Head to Head: Lenovo ThinkPad X300 vs. Apple MacBook Air

Lenovo's offering is roughly $749 more than the MacBook Air, but one thing worth noting is that all configurations of the X300 include a 64GB Solid State Drive. (Configure the base MacBook Air with the same drive and you'll be shelling out $2,798.) This means you'll experience faster boot up times and enjoy an overall speedier laptop. Theoretically, the Solid State Drive should also improve the system's overall battery life since there are less moving parts that need to be powered. In fact, Lenovo claims up to 10 hours of battery life with its 6-cell battery, double what Apple touts for the MacBook Air with its IDE hard drive-equipped model.

Under the new ThinkPad's hood you'll find the same miniaturized Core 2 Duo CPU found in the MacBook Air, albeit at a slightly slower clock speed. Fortunately, Lenovo makes up for that by giving the X300 a sharper WXGA+ screen than the MBA.

Feature-wise, the X300 also offers more options and connectivity. For starters, the X300 can be configured with a built-in DVD burner. It has a built-in gigabit Ethernet port accompanied by three USB 2.0 ports. There's even an option for Wireless USB (UWB). Most importantly, however, is that you can swap out the X300's battery (or load it up with an extended battery), something that you simply can't do with the MacBook Air.

Both notebooks come with an integrated camera and Bluetooth, but only the ThinkPad integrates a biometric fingerprint sensor into its laptop. The X300 can be configured with either Windows XP Professional or Windows Vista Business / Ultimate (we recommend sticking with XP).

Granted, the ThinkPad X300 lacks some of the MacBook's panache, but if it's battery-saving technologies you're after, the X300 is the more tempting option. It has a power-saving CPU, LED-backlit LCD, Solid State Drive, and a removable battery making the X300 the better, though pricier, alternative.