Up until last year, thin-and-light laptops were the exotic supercars of the computing world. They were eminently portable, had great battery life, but were still fast enough to do everything a full-sized computer could. Unlike netbooks, they required no sacrifices and were fully capable computers. Recently, these ultraportable laptops with long battery life and more importantly, an affordable price, have become very popular with the college-aged crowd.
To capitalize on this new budget ultraportable trend, Lenovo recently released the ThinkPad Edge. This is quite a departure for the corporate executive companion ThinkPad line. If anything, the Edge straddles the division between the conservative ThinkPad and consumer oriented IdeaPad models.
This ambivalent nature can be seen in the design of the Edge. For the first time ever, the back lid of the Edge is available in glossy red and glossy black, in addition to the standard matte black option. Also, the edges of the ThinkPad Edge are wrapped in silver plastic and the hinges for the screen are plastic as well, not metal as is typically the case with ThinkPads. All this lends the Edge a slightly chintzy feeling. While it seems well constructed, it feel generic and lacks the stellar, bulletproof feel ThinkPads have come to be known for.
All is not bad, though. The Edge preserves the ThinkPad line's reputation of having awesome keyboards. The Edge has one of the best chiclet-style keyboards I have ever used. The keys are slightly scalloped and have a firm, responsive action that lends itself to fast, comfortable typing. Below the keyboard is a comfortable and wide multi-touch trackpad that tracks movements well. It is amazing to me how many companies (mostly HP) fail at making a user-friendly trackpad. Of course, this being a ThinkPad, you can also use the red TrackPoint nub and its set of three buttons directly below the keyboard.
The review unit Lenovo sent me came pretty loaded. It has a 1.3GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 processor, 4GB RAM, 320GB hard drive and Windows 7 Professional. Even more impressive is the number of wireless radios packed into this particular Edge. Not only does it have the standard Wi-Fi (which supports the newer 802.11n band) and Bluetooth, it also has EV-DO and HSPA wireless broadband, courtesy of Verizon and AT&T respectively, in addition to WiMAX and GPS. All the radiation coming from those radios pretty much guarantee I will not be procreating in the future (although the fact that I pen a technology column probably took care of that already).
The processor inside the Edge is of the ultra-low-voltage variety, so it does wonders for battery life. I was able to get over six hours of use off a full charge without too much difficulty. While this means there is a trade-off in terms of performance, the Edge will more than be able to handle Blitz, Microsoft Word and even large data sets in Stata.
This brings me to the one sticking point that prevents me from whole-heartedly recommending the ThinkPad Edge: its price. My review unit retails for $899, but prices start at $549. While that sounds pretty good, the budget options are equipped with a slower, less capable AMD processor. The version with the Intel chip (the one you want) starts at $799. While those prices are reasonable, there are more than comparable systems from Acer and Asus, so the Edge does not offer the best value. On the other hand, the ThinkPad is less than half the price of high-end ultra-portables such as Lenovo's own ThinkPad X200s and X301.
In more ways than one, the Edge finds itself caught in the middle. It is somewhat awkwardly in between the ThinkPad and IdeaPad and it is also in between its competitors in terms of price. For some people, the sacrifices the ThinkPad Edge makes will be unacceptable, but for many others, the Edge is a good hybrid of parts and will provide years of pleasurable use.
