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Lenovo Thinkpad Edge continues IBM’s tradition
When Lenovo bought IBM’s PC division in 2005 I had concerns that the great line of Thinkpad notebooks had come to an end. I am very happy to say that I was wrong and one of the latest Thinkpads from Lenovo, the Edge, proves that yet again. Lenovo has kept the brand alive through not just good design but also quality construction.
I tried the 15.6-inch model, which is top of the range with 13.3 and 14-inch models available as well. One curious thing is that Lenovo apparently decided to make all of the displays the same resolution (1366 by 768 pixels) despite the difference in physical size. This unfortunately makes the larger size less attractive.
With the Edge Lenovo takes the IBM Thinkpad heritage and tries to make it a bit cooler. In design you clearly see it’s a Thinkpad but the display cover is brightly colored so it could even fit in a college dormitory. Lenovo also shows an almost Apple-like attention to detail in some elements of the design. For example, the dot in the “i” in Thinkpad on the lid lights up when the computer is on.
In performance there’s plenty for most business-oriented users: Intel Core i5 2.27GHz processor, 4GB RAM, 320GB hard drive, and ATI Radeon 4500 graphics card with 512MB VRAM. Although it won’t make much difference for many users it’s nonetheless good that Lenovo put Windows 7 Professional in the Edge. Especially corporate users should benefit from that.
Looking around the outside of the Edge you’ll find three USB ports, an optical drive (dual layer DVD burner), audio connection, SD card slot, HDMI out, VGA out, Ethernet and eSATA. One USB port sits on the back of the Thinkpad and it’s the only powered one, meaning you can charge your USB device from it. Although it’s typical that not all USB ports are powered it would be nice if they were. The SD card slot is well hidden on the front and you have to turn the computer over to find it. I think Lenovo could have made it more accessible.
The keyboard is a joy to type on and the multitouch trackpad works very well. I never really liked or understood the trackpoint in the middle of the keyboard but I know many Thinkpad enthusiasts swear by it.
The extended battery on the review Thinkpad gave me almost six hours of effective use with battery-saving mode enabled. That’s a very respectable amount of usage for typical tasks.
All in all the Lenovo Edge 15-inch continues the best of the Thinkpad tradition, throws in some exciting styling and decent performance. Although the screen resolution is disappointing this is a solid business notebook and the look will get your colleagues talking around the water cooler.
This article was originally published in Khaleej Times. -
Review: ASUStek EeePC ET2010PNT
When I first started up this 2,899 Dirham all-in-one PC I was a bit concerned since it took over 15 minutes before I arrived at a Windows desktop that I could use. Some of the blame for that, I guess, can be put on Microsoft for all the Windows Setup that was going on but then there was also Asus installing drivers for many minutes.
Going over the specifications briefly makes this sound like a netbook built-in to a big screen: Intel Atom Processor 1.66 GHz, 20 inch widescreen (1600 x 900 pixels) touchscreen with multitouch support, 2GB RAM, 500GB hard drive, Windows 7 Home Premium, DVD writer, etc. One interesting tidbit is that it has an HDMI input- yes, input, not output- so you can use it as a screen for something like an Xbox 360 or Playstation 3.
The netbook aspect also shows up in terms of performance, and this is where I’ll put in my biggest reservation with this computer: it’s too slow. Clearly the poor Atom processor is not enough to power everything that’s going on, and you have to wait for tasks to complete and the interface to update just long enough for it to be annoying. Perhaps my demands are high as someone who lives with this type of technology all day, every day, but Asus could have put more power in this PC.
Touch has already conquered the mobile market, but it’s coming in a big way to desktop computers as well. Apple hasn’t gone that way yet, but I’m sure they’re planning to. On the ET2010PNT, touch is responsive, and multitouch works as expected. It’s not as responsive as an iPhone, for example, but it’s perfectly adequate and will mean a new experience for web browsing, gaming and more.
To sum up the the Asus ET2010PNT is a good example of what desktop computers will increasingly become. It’s not as fast as it needs to be, but touch works fine and it’ll be a good contribution to your office, kitchen or living room. Although I wish that Apple would come up with a similar solution, I can see myself having something like this on my desk in the office.
This article was originally published in Khaleej Times.
