ThinkPad Edge 15 Performance, Benchmarks and Conclusion

Performance and Benchmarks
The Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 15 is packed with some of the latest Intel hardware, including a 2.13GHz Core i3-330 processor and GMA HD integrated graphics. Even with a simple configuration with 2 GB of system memory and a 250GB 5400RPM hard drive, we found the system to be more than powerful enough for most tasks, excluding gaming. Office productivity applications like Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook loaded quickly and worked with very little lag. Entertainment-related applications worked very well, with the Core i3 processor and GMA HD graphics having no trouble handling HD video playback. Using the latest Flash 10.1 RC4 plug-in, the Edge 15 had no problem playing assorted 720P videos on YouTube, although 1080P Flash videos with a lot of movement caused some stutter. Local video playback was no problem either using the latest CCCP codec pack and Divx.com h264 decoding package. Playing 1080P trailers downloaded off Apple’s website showed roughly 20% CPU activity with plenty of overhead leftover for other background activities.

wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):

PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

3DMark06 measures overall graphics performance for gaming (higher scores mean better performance):

We also recorded a PCMark Vantage score of 3919.

CrystalDiskMark storage drive performance test:

Heat and Noise
The ThinkPad Edge 15 maintained fairly good thermal performance throughout the duration of our review, including the time during benchmarks, with low keyboard and palmrest temperatures. Lap temperatures under heavy use increased to a level warm enough to be noticed, but still stayed below 100F. Fan noise was low under normal use. The fan was near-silent or off when the processor had no load and just above a whisper level under a continuous load. At full speed, we measured noise between 39 and 40dB at 12 inches with a background noise level of 33dB.

Battery Life
The Edge 15 includes a 6-cell battery in all current configurations. In our battery test with the screen brightness reduced to 70%, wireless active and Windows 7 on a balanced profile, we recorded a time of 4 hours and 10 minutes of battery life. The CULV-based Edge 13 managed 7 hours while the Core-i3-based Edge 14 stayed on for 4 hours and 33 minutes. With a similar configuration, the Edge 15 only cost 23 minutes of life compared to the Edge 14.

Conclusion
The Edge series has