14 DAY TRIAL // Without a doubt, Lenovo's ThinkPad X300 kicks major behind. The laptop not only includes a built-in optical drive, but sports not one (like Apple's MacBook Air) but three USB ports, not to mention more options to upgrade. So, while Apple was busy making fun of PCs, Lenovo decided to give the Cupertino folks a little taste of their own medicine, through an ad, posted on YouTube.
"ThinkPad X300. The no-compromise ultraportable" is presented as a laptop almost as thin as Apple's Air, given that it can fit in the same document envelope Apple's commercial uses. However, this is how the commercial ends. The funny part (although some Mac fanatics will probably order TNT and look up Lenovo's HQ on the web shortly after viewing the infinitely-ironic commercial) consists of a pair of anonymous hands that take the Air out of the envelope, just like in Apple's original ad. The hands then start connecting a USB adapter and several USB extension cable, only to connect Apple's MacBook Air SuperDrive to it.
The hands then cram the Air back into the paper envelope along with the wires, USB adapter and SuperDrive, tearing the paper packaging product in the process. "We don't add stuff on. We build it in," says Lenovo, backing up its statement by pulling a fresh X300 out of a new document envelope. What? You didn't honestly think the Air was the only laptop capable of fitting inside one of those envelopes, did you?
Lenovo's X300 sports three USB ports, a built-in Ethernet connection, a built-in DVD burner and 4GB of memory (for the high end model); it is a "complete system". Needless to say, Lenovo's laptop can prove to be a much more efficient machine than Apple's, but let's not forget one thing: Apple isn't all about specs.
