Lenovo takes a page from the Steve Jobs playbook

Lenovo has taken a page straight from Apple's playbook. The parody of the Macbook Air commercial promoting the ThinkPad X300 ultramobile PC has an effect similar to Apple's series of ads with John Hodgman and Justin Long that put down Windows.

It's not what you would expect from the Chinese company that acquired IBM's PC business, but it works. The ad is getting passed around like candy, and it is really funny and points out the weakness of the Macbook Air. (It lacks some ports and an optical drive.) Expect the Macbook Air crowd to strike back with a parody of its own.

Check out our reviews of the pricey X300 and the sleek Macbook Air.

[MCOjerry]

I have to admit, that was funny. However, that thing is ugly and looks to be about circa 1995.

I'm sure that the people buying the Air would rather have that the the black box in the ad. Also, I'm sure that Apple will improve their model at some point in the near future; while the black box will always be a...black box.

[tdaloisio]

Has it been confirmed that this was actually created by Lenovo and wasn't user generated?

[georgiarat]

Nice ad but notice that the flap would not close on the envelope, it is much thicker and heavier, and has no pizzaz.

[AppleSuxLeo]

Apple`s AIR is now seen as an AirFart by most people. Watch HP kick A** with th "mini-note"

[littlejoeh]

"No compromise"??
Then what is Vista doing on the machine?

[AppleSuxLeo]

Apple blew it and produced an overpriced AirFart .

[regal909]

Yes, it's cute and creative. But let's look at it rationally. The Air is for travel. When you travel, you might want to bring an optical drive, I'll admit that. But when you return home to your desk, the monitor is already attached to the dongle and all your USB "stuff" is already plugged into your hub. So upon arriving home, you just plug two things in and you're good to go. The cumbersome process depicted in the video just wouldn't happen on a regular basis for most folks.

[ecowper]

I just bought an Air. It's fast. It's thin. It has OS X. And Windows, IF I need it, can be installed using bootcamp or parallels. I have yet to want, or desire, a CD or DVD drive. If I do need it, I can use the drive on my wife's iMac with remote drive. I don't use ethernet, I use wireless.

Bottom line, I don't need a built-in optical drive or built-in ethernet. I don't need Windows. I only need a usb port for iPhone. I travel all the time with my laptop and the weight, size, and utility of the Air are awesome. The built in cam and integration of iChat with Google Talk is very cool, I can say goodnight to my kids by webcam very easily when I'm on the road. I'm sure that I can do that on other laptops, but the point is that I can easily do it on THIS laptop. And it looks good. And feels good. I love the keyboard and trackpad.

For someone looking for an ultraportable and not wedded to Windows, this laptop is a delight. I would not buy the Lenovo just because, for the price (pretty comparable to the Air), it's pretty darned ugly.

[Maccess]

That's typical PC mentality: Mine is better than yours, because it has all these built-in features. Apple's mentality is to be elegant and logical about choosing what should be included and what should be excluded. The MacBook Air is for a specific market. It is not an all-in-one--there's the MacBook and MacBook Pro for that.

Lenovo's x60/x61, the businessman's uber-portable also lacks a CD/DVD drive. These are excellent machines.

The x300 is more of an evolution of the T series. The everything portable: Includes a CD-DVD drive, which is about as useful today as a floppy. drive. If you need to send a large file, use sendspace or something similar, or buy a USB flash drive around the corner. If you REALLY need to burn a disc, do it at home or in your hotel room. The x300 market comes from current T-series users.

[vmlenigma]

Yeah that that thing runs Windblows