ThinkPad E series

The ThinkPad E Series (formerly ThinkPad Edge) is a notebook computer series produced since 2010 by Lenovo. It is the most affordable sibling in the ThinkPad family and is aimed at small business users as well as education markets.

Launch and reviews The Edge series of ThinkPad computers was introduced at the 2010 International CES in Las Vegas and became available for sale in April of the same year.article at Lenovo It was initially marketed to small and medium-sized businesses.

For the ThinkPad Edge 13, a review on Engadget said that even though, "it may not carry the premium features of [Lenovo Thinkpad] X301..., but for a budget ultraportable... [there is] little to complain about." Engadget also tested the battery life of the Edge 13 and discovered that "Lenovo's battery life prediction of seven hours is pretty on the mark." The Edge 13's battery lasted 5 hours and 12 minutes.

Laptop Magazine reviewed the ThinkPad Edge 14 and found it was "the most compelling 14-inch small business notebook on the market today."

NotebookReview reviewed the ThinkPad Edge 15 and said that its "build quality seems to be a step down from the 13 and 14 inch." The website also mentioned that the Edge series in general "feels under built...[and] the Edge 15 fares much worse".

Reviews of the E220s and E420s were more positive, citing better build quality than other models in the Edge line.

Features The ThinkPad Edge series uses processors from both AMD and Intel. AMD processors offered include the Athlon II dual-core, the Turion II Dual-core, Phenom II Triple-core and Ryzen 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Generation mobile Accelerated Processing Units (APUs). Intel processors used include the Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7.

Voice Over IP (VoIP) features including high resolution cameras and an HD LED screen are also included. All four models offer a glossy LED back-lit 16:9 display capable of playing 720p video. However the Edge 11 and 13 does not include an optical drive. The laptops came in three colors: Midnight Black (Smooth), Midnight Black (Gloss), and Heatwave Red (Gloss).

Design Lenovo designed the laptops to "reflect a new progressive and strikingly clean appearance while retaining ThinkPad durability and reliability". For example, along with the new Island-style keyboard, the Edge series had some keyboard design changes: uniform black keys and the removal of the embedded number pad. The Function keys were re-designed so users could use one finger to access functions such as multimedia keys. Some keys which were rarely used like SysRq were removed.

Models

+ThinkPad Edge/E series (2010-2023)ThinkPad S series (2012-2014)ThinkPad R series (China exclusive, 2018-present?)ScreenTypeEdge 1*(2010)E*2*(2011)E*3*S*3*(2012)E*4*S*4*(2013)E*5*(2014)E*6*(2015)E*7*(2016)R*8*E*8*(2017)R*8*E*9*(2018)201920202021202220232024 Intel AMD Intel AMD Intel AMD Intel Intel AMD Intel AMD Intel AMDIntelAMD11.6"SubnotebookEdge 11E120E125E130E135replaced by 11e12.5"SlimE220sConvertibleS230u (Twist)replaced by Yoga 24013.3"MainstreamEdge 13E320E325E330E335replaced by 1314"Edge 14E420E425E430E431E435E440E445E450E460E465E470E475E480E485E490E495E14Gen1E14Gen2E14Gen3E14Gen4E14Gen5E14Gen6E420sS430S431S440R480R490R14Gen1R14Gen215.6"Edge 15E520E525E530E531E535E540E545E550E560E565E570E575E580E585E590E595E15Gen1E15Gen2E15Gen3E15Gen4replacedby E16S530S531S540R580R590R15Gen1R15Gen216"E16Gen1E16Gen2

Gen 1 (2010)

Edge 11

The ThinkPad Edge 11 laptop was not released in the United States, with the X100e serving as an 11.6-inch laptop solution in the US. The laptop was 1.1 inches thick and weighed 3.3 lbs. Like other laptops in the series, the Edge 11 was made available in glossy black, matte black and glossy red. Despite the low starting price, the Edge 11 laptop included some of the traditional ThinkPad durability features, including solid metal hinges. The battery life was better than both the IdeaPad U160 and the ThinkPad X100e laptops.

Edge 11 (DER Special Edition). A special edition laptop was provided for Australian Year 9 students as part of the Digital Education Revolution (DER) program in 2011.

