Does the X300 need to Directly Compete with the Air?

2008 has been a huge year for Ultralight PC’s.  First and foremost, we saw the Asus EEE PC hitting store shelves and selling like hotcakes.  Their success has motivated Asus to create a whole line of computers based on the EEE branding, actually.   Then, at MacWorld ’08, Steve Jobs announced the coming of the Macbook Air.  Now, Lenovo’s hyped-up X300 is seeing its debut.

Source: http://gizmodo.com/assets/resources/2008/01/x300.jpg

The Lenovo X300 isn’t exactly the most well-hidden surprise of the year.  The picture right above this paragraph is one of the few that had been leaked and publicized by blogs such as Gizmodo a couple of months ago.  Many a critic had complained that the Lenovo X300 doesn’t look as “sexy” as the Macbook Air – and I find myself agreeing.  However, contrary to skepticism, I find myself thinking that the Lenovo X300 doesn’t have to look pretty to sell.

Source: http://www.product-reviews.net/wp-content/userimages/2008/02/x300_small.jpg

It’s a corporate product – simple as that.  In fact, since when was the last time Lenovo (or IBM for that matter) popular with the mainstream consumer world?  Probably around the same time you purchased your old beige IBM box – around eight years ago, when StarCraft was still popular.  In fact, I’ve got very vivid memories of purchasing it, one of the most exciting and defining moments of my life (I was wow-ed by the fish and maze screensavers on the Windows ’98 though, I feel obligated to admit).

Back on topic – thanks to its business appeal, it doesn’t have to look good.  All it has to do is perform, be affordable, and work.  That’s it.  The two products are directed towards different crowds, which is why they look so different event though they’re both ULPCs.  Hopefully I didn’t come off to angry, I just felt the need to express my own opinions urgently.  Besides, my first computer was an IBM – so get off their backs (ha ha, just kidding – hate them all you want, I assure you that I don’t mind).  Also, its got an optical drive: a DVD-burner, in fact, for copying those secret documents.  Oooh, aaah.

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/images/706311.jpg 

What this does mean, though, is that Lenovo has made a strategic move in capturing the market.  With Apple focused on the mainstream markets, Lenovo snuck around them and went straight to the corporations, and this will perhaps decrease the number of Macbook Airs being bought for company purposes.  Even though they do fit into the Manila envelope.

I haven’t explained the Lenovo X300 much, so I’ll let the official site do the talking.  Who knows, maybe you’re one of the few ordinary consumers that want one.

Visit:

http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/…