The Apple MacBook Air is the thinnest and lightest notebook on the shelves, and it looks remarkably aesthetic. It is just 4mm thin around the edges, and even the thickest part is a mere 19.3mm. The anodised aluminum casing and skillful use of smooth-rounded shapes, fashions an impression that the notebook is almost weightless.
However, in order to make the MacBook Air petite, Apple had to remove features that are considered standard on all Apple laptop models. It has no optical drive, ExpressCard and CardBus expansion slots, card-reader and even the Firewire and Ethernet ports.
Apple, in an attempt to make the Air's lack of an optical drive a non-issue, has added a feature called Remote Disc that allows the Air to take over the optical drive of another computer (Mac or PC) on the local network. Just install the Remote Disc software (included on the Air's install disc), and the MacBook Air will browse the network and read what's on any data disc. Although Remote Disc is a nice addition, it can be restrictive for users. It's meant for installing programmes and copying files, and doesn't work as a remote DVD player or CD ripper.
Without the FireWire there's no Target Disk mode - a feature that lets you mount a laptop's drive on another Mac PC as if it were an external hard drive. It's a feature that is a convenient way to migrate files on and off laptops. Apple has built new software to mitigate the loss of functionality.
Its internal storage is limited (80 GB with a standard 2 GB memory) too. Air users who have higher data storage demands will have to buy the MacBook Air SuperDrive, a compact external drive designed for MacBook Air, for an extra Rs 5,500. The MacBook Air is the slowest Mac in Apple's current product line, though its Intel Core 2 Duo processor is fast enough for general use. Dealer's price for Air is a steep Rs 96,100.
For those to whom the tech specs matter above all else, the MacBook Air might look like an overpriced, under-powered toy. For those who believe size, weight, and style matter, the MacBook Air begins to make more sense.
Like the MacBook Air, the Lenovo ThinkPad X300 is a small laptop that is built around a full 13-inch-wide screen display and a full keyboard, rather than the little screens and cramped keyboards common in subnotebooks. And, like the Air, it offers a fast, rugged solid-state drive instead of a hard disk. But, unlike the Apple, Lenovo's skinny ThinkPad comes with all the usual bevy of ports and features. It comes with either Windows Vista or Windows XP.
The ThinkPad X300 was not built to compete with the Quad Core processor loaded desktops. This thin travel notebook uses a low voltage processor, an Intel 1.20GHz Core 2 Duo L7100, to conserve power and reduce heat build-up.
So, it is quite capable of running office applications and performing any general web related tasks, but will not serve well for 3D graphics applications or any heavy duty rendering tasks. The Intel X3100 will allow you to play a few light games too. At Rs 144,900, ThinkPad X300 is not everybody's cup of tea.
