I understand Lenovo can't just include OS X, so is that why we are so willing to give the product a good review? Why is this the consumer's problem? The bottom line is that for most consumers, the Air with OS X is a much better buy than this IdeaPad. Isn't the point of writing reviews to help consumers make the best decision for them, not to assign "effort" grades to OEMs?
Edit: Here is an example to illustrate what I mean by "effort" grades. In at least some parts of the US there is a practice of assigning grades in physical education classes based on how much effort the student has given in the class, instead of how well they actually perform. The rationale is that it isn't fair to penalize someone for not being born with certain physical gifts.
If you review laptops this way, then you won't penalize Lenovo for including Windows instead of OS X, since that is beyond their control. [1]
My point is this doesn't make sense if you are actually trying to help someone pick the best product. If you're picking players for a professional sports team, you don't want to use those "effort" grades alone to do it. So I have a problem with all these reviewers who grade PCs on a curve, as Gruber would likely describe it. Granted, that would make a lot of review sites pretty boring as Apple wins comparison after comparison, but isn't it more important to be accurate than exciting, especially when you're trying to help someone decide how to spend $1000 or more?
[1] Then again, shouldn't Lenovo be penalized for not having a good OS of their own? Or is that expecting too much of them?
Are they truly grading on a curve? Just because you suspect Gruber would say so, isn't exactly a compelling argument.
70% of the market happily go about their day by day browsing the web, emailing, and writing the odd Word document on a Windows machine. If they moved to OS X, they would have a prettier interface, but it isn't a compelling difference for them.
I own a Mac, so I'm not completely oblivious to the OS, but I (along with the majority of computer users) prefer Windows. It isn't a rah-rah Windows is so much better sort of preference, and I think what turns me off about OS X is how hard fanboys work to try and convince everybody that they have 'the answer'. My distaste for Macs comes more from not wanting to be associated with the group of people who very vocally and repeatedly tell the world that we're all doing it wrong, our stuff doesn't work, you're so much better than us because you use a mac.
I hope this doesn't come off as a flame, because that really isn't my intention. I hope i can open your eyes a bit to the reality of the world you live in. Most people don't care, and shouldn't care about what operating system they are using. The difference between Windows and OS X in performance and capabilities is minimal, so when you comment about a review of a computer not coming with your preferred OS, you aren't truly adding to the conversation in my opinion.
I haven't touched the U300s yet, though I picked up a U260 a few weeks ago and I'm very happy with it. It doesn't quite have the polish of an Air, but it is 90% of the way there, and about 1/2 the price. The screen isn't completely flex free, though much better than the Samsung Series 9, and it is a matte finish which is fantastic. It is a bit lighter than the 13" Air, and the soft-touch finish is very nice and scratch proof.
Why should Lenovo be penalized for not having an OS of their own. Can you imagine what kind of crap would be out there if every hardware manufacturer made their own OS? Look how having their own mobile OS turned out for HP and Nokia.
I always shake my head when I see this sort of argument since it seems to have absolutely nothing to do with the actual utility of the computer. If a Mac isn't a match for your use case then that is sufficient reason to use something else. If the Mac is actually a better match for your use case but you avoid it just because you don't like some other people who happen to own a Mac it seems like you're cutting off your nose to spite your face.
"The bad: Our more expensive configuration offers no discount from a comparable MacBook Air, and leaves out some basic ports and connections."
+1 Macbook Air...
At the same time, I have no idea what version this laptop is supporting, but seeing as 1.3 is already 5 years old, I'd suspect that is the minimum currently supported.
3x faster multimedia bench, 2x faster itunes encode, and 34% longer battery.
Also the IdeaPad looks more like a Chromebook, for what it's worth.
I have a X220T and I love it. It's light, the battery lasts very long, the screen is gorgeous, I can work outside. When I need to take notes, or to draw, I use the pen. And for typing it has the excellent ThinkPad keyboard - I do not understand the new mode for keyboards with flat, quadratic key buttons with spaces around, I personally think it is bad for people that need to write a lot. The only thing that I am missing on X220T is the 4:3 screen ratio that would give more vertical space in horizontal mode.
