Thinkpad Edge 420s

I would think that Vostro 3450 will probably be comparable with E420 regular, not the slim one.
When Dell releases their slim 13" Latitude/Vostro, then it will be competing with E220s/E420s.
Doesnt have to do with hardware only, more like intended public. E420s is somewhat premium Edge model while Vostro 3450 is regular bulky full size and not slim "premium budget" laptop
My 2 cents.

 

yes its going to have the trackpoint.

I agree with you if it werent for the gpu, which I dont think will equip the regular e420, they would be nek to neck competitors.

And who in their right mind would charge 1374 for just a mild upgrade in the cpu and the gpu? thats just insane! With that kind of money I can go and buy a vaio SB, being smaller and slimmer as well!

 

I agree about it being quite pricey when adding upgrades, given that all upgrades Ive seen are quite expensive and in limited choice.
But the starting price is rather low and configuration is not half bad either, just not enough for some users.

 

I also agree, it has great value, but with the e420s starting at the same specs... I would grab it.

the problem is the type of VT support that the oem chips have, it wont fit the bill. I just couldnt run a VM today because my cpu is P7350.

 

the vostro 3450 is actually not bulky at all.

dimensions: 13.5 x 9.68

while the e420s is: 13.7 x 9.3

but the overall look and the details on the e420s does look better than the 3450, i still think its very close between these two with the 3450 having the better specs and the price to go with it. Definitely think both are competitors

 

there are 3 colour options you can choose all included in the price. I'm not sure for the US though.

heres a good review of the new vostro. Dell Vostro 3550 review - PC Advisor

sounds promising.

....may have to stop here and start posting on the dell forum now

 

not sure about the thickness but the weights are-

3450: 2.25kg

E420s: 1.8kg

again the difference is minimal. and from the pictures it does look slim

also forgot to mention that theres an optional 9-cell battery aswell.

 

Footprint should be the same, both 14" laptops. The Vostro is about .1 in thicker and nearly a pound heavier (4.14 vs 5.02). Style wise, the Edge's .1in of thickness seems to look much more than it really is.

 

that is from some years ago.

 

I am still waiting for the edge 14 with the 6630, I hope they will start offering that option soon. I need a main laptop soon. The x120e is just not powerful enough for decent gaming.

 

Are these shipping yet? I'm contemplating whether to wait for a review or just bite the bullet.

 

So am I.

I will price comparison the edge e420s and the vaio SB, currently the vaio is the most expensive offer, being 1300

 

I'm looking at the basic model and with the current coupon it looks like a good deal. I've never bought directly from Lenovo before. Is it likely that the price (with coupons) will stay around this mark or is this especially good for a new product? I'm willing to wait for some reviews if this deal will be back.

Could someone recommend a good comparable model to the base model? I just started my search for a new laptop. Mostly looking for a 14" that's thin and light with decent speed. I'm not a gamer.

I've also noticed that in some pictures there are buttons at the base of the trackpad but in other pics it is smooth like the macbook. Any idea which is an accurate representation?

 

Its actually below the price point advertised, lenovo always release coupons but this deal is too good to be true.

You could try the hp business line, they start at a higher price point.

Lenovo - Laptops - ThinkPad - Edge - E420s

you are confusing the e420s with the older edge line. The new line only has the button for the trackpoint, but not for the touchpad itself.

 

Any word on the UK release?

 

I think I might jump on this deal. I really wish there were some reviews out there but I guess it's just too early.

 

I wish they made a E320S with the 6630M. 14" Is kinda big + the Optical drive is useless most of the time and wastes space.

 

agreed! thats why Im also looking at the vaio SB, too bad that because of blu ray, sony always puts the ODD, well if they dont put it, they are going to fell the same wrath of the envy 15

 

I feel like a fan or extra battery would be more useful.

BTW does anyone know the battery life estimate of the e420s?