Edge 11 specifications:DER Special Edition specifications: Processor: Intel Core i3-380UM or AMD Athlon Neo X2 Operating system: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Display: 11.6" Glossy (1366×768) TN Graphics: Intel GMA 4500MHD or ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4225 Color: Midnight Black (Glossy, Matte), Heatwave Red (Glossy) RAM: up to 4 GB DDR3 1067 MHz Storage: 320 GB 5,400 rpm SATA HDD Networking: 10/100/1000 Ethernet; Integrated Wireless 802.11abgn Battery: 6- or 9-Cell Li-On (swappable) Processor: Intel Celeron U3400 Operating system: Microsoft Windows 7 Enterprise Display: 11.6" Glossy (1366×768) TN Intel HM55 Chipset 500 MHz Graphics Color: Midnight Black (Glossy, Matte), Rainforest Green (Glossy) RAM: 2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz Storage: 160 GB 5,400 rpm SATA HDD Networking: 10/100/1000 Ethernet; Broadcom 2x2 802.11abgn Wireless; BT 3.0 Battery: 6- or 9-Cell Li-Ion (swappable)

Edge 13 The ThinkPad Edge 13 laptop was released on January 5, 2010. It was 1.2 inches thick, weighed 3.5 lbs (1.6 kg), and fit into a backpack. The Edge 13 laptop was capable of handling Windows 7 Pro with ease, with multiple applications like Firefox, Microsoft Word 2007, GIMP, TweetDeck, and iTunes at the same time. It did not feature Intel's Arrandale platform on release, and was launched with a prior generation CULV processor. The lack of processing speed, however, was compensated by a gain in battery life. The laptop delivered 6 hours and 58 minutes of battery life in MobileMark 2007 tests.

Specifications:

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 or Core i3-380UM or AMD Athlon Neo X2 L325 Operating system: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Display: 13.3" Glossy (1366×768) TN Graphics: Intel GMA 4500MHD Color: Midnight Black (Glossy, Matte), Heatwave Red (Glossy) RAM: up to 8 GB DDR3 (1066 MHz) Storage: 250 GB 5,400 rpm SATA HDD Networking: 10/100 Ethernet; Integrated Wireless 802.11abgn Battery: 4- or 6--Cell Li-Ion (swappable)

Edge 14 and 15

The ThinkPad Edge 14 and 15 laptops were both launched on March 22, 2010. A web review noted build quality above average, yet not the same as professional grade ThinkPad laptops. One difference was smaller screen hinges which were plastic-faced instead of metal. While the Edge 14 laptop did not have a roll cage, it was still durable, with no flex on the palm rest, keyboard and touchpad.

The Edge 15 laptop was noted for having the same features as the smaller laptops in the series, with lower build quality. The right side of the palm rest displayed flex under moderate pressure. The keyboard tray also displayed slight inward flexing at the optical drive area. Some positive features included a keyboard that was noted as being very easy to type on. The touchpad was also noticeably easy to use, with fast response time, no discernible lag, even without adjustments. But also at the Lenovo support forum, lots of keyboard failures were reported. The price was viewed favorably, with user experience and feature set receiving praise.

Specifications: Processor: Intel Core i5-560M; i5-460M; i3-390M; Mobile Intel 5 Series Discrete GFX Chipset Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, or Professional (64-bit) Display: 14.0", 16:9 HD (1366×768), LED-backlight; 15.6", 16:9 HD (1366×768), LED-backlight Color: Midnight Black (Glossy, Matte), Heatwave Red (Glossy) RAM: up to 8 GB DDR3 1066 MHz Storage: 320 GB (5,400/7,200 rpm), 500 GB (5,400/7,200 rpm) SATA HDD

Model Release (EU) Dimensions Weight (min) CPU Chipset Memory (max) Graphics Storage Networking Audio ScreenBattery OtherOperating System11.6" Edge 11 (Intel) 2010 IntelHM558 GB DDR3 — 1333 MHzIntel HD Graphics Gigabit EthernetWi-Fi Half Mini PCIe Card Edge 11 (AMD) 8 GB DDR3 — 1066 MHzATI Mobility Radeon HD 4225 13.3" Edge 13 (Intel) 2010 IntelGM45 orHM558 GB DDR3 — 1066 or 1333 MHzIntel GMA 4500MHD Gigabit EthernetWi-Fi Half Mini PCIe Card Edge 13 (AMD) AMDM780G 8 GB DDR2 — 667 MHzATI Mobility Radeon HD 3200 14" Edge 14 (Intel) 2010 Intel Pentium or 1st Gen Core i3 or i5 IntelHM558 GB DDR3 — 1066 MHzIntel HD Graphics Gigabit EthernetWi-Fi Half Mini PCIe Card Edge 14 (AMD) AMD Athlon II or Turion II AMD RS880MATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250 15.6" Edge 15 (Intel) 2010 Intel Pentium or 1st Gen Core i3 or i5 IntelHM558 GB DDR3 — 1066 MHzIntel HD Graphics Gigabit EthernetWi-Fi Half Mini PCIe Card Edge 15 (AMD) AMD Athlon II or Turion II AMD RS880MATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250

