RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – Lenovo’s new ThinkPad X300 lightweight laptop is creating quite the buzz on the Web now that Internet world’s wise tech master has gotten his hands on one.

Walt Mossberg, the Wall Street Journal’s longtime technology columnist, devoted his “Mossblog” Wednesday to a partial review of Lenovo’s counter to Apple’s MacBook Air.

While not offering what he calls a “full review,” Mossberg described the X300 as “super-skinny,” “unusual” and loaded with more features than the Air. He does point that that the X300 isn’t as “skinny or sexy as the Apple, but it’s still very slender and attractive, at under an inch thick.”

Given his global readership and strong reputation in tech circles, Mossberg would give the X300 a tremendous marketing boost if he offers a positive review at the Journal’s Web site.

At first glance, he seems to like it, noting that “I expect [it] to be of great interest to road warriors.

Pointing out the Lenovo machine resembles the Air in size (13-inch screen), thickness (around 1 inch), weight (just over 3 pounds) and solid-state drive (SSD) rather than traditional hard disk, Mossberg also stresses that the X300 packs several advantages.

“But, unlike the Apple, Lenovo’s new skinny ThinkPad comes with a hefty complement of ports and features, some of the very things critics complained Apple left out,” he wrote. “It has a built-in DVD drive, removable battery, three USB ports, and a wired Ethernet networking jack. Inside, in addition to Wi-Fi, it can be ordered with a built-in cellphone modem and even GPS. It comes with either Windows Vista or Windows XP.”

Mossberg’s blog created scores of comments and make for interesting reading.

Many details about the X300 have been leaked to the media, including pricing details. But whoever provided Mossberg with an early copy of the X300 knew what he or she was doing. His commentary is advertising and promotion Lenovo could not buy through traditional marketing.

For Mossberg’s full column, see the Web link with this post.

(Note: A reader pointed out to The Skinny that in a recent post I priced the Air much higher than the basic models, which are under $2,000. Duly noted. Thanks for the note.)