Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E420

Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E420

Lenovo positions its ThinkPad Edge series as being slightly more stylish than its other lines while retaining the usability features that have long made ThinkPads popular with corporate users--and that's a pretty fair assessment. What the PR people don't mention is that the performance may not be great. For general business use, however, the ThinkPad Edge E420 we tested would certainly be adequate, and its price will appeal to small-business owners and other people in search of an affordable all-purpose laptop with a 14.1-inch display. Configured with an Intel Core i3-2310M CPU (the low-end chip in Intel's current-generation lineup), 4GB of DDR3 1.3MHz RAM, Intel HD 3000 graphics, a 500GB 7200-rpm hard drive, and the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Professional, our test system came with a modest price tag of $719 (as of July 21, 2011). This laptop also includes a built-in fingerprint reader, Bluetooth, an integrated 720p webcam, a 34mm ExpressCard slot (unusual in a budget laptop), an SD/MultiMediaCard slot, and a DVD burner. The major downer with our test unit, as previously mentioned, was its performance.