A Competitor for Macbook Air

Apple's much-hyped "MacBook Air" may finally have found its competitor in Lenovo's ThinkPad X300 -- at least that's what analysts are saying.
Like the MacBook Air, the ThinkPad X300 boasts an ultra-thin frame though it weighs in at around 3.12 pounds, which is heavier than the very light-weight MacBook Air.
Both the Air and the ThinkPad X300 sport a 13.3-inches wide-screen and a full keyboard.
But the Air lacks: an optical drive, a network port, extra USB ports (it has only one), and removable battery. By contrast, the ThinkPad X300 is a typical road warrior -- what with a built-in DVD drive, three USB ports, and a removable battery.
MacBook Air users cannot upgrade memory on the device, and there's no integrated support for EV-DO or HSDPA. By comparison, the ThinkPad X300 comes with an Ethernet networking jack, and can be customized with a cell-phone modem or GPS.
There's yet another advantage for ThinkPad X300 users; they have the option to choose between either Windows XP or Windows Vista.
Meanwhile, Lenovo's ThinkPad X300 comes with a 64GB SSD (Solid State Drive) only, which might be the reason for the ramped up price; somewhere between $2,500 and $2,800. By comparison, Apple's MacBook Air, when equipped with a 80GB hard disk drive (HDD), carries a lower price tag, i.e. $1,800.
However, add to the MacBook Air a 64GB SSD, and it comes for not less than $3,000, which is higher than the price of the ThinkPad X300.
While the ThinkPad X300 has almost all the features required to beat the hell out of Apple's MacBook Air; there's one drawback -- its processor speed. The notebook includes a 1.2GHz Core 2 Duo processor. Whereas, the MacBook Air incorporates 1.6GHz and 1.8GHz Core 2 Duo processors.
All said, the X300's 12W processor is believed to be more power-efficient than the Air's 20W processors, in turn leading to greater battery life.
Citing from a Business Week report, the development of the ThinkPad X300 has taken nearly 20 months from the original concept to production. The mandate for the notebook is not so much to be a revenue spinner for Lenovo as it is to be a "halo" product for the company, somewhat like a MacBook Air is for Apple Computer.
In a statement, Lenovo Chairman, Yang Yuanqing said that they want to send out the message that if there's any company in the industry that can continuously develop the most inventive and best-quality products with efficiency, it has to be Lenovo. Besides, they also want to send firepower against arch rivals, HP and Dell. Of which, Dell is believed to feel not at all threatened by Lenovo, not at least in the US market.
There's no word yet on availability and pricing of this notebook. Info Courtesy: Techtree