Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E420s 14in Core i5 laptop

Purpose built

Now, Lenovo claims its 48.8W-hr lithium polymer battery is good for 7 hours of use and I'm inclined to believe that it is possible with limited use, but five hours is easily achievable. Running PCMark Vantage with the screen on full brightness the E420s soldiered on for ninety minutes.

A decent spec, but the build quality is what impresses most

Along with PCMark Vantage, I also ran 3DMark06 and received a fairly decent score of 6937. Even with its good overall performance, this ThinkPad is still very much portable weighing in at a mere 2kg with a 348mm x 236mm footprint. At 30.5mm at its thickest, even the smallest of backpacks should be accommodating.

Verdict

The ThinkPad range has been typically targeted at business users, however, I can certainly see more general users adopting the Edge series, especially as the price of the business class fare edges further below the £1000 mark. This Core i5 version is no number crunching beast and the battery life could be better, but this model would suit those who might want to dabble in the more graphically demanding tasks now and again. If you’re looking to buy a mid-spec laptop for the longhaul and yet seek the build quality usually reserved for the top end, then the Lenovo E420s is easy to recommend. ®

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