Gen 2 (2011)

Edge E220s, E320, E325, E420, E420s

The ThinkPad Edge E220s and E420s were released in Spring 2011, as an updated, "more premium" line of the ThinkPad Edge. These newer series are significantly thinner, and include more of the traditional ThinkPad line of features such as the integrated 720p web-cam. Also notable is the return to use of metallic hinges versus the less durable plastic seen on earlier Edge models. Both the E220s and E420s can be configured with up to an Intel Core i7 processor, which offers a higher level of performance than other notebooks of this size category. The surfaces have been accented with a chrome finish around the exterior, and the addition of the "infinity glass" screen, which features edge-to-edge glass paneling on the display. Many design aspects of the E220s line have been seen in the recently unveiled ThinkPad X1, including the keyboard and touchpad design.

Edge E520, E525 The ThinkPad Edge E520 was launched at the same time as the E420. It is the first 15.6" ThinkPad to feature a numeric keypad. Model Dimensions (mm)Weight (min) CPUChipsetMemory (max) GraphicsStorageNetworkingAudioDisplayBatteryOtherOperating System 11.6" E120 289 × 208 × 23.5 mm (11.4 x 8.2 × .93 inches) IntelHM65 Intel HD Graphics 3000 Gigabit EthernetWi-Fi Half Mini PCIe CardHD audio with stereo Speakers, built-in digital mic and combo headphone/mic-in Windows 7 Home Premium Windows 7 Professional E125 AMD Radeon HD 6250 Gigabit EthernetWi-Fi Half Mini PCIe Card 12.5" E220s 377.4 × 252.3 × 24.5–25.9 mm (14.9 × 9.9 × 0.96–1.02 inches) IntelHM658 GB DDR3 — 1333 MHzIntel HD 3000 Gigabit EthernetWi-Fi Half Mini PCIe Card 13.3"E320ThinkPad E320 Platform Specifications 2nd Gen Intel Core IntelHM65Intel HD 3000 Gigabit EthernetWi-Fi Half Mini PCIe CardBT 3.0 ModuleE325ThinkPad E325 Platform Specifications AMD E-350 or E-450 AMDA50MFCHAMD Radeon HD 6310M or 6320M14"E420ThinkPad E420 Platform Specifications 343.4 × 233.6 × 28.7-36.4 mm (13.52 × 9.20 × 1.13-1.43 inches) 2nd Gen Intel Core IntelHM65Intel HD Graphics 3000 Gigabit EthernetWi-Fi Half Mini PCIe CardE420sThinkPad E420s Platform Specifications 349 × 236 × 23.1 mm (13.74 × 9.29 × 0.91 inches) 2nd Gen Intel Core i3-2310M(2C4T 2.1 GHz) i3-2330M(2C4T 2.2 GHz) i5-2410M (2C4T 2.3 GHz/2.9 GHz Turbo) i5-2430M (2C4T 2.4 GHz/3.0 GHz Turbo) i5-2450M (2C4T 2.5 GHz/3.1 GHz Turbo)E425ThinkPad E425 Platform Specifications 343.4 × 233.6 × 28.7-36.4 mm (13.52 × 9.20 × 1.13-1.43 inches) AMD E2 or A4 AMDA60MFCHAMD Radeon HD Graphics+ AMD Radeon HD 6470M 1 GB Gigabit EthernetWi-Fi Half Mini PCIe Card15.6"E520ThinkPad E520 Platform Specifications 2nd Gen Intel Core IntelHM65Intel HD 3000 Gigabit EthernetWi-Fi Half Mini PCIe CardNumeric keypadE525ThinkPad E525 Platform Specifications AMD E2, A4, A6, or A8 AMDA60MFCHAMD Radeon HD GraphicsNumeric keypad

Gen 3 (2012)

Edge 11" (E130, E135)

Edge 13" (E330, E335)