Lenovo Releases Super-thin Thinkpad X300

Research Triangle Park (NC) - Lenovo today officially unveiled its Macbook Air killer - not quite as extreme as the Apple notebook, but with more configuration options and, depending on your view, for less money.

In many ways, the new X300 looks just like another Thinkpad. There’s still the black case design and there’s still the red trackpoint in the middle of the keyboard. However, just like Apple’s Macbook Air, is one of the first notebooks in a new product category which many expect to become popular in a short period of time.

The X300 comes in a 13.3" form factor (like the Macbook Air), but features an extremely thin design. It does not quite reach the Macbook Air (0.16" versus 0.73" at their thinnest location), but is far more flexible than Apple’s notebook. Compared to the Macbook Air, the X300 is more expensive to begin with ($2548 versus $1799), but it comes with a 64 GB SSD standard, which lifts the Air’s price above the $3000 mark. According to Lenovo, the X300 is slightly lighter than the Air (2.9 versus 3.0 pounds).

The X300 can be configured with up to 4 GB of memory, an integrated DVD burner as well as wireless broadband and a wireless USB card - features that are not available for the Air. Equipped with all available options, including a second battery, the X300 will cost $2992, or about $100 less than the Macbook Air with a SSD.