Thinkpad Edge E531 or Lenovo G580?

[apastrak]

I'm wavering between the Edge E531 i5/4GB/7200RPM 500GB and the Lenovo G580 i5/8GB/5200RPM 1TB for my small business.

I'm leaning toward the Edge for better quality build (can anyone confirm this), better battery life, slimmer profile, and lighter weight.

But since I can't afford to upgrade the Edge's 4GB memory to 8GBs, which I feel I would need since I'll be multitasking and working in Photoshop quite a bit, the Lenovo G580 seems a better deal for my budget, although it has less battery life, a slower hard drive, and a thicker profile.

Comparison E531 / G580 (where there is only one value, they are the same)

Processor: i5-3230M
Graphics: Intel HD 4000
HD: 500GB 7200RPM / 1TB 5400RPM
RAM: 4GB / 8GB
Screen: 15.6 low-res Anti-Glare
Battery: 6 hours / 5 hours
Weight: 5.4 lbs / 5.7 lbs
Thickness: 0.98 inches / 1.33 inches
Price: $593 / $579

What do you think?

[underclocker]

I would turn to eBay for a T520 or T530. Here's a very nice T530 (HD+, 6GB RAM, i5, etc.) for $619 --> http://www.ebay.com/itm/121149047356

Also, the Lenovo Outlet has good prices on all models.

[apastrak]

Thanks for your answer!

I couldn't turn to eBay as my business requires me to buy new products for tax purposes.

Also, as I'm in Canada, I don't have access to the outlet. No luck there.

Assuming I can't go with any other model, do you know which of these two you would choose?

[underclocker]

I couldn't turn to eBay as my business requires me to buy new products for tax purposes.

Sorry to hear that!

Between the two, I'd take the Edge. The Edge's aren't as well built as the traditional ThinkPads (but are still fairly solid), but the G's are flimsy. at least up through the G550 series. I've owned many first and second generation Edge models and I've been happy with them. However, I've anecdotally noticed that many of the second generation (430, 530) have failed motherboards (just check eBay), so I'd be sure to upgrade the warranty to 3 years OR at least purchase with a credit card that doubles the one year warranty to two years (many cards do in the U.S.)

Good luck and report back with your choice/results.

P.S. Welcome to the forum.

[apastrak]

Hey, thanks again

Just a thought: Do you now if the Edge would still be a better choice than a similarly priced Asus or Toshiba with more or less similar features (usually those in my price range come with AMD processors)?