Lenovo purchased the ThinkPad product portfolio from IBM a
decade ago and has maintained the brand ever since. The company refreshed the
entry-level enterprise laptop range, the E-series, and dropped the Edge name
from it. The latest addition to it, the ThinkPad E555, follows the path of its
predecessor, rigorously sticking to the design guidelines of the ThinkPad
family.
A word here to mention the fact that this particular model
faces some stiff competition from one of its own, the Lenovo B50-30. The latter
is geared towards small businesses and home users, aimed at "increasing
productivity but without breaking the bank" according to Lenovo.
The ThinkPad E555 (20DH000TUK) is currently selling at
Ebuyer for £240 (around $365, or AU$490) while the Essential B50-70 retails for
£270 (around $430, or AU$550). Both come with a free 3-user BullGuard Internet
security package, free delivery and a fairly similar specification.
Design
If you're used to lightweight laptops (Ultrabooks or
Chromebook-type), handling the ThinkPad E555 comes as a shock and is a stark
reminder of how massive traditional laptops (i.e. 15.6-inch models) used to be
in the not-so-distant past.
It is heavier than most laptops of a similar size we've
played with before and while the weight makes it reassuringly solid, it is not
something we'd like to lug around regularly (e.g. as a commuting laptop).
As with most notebooks of this family, it features a
discretely-etched Lenovo logo in one corner of the laptop and a prominent
ThinkPad logo on the opposite corner of the smooth, anthracite rubberised cover
- the red dot on the letter "i" of this logo lights up when the
machine is on (there's an exact replica on the right edge of the palm rest).
As expected its girth is significant at just over 2.5cm -
the E555 occupies a surface area of about 25.5 x 37.5cm weighing a solid 2.4Kg.
The left hinge squeaks slightly when opening the cover, although ours might be
a dodgy one.
Once opened, you get a sense of deja-vu that will please
ThinkPad aficionad the red lines, the logo, the curved keys, the 'nipple' in
the middle of the keyboard and the depressed start button near the top, all of
these are unmistakable signs of a ThinkPad machine.
The screen and the input peripherals are subjective matters;
opting for a matte display means little reflection, fingerprints or dust
speckles. The keyboard has a decent spring, no apparent flex and felt fairly
soft thanks to the slightly curved design of the keys. The top row of keys has
two functions and the numeric keypad is a welcome addition.
I never felt compelled to use the input contraption commonly
known as the nipple, which Lenovo calls the TrackPoint style pointer. It makes
my index finger numb after a while and is not as precise as the touchpad - it
still reminds me of the good old trackballs from yesteryear but without the
propensity to get all dirty.
Speaking of the touchpad, the one on the ThinkPad E555 is
probably the only glaring weakness of this device. I like my clicks localised;
i.e. clicking on one area doesn't depress the entire touchpad. It's an issue
I've encountered both on cheap and upmarket laptops, but the one on the E555 is
made worse by the hollow sound that accompanies every click.
Source From :- http://www.in.techradar.com/
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