Thinkpad Edge E420 owners.

Ok so... I got used to the screen after an hour or so. Still I wish it had two-three more brightness settings but its still good. At least glare is a thing of the past. However if you don't care about that go for the glossy for sure (if possible?)

I flashed the bios to latest, messed around with power settings, so now the fan still does that 3-5 times after I wake it, but really calms down with use. After about 5-10 min the random noise stops unless you start gaming or doing something CPU intensive. The noise at idle/web browsing is by no means quiet as macbooks, but for a windows laptop its one the quietest I have used. Just barely audible. The random fan I am talking about, It has to be heard for you to understand it spins very fast, I never had anything like this with a laptop. Not that annoying anymore but A fix would be great.

The battery is loose. I did some research and some say its to protect from heat expansion. I just need to find a small piece of black tape and I would be fine. There are no batery disconnects despite the loose battery. I even shook it around.

I pushed really hard on the keyboard and it seems to have set a little better. Still has a little noise on the right when you hit return and arrow keys so again any info on this problem would be a help. Perhaps removing the keyboard and reinstalling it?

I have noticed one more problem. Hope your not an audiophile or super picky about audio (I kind of am). I plugged in some sony studio monitor headphones (really good ones) and sound although has "50" levels in the OSD is still kind of low. Also there is slight audio hiss when not listening to audio, some sort of fuzzy noise (not all the time when its silent, but usually after you stop listening to music or something). So I wont be keeping my headphones on without a purpose. I have tried, however an external USB soundcard. This boosts the audio levels and eliminates the hiss. Kind of a hassle to deal with it, but deff worth it. Im thinking with plasticy standard headphones this would be much less of an issue cause there is no metal contacting the port. My headphones entire plug is metal.

Other than that no issues. Gaming is really good on the E420. I maxed Unreal 2004 and BF2, among other last gen games and newer side scrollers.

 

Thanks for you response, about the loose battery, does it actually get in the way of anything e.g. does it make the laptop not lie flat on a flat surface properly or anything like that.

This is the first time in my research of this laptop that I've heard about this keyboard issue so is it a common issue or is it just on some.



I've been searching this laptop more and I've been seeing some very poor feedback on the build quality :/ and I can't find this laptop in a store anywhere near me so I can't even go to check it out

 

went to the hardware store today and got some black duct tape. I cut two very small pieces and now the battery is perfect. It was never bad at all. It did not get in the way, were talking like very very little sliding here, really not a big deal, I just get OCD about things like that. Im guessing the keyboard issue is fairly common(also saw some guy on youtube comment on it), but I might be wrong it could be just a few. It feels better than day 1, maybe I got used to it already. Would I pay $800 for this laptop? Probably not, but that is just me. However for under $500-600, I think its probably the best out there for the money. Im wondering how the audio quality is on more high end thinkpad models, if it's similar I might have to go with a different company in the future. Apparently all that hp "beats" propaganda about audio jack grounding and stuff might be for real.

 

Hmm, I'm not sure what to do, just concerned about the build quality, nothing else now. I would actually be spending ~$900 for a i7 2640M, 6gb ram, AMD Mobility Radeon HD 6630 Switchable graphics, with 3 year warranty. Is that worth it?
I understand it probably isn't anywhere near the best build quality (which is why I would go for the 3 year warranty) for that price but how is it when compared to other laptops of that price, is it at least average?

 

hopefully someone else will chime in soon as well, but yes the build quality specifically is well above average compared with most $900 dollar laptops. its very high quality plastic/synthetic idk?, not the regular creaky/bendable junk in office stores/best buy. The palm rests feel extremely solid, nothing like the keyboard issue. your going to be on those way more than the right arrow key. They feel just as hard as aluminum actually. I can open one side of the screen and it opens up evenly!!! a lot of laptops can't do that, and feel that good, you can actually open the lid without holding the other portion of the laptop at all! I could not even do that with my $1300 mac. The lid is thin enough, yet very solid. nice smooth feel on it. love the way the red dots on the THINK logo light up. track point is really awesome too, the extra mouse buttons are pointless but still nice to have to save on wrist pain. all other areas are similar quality, except for that keyobard/battery thing I was talking about and the dvd burner is a little shaky if I was going to be really critical, but again not a big deal in the least. I can find no other quality control issues at all with the laptop. Keep in mind though the new e430? is coming out in a few months, but you probably already know/ don't want wait of course.

