The testing sample we received was more of a demonstration of the concept and construction quality. There are several differences between this version and the final one, two of which are major. The Lenovo X300 only had an empty slot instead of an optical drive, and data storage was “supervised” by a classic HDD, not an SSD, as stated in the final version specs.

Light and complete

Lenovo ThinkPad X300 is an ultra-mobile portable PC which sports really much functionality. The biggest flaw in this device class is the absence of an optical disc drive, which is sacrificed for the dimensions and weight of the device.

Lenovo answered the challenge very successfully and created a laptop which has all of the necessary elements while retaining the characteristics of an ultra-portable notebook. While it's on the desk, this notebook doesn't attract too much attention. Its looks remind pretty much of the bigger models from the ThinkPad series, but the surprise comes when you lift it up. Inside a device weighing 1.3 kg, Lenovo placed a 13.3” display with LED backlight, the entire fully-functional Centrino platform and a battery which scores 2.5h in PC Mark 2002 battery test. This is the “load”-type of test, which means that the autonomy of the battery will be greater by far in ordinary circumstances. If you thought even for a second that this is a large capacity battery, you were wrong. With its 273 W (it only has three cells), it actually belongs to the “weak” category. The secret of its longevity are the components that were chosen. Beside the low power consumption LED display, there is also an Intel Ultra Low Voltage Core2Duo U7600 CPU which operates at 1.2 GHz. Models with twice the battery capacity will also be featured in retail.