Lenovo ThinkPad X300

Lenovo ThinkPad X300 is light weight and ultraportable offering Lenovo and aims at giving serious competition to the recently released Apple Macbook Air. Although the X300 can not be compared to Macbook Air in terms of thickness but that can also be attributed to the fact that it comes pre-installed with a DVD-RW drive. The laptop is aimed for professionals who do not want to lose out on productivity when on the move.

Lenovo ThinkPad X300 specifications:

• Dimensions : 12.5 x 9.1 x 0.73 inches
• Intel Core2Duo 1.2 Ghz
• 2GB 667Mhz RAM
• 64GB solid state hard drive
• Display : 13.3″
• GPS, Wireless USB
• Graphics : Intel GMA X3100
• Weight : 3.4 pounds
• Operating System : Windows XP Professional
• Base Price: $2476

The ThinkPad has undergone a few cosmetic changes to make it look more attractive.The laptop although has the regular ThinkVantage button,fingerprint reader,keyboard light etc. The ports from the front edge have been shifted to the back edge to reduce the thickness.

The ThinkPad also features a 1.3 megapixel webcam along with noise-cancelling microphone for web conferencing.The display has a native resolution of 1440 x 900 which beats Macbook Air’s resolution.The high resolution on a 13.3″ screen does sometimes cause a few problems in reading small text but that can be sorted out by zooming in a bit on those pages.

The keyboard found on this ThinkPad is similar to ones you would find on 14″ or 15″ models from Lenovo which to say the least is good.Although the keyboard is a touch better on Macbook Air but ThinkPad x300’s keyboard is good enough for day to day usage.

The touchpad is quite smooth to use but your wrist might accidentally touch it when using the wrist rest sending the cursor awry.The laptop lacks an memory card reader but compensates much more by adding GPS ,Wireless USB,mobile network WWAN.The Thinkpad puts Macbook to shame by incorporating two USB ports,a Ethernet port and a DVD burne, none of which can be found on the Macbook Air.

The ThinkPad X300 is strong performer as it couples a C2D processor with 2GB RAM.The Macbook Air takes the lead in the processing department due to its 1.8Ghz processor.The ThinkPad has a six-cell battery which lasts above 4 hours on average usage and is comparable to Macbook Air’s battery life.The warranty has been dropped to a single year with extended warranty coming at a premium of $119.

Pros:

• Extremely Thin
• Light Weight
• High Resolution
• Built in GPS,Wireless USB,WWAN
• Two USB ports,Ethernet port
• Good performer

Cons:

• Expensive
• Awkward touchpad location
• Slower processor compared to Macbook Air
• Only 1-year standard warranty

Final Thoughts

The Lenovo ThinkPad X300 is a brilliant offering from Lenovo and gives serious competition to Apple Mackbook Air.It also corrects the various shortcomings of the Macbook Air like the integration of Ethernet port and the DVD burner.The laptop comes at an expensive price tag.

Rating: 3.3/5

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W90

One of the most important features on a camera is how quickly it can take a photo. Some of the other cameras we have reviewed have had relatively slow picture to picture speeds (time it takes to take two pictures successively). This can be important when you’re taking pictures in a sequence or trying to capture something that’s moving quickly.

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W90 has a fairly quick picture to picture speed of 1 second and can take up to 15 pictures at a rate of 2frames per second. From the outside, the W90 looks almost indistinguishable from its 7-megapixel sibling. Its slim metal body measures less than 0.9 inch thick and weighs only 5.3 ounces with battery and Memory Stick Duo. Unfortunately, just like the W80, its small, flat buttons can feel uncomfortable to large-thumbed users.

Here are a few of the technical specifications for the Cyber-shot DSC-W90:

• Street price: $199.99 approx.
• 8.1MP
• 2.5″ LCD
• ISO Sensitivity: 100 / 200 / 400 / 800 / 1600 / 3200
• Shutter Speed: 1/4 - 1/1600
• Aperture: F2.8-F14.8

Things I like
The thing I like most about the Cyber-shot DSC-W90 is all of the included on-board software. Sony went all out including, double “anti-blur” which reduces both subject shake blur and camera shake blur through an intelligent combination of an optical image stabilizer and high sensitivity shooting up to ISO3200. Theres also face detection software and a number of tools to edit pictures, change the dynamic range and a number of other things.

I also like the size of this camera. It’s really small so it won’t be a burden if you’re going on long trips where you don’t want a lot of weight. I was able to put this camera in my pocket while I went on a roller coaster and it didn’t feel awkward. The other thing I like about this camera is the fact that it produces good pictures even at low sensitivity levels.

Things I don’t like
To me the buttons on the DSC-W90 feel a little weird. While the size of this camera is definitely a plus it is also a negative for me. I don’t have large hands but holding this camera often felt awkward. That really is the only problem I have with this camera. While it doesn’t have the performance of the Canon Powershot G9, it’s $300 cheaper so you can expect that.

Pros:

• Quick Response time
• Respectable resolution
• Small size
• Lots of on-board functionality

Cons:

• Small, awkward buttons

Final Thoughts
For everyone wanting to buy a inexpensive, but high-quality point and shoot camera, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W90 is a solid choice. With a quick response time and generally good picture quality you really can’t go wrong.