 

I would go for an extra fan.

the battery life is estimated by lenovo as 4 hours, and this is such a bummer and inevitably leads me to the Vaio SB, with its 6 hours of real light use (wi fi, reduced brightness playing some videos and writing documents)

Basically with one I can have a slice for 13 hours or just the battery for 6 hours, a whole day of use. While the other I can only have probably measly 3 hours of real life use, leading me to take the charger with me, granted that I would use the thermaltake toughpower 95w that I have, which is pretty light and slim, but its an annoyance since that with the other I dont need it.

 

4 hours really? The Lenovo website shows 7 hours for the "new" E420s. I'm really thinking about getting it. 4 hours would be a deal breaker though.

 

I dont know how they are getting that with a 48.8wh battery, but I thought I saw 4 hours before....

anyway the usual power consumption of an arrandale chipset is around 10~15w, and this is at idle. Now if you get it at 10w then you are going to use at most at 5ish hours of idle work. I couldnt find a reliable battery test (without the terrible battery eater test) so i cant shed some light on how much the SB chips consume, basically I wont hold any hope for that kind of battery life.

and this is a deal breaker for me too.

 

I think it said up to 5 hours in the official Lenovo PDF document, which is a deal breaker for me. Too bad, because I really like the design and the specs of the E420s. Now I'll have to wait for the Acer 3830TG, the Sony Vaio SB or a HP Envy or Asus U36 refresh.

 

if linux is a must for you, the 3830tg wont fit the bill, neither the asus u36.

The U31sv is the one that you are looking for, they are SB equipped. Either more probably than not the acer is going to need to be imported, if you are US based.

the envy for me is a lost cause, its aking too much, and the money when it stays still in my pocket is not good thing, its only losing value everyday.

Im probably going for the sony, too bad, I really liked this one.

 

Still waiting on it to include the i7 cpu and get the micro SSD's back.

 

I just ordered an E420s through Lenovo. But it will take 2 weeks to come sniff.

core i5 2410m, 320gb 7200rpm drive, 4gig ram. Nothing fancy. I liked the look, hopefully it looks better in person! It cost 750 USD after all the discounts right now.

The dedicated gpu and the i7 option is not available in the configurator (if thats a word!) right now but they will show up by the 2nd week of April. The rep said Apr 8th i think. (E220s launches 2nd half of Apr)
The battery is estimated at 7 hours. AFAIK, Lenovo does not outrageously overestimate the battery claims so real world life should be close, maybe 5 to 6 hours.

I will post a mini review once I receive the unit. Let me know any questions you guys have and I will try to cover it in my review.

 

Great news, looking forward to your review. First questions when you get it:

1-Fan Noise
2-Speaker quality
3-Battery life

 

Thanks for that.

As for the review, could you also talk about:
1 - Weight for your configuration
2 - keyboard (is it as good as the regular T series)
3 - nits for the display
4 - test results for the native gpu, i.e. Intel 3000, maybe FPS' for a few games if possible
5 - and of course battery life, if that hasn't already mentioned before

 

I suppose they estimate ~7W power consumption when idling, then 48.8Wh / 7W = 6.97h

I'd say (quite optimistically) it may consume around 10W~12W when surfing via wlan or doing other light tasks, so 4-5 hours of usable life are likely the most one can get.

 

I saw the power consumption of a vaio SB, it is around 5,7w when idle, so try to get 10w when doing something you have got that battery life, now the edge is back in game.

It really is back in the game, since the wh of the battery from the sony is 49wh!

those chips really consume less power, my p7350m and 4670m consume a 56wh battery in 2:30 hours, it is a really good measure!

 

No comments in over a day. Can I assume that those of you who already ordered a 420s are busy testing it and will provide the rest of fence sitters with some good reviews soon?

 

Or that we are waiting for the notebooks, or just like me are waiting for the AMD 6630m come out

 

I want to see a review on the quality of the screen that is offer in these devices. I would like to buy one, I don't want to stuck with a screen that's sucks. I might even consider buying a more expensive machine with a better screen, if it is lacking in the screen department.

