Booting up

Windows Vista boots two times slower than the Mac OS X does. The two systems with the different operating systems are not directly comparable, of course, but the Mac OS X is just faster.

Photoshop CS3

The time it takes for Photoshop CS3 to load up is comparable on both machines, even if the Windows version is faster. However, the Mac OS X version loads image files faster.

Autonomy

We used Microsoft Office and compressed a large file for these tests.

The launching and initialization of Microsoft Word (2008 on Mac, 2007 on Windows) was interesting to compare, since the Windows version launched almost immediately, while the Mac version was very slow.

File Decompression

For the last test, we tried to decompress one archive (rar) that contained some big files (about 500 MB) and a lot of smaller files (less than 1 MB). With this precise test, we wanted to see any drawbacks the X300’s SSD hard drive might have for writing small files. However, the X300’s SSD hard drive is much faster than the MacBook Air’s drive, as the results show.

Stand-By

With a processor that consumes relatively little power and an LED screen, the X300 should have good stand-by time. Indeed, the X300 lasted about six hours and 30 minutes on a charge with our test unit’s six-cell battery. And with another battery in place of the optical drive, Lenovo says the X300’s battery life can last up to 10 hours in stand-by mode on a charge.

DVD Playback

We were able to watch a DVD with the screen resolution set to a minimum for 2 hours and 14 minutes on a charge. This was long enough to watch most of the movie but was still a little short. Also, the screen isn’t well adapted for watching movies.

With 3G

Our other test consisted of using the X300 with a 3G connection. By deactivating Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and setting the screen to 7 bars (from 15), we were able to work for 4 hours and 25 minutes. By reducing the luminosity and deactivating the 3G connection, the battery life should be able to last up to six hours.

Lenovo suggests replacing the optical drive with a three-cell battery to improve stand-by time. However, doing so requires a screwdriver and is a little inconvenient