For a few months, I couldn't find anything less than $600-700. Then I stumbled upon this model by sequentially filtering Amazon's entire notebook catalog according to my criteria. At first I thought it was too good to be true for $480Amazon has it listed by the specs in the title (as opposed to a colloquial description), and then had no detailed specs on the product page itselfso I wasn't exactly sure what I would be getting. Since Amazon was selling it directly (i.e. not a 3rd party), and CNET's review of this model was very favorable, I decided to order it anyways. If it didn't meet the specs in the title I'd just return it. It took a month to arrive. To be fair, Amazon did state that the product would ship in 3-4 weeks. I imagine Amazon, like many other retailers that sell Lenovo, doesn't keep a large stock on hand and only reorders models as necessary. Unboxing was uneventful. Lenovo uses IKEA-style, 100% recyclable packagingkudos to them. Most importantly, the specs did indeed match the titlewhew!
Setting up the laptop was fairly easy. The Lenovo setup utility downloads both Windows and Thinkpad updates at once, a handy time-saver. The BIOS is also updated directly in Windows without having to create a flash boot disk or restarting the computervery cool. Also coolminimal bloatware! Just trial versions of Office 2010 and Norton Antivirus, which were uninstalled easy enough and replaced with OpenOffice and Avira. The hard drive is partitioned, with about 10GB devoted to the factory image. However, clicking the partition (or using the Thinkpad toolbox) opens a utility that lets you recover the partition entirely (assuming you've actually created the bootable recovery CD)again, a nice touch. With every other PC brand I've used, you have to install a partition manager to wrestle back your hard drive space. Of note, the recovery "CD" can be created on a DVD, external hard drive, or USB key, so don't panic if you don't have access to a portable optical drive. I'd recommend leaving the partition alone though10GB out of 320GB is nothing, and in case you lose/forget your recovery CD somewhere, you can restore the factory image directly from the Thinkpad BIOS. The screen looks fantastic with good color saturation. I would have preferred a matte screen instead of glossy, but if you view a lot of pictures and movies you'll appreciate the extra vibrancy. There is an HDMI port, which was a nice surprise, so you can play your digital media on your home monitor or TV. VGA, 3 USB, and a SDHC slot round out the ports. The chiclet keyboard is also fantastic. The keys feel solid and have a good throw, with no keyboard flex. You have a choice of using the TrackPoint or the touchpad, so everyone should be happy in this regard. Like another review here, I found the touchpad occasionally erratic; it sometimes doesn't register my movements and needs a few seconds to "wake-up" and move the mouse pointer. I'll have to double check the settings and driver and see if there's something that can be fixed. Speaker quality is typical for a laptopok for music and YouTube in an average room, but sounds tinny when cranked up all the way. Haven't really tested the battery extensively yet, but unplugging the AC adapter with a full battery shows about 6 hours remaining with Wi-Fi onmore than enough for a day's worth of computing (at least for me). For you battery fanatics, the Thinkpad toolbox lets you monitor the battery's inner workings (condition, current charge, cycles charged, etc). The build quality overall is top-notch and what you would expect from a Thinkpadno creaking parts, minimal seams, nice thick plastic, and good solid hinges on the lid.
Windows 7 Professional is installed. Probably overkill for a budget orientated laptop, but I suppose this is still a ThinkPad and marketed to business users. At least Lenovo managed to keep the price under $500. The Core 2 Duo processor and 3GB RAM run the OS very smoothly, I haven't run into any hiccups while multitasking. Some people might scoff at a non i3, i5, or Sandy Bridge processor, but it's hardly fair to compare a laptop that came out last year (and originally for $800 at that) to models that are being released now. For everyday computing like web browsing, email, Facebook, Skype, word processing, Netflix, etc, the C2D is more than adequate and runs circles around any Atom netbook processor.
So what don't I like? Very little, and I'm nitpicking at this point. I mentioned the sometimes erratic touchpad. The lid doesn't lock closed. "Classic" Thinkpad features such as the keyboard light and physical Toolbox button are omitted from the Edge models. I would have preferred Windows 7HP to save the extra premium of Professional. There are a lot of messages (and ads) from Lenovo to sift though in the toolbox. The included AC adapter is the old 'plain' model and not the new one with built-in USB charger ports.
Overall, I'm very happy with this laptop and will definitely be sticking with Thinkpads in the future. The combination of solid hardware and thoughtful software is just awesome and puts HP, Toshiba, Sony, etc to shame.
Some closing notes...If you're looking for a good case, I'm using this Case Logic VNA214 14.1-Inch Laptop Attache (Brown) It fits the notebook perfectly and has enough pockets for your usual accessories, but is still very slim and lightweight. You can find it for less than $20 if you shop around. Be sure to create the recovery "CD" before messing around with the 2nd partition. The picture on Amazon is NOT correct; the picture shown is the 15" model. The 13" Edge is much narrower and thinner than its bigger brothers. The keyboard nearly extends to the edges, and the keyboard and palm rest are all black, not black/silver as pictured here. Check Lenovo's website for actual photos, Amazon doesn't seem to grasp the difference even after I contacted them. Lastly, make sure the laptop you buy meets your actual needs. There's no point buying a laptop that doesn't include a feature you are looking for e.g. WWAN, and then complaining afterwards that the laptop doesn't meet your needsthat's chutzpah!
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I just received my Edge 13.3 and I'm impressed about how fast it is considering it has a low consumption (10 watt) processor. The first thing this laptop asked me to do right after the initial Windows setup was to update Lenovo tools and then update BIOS. I had to do it with a cable connection because the wireless radio coundn't be turned on. After the lenovo updates everything seems to be working fine. Will update after few days of use.UPDATE: I think it is a matter of getting used to, but sometimes the touchpad feels too sensitive and some other times it seems to need more pressure from my fingertips. I'm using other laptop too, so maybe it is just me. Other than that, this small laptop works flawless and its quality is remarkable.
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Just received my Thinkpad edge 13.3 my first impression was more than what i expected lenovo has kept their quality on this one the dual core processor and the battery life is excellent i actually charged the laptop 100% and checked the battery life it gave me close to 6 1/2 hours which is pretty good. The only drawback which is not a big concern is the glossy top is one of the reason i removed a 1 star in the ratings as your fingers can easily smudge it. Secondly i always wondered as to how come a laptop of this specifications for only $490 IT SOUNDED TOO GOOD OF A DEAL Well i did some inspection and noticed that it has a SIM card slot behind the battery for WIMAX & Mobile broadband but in fact the laptop does not have a WWAN card as this card costs approx $150 so there you go these were the 2 reasons i removed 1 star but overall the speed performance is great let me give you individual ratings below,Speed : 4 Stars
Camera Quality : 4 Stars
Boot Up Time: 3 stars
Quality: 5 Stars
Hope this review helped i shall update further after i have reviewed it a little more.
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