So I was on the computer store, to get a new laptop for myself, after a horrible experience with a high-end Dell laptop. Keeping in mind that I would depend on my laptop almost 24-7, for all kinds of use like heavy programming IDEs, heavy multi-tasking, multimedia, well pretty much anything except for heavy 3D rendering. For video games I have my playstation so.... don't expect that from a laptop.
I have to say, I am an IT guy who reviews tech specs up and down before purchasing. And this machine was strange contradiction of light-processing and portability. Just going with a hunch, I decided for this Lenovo Edge. I got the AMD Neo X2 one.
Only a year after that I realize what an excellent choice that was.
Let me summarize:
CONS:
-They decided to take away the LED indicator for caps-lock. Instead, a driver-activated sign shows up on the screen. I would like my LED indicator back.. but I'm guess I'm just getting old.
-It doesn't come with a LED for hard drive activity. I want that one back.
-No optical drive was a bad thing at the beginning until I realized I just don't need a DVD drive! So that's actually a PRO for me.
PROS:
-The weight is so light that sometimes I forget I'm carrying a laptop on my backpack.
-Excellent trade-off between processing power, portability, and usability.
-The keyboard distribution might seem odd at first. After getting used to it I realize the designers were just *brilliant*. The page-up/page-down keys next to the arrows, cutting off some fat like sysReq and the likes, and the keyboard feel... I love what they've done.
-The processor is not high end, but it is dual core and trust me: it is very good. I can run two or three virtual machines with VMware while I have my other programs running with no problem!!
-I am an IT consultant so I don't play games on this laptop. However I tried a few games and they worked just fine for me (maybe because I don't care about 3D games).
-It doesn't come with a DVD drive, but honestly I don't need one and I haven't seen many people intensively using optical drives on laptops for maybe 2 years now.
-It comes with track-point as well, which comes very handy in many situations. At least for me, it relieves my wrist from the stress of using touch pad.
-Most laptops are a pain in the *** when it's time to change/upgrade parts like hard drive, RAM, processor, or if you just want to do a clean up the dust. This laptop comes with one big lid on the bottom: remove a few screws and you'll have all critical parts right there. To me, it is an example to follow by other makers.
No, of course you can not run games with extreme 3D graphics, if that's your expectation on this machine (particularly on a laptop) then you are missing the point, and better go for a 2000$ computer (and I should say, a desktop). I've had a Dell laptop able to do that, it came with optical drive, had a dozen ports, and I returned it because that laptop was a freaking monster, too big, too heavy, and too expensive. I decided to cut off some fat and this ThinkPad Edge was a happy choice for me.
