Lenovo Slims Down With Latest ThinkPad

On the other hand, if you're expecting every page, document and file to open and execute in a millisecond, this computer ain't for you. From what I can tell, the solid-state drive is great for booting (and durability on paper) but not a quantum leap forward in overall system speed.

Which brings us back to the price. $3K is a lot of money for a laptop. Then again, three pounds is very light for a laptop. New, super-lightweight, high-technology computers always cost more.

That's a fact of life.

Both the MacBook Air and ThinkPad X300 are the first of a new breed of ultra-portable computers. They won't be the last. Toshiba is offering the Portege R500 ultraportable notebook with a 12-inch screen and a solid-state drive. And, as the prices of the solid-state drives go down, so will the prices of the computers.

As for choice, The Apple is slightly (make that very slightly) smaller and lighter and can be purchased with a cheaper, standard hard drive, while the ThinkPad is much more configurable, and actually better suited to the ultimate road warrior.

Both are costly, but highly recommended.