For SMEs, ThinkPad provides clear edge

THE THINKPAD Edge brand was specifically created by Lenovo for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in need of affordable and durable PCs equipped with productivity tools and features.

Relatively a new entrant in the market, Lenovo’s top-of-the-line ThinkPad family has been growing in number along with screen size variations.

Recently, Lenovo came out with the ThinkPad Edge E420, a 14-inch screen slim laptop fitted with Intel Core i5 2410M processor (Intel’s second generation Core processor with built-in graphics capability), a 4GB RAM soldered in, and a spacious 320GB hard disk.

As a laptop meant for price-sensitive SMEs, the E420 has an expensive feel to it. The device has a black velvety matte surface, while the chassis is highlighted by a chrome silver strip that borders the screen and sides of the spacious keyboard.

The E420 also sports a chrome silver hinge that secures the screen tightly in place. The same screen can also be opened to an extreme 180 degrees, allowing the whole laptop—keyboard and screen—to lie flat on a surface.

Another expensive design feature of the E420 is a slot-loading optical drive, which may be found in Macbooks and other high-end laptops priced beyond the 60,000-peso mark.

The E420 also features a fingerprint scanner located on the right side of the touchpad, enhancing the security of the device.

For business use, the E420 features the ThinkVantage 2.0 tools—a set of useful applications arranged in a nice easy-to-navigate user interface.

The tools are purposely built in to help businesses with little IT support to allow their employees access to a sort of “IT support” that already sits in the laptop.

For example, from the ThinkVantage UI, a user may be able to diagnose or repair the PC or even back up files easily or thoroughly delete confidential files.

The user can likewise manage hard drive protection (degree of protection), Internet connection, and even web conferencing.

For the latter function, a user can cancel out the noise made by typing on a keyboard during a Skype web conference, to ensure that the party you are talking to at the other side won’t be annoyed by clicks on the keyboard while talking to you.

The E420 is strikingly thin and light. It measures an inch thick and weighs four pounds.

It has the hardware ports you would expect from a business laptop—2 USBs, HDMI, multicard reader, eSATA, LAN, VGA, and even a slot for a SIM card (for data connection to a telco). The screen’s resolution is at 1366 x 768 and the onboard graphics is that of Intel Graphics, which provides dedicated video memory of 64 MB.

In all, the E420 has a bit more class than previous ThinkPad Edge laptops. And that translates to a premium tag of P62,000 which, come to think of it, may not exactly fit an SME’s budget.