 

Thank you for all you responses so far, its much appreciated. Yea I am aware that the e430 is coming out soon. I will definitely wait for the official announcement so see how it is/whether it will actually be coming to Australia or not. You earlier said that you probably wouldn't pay $800 for this laptop, is that solely because of the build quality? Also, sorry for all the questions, just trying to make sure I make the right decision (1st laptop, probably just overthinking it)

Also any other feedback from other people on my previous question would be much appreciated as well.

 

it certainly is. you cant go wrong with this. you have a i7 core with amd graphics and 3yrs warranty. the best part of warranty is that when you have problems and your model is phased out you get the new current model which hast o be similar or better than what you had. so the plus side is you get to enjoy a notebook and you dont have to wait for a while. plus besides if you got the equivelant edge 430. would it be worth paying extra for newer tech that has the same bang unless the build was so much more better.

 

Yeah not all all. The reason why I would not pay $800 for this one is because I really wanted the x220i with this ips screen, I might have even went for an x201 tablet, or even an m11x. I prefer smaller laptops (but I still like power). However I had to cut back my budget a little bit. I almost got a x120e but realized its power was no where near what would be good for me as a main system. I just checked notebook check and you said the 6630m? Looks like a really good card for a thinkpad you should be able to play mass effect, fallout, bio shock and similar games near max. I was suprsied (and jealous) . The only other option for good graphics, correct me if Im wrong, in a thinkpad is the w520 and thats near twice the price. So yeah $800 would be awesome for all these features.

 

Been lurking for quiet some time now. Im usually over at the alienware forums (just ordered a m17x r3 )

anyway, im looking to also pickup a e420s either now or sometime before august. my question is: when is a good time to make this purchase? is the e420 undergoing a facelift soon? new specs due to ivy bridge? i can get one for a pretty good deal locally right now for 450$

im in no rush and can wait. since i already have a brand new alienware coming.

i would need this notebook for business and office use which is why i chose lenovo.

-moose-

 

Thanks for all you response, I am almost certainly going to get this laptop now. Just a few things I'm curious about, not really a big deal but: how is the battery life with say normal web browsing (probably about 10 tabs open, watching a few youtube videos)/watching a couple of videos on medium brightness? and how is the trackpad?
and just one thing to clarify, all the reviews and things I've read said the performance is quite good, How is the performance in your opinion?

Also just a few decisions I have to make:
i5-2520m vs i7-2640m (~$100 difference)
2 Years Warranty vs 3 Years Warranty (~$100 difference, I have heard most major problems come within the 1st year or at least first 2 years anyway?)
Also, keep in mind that I will actually be getting 50% of the total price of this laptop back (because of work) so the actual difference between the above choices only really amounts to ~$50.

 

not much difference in performance between the 2. difference is do you need the i7 features? besides that teh price betwenn the two is neglible so you may aswell go for the i7 because the resell value is better just because it is i7.

 

Ok I am very close to buying this laptop now as there is a 15% off coupon right now which I was pretty much waiting for. So any last minute opinions on those two options/on the laptop or maybe any reasons why not to buy it would be appreciated. Also comments on the performance/battery life would be good too.

Sorry If i sound annoying/impatient but the 15% off is until Monday, so would like to make sure everything is alright before then.

 

Alright so I have had one for about a week now. fully customized the OS, install a wide variety of apps. its been running flawless so far. breezes through 1080P movies of all sorts, opens CS5 stuff and music software really fast. I would almost go as far as to say the i3 is too much power for me. But it is nice to have it when I randomly want 5+ programs to open at once. pretty much the exact same thing as my 13" macbook pro, and this is significantly less expensive and has a bigger screen. I really like it. you can order with confidence.

 

Ok well thanks for all your responses. Just ordered! Now the wait begins, estimated ship is 6th feburary

 

Well I just got the laptop, and I just wanted to make sure these temperatures are fine. Its a i7-2640m, 6gb ram with AMD Mobility Radeon HD 6630 swtichable graphics.

