Lenovo unleashes MacBook Air killer in Australia
At $AU3,999, the X300 comes in at around $300 cheaper than the high-end MacBook Air with the solid state drive, yet it comes with a lot of extra features.

The X300 features a bulit-in DVD burner, which is in a Multibay slot so it can be swapped out for a second battery. It also features Gigabit Ethernet, three USB ports, optional docking station, optional built-in mobile broadband - all the things the MacBook Air sorely lacks. Whereas the MacBook Air is probably best employed as a secondary on-the-road companion, the X300 looks like it could be your everyday workhorse. Still, the X300's LV SL7100 processor has less grunt than the MacBook Air so I'll reserve final judgement until I get my review unit.

Of course the X300 has got as much chance of killing the MacBook Air and your average two-bit MP3 player has of slaying the iPod. I blame Windows. As an owner of a ThinkPad T60 running Windows XP and a black MacBook running Leopard, I know which machine I turn to when I need a computer that "just works". Apple OSX is more stable and user-friendly than Windows could ever hope to be - the benefit of hardware and software designed specifically for each other.

Still, my ThinkPad has a lot going for it hardware-wise, for example Multibay is brilliant and I prefer the Think Pad's keyboard to the MacBook. Sometimes I dream of combining them into some kind of fantasy Mac-Pad. Laugh if you will, but running Leopard on the X300 would be my dream ultra-portable notebook. ThinkPads are the Volvo station wagon of notebooks - boring, sturdy and reliable. The MacBook Air is the Ferrari sports car - beautiful to look at but not all that practical. Gates and Jobs are more likely to announce their secret marriage than they are a Mac-Pad running bizarro Bootcamp, but I reckon it would offer the best of both worlds.