 

came across this info today

Thinkpad E220s / E420s Hardware Reset Feature - small hole next to screw on the bottom

How to disable power to the battery before servicing ThinkPad Edge models E220s / E420s

ThinkPad Edge E220s or E420s won't power on - new system or after long term storage

 

Due to poor build Quality, Sony SB is out of the running for me.

That leaves Lenovo T420, T420s, Edge 420, 420S (not sure what the differences are) and Toshiba R830/R835 along with Apple MacBook pro 13".

Toshiba R835 is the lightest of the bunch coming in at 3.2 lbs as of right now.

Edge 420S I assume is the lighter Edge is coming in at 4.1lbs.
T420 is coming in roughly the same.
MacBook Pro is 4.5lbs on the 13.3"
Toshiba R835 is 3.2lbs.

Edge and T420 will have discrete options. NVS4200M on the T420 and AMD 6630M on the Edge
Toshiba R835 is Intel 3000 HD integrated along with the MacBook Pro.

Asus not out yet and specs seem worse.

Way too many choices but some choices like the Sony SB seemed excellent but fell through due to poor quality control.

Its April right now and models will be coming in stock in the next few weeks.

Not sure which I'll get. The Sony came with the matte screen and AMD. The Edge is coming in with glossy and heavier to boot. I prefer matte screen unless its a glossy screen with serious anti glare protection that actually works well.

 

The e420 and the e420s main differences are:

*Chassis: smaller on the S
*Weight: smaller on the S
*Design: subtle differences, I do think the S is looking nicer
*GPU: the S has it, while the plain one doesnt (well for now the e420s dont have it as a config option as well, but this might change on monday, when its the release date for the e420 model, so leaving the S as a premium product that it was designed to be)

Guys I want to see some guts, some good old computer ! show me the innards of the e420s! Have any came across some disassembly manual?

PS: adam the board on this model is the QM67 not the HM67 that the vaio uses, this is a performance board, with overclocking characteristics available, not that this should matter in the big picture.

 

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/products/professional-grade/thinkpad/thinkpad-edge/e420/index.html

Not sure if they made a mistake and that they are referring to the S model. If they they do offer a discrete graphic card, I wonder if it is the 6630 or something less powerful.

 

I thought the T420 was lighter than it is. ITs actually 4.8 lbs. Only T420S would be in the picture but it has the weaker discrete.

That leaves the E420S Edge as the frontrunner.

Your info of the Edge chipset is wrong. Mobile Intel HM65 Express Chipset is the chipset used as shown in the SLBook.

You said the following : PS: adam the board on this model is the QM67 not the HM67 that the vaio uses, this is a performance board, with overclocking characteristics available, not that this should matter in the big picture."

Edge is the HM65 chipset. As far as the VAIO is concerned I am not sure what the chipset is but it is out of the picture now.

My only concern with it is the screen (I want Matte) and i dont know how good or bad it will be as well as the fact that there may not be Expressport or USB 3.0.


The Lenovo Edge E420s with AMD 6630M with 2GB will probably be ideal though which is what the option will be.

No Expressport or USB 3.0 is a downer. Also no TPM Chip available for the fingerprint reader.

AMD 6630M is nice but if someone needs express port or usb 3.0 and adds on stuff externally, another notebook would be better for that purpose.

 

Its of e420 not for e420s.

e420s:

 

$723.60 for the i5 E420S with upgraded Intel wireless with Wimax.

Pricing isn't bad at all. Nice unit for a nice price.

The unit to get all depends on user needs but E420S is definitely a winner for some.

Way too many competitors and differentiations in the notebook pc market though and tough to decide.

 

The E420S is intended to be the more premium model of the E420. More premium materials and finish, lighter weight etc.

My unit is on order. But estimated ship date is Apr 13th and the order is still in process. I even paid for expedited shipping, but the machine is still on Lenovo's end so its not the shipping that's holding it back.

I will post review as soon as i get it and test run it for a day.

Screen does not have matte option. I will post impressions on screen as well.

Fingers crossed for early delivery xD

 

I am waiting for your review on the screen, this is something I consider a deal breaker/sealer for the new E420s.

 

Edge to edge glass is not matte. And the screen is a weak resolution.

