Drawing favourable feature comparisons to the MacBook Air, the super-slim ThinkPad X300 bundles 3G HSDPA, a 64Gb flash drive and up to 10 hours battery life for $3,999. Plus ...
The much-anticipated ThinkPad X300 broke cover in last night's Australian tech media launch, with the $3,999 price tag being one of the few remaining blanks to fill in on what Lenovo trumpets as their "best ThinkPad ever". (It's certainly a sight more portable than the original IBM Portable PC of 1984, which tipped the scales at 13.5kg - ten times the weight of the X300).
Slim pickings: a 7mm high DVD burner helps the X300 keep its svelte profileThe 64GB solid state drive makes up a large component of that price, of course. While Lenovo's Lindsay Tobin wouldn't be drawn on how much cash goes towards that slab of flash it'd be in the vicinity of $1,400, as this is how much extra Apple charges when you tick the 64GB SSD option box for a MacBook Air.
It's worth noting that the X300's Samsung SSD runs SATA 3.0 GB/s (the spec is also known as ‘SATA II') rated for real-world throughput of 300 MB/s, which is double that of the original SATA 1.5GB/s standard.
Lenovo claims this will address some concerns over the speed of flash versus hard disk technology: flash is substantially faster than a mechanical disk for read operations but slower for writing, even taking into consideration the absence of ‘seek time' latency in locating the data blocks to be written to.
Helping balance things out is that hard drives in the X300's 1.8 inch disk form factor still run at 4200 RPM, although Toshiba will next month begin shipping a 5400 RMP 1.8 inch drives in 80GB and 120GB (albeit under SATA 1.5GB/s).
However, Lenovo is keen to stress that while the SSD also affords substantially quicker boot times, there are other advantages beyond speed: reduced power consumption and heat production, zero noise for true ‘silent running' and increased reliability and shock protection from shocks and drops.
Another standard inclusion is 3G HSDPA wireless broadband (or Wireless Wide Area Network, aka WWAN). The X300 will come preloaded with a Vodafone 3G data SIM card: customers will then need to choose which Vodafone mobile broadband plan they sign up for.
The WWAN radio runs at up to 3.6Mbps, which matches the redline on Vodafone's network, although it's expected to be firmware upgradable to 7.2Mpbs in the future. Lenovo's Access Connections permits automatic switching between WWAN, Wi-FI and LAN depending on availability of the fast connection or the user' pre-set preference.
What if Vodafone isn't your choice of carriers? "Our vision is that you'll be able to work with any vendor, but the current certification is with Vodafone" Lindsay Tobin, Lenovo's business notebook boffin, told APCmag.com. While Tobin admitted that there's no technical reason why the X300 wouldn't recognise and work with a SIM card from any other 3G carrier, "we can't guarantee it will work and it wouldn't be supported by that telco". Tobin also explained that the X300's floorplan also allows room for a WiMAX card.
The X300 can hit ten hours on the trot before you have to hunt around for an AC power socket. The trick is to swap out the standard three cell battery (which is rated for four hours) for the optional and slightly larger four cell battery, which Tobin reckons is good for up to 6.5 hours; and then, slide out the optical drive and replace this with a media bay battery rated for 3.5 hours. Even with both those batteries installed the X300 weighs a mere 1.6kg.
As to the processor, while both the ThinkPad X300 and the MacBook Air employ Intel's small form factor and low voltage 65nm Merom processor, which is a 60% smaller package and goes by the name of Santa Ynez, Lenovo and Apple have opted for different versions of the chip. The MacBook Air runs on the Santa Ynez SP7500, which is clocked to 1.4GHz but has a 20 watt thermal ceiling, the X300's 1.2GHz SL7100 runs at a cooler and more battery-friendly 12 watts.
"We selected the processor which had the lowest thermals and the lowest power consumption" said Lindsay Tobin. (Intel also offers a 1.6GHz Santa Ynez in 1.6GHz, also with a 20 watt thermal rating, and plans to release an equivalent 45nm ‘pint-sized Penryn' package by September).
While Lenovo didn't shy away from the odd comparison with Apple's impossibly slim subnote the point was raised that the X300 is a business products rather than than the decidedly consumer-minded MacBook Air. Heather Jones, Communications Director for Lenovo ANZ, pointed out that the ThinkPad family is a business line. Might we see a more mainstream notebook with X300 traits, perhaps under Lenovo's new IdeaPad consumer brand? "Well, we just might..." Jones hinted with a coy smile.
Think small: due mid-year, the IdeaPad U110 offers an 11in widescreen display and choice of hard or solid state drivesJones did however confirm that the IdeaPad series was now ready for the local market. First off the rank is the 17in widescreen IdeaPad Y710 which takes aim at the entertainment, performance and gaming segments, with the 15.4in IdeaPad Y510 hitting the mid-range market. These will be joined mid-year by the U110, a slim 1.1kg 11in subnote with a choice between a 160GB hard drive and a 32GB-64GB solid state drive.