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Lenovo ThinkPad X300 First Thoughts Review


The Lenovo ThinkPad X300 is the latest addition to the ThinkPad family and has recently been garnering a lot of attention. The ThinkPad X300 is a 13.3" screen ultra thin-and-light notebook designed for the traveling business type of person -- the executive road warrior if you will. But let's be honest, suit or no suit, with the type of technology and cool engineering crammed into the X300 everyone's going to be a little bit curious about this notebook, and envious of anybody that has one.

Our ThinkPad X300 has the following specifications:

  • Processor: 1.20GHz Intel Core 2 Duo L7100 (800Mhz FSB, 4MB Cache)
  • Graphics: Intel X3100
  • Screen: 13.3-inch WXGA+ (1440 x 900, 300 nit) LED backlit display
  • Memory: 2GB (up to 4GB configurable)
  • Storage: 64GB SSD
  • Optical Drive: Ultra-thin DVD Burner
  • Wireless and Communications: Intel 4965AGN (802.11 a/b/g/n wi-fi), BlueTooth 2.0 EDR, Intel UWB, GPS, Verizon WWAN (EV-DO)
  • Battery: 6-cell Li-Ion extended life battery
  • Ports: 3 USB 2.0 ports, Monitor out port, AC adapter, headphone/line-out, microphone/line-in, Gigabit Ethernet
  • Dimensions: 12.4" x 9.1" x 0.73" - 0.92"
  • Weight: from 2.93lbs with 3-cell battery and no optical drive to 3.32lbs with 6-cell battery and DVD Burner in
  • Port Replicator: Via USB
  • Input: Full sized keyboard, trackpoint navigation, touchpad, fingerprint reader
  • Operating System: Windows XP or Windows Vista (in various flavors)
  • Other Features: Integrated web camera
  • Warranty: 1-year

PCMark05 benchmark results (higher scores are better)

NotebookPCMark05 Score
Lenovo ThinkPad X300 (Intel Core 2 Duo L7100 @ 1.20GHz, Intel X3100)3,467 PCMarks
Apple MacBook Air (1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7500, Intel X3100)
2,478 PCMarks
Sony VAIO NR (1.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5250, Intel X3100)3,283 PCMarks
Sony VAIO TZ (1.20GHz Core 2 Duo U7600, Intel GMA 950) 2,446 PCMarks
Lenovo ThinkPad X61 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, Intel X3100)4,153 PCMarks
Lenovo 3000 V200 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, Intel X3100)3,987 PCMarks
Lenovo T60 Widescreen (2.0GHz Intel T7200, ATI X1400 128MB)4,189 PCMarks
HP dv6000t (2.16GHz Intel T7400, NVIDA GeForce Go 7400)4,234 PCMarks
Fujitsu N6410 (1.66GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400)3,487 PCMarks

Audio

How about this, the X300 actually has good sound and speakers that are well positioned! For an ultra thin notebook, that's astounding. The ThinkPad X61 I have contains a puny speaker on the bottom of the notebook, so this is something of a quantum leap for audio quality on the X-series. ThinkPad X300 equipped executives will never have to tote their external speakers to watch DVDs by night in their hotel rooms again. I like the new style

Battery

Lenovo offers the choice of either a 3-cell or 6-cell Lithium-Polymer battery that rests at the front of the notebook. The 3-cell is lighter and has a quoted life of up to 4.3 hours while the 6-cell is heavier and has a quoted life of up to 6.5 hours. You can also get a Lithium-Polymer option bay battery if you yank out the DVD Burner and put that in instead. That gives you an exta 3 hours of quoted battery life.

We'll have more detailed battery life tests in our final review, but for now we'll assume these battery life quotes are probably a bit high for real world usage.

ByAndrew Baxter

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