When I turn it on and open the temp monitor (HWMonitor), nothing else open, except for all the other possible lenovo stuff that opens at start up, the temperature of the two cores is around 54-55 degrees, in a 10 minute period it has ranged from 44-61. This is on battery btw, no ac adaptor plugged in. After about 10 minutes, still no programs opened except monitor, it seems temperature of core 1 is about 50 and core 2 about 46.

Are these temperatures OK? Also I will let you know on the temperatures when I am actually doing something and should I use something to stress out the CPU and test the temperatures? If so, What should I use?

Also what stuff is unnecessary/ can be uninstalled?

 

might be fine. depends on how warm your surroundings are. i 40s is the what it probably should stay in otherwise. but it dpends on your power settings etc. you probably have things runnign in the bak ground you dont realise. but to be honest you wanna check the temps with other i7 user because it uses higher watt usage. most of us im guessing are using the i5 which i am and is lower power just to bear in mind. but id say the 60s would be way higher than it should.

when idling it. check task manager to see how much cpu power is been used whilst it is above 55c. if it rises and the power usage is low then i guess it wasnt pasted well enough........or you may need to give it time to set been as its new and needs time to get used to it.
this is the things id consider. give it a few days.

 

Well I've had the laptop for 3 days now, have used it a bit and so far so good. The keyboard seems good but I just have to get used to it. There is that clunky sort of noise in the arrow keys/lower right corner but its not bad, as well as the loose battery which is also not too bad.

I just have a few questions about cleaning the laptop/keeping it clean as I get a bit OCD about small scratches and stuff. I understand that after a while because of wear especially on the palm rests, there will be some discoloration since they are matte surfaces? So whats the best way to prevent this, also about small scratches(really just discolorations) which there already seems to be some little ones (as i said i can get a bit OCD about this stuff), can you clean them?

So basically whats the best way to prevent/clean scratches/discolorations on the matte surfaces especially palm rests, touch pad and cover?

 

Hey guys.
I buy Edge e420 for a while, but what is really pissing me off is a keyboard flex in the arrows area, do you feel the same or its only my problem, also the batter is not pretty tight in its dock...

 

I think that the the arrow key's flex is not a big deal, maybe I got a good machine. And the battery is designed to fit loose, so there is not much you can do about it. How often are people moving there machines in a violent enough way to make the battery rattle and feel like it is going to fall out?

 

Yea there is a bit of keyboard flex but its not too bad for me, as well as the loose battery issue but i haven't really noticed it at all in normal use.

Does anyone hear a high frequency/high pitch sound from the laptop sometimes ?

 

Im thinking the right flex is becouse of the DVD-RW. Is really annoying like the battery, cus in my old asus netbook theres no this kind of problems.

The worst think in arrows flex is noise, when you type and use it they are loud ;(. I want send it back and give new one, but i see is a common problem of this unit.

Yes sometimes i can hear some pitch, i think is a HDD, but somone with SSD mount can tell more about it.

 

That high pitch noise is probably CPU whine, CPU's just make that noise. It is not the HDD that makes a low frequency noise when it is spinning, and fan noise is easily recognizable.

 

no need to remove wireless modul or look for mPCIexpress slot.
this laptop comes with an extra mSATA SSD slot which is just above the main HDD. remove the back panel to see it.

-
viCky

 

You are right its a CPU, too bad Intel don't fix this feauture of the previusly icore genration.

 

ok,

i've finally read all the 27 pages of the thread
thanks for the reviews and all the suggestions.
i have a few questions of mine as well..

i've been in possession of the E420 for quite a while now, more than 2 months.
Thinkpad E420, 1141-2RQ, i5, 4gig ram, 320gb 7200rpm hdd, windows 7 x64 ( SP1) fully upgraded, all latest lenovo softwares installed via thinkvantage system update.


