Lenovo Thinkpad Edge E320 (1298-2EA)

The Lenovo Thinkpad Edge E320 (1298-2EA) is a low cost 13.3-inch Sandy Bridge powered laptop which is intended for small and medium business owners. While this laptop was released in the middle of 2011, it is only recently that we have seen this unit on Philippine store shelves. Prices vary wildly from Php20,990 to 32,990, with a one year warranty.

Quick Specifications:

• 13.3" HD (1366x768) LED matte display 
•  Intel Core i3-2310M Processor (2.10GHz) Processor   
• Intel HD Graphics 3000
• 2GB DDR3 SDRAM 
• 320GB SATA HDD (5400rpm) Hard Disk 3 with Active Protection System
• Optical Drive: None
• 4-in-1 media card reader 
• Wireless-N 1000
• Bluetooth 3.0 
• HDMI 1.4, 
• 3 USB 2.0 ports (1 eSata/USB combo and 1 powered) 
• Webcam 
• Dimensions: 322 x 228 x 26.7~30.9 mm
• Weight: 3.9 lb 
• 6-cell Li-Ion (62.4WHr) battery
• No operating system 

This laptop looks like a good deal if you can get it for about 21K. There are a few resellers in TipidPC who carry it at this price. The Intel Core i3-2310M should be more than fast enough for the average user and the Intel HD Graphics 3000 will handle Full HD video with ease. Reviews place the battery life of the six cell battery at more than six hours of real world use on WiFi (NotebookCheck and PC World Australia). The keyboard is good, like most Lenovo laptops. All in all, it looks like a pretty decent package.

At the higher prices quoted by some retailers I would consider instead the 12.5-inch Samsung Series 3 NP350U2B and its Intel Core i5 processor, 4 GB of RAM, 1 TB hard drive available at that price with a Windows license.