ThinkPad X300: Hands On, First Impressions
I was pleasantly surprised when FedEx dropped off a big box with a ThinkPad X300 today.It looks better in person than it does online and it feels like a real ThinkPad. It feels solid and has all of the little details ThinkPad users are accustomed to.
This thing is so thin it’s hard to believe there’s a DVD burner inside of it. It’s very light and well balanced, making it very easy to carry around and use on my lap.
I can’t help but compare the X300 to the MacBook Air because it currently holds the title of world’s thinnest notebook. I canceled my MacBook Air order after realizing I’d been seduced by its good looks rather than its functionality, or rather lack thereof. In its current state the MacBook Air is not the ideal solution for a mobile professional who needs long battery life and the ability to connect to the Internet wherever they are.
Its only ports are a single USB port, a micro-DVI port and a headphone jack.
The ThinkPad X300 was designed specifically for the mobile professional and it’s obvious that Lenovo understands what road warriors need. The X300 has three USB ports so I’ll be able be able to charge my phone, backup to an external drive and still have a spare USB port in case I need to do something really crazy like print a document.
The ThinkPad X300 has a full-sized keyboard feels very similar to what’s found on larger ThinkPad. The keyboard is extremely comfortable to type on and after using it for a couple of hours I almost forgot I was typing on an ultraportable.
One obvious drawback of the X300 is its tiny 64GB solid state drive. This drive is just too small if you plan on using it for storing multimedia libraries, but ThinkPad’s intended customers are probably too busy working to take many photos or download movies anyways.
I’m going to use this X300 over the next couple of months and write several updates and a review. So far I’m really impressed and look forward to spending some quality time with the X300.