i read that its a general notion that the boot time of the E420 is about 80 seconds.
is there anyone with a faster boot time with the following configration:
i5, 4gig ram, 500gig HDD, windows 7 x64??
i cant afford to spend money on SSD,.
its a shame to put in 600$ in a laptop n get such performance. my i3 vaio with 2 gig ram boots in like 45sec n performance is pretty smooth

boot time of my laptop is around 100sec with integrated camera enabled and 80sec with integrated camera disabled. when i enable the camera i get a black screen ( many ppl were talking about it in the beginning of the forum but i didnt find any conclusive solution for this problem )

is there a permanent solution to fix the black screen caused due to integrated camera?

thirdly, i am also facing lag and sluggish performance of the windows. i thought it might be the corrupt windows so i did a clean format and re-installed windows and still the boot times are the same and the programs dont run smoothly, there is noticeable lag during processes even when ram consumption is at 60%.
i installed drive meter widget and saw that during these times the hdd usage pops to 100% for some reason... is there a way of detecting what is wrong with my laptop ???

if the hdd is broken i'll get it replaced asap, but i need hard evidence to take any action !!

anyone with any tips plz comment !!

 

try puttin a spare hhd if you got one in your e420 or from your other laptop. it will boot regardless if the graphics car is nvidia and amd to test boot times and sluggishness.
my e320 with i5 takes around 40secs with just a 5400rpm drive to boot. i swear it feel faster. i havent time it but i virtually blink before i realised its on lol.

to add i do not ever use windows updates...it slows the computer down horribly. unless you know what they are for and if you ned it because you cant get it anywhere else then dont get.

 

I did a whole review and pictures of install write up of installing a M-SATA on my Blog.

 

^^Awesome.

Edit:
I did more research and decided to buy an OCZ 60gb msata ssd.

Now, does the E420 come with Windows disks? How do I do a clean install onto the ssd?

Thanks one million!

 

No win install.
But You can 'buy' it from lenovo cost some (shipping to You and CD).
Thats bad cus originaly Lenovo make crappy one partition...

 

If it came with 7, can't you just download a Windows ISO from Microsoft and use your key from the COA?

 

You make a recovery CD from the provided partition. Once made, it let's you recover the space.

Oh wait, that's e420s

 

Just to update those who may read this thread...

This was surprisingly easy, and I'm pretty much a noob.

I elected not to a completely clean install, because I didn't feel the bloatware was terrible.

I made the recovery disks using Thinkvantage tools. It took 4 DVDs, one boot and 3 actual install disks.

Took out the hard drive. Popped in the OCZ mSATA 60gb.

Booted up. Loaded Windows. Uninstalled Norton. Restarted, changed bios to read the SSD first. Then shut down and popped the HDD back in.

Formatted the HDD and presto. Quicker boot drive and lots of space.

Cold boot took 27-30 seconds from pressing the button to the hourglass disappearing. Most of the time seemed to tick during the first part before the Windows logo started appearing. Not sure why that is.

My first boot with the HDD was about 54 seconds.

So.... not blazing fast, but a significant improvement.

With 2.5 inch SSD prices falling I am still thinking about swapping out the ODD instead, as that is supposed to be even faster. But that will probably cost me an additional sum, because the only caddy I could see was $44+ shipping to Canada.

 

Could someone tell me if this ram is compatible?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002XN3OL4/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

thanks

 

Nice!

I'm glad you got it working! I read somewhere that the backup DVD are MSATA aware, I didn't know this and that is why I did a clean Windows install. The OCZ has much faster speeds than the 40gb Intel.

 

Sorry no one got back to you, yes that ram should work.

 

Anyone have professional ICC profile for edge e420 and can share it with others. I dont have spyder or other calibrators so i need profile

 

I was just wondering, what type of sleeve/case do people use for this laptop?

 

I got the thinkpad sleeve, it sucks. Get a mobile edge sleeve they are really good quality, I have had two, I have one for my E420 now, but I use the Thinkpad sleeve when I carry the laptop in my backpack.

Stylish Laptop Bags for Men & Women | Netbook Cases | Airport Checkpoint / TSA Friendly Notebook Cases | Eco Friendly Computer Totes | Mobile Edge

 

Unfortunately it doesn't seem I can get a case from their as I live in Australia So would you just recommend a sleeve with a zipper/chain or without (one of these: Laptop Carry Bag Sleeve Case For 14" 14.1" ACER DELL HP | eBay). I want to make sure it doesn't scratch against the edges in the sleeve or anything like that. I seem to already have a few minor scratches in one of the corners of my laptop, not sure if its been there the whole time, if it was caused by the sleeve I am currently using (the thinkpad 14w sleeve) or something else.