Matte is just really nice for all around use everywhere. While E420s may be a good and cheap mainstream notebook pc model, it would be better if someone actually made a well built Matte model with around 4lbs give or take with AMD 6630M in this size.

Still shopping around though. E420s is not perfect:

Would prefer to have the TPM module for fingerprint reader, would prefer AMD 6630M graphics, would prefer matte display and USB 3.0 or Expressport 2.0 or whatnot.

Models in the range of the E420S will be priced at very attractive pricepoints and Lenovo has a much better Technical support than Dell.

As far as notebook quality, we will see how they are as soon as real user reviews pour in on the websites. Models are very slow to trickle in right now for the Sandy Bridge 13-14" around 4lb models.

 

The thing I am more concern about is the viewing angle and the contrast ratio, I know about the screen resolution and it is something that I am willing to live with.

 

All the viewing angles on these notebooks are roughly the same with the stock resolution.

The lack of TPM concerns me since the small business oriented edge E420s doesn't have the module.

However its possible that they may offer a TPM offering in the future.

Really the weaknesses on this unit for me are lack of a MATTE screen and TPM module. If they resolved those two I would get this unit.

I dont want the NVS video. I want the AMD 6630M but with matte and fingerprint reader. I guess choosers cant be picky. The Sony turned out to be poor build quality lack of fingerprint reader and TPM and the like.

 

The chipset information is in the E420s pdf in the lenovo page. And in the Tabook.

I do find it strange, since the only chipset that allows switchable graphics is the HM series, the QM is the performance oriented, with the ZM68 being the union of both worlds with new tech.

BTW adam, the NVS4200, is based on the gt420m and the gt520m, which are basically cut down versions of the gt425m which is (NV1000, gt425m, gt435m, gt525m, gt 540m, gt550m), so in terms of power, its going to be begging for mercy against the 6630m

 

slbook, not tabook. which is HM65

 

The chipset monikers, and notebook vendors and options themselves are so confusing because there are way too many.

Lenovo has the better support I believe of the Windows 7 models and Ive had it with Dell.

Was looking at Sony but that didn't pan out so far.

I guess I'll just wait and something I like will pop up and I'll get it.

 

there are just 2 types of chipsets released for notebooks.

Performance: QM, it comes in 2 models, 65 and the 67
Value: HM, it also comes in 2 models, again, 65 and the 67.

The ZM68 is still not out there.

The main differences is that the performance should support overclock, and the value should support switchable graphics.

If you want to know more there is info in the ark, its not that hard to understand (basically you dont a masters degree to read the stuff)

But I agree on the naming scheme, and that is one of the things that I like about apple. Its basic, straight forward and extremely easy to understand. No messing around with different sets of numbers, or anything that ridiculous.

For me a line should be consistent and easy to understand, no need for someone to have the time to figure it out for you and put in an understandable way.

here is a good example:

Value line - laptops that are easy and cheap, just put a name that reminds us of mass production cheap products that wont remind us of the worst quality, and use the size of the screens as a differentiator, like: wubber 14'', wubber 15''..

Mainstream line - laptops that should cater all. Offering high quality design, portability and power, offer some mid range gpus, good screens a build quality, same naming scheme: shrimp 13'', shrimp 15''...

Enterprise line - high quality line, design one line for all, this will make costs lower in the R&D dept, and the manufacturing itself, offer good gpus, good cpus, good screens, and extreme build quality, same name scheme: pow 14'', pow 17''.....

This isnt hard, but the law of marginal gains enter in the way of simple things like that.

 

Just so many brands out nowadays competing for notebook pc's. Everyone has their own.

My hangups with the Thinkpad Edge E420S is the lack of TPM and lack of a matte screen. Last years model had the Matte screen offerings so I am wondering if they will have the matte screens for the new ones after more of the models get on SLBook for April or May. But none of the Edge models have the security TPM chip which is a feature I want and I don't know if this can be added in the units.

So Im sorta on the sidelines. The T420S is a lot pricier with weaker video to boot.