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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. -
I’m a Mac but I’m also a PC
A common misconception about Mac computers is that there is no software available for them, at least not software that is used in business. I admit that to some extent that is true. Compared to all the software available for Windows, what you can get on Mac OS X is a small percentage. Keep in mind however that most of the main productivity applications, like Microsoft Office and Adobe’s Creative Suite, are available for both platforms.
The reality is that most Mac users will have the need to run Windows applications at some point and the fact is it’s really easy to do so. Since Apple started using Intel processors in all their computers in 2006 the situation with compatibility is very different than it was before. Apple actually use the same Intel processors in their computers that you find in most PCs available today. This means that there are several solutions for running Windows on a Mac, including one from Apple, so there’s no excuse anymore for Mac users.
I’m not advocating running Windows on a Mac unless you really have to but especially if you work in a corporate environment chances are that you have to use various applications and systems that are only available for Windows.
Apple’s free solution is called Boot Camp and it involves putting aside a part of the Mac’s hard drive for Windows. Then you install Windows to this part with the Boot Camp Assistant, which is a part of Mac OS X. To run Windows you need to reboot the Mac and select Windows. Reboot again and you can get back to Mac OS X. If you’re into gaming this is the best option as Windows has complete control over the Mac, therefore games and other software should run faster than with the other options.
If you don’t want to reboot your Mac to run Windows there are several virtualization solutions. They all have in common that you run Windows within a window in Mac OS X. So Windows basically becomes like any other application on your Mac. Parallels Desktop for Mac, VMware Fusion and VirtualBox are examples of this approach. The downside with this alternative is that Windows shares resources like processor and memory with Mac OS X, which means performance may suffer. It’s generally not a good option for gaming, for example.
The one solution that stands out a bit is CodeWeaver’s CrossOver. It’s the only solution that doesn’t require a valid copy of Windows because it basically emulates Windows. The downside is that it only supports certain applications so it may not work with what you need to run. If the software you want to run is supported, CrossOver may be the solution for you.
So now you now what the options are for running Windows on your Mac. Next time someone says it can’t be done, you’ll set them straight, okay?
Options for running Windows on a Mac
Boot Camp: www.apple.com/support/bootcamp
CrossOver: www.codeweavers.com/products/cxmac
Parallels: www.parallels.com/products/desktop
VirtualBox: www.virtualbox.org
VMware Fusion: www.vmware.com/products/fusion
This article was originally published in Khaleej Times.
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Lenovo guides us around their portable line at DCC
Bilal Hamoui, 4P Manager at Lenovo MEEP (Middle East, Egypt and Pakistan) guided us around some of their portable products at DCC. He showed the Thinkpad Edge, Ideapad S10-3T and the Ideapad Y550. Lenovo has kept many of the characteristics that made the Thinkpad such a well-known brand under IBM and the Ideapad line of consumer products is shaping up to be a reputable brand in its own right.
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iPad-like tablet and mystery device by MSI at DCC
We sat down with two guys from MSI at DCC. Green Lin, Marketing supervisor MEA channel marketing, and Alan Chu, Regional sales director MEA market, showed us a tablet looking similar to Apple’s iPad, which they said would launch at Computex in June. It’s going to run Windows 7 on an Intel Atom processor, but apparently specs are not yet finalized. The other device, which was a non-functional prototype, looked kind of like a netbook but instead of where the keyboard usually is, there was a second display. They said it could be used as a regular notebook in which case the lower display would work as a virtual keyboard. You will also be able to use it in vertical mode and read a book on one screen and do something else on the other or even span Windows across the two screens, as far as I could tell. This device will roll out sometime next year, if it even makes it that far through development. It’s a bit unfair to judge the device just yet as it’s not finalized but personally I think it’s exciting that more companies are coming out with tablets. This particular one is not as good looking as the iPad but if it has more functionality, quick performance like iPad, comparable battery life and a competitive price, it would be an interesting alternative. There’s certainly something appealing about running a full desktop OS on a touch tablet, something many have commented on in terms of iPad.
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Dell exhibits 9.99mm thin Adamo XPS at DCC
The Adamo XPS is, according to Dell, coming to the Middle East “within the coming weeks.” The Adamo XPS is Dell’s showcase piece of design and engineering. At 9.99mm think it’s very sleek and it has a unique design feature in that the keyboard folds out of the display rather than the other way around. You slide your finger over the front edge of the display to unlock it and out pops the keyboard.
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Interview Packard Bell
Packard Bell’s VP EMEA Emmanuel Fromont talks to us about their new line-up of computers for 2010.
