the HP Compaq 2510p over the X300 for the sole reason being it's so much less expensive than the X300 (and an overall better value IMO). But then again, if money were no object to me.... (Keyword: if)

 

Good point! The rounded corners of MBA are actually the only its advantage over X300 which I was able to see (for me).

 

how did the x300's screen compare to the Macbook air's screen, particularly in terms of brightness and color?

 

I wonder how backup time would improve if X300 goes ULV. I wish power consumption data sheet were available for each individual components like Memory, MotherBoard, LCD screen, HDisk and DVD drive.

As mentioned by all, the 3.5 hours backup time is not acceptable.

 

Comparing Y510 and X300 based on recent reviews.

1) Y510 uses T-series C2D whereas X300 uses LV-series.
2) Y510 has spinning platter harddisk where X300 has SSD.
3) Y510 screen size is 15.4" compared to 13.3" of X300.
4) Y510 is $1500 cheaper than X300.
5) Both are using 6 cell battery.
6) Y510 lasted for 3hrs 2min whereas X300 lasted for 3hrs 30min.

Did you read point number #6??
Something is awfully wrong!!

 

Yes there is. You are not comparing apples with apples. Starting with the Y510 battery is 5.2Ah, the X300 only 4 Ah.

 

hello thanks for a fantastic review

Can I ask when the X300 was tested for batt, which of the following wireless options were on, and which were off?

Wi-Fi ( mentioned)
WWAN (metioned)
Wi-Max
WLAN
UWB
BlueTooth
GPS

since it was not clearly stated .

Regards

 

I can expect to get a X300 for under $2k in a fews months time

without:
WWAN
Wi-Max
WLAN
GPS
OPTICAL DRIVE

coz I need non of them. hope lenovo will ship the fully configurable machines

figure crossed

 

no complaints about the X3100 integrated card?

although anything that would be too intensive for the X3100 would also be too intensive for the processor, so i suppose it's a moot point.

 

no complaints about the x3100 because for notebooks in this class, no one would want a dedicated graphics to suck more juice and create more heat.

 

Frankly, there are few 13.3" laptops that could get more than 3.5 hours with <5Ah batteries, so I don't really think X300 (or MacBook Air) is that bad. It just goes to show that there really is no such thing as an "ultra-portable" 13.3" laptop, no matter how "thin-and-light" you are.

 

Battery may be disappointing, but at least you can switch batteries with this one.

 

is it easy to upgrade to take apart and upg to 4 gigs?

 

This machine obviously triumphs where the MBA fails, but I just can't justify the much higher price of this thing. If they had a HDD option it would be accessible to a lot more people. I checked it out on lenovo canada and the pricing was insane. So, because my preference for OS X and because of the fact that I paid nearly $1000 less for the air, for me the air was a better choice, but for the people who are complaining that the air lacks this, and that, and that, etc., you really can't complain about this machine.

Andrew is right - you can't have it all. In fact, it's an amazing feat what both lenovo and apple were able to incorporate into their thin offerings. Everything here is about choice. OS X or windows? Super thin or slightly thicker but more ports? Optical drive or not? More features with slower processor, or less features with faster processor? etc.

I think the "editors choice" is well deserved by the lenovo for the most part - I think the price will scare a lot of people away and so I think the MBA will sell better.

Another thing is that it's so much harder to get your hands on a Lenovo than on a Mac. If you go to best buy, you can play with the macs all you want, but there aren't many lenovos, and I think that if people saw the Lenovos they'd realize how great the build quality really is, and perhaps that would help justify the price.

 

I would not compare apples to Le.. - I mean - oranges

Since X200 is apparently coming, I think that X300 should rather be compared to T61 with 14.1'' LCD.
And in this comparison it offers merely geometrical advantages over T (at the price of slower CPU/GPU and shorter battery life... and emptier pocket ).

 

I'd really like to see some pics of this X300 next to a T61 14" (standard 4:3 - the normal Thinkpad) for a nice size comparison.

 

better than the mac book air but cost more than the famous asus eee

 

I just placed my order for the X300. Specs are:

XP Pro
3gb RAM
Fingerprint Reader
Bluetooth
6-Cell Battery
Verizon WWAN
Intel Wifi AGN
DVD Burner
64gb SSD

Total including tax: 2,651

Best deal I could get for now. I think it'll be a good laptop for me.

 

Any info on this?
Couldn't find how many megapixel was it!

 

1.3M pixels.

 

Is this 6-cell battery bulged out like we see it in new Thinkpad T61? Please clarify.

Forgot to say, it is an excellent review.

 

The boot time comparison is total BS. The times had nothing to do with the models, more than it did with the OS being used. They were mostly comparing the times of Vista vs. XP only, and we all knew the answer to that. The better comparison by far would be to test both models using identical OS. I mean this is basic science methodology, a single independent variable and maintaining the controls. Does anyone agree?