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hard disk with a high speed can be connected to this, for example. Overall, an acceptable performance, whereas we miss USB 3.0 for perfection. Additionally, more ports could have been placed in the rear. The lack of a docking port is also noticed, but it has likely been left out deliberately for product strategic reasons.Left: Power, DVD drive, cardreader
Right: 2 USB 2.0s, HDMI, audio socket
Rear: SI***ot, RJ45, eSATA/USB 2.0, VGACommunicationThe communication options have a sound scope ex-factory and the latest standard is available. Besides a gigabit Ethernet via a controller from Realtek, there is also an Intel WiFi Link 1000 BGNadapter installed, which supports WLAN standard 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0 +HS. The top model goes a step further with an integrated 3G UMTS module. The less expensive devices without this extra have a SI***ot, but the mini PCIe slot is empty and the necessary antennas aren't installed. Thus, it's not possible to retrofit this option.SuppliesLenovo proves to be scanty in the original scope of delivery. There is only the 90 watt adapter with power cable (cable length: 190 + 90 centimeters) and a manual, besides the included device. A partition on the hard disk serves as the recovery medium and can be accessed during booting. Other accessories have to be bought subsequently. In regards to software, Lenovo provides the usual standard, including Microsoft Office 2010 Starter. The installation is agreeably not overfilled with bloatware.WarrantyAlike other cheaper devices from the B2B sector, the ThinkPad Edge only comes with a 12 month warranty ex-factory. Moreover, it is a bring-in service where the user has to send in the device. There is an extension with an extensive service of up to 48 months available. However, this upgrade costs about 200 euros.to topInput DevicesKeyboardLenovo doesn't make any compromises in regard to the keyboard and relies on the tried and tested chiclet style layout. It is also used in the ThinkPad Edge 13 and Edge 15 laptops. The keyboard, including its high-gloss surfaces, merges well into the overall image optically and the typing feel makes a good impression. The pressure point is palpable and the key drop is short, whereas the clearly protruding keys and the concave form will remain to be a matter of taste.The keys have a pleasant size of 16x16 millimeters and fast typists will quickly get used to the key field. The arrow keys turn out fairly small, whereas gamers likely won't be interested in this device. A nice feature is the scroll buttons above the arrow keys. Lenovo has used this constricted room sensibly. The FN functions are in the uppermost key row and are enabled ex-factory. Thus, the function key has to be pressed for using the rather poorly legible F keys.TouchpadIn contrast to the above mentioned comparison devices, the new series has a revised touchpad. The lower mouse replacement keys look like they've been removed and as if the diagonal has been increased to 11 centimeters (dimensions: 102x61 millimeters). These keys are now directly below the touchpad. About two thirds of the surface therefore serves as large left mouse keys. As known from other laptops, the right mouse key is in the lower right corner. Basically, the input device is convincing due to its slightly roughened and very pleasant surface, which can be used to navigate fast and precisely. Operating it via multi-touch gestures and the standard (hidden) scroll bars is possible.The E420s has the typical red rubber capped trackpoint, including mouse keys, as another operating element. A few users love working with it, others have problems with its use. It is a quite practical feature with a bit of practice and has proved itself over the years. In the meantime, it has also been copied by other manufacturers.Generous layout with clearly protruding keys


Besides the touchpad, the trackpoint shouldn't be left outto topDisplayAfter the display has failed us in terms of stability, we now want to look at the hard facts. With a size of 14 inches (35.5 centimeter diagonal), the screen has a native resolution of 1366x768 pixels in a 16:9 format. It also has a high-gloss surface that is created by a plate in front of the screen. Windows 7 doesn't offer any higher resolution levels and an external monitor would be the best solution. The picture quality could convince with a perfect picture via VGA (analog) and HDMI (1.4a) in a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels (60 Hz, Full HD, 1080p). However, a few modifications had to be made depending on the device. The 1.3 megapixel webcam located above the display takes sufficiently good pictures for simple conversation via Skype. A difference to higher quality alternatives with two and more pixels is visible, though.The rates measured with our tool, Gossen Mavo Monitor, isn't particularly convincing despite the LED illumination. The maximum brightness of 177 cd/m2 is in the broad midfield of cheap standard screens (model: AUO B140XW03 V1) and can't keep up with the more professional ThinkPads. In comparison to the ThinkPad Edge 15, Lenovo has made improvements in the illumination and supplies an even illumination of the entire surface with 90 percent.
Maximum: 177 cd/m²
Average: 169 cd/m²
Brightness Distribution: 90 %
Center on Battery: 163 cd/m²
Black: 1.22 cd/m²
Contrast: 143:1ICC File (X-Rite i1Display 2)Distribution of brightnessLenovo E420s vs. sRGB (t)The given contrast of 143:1 is regrettably not very high and is, alike the black value of 1.22 cd/m2, in the expected midfield. For one thing, it restricts outdoor use and for another, pure black looks a bit grayish. A better contrast and black value would pay off in movie rendering, for example.
The ThinkPad Edge E420s doesn't come close to covering the frequently used sRGB color spectrum and thus the display isn't suitable for professional users (picture editing).Lenovo's laptop doesn't have the best requirements for outdoor use. Working is almost impossible in both direct as well as indirect light, respectively sunlight. The reflections from the glossy surface and the average rates speak for a permanent desktop use. Lenovo showed an alternative with a matt display, the E420 without an "s". However, it is not yet intended to come to Germany. The altering announcements about the availability of a few devices through Facebook weren't exactly helpful for this.The last point is the assessment of the screen's viewing angle stability. Horizontal rendering is stable even in a narrow angle of about 140 degrees. However, daily use is affected by the reflections. The picture inverts due to a fading contrast fairly fast on the vertical plane and the colors bleach visibly. Then again, an intense lighting up of the reference picture is noticed in a closing movement.PerformanceThe latest hardware shouldn't be omitted in a newly released notebook of 2011. Lenovo also relies on the Intel Sandy Bridge CPUs and a matching graphics. Depending on the model, the ThinkPad Edge is equipped with either the entry level CPU, Intel Core i3-2310M, or the stronger Intel Core i5-2410M. We've tested the latter with a clock rate of 2.3 GHz and a 3 MB L3 cache. The processor is a favored component for multimedia notebooks due to the Hyper Threading technology (2 cores, 4 threads) and a maximum clock rate of 2.9 GHz via Turbo Boost 2.0.A real novelty for the graphics field, which only few laptops have to offer, is onboard. Besides the processor graphics, Intel GMA HD 3000, a stronger AMD Radeon HD 6630M GPU with a 1 GB DDR3 VRAM is installed. The graphics made in a 40 nanometer structure width places itself in the current midrange due to a core clock of 485 MHz, a slow 128 bit memory bus, as well as DirectX 11 and Shader support. In addition to this graphics, the automatic graphics switching from AMD, calledSwitchable Graphics, is integrated into this device. Alike the Optimus technology from Nvidia, the graphics usage behavior can be set via the included software (Catalyst Control Center – abbreviated "CCC"). More details can be found in the review of the Dell Vostro 3550 until now. A dedicated article of this new technology will follow shortly.A 4 GB DDR3 RAM with a clock rate of 1333 MHz and a 2.5 inch hard disk also belong to the configuration of the model, E420s-NWD4NGE. The RAM from Hynix (Hyundai Electronics) has been place-savingly soldered to the motherboard. Thus, a maximum of 8 GB can be used via an empty bank. Upgrading presented no problems in a functionality test with a RAM from OCZ (model: OCZ3M13334G).