Looking for some more feedback on these e420s. Some people say the screen is terrible, others say it's ok. Some are having mouse pad issues, but don't know if that is user error or other.

I'm a standard business user looking for a nice, quick, reliable machine. Presently I am using a Inspiron 1420, which has done me well...but time for a replacement. Already returned a HP and Vostro.

Any feedback from other users would be appreciated.

Thanks
SGM

I will be posting a review of the E220s tonight that may cover many concerns you have about the E420s

Hope it helps!

It is no secret I don't like the screen, but I don't like glossy screen in general, and had hoped Lenovo would have used a relatively sane level of glossiness. It is very glossy, but it looks pretty as long as you don't have to use it.

The touchpad is pretty good hardware-wise, it is just too big, and they tried to compensate for the problems with its size through software. I actually though it was broken until I found out it worked perfectly accurate in Linux. What they have done is, in trying to fix the problem of users unintentionally brushing against the touchpad while typing, they have made the driver try to detect what it thinks is accidental input. In short this means the touchpad works perfectly for slow, smooth movements, but if you are impatient or a fast touch-pad user, it will detect the short fast movements as noise, and simply _not_ move the cursor. It leads several WTF moments when your increasing frustration leads you to try more and more erratic movement patterns on the touchpad, and it simply ignores your input until you slow down or apply more pressure. It can be disabled though, it just a really surprising default setting.

I am currently considering the E520 or T420 instead. Compared to the E420s, the E520 has a larger screen (which I don't actually want, though) with same bottom-end resolution, but has the option of anti-glare, and apparently has replaceable batteries (very hard to tell on lenovos site). Interestingly a E520 only costs slightly more than half of what an otherwise identical E420s does. A T420 is the traditional thinkpad quality, and is available with screens of a decent quality, and can be configured as you like. A T420 is more expensive though, especially with a screen that isn't sharing the same bottom-end resolution as the Edge series does. For me the T420 is ruled out though as I want a discrete graphics processor, and has decided under no circumstances to get one from the same company that made the faulty one that fried my last laptop.

Replacing my old R61 with a 1600x1050 screen is surprisingly hard, it was very cheap machine 4 years ago, but now I have to pay more than twice as much to get a screen of a similar resolution.

Wow you are saying the screen is useless!! I ordered one last night, so I guess we'll see how bad the screen really is. I would ask for pictures...but sounds like pictures won't do it justice. Feedback on the track pad is good so other users won't get frustrated by it.

Thanks
SGM

I just got one of these for the wife. Compared to my T400 screen, the Edge 420s screen looks washed out where the colors are off a bit. I do not like the native resolution. The other thing that disappointed me (this is my personal preference) is that I cannot use the trackpoint itself as the left-click mouse button; I also do not like the ultranav mouse buttons for the trackpoint, the buttons feel soft and the contour doesn't have the traditional thinkpad feel. Furthermore, as someone else mentioned, the lack of feedback via the indicator lights can be annoying at times. As a long time thinkpad user, I realize why the edge is in the non-Thinkpad section.

I kind'a see what Lenovo was going for with this design. It's an Ideapad with thinkpad design elements; I guess that's why they call it the edge--it's a ideapad/thinkpad hybrid.

However, this said, the thinkpad edge e420s is an above-average consumer laptop, and perfect for the wife.

The Edge series, especially the new generation, might not seem like Thinkpad quality in hardware, but one thing I do have to give them credit for:

I send back the machine last week and the store had said they probably would not take it back if I have setup and configured Windows. I had not only done that, I had resized the partions and installed Linux with a dual-boot loader. Not wanting to give them any lame excuses. I decided to try to factory default the machine myself. To do the full factory default you need to burn around 20Gbyte of stuff to CD or DVD (the normal reset only reinstalls the C-drive). I didn't have enough DVD so I decided to go through an old stack of 26 CD's, since I don't use those anymore anyway.