EDIT: Also one other thing, when I use the laptop for a while and sometimes my palms get sweaty (or if there sometimes slightly wet), it seems that the sweat/water 'transfers' onto the palm rest and then if I move my hand along the palm rest, it almost feels as the surface sort of rubs off (although this could just be dust, not sure) anyone else experience this?

And out of interest, did you guys take those windows/intel stickers off or leave them on? I don't know what to do :/

 

I just put in 4gb of corsair vengeance 1600 speed ram and it seems to work. Probably not at full speed though since I have an i3. What's odd is that my wei went down initially from 4.9 to 4.7, then I checked again later and it went all the way up to 5.9.

 

WEI is just a feel good number.

 

yes it is. if your numbers are high u feel like you got good hardware. if not it makes you feel like its garbage.

my ram score in one laptop is 7.4 in this the highest was 7.2 but atm its is 6.9 which i feel is low. my ssd is low. 6.9 i 1st tried it at 7.4 ? my base score is 6.7 so i feel quite pleased overally.

 

I dont see how that sleeve could scratch your laptop at all. I have the thinkpad sleeve I do not have any scratches, but I use it black side out, that protects against the zipper better than red side out.

Yeah it seems that if you start to sweat the palm rest gets slippery, but I go wash my hands and wipe down the laptop often. The color gets a little worn from repeated use, like my space bar it is obvious where I hit it with my thumb often. I always take all stickers off of my laptop.

 

People might say I am wrong, nut I would go with the ram that the laptop is rated for. As far as WEI numbers go, mine go up when I make an upgrade.

 

Does anyone else get random usb disconnect sounds on their system? Every time I let it idle then come back and move the mouse I get that, don't have any clue what it is. I switched mice and still get it.

For not knowing much about ram I probably should of, but a reviewer of the vengeance ram said that it automatically lowers its frequency down to 1333mhz while also lowering the latency down to 6-6-6-16. Supposedly it turns out being faster than standard ram, and the higher speed is available if I ever upgrade from an i3.

 

I know the E420 has an mSATA port, but does the E425 (AMD) also have the mSATA port?

 

Hey,
I was just wondering does anyone notice sharp edges on the 'e' in the Lenovo chrome/silver logo on the top cover like if your cleaning it with a cloth or something it sort of gets stuck/caught on it?

On my e420, whenever I use a microfiber cloth to clean it or even sometimes run my finger across, it sort of gets stuck/caught on the 'e' and i have a feeling that soon the e will come off (I have heard of this happening as well as experienced it on a Lenovo s10e) and I have also heard that Lenovo doesn't consider this a warranty issue and doesn't replace or something?

As you can probably tell I get a bit OCD about these little things, and its not a major issue at all but just wondering if it happens to other people/if the e has actually come off and what they did?

 

Thank you to everyone who posted info in this thread.
I am a TOTAL newb to computing.

Can someone please recommend the best SSD, vendor, and price for the E420 at this time (3/14/12) ?
Can someone please post detailed instructions for this project and/or a link to them so I can complete this process?

Thanks again.



Update:
The OCZ last mentioned in this thread received a good review here:
http://www.storagereview.com/ocz_nocti_msata_ssd_review

Has anyone used the OCZ Nocti with success in the E420?

 

Look at the specs, I think its painfully slow!

 

Can the E420's mSATA port take advantage of 6 Gb/s speeds ????

If so, what about the NEW mSATA 3 that is twice the speed at 6Gb/s ?????
I really don't want to overpay, but I only want to buy a SSD for my OS one time without evey upgrading the OS drive on my E420 ever again.

Samsung PM830 SATA 3 256GB mSATA SSD Review - Ultrabooks To Gain Capacity and SATA 3 Speed - The SSD Review

Samsung Part #'s below:
MZMPC032HBCD-00000
MZMPC064HBDR-00000
MZMPC128HBFU-00000
MZMPC256HBGJ-00000