ThinkPad Edge E325

[fleamourian]

I have my heart set on a UK Lenovo E325 Edge to replace my ageing IBM T21, all fo' £290! Super nice!

I am wondering what is the correct nomenclature of E325 HDD UltraBay caddy? And what price should I be looking to pay? (I aim to upgrade to SSD.)

Will an E325 take a standard image of Ubuntu 12.04? Can Lenovo ship with Ubuntu pre-installed or even no OS? In which case will any money be knocked off? (I have emailed support but thought someone may know before weekend is out.) The E325 is Ubuntu certified, but I wonder if it ships with custom image?

I know it is not considered a proper ThinkPad by the connoisseurship of the elite who can afford such. But spill resistant keyboard, UltraBay, ThinkLight & red Ultranav are good enough for me!

These are all my excitable musings! Hopefully someone can enlighten I before I click purchase...

[wolfman]

Hello - I can't answer all your questions, but here goes...

I just upgraded the T420 in my sig to Ubuntu 12.04 - everything worked right out of the box. Given the specifications from here: http://support.lenovo.com/en_VN/downloa ... D=PD015796, I'd say you'd be in good shape with compatibility (you did say it was certified for Ubuntu). I'd recommend getting an Intel Wireless card specifically as it's performance is better with fewer potential problems in Ubuntu than the Realtek card (which is the Thinkpad AGN model).

Regarding purchase with Linux, Lenovo doesn't offer that option. They will sell a machine with no OS (or PC-DOS) to a corporation, but not an individual. From time to time, those machines will show up on the Lenovo outlet.

They also won't give you a discount on the OS - at least in the US. Since you are in the UK and part of the EU, you may have some better luck getting a refund via EU consumer protections. Here is a thread with some interesting information: http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthrea ... 9627&pp=15. It looks like it's a hassle and you have to take pictures of yourself kicking "no" on the EULA, etc.

I'd check again on the Ultrabay as I do not think that the E series machines have ultrabay capability...

Good luck with your machine and way to go on running Ubuntu

Steve

[fleamourian]

Glad to hear it! Yeah, wanna run *buntu or more specifically Xubuntu.

Yes, no UltraBay capability it would seem, tho image backup over USB II probs not fun. This is no deal clincher, on the other hand if no ThinkLight, I will steer well clear.

Good advice on wireless, I think it can be customized before committing to purchase. No mention of ThinkLight in PDF specs.

Hmmm.

[wolfman]

There is no ThinkLight on the E325 model. However, I do believe that some of them can be configured with an illuminated (back lit) keyboard. So a similar capability. The Thinklight is something I don't use often, but every once in a while it does work nicely.

[fleamourian]

Ah, the detailed specs state that it does:

http://support.lenovo.com/en_GB/downloa ... D=PD015796

I have placed an order on the strength of such. Not mentioned in PDF specs though.

[wolfman]

Gotcha, thanks. Please post back and let us know if it does have it when you receive it. One video on YouTube mentioned it had the markings for it, but didn't actually lave the LED in the bezel.

Congrats on your new machine!

[fleamourian]

Cheerz!

I sincerely hope so, make mad use of it, something cosy about being closeted in darkness yet still able to type.

Prices have dipped as low as ever, what with an extra Jubilee £50 good will discount, decided to bite. Came into a little windfall, so here's hoping; budget but hopefully not stripped of too many of the ThinkPad luxuries.

[wolfman]

My brother and neice have E420 units. They are nice machines, much nicer than you'd get in a big box type store just walking in (unless it was an Edge series machine - I believe they sell those at Office Depot). I think you'll be pleased with it.

[fleamourian]

Thanks for your kind words.

The AMD CPU may be a little underpowered, but no problem with Xubuntu. Probs contributes to claimed 8hr battery life, I mean that is insane!

MEGA ~ cited

[fleamourian]

Official confirmation from Digital River (who fulfil order) that only E420s ship with ThinkLight in the Edge range. One assumes higher models would also, but that is their exact words.

Bummer! Sorely disappointed, but hey?

[wolfman]

Gotcha, thanks for letting us know. I think it should still be a fine machine.

[fleamourian]

Gotcha!!!

Now official confirmation that it does have a ThinkLight?!? It would seem they back down after I show them detailed specification link. Haha! Time will tell I guess. It's been dispatched now. Also awaiting SSD & will use spinner for back up duties.

[wolfman]

Hmmm. Now I'm really interested to see what is in the machine when you get it.

[fleamourian]

Ordered laptop with just 2GB of RAM as gonna just install Xubuntu & ran fine on 512MB. But since x64, it will take up to 8GB. I'm just a internet browser/light user who has never made use of virtual machines before, I'm guessing more RAM will not yield a noticeable performance increase?

The only use I can think of is putting the temp directory wholly in RAM (SSD upgrade, along with discard option, & swappiness reduced to 0.)

Thoughts?

[fleamourian]

Now then.

She arrived, initial bedding in thoughts:

• (Bearing in mind I am a perfectionist), no ThinkLight! Ah well, icon is present on keyboard, but not physically installed. I guess I'll have to make do like the rest of the world.
  
  Keyboard: Almost as good as T21, slightly different feel.
  
  Screen does not fold flat, (useful for blue prints.)
  
  No screen latches, not a biggie.

Plus points:

• Screen brightness can run at approx half in daylight.
  
  Very funky little glowing red LED dots the "i" in ThinkPad logo on both lid & palm bezel. Gently pulses when in suspend mode.
  
  Whole track pad depresses for middle click, freeing up middle (blue) button for other tasks.
  
  SD card slot, could be used for image backup, (maybe faster than eSATA?)

All in all, pretty stoked!