Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 11 review

There’s a lot else to like about this laptop. The glossy 11.6in screen produces a decent image. We found that the backlight was even, bar bit of hard-to-notice bleed at the very top. It’s not that bright and can have trouble cutting through office lights due to the glossy finish; in fact, we had to set the screen to its maximum brightness in order to use the laptop comfortably. Viewing angles are pretty good, although for the best image you’ll want to sit straight-on to the screen; given the size of this laptop and the fact that the screen folds back also flat, this will not be a problem.

Having a small screen means that there’s less room for a keyboard, but Lenovo has used the space well, with the Chiclet-style keys taking up all the entire width of the laptop. We’d have liked a bit more travel on the keys, but they’re responsive and the keyboard feels extremely well made. We had no problems touch-typing on this model without making mistakes.

It’s a little strange that the Fn key sits where the Ctrl key normally sits. We also found it annoying that the hotkey buttons on the Function keys, such as to adjust brightness, are the default options; you have to hold the Fn key to use a Function key. As a result, if you use shortcuts, such as Alt-F4 to shut down a window, you have to press the Fn key in addition. We’d have at least liked a Fn-lock key.

As with the majority of Lenovo laptops there’s a touchstick as well as a touchpad. It means you can use your preference, although if you’re in a cramped space, such as an airplane seat, the touchstick is far easier to use.

We were pleased to see plenty of connetivity options, including HDMI and VGA outputs, Gigabit Ethernet, three USB ports and an SDHC memory card slot.

Although there are a few minor issues with this laptop, such as the relatively-dull screen and only 2G of memory, it’s a massive step up from a netbook without having to swallow a huge price hike. If you’re on a tight budget and want a small, powerful computer that you can carry everywhere, the ThinkPad Edge 11 is a great choice and wins our Budget Buy award.