Thinkpad Air.

As slimmest and lightest ever model in the Thinkpad series, Lenovo shows off its most recent creation. The initial hype surrounding the compact notebook was only further heightened by the near simultaneous introduction of the MacBook Air. In complete contrast to the slick but air-headed Apple, Lenovo stayed down to earth with the business competence provided by the Thinkpad X300, particularly in terms of its extensive communicative capacity.

The Lenovo's X300 presents itself in classic Thinkpad black - another colour scheme wouldn't have fit the conservative image of the Thinkpad ranks anyway. Distinguishing feature number one remains the red trackpoint in the middle of the keyboard, nodded to by the red dot on the "i" of the new Thinkpad Logo.
The case is constructed to look like the newest larger siblings in the Thinkpad family. The shape and modelling of the case is nevertheless primarily determined by functional aspects, such as the bevelled keyboard palmrest, and the display's clamshell design.

To explain for Thinkpad newcomers: in closed position, the baseunit is meshed to components of the display, following the example of a sea-shell (hence the name "clamshell") in allowing both halves of the case to grip onto one another when closing. This gives even the smallest foreign bodies hardly any chance to pry their way in between display and keyboard. Moreover, this principle minimises forces on the hinges when the laptop is in a closed state, thereby improving their working lifespan.
In addition, the somewhat thicker construction around the display edges provides further advantages in terms of sturdiness.

Speaking of sturdiness, notebooks in the Thinkpad ranks continue to enjoy a lot of attention around this subject, as much from their developers as from their potential customers. With the ingenious construction of the case, the surface working components also take on structural functions. Supplemented by the use of high quality materials, such as the newest composites and light metals, the Thinkpad obtains outstanding structural stability.

In the Thinkpad X300, this is visible in a truly impressive way. While the base unit scores highly with its first class strain resistance as well as an excellent torsional stiffness, the display also convinces in both disciplines.
Previously, picking a notebook up by the front edge of the base had been for many devices a painful exercise, often accompanied by a loud creaking. The Thinkpad does this without an issue, even by the display: grabbing the X300 by a corner of the display and picking it up off the table causes... nothing bad to happen at all.
Other than a minimal deformation, no alteration in the displayed image nor even a light creak can be detected. The X300 masters this exercise, imitation of which with any other notebook being absolutely not recommended, and easily.

One feature that often draws customers to a Thinkpad notebook is its quality of input devices, first and foremost its keyboard. Clearly the space available for various input devices in a 13 inch case is somewhat tighter than with 15.4 inch models; even so, Lenovo provides the X300 a keyboard akin to larger models with a standard key size of 18 x 18 millimeters. Slightly enlarged Shift, Tab and Ctrl keys make typing even more comfortable.

As is usual for Thinkpad models, the keyboard layout of the X300 displays a good arrangement with regards to the function keys. Not unique to this model, newcomers to the Thinkpad series may need some time to get used to the ordering of the Fn and Ctrl keys. For some time Thinkpads have had their Fn keys at the bottom edge on the left, where the Control key traditionally sits.

The X300's keyboard also delivers the usual qualities with regards to typing comfort. The individual keys offer a balanced ratio between stroke depth, resistance and pressure point. Even the typing noise meets the demands of a compact and mobile notebook with its quiet clicking. That said, we could not get used to the noise of the spacebar. In our test sample, it continually hit the bottom of the keyboard unit, thereby making any even slightly more agressive hitting of the key produce an unpleasant rattling noise.

Beside the keyboard, the Thinkpad X300 also includes the tried-and-true Trackpoint/Touchpad combination. The otherwise flawless touchpad must however be criticised for its extremely limited size. Nonetheless, the pad incorporates both horizontal and vertical scroll areas.

The trackpoint, for those unfamiliar, indeed takes some time getting used to, however in the long time provides the better mouse replacement. With a light push on the elastic knob, the mouse pointer can be moved in the desired direction without needing to move the pointer finger even a millimeter. Using the thumb, both the "mouse" and three corresponding typing fingers on the same hand can be used simultaneously. It is therefore not necessary to move either hand long distances as one might when using the Touchpad. When the comfort and speed of an external mouse is not available, for mobile use, the trackpoint is the first choice.

In terms of additional keys, the unusual location of the WLan switch has already been addressed. Above the keyboard there are also a number of buttons concerning volume adjustment in addition to the ThinkVantage key which opens the ThinkVantage Productivity Centre.

The hardware has clearly been put together with low energy usage and office performance in mind. The notebook comes with an L7100 processor from Intel, the L standing for Low Voltage, having remarkably small energy requirements. Paired with an Intel GMA X3100 onboard graphics chip, the X300 provides sufficient performance to fulfil the demands of everyday office use.

There are tight limits set on the laptop in terms of both computational power and graphics performance, and in complicated number crunching or rendering tasks the machine quickly runs out of steam. This is even seen in the Cinebench R10 Benchmark Test, in which the Thinkpad X300 sits far behind devices with more powerful CPUs such as those of the Penryn and Merom range. Even aforementioned MacBook Air lies a clear way in front. The good performance of the  MacBook on the Cinebench Shading Test is perhaps the most surprising. With 1143 points, it sits clearly ahead of devices with identical graphics setups. This is most likely due to the good OpenGL performance under MacOS.

The PCMark 2005 Benchmark Test paints a different picture altogether. In this test, thanks to the speedy SSD, the Thinkpad X300 performs clearly infront of the MacBook Air (which has no SSD) as well as other notebooks with clearly more powerful processors.
In the 3D Mark 2006 Benchmark Test, the performance of the Thinkpad X300 is, as expected, in line with similarly equipped notebooks. The result obtained here was practically indentical to that of the MacBook Air.

Lenovo's X300 lives up to the classic Thinkpad virtues and then some. An extremely robust chassis made of high grade materials provides not only a comfortable touch but also an outstandingly sturdy case, promising a long lifespan.
In terms of connectivity, the Thinkpad X300 provides only a basic setup, although it does score points for its user friendly arrangement of ports. Unfortunately the X300 does not provide a docking bay interface, making it dependent on the analogue VGA-connector for any external monitor connection.

Also typical of Thinkpads is their range of included communication technologies. Gigabit LAN, Wireless LAN supporting a/g/n standards, Bluetooth and an integrated UMTS/HSDPA modem combine to make the X300 a communications pro.

In terms of input devices, Lenovo provides firstly a classic Thinkpad keyboard unit with the usual qualities and peculiarities. Despite the extreme typing comfort, newcomers to the series may need some time to get used to certain layout idiosyncrasies.
This also applies to the trackpoint / touchpad combination, which, after some training, turns out to be a very efficient mouse replacement when on the road.

As for the display, the very good brightness and illumination measurement of almost 90% are very positive results. Less than optimal is the perspective stability. Particularly in terms of vertical movement, the monitor view quickly loses clarity, necessitating frequent readjustment of the display angle during mobile use.

The performance of the notebook is clearly tuned in terms of endurance and office efficiency. In this regard, the Intel Core 2 Duo L7100 processor in combination with the integrated X3100 Graphics Module provide quite good performance. The internal 64GB SSD, which also gains points for its silent operation, further contributes to the notebook's first class results.
These components combine to enable near silent operation in idle mode, which, depending on use, is broken only now and then by short bursts of the system fan. The surface temperatures nevertheless stay well below critical levels.

Finally, the Lenovo Thinkpad X300 offers a thoroughly compelling battery life, and thanks to the multipurpose bay, the optical drive can for purposes of added mobility be user replaced by an additional battery.

After our testing we're awarding the Thinkpad X300 an overall positive result. The machine could be particularly enticing for customers who trust in the Thinkpad's tried and true merits. Price must not be a top priority in the decision however, with the notebook costing around 2300 Euro, depending on configuration. The primary consumer group of the laptop will probably therefore be Thinkpad-regulars from the business ranks. At the same time as we have seen, the missing docking possibility might not be the only thing that could make the decision harder...