The factory default repartioned the drive, formated disk, reinstalled the UEFI boot-loaded. After the process, I tested it and it booted up saying: "Booting up Windows for the first time"

This is why a I love Thinkpads, even after all my attempts to make it useful for myself, the machine was identical to the way I got it when I send it back. Maybe not everybody can use this to make the store take it back, but you can still reset it, and sell the machine EXACTLY the way you received it yourself

Alright, I just got mine yesterday after a war with Lenovo about the shipping over two bloody months, Im absolutely ecstatic about this bad boy, I fire it up and start fiddling with it instantly, setting up windows and whatnaught, SO happy that there's a lack of bloatware and the software that Lenovo DID install is really useful.

One problem.

Sometimes this Thinkpad just stops. Doesn't matter what you're doing. It just stops and the only way to fix it is a hard reset, which Im REALLY not digging. Thus far Ive downloaded windows live and skype, nothing more. Im not sure if it's maybe just windows or not, the next time it happens Im going to see if I can use the Fn keys, that might signify a problem in the thinkpad itself as opposed to the OS. If anyone has thoughts on this I'd be more than appreciative!

Carewolf -

why did you return?

SGM

I got my ThinkPad a few days ago and everything is working fine. The screen is glossy, but it is not as glossy as my old computer, so I should be fine. The screen is sturdy and the keyboard is nice to type on. The charger is also small and compact so it is easy to carry around. The battery life is about 5:30-6:00 surfing the web and typing out documents. Overall, this ThinkPad is nice and should last me for a few years.

My friend's R61e from the Lenovo Outlet had this problem, from day 1. He "fixed" it by disabling the trackpoint and touchpad and using an external mouse instead. Give it a try.

I know lol What is up with that it should be mandatory stock having a higher resolution and have the option to get a lesser screen resolution by lowering the price more.

Here's my take on my E420s which I've had for the past few months.

There are weird little things that have been off about this laptop, which I have never experienced before on any laptop.
Examples: the glossy edge to edge plastic screen cover is not perfectly flat, though this is only noticeable when you see reflections in it and are looking for it. Minor. The shift keys require you to fully depress them before they register. Even pressing them past the detente does not always register a shift press. So while the keyboard is fast and excellent, I find myself missing shifts on occasion. Maybe this is a feature of the keyboard in order to minimize double caps. Also, a screw fell out of the bottom of the laptop one day for no reason. I picked up the laptop and a screw was lying on the table. I made sure to tighten up all the screws on the bottom of the laptop after that. The touchpad does not register the scroll area on the side the majority of the time. The two-finger scrolling is extremely jumpy.

So a bunch of nuisances that I can't understand and may be symptoms of poor quality control?

On the other hand, at this point, I've adjusted to all these and now my laptop is just a powerful, transparent tool that does everything I need it to do with a minimum of fuss. It's almost like we've developed a mind-machine connection and it is just intuitive and instantaneous to get work done with this laptop. The battery life is incredible. I never take my charger in my bag. I have it on sleep all day and pull it out, open the lid and work, then close it and do whatever else I need to do. I never think about the screen. It just works, even though it's not the nicest. Although I do catch myself admiring the screen quality when I'm playing an HD movie on it. It has all the ports I need, including HDMI to hook it up to my HDTV. Its webcam, mic and speakers are superb and I can easily teleconference with it. What can I say? It just works, and it does everything a laptop should do. I don't even think about it anymore, so I guess I'm very happy with it. It's a tool, not a toy or a gadget, and if you're willing to take some time to learn its quirks, you will be very productive with it.

I like this laptop. Two-finger scrolling is so jumpy, it's useless, better to use the trackpoint+button combo which is much more responsive.

Internet cuts off about once per hour, saying "the intel network adaptor was not found"

I replaced the Synaptics driver on an Edge E420 with these here : http://code.google.com/p/two-finger-scr ... loads/list


It's like using a brand new touchpad. I'm a long-time trackpoint user, and after about a week of use I've found myself scrolling with two fingers about 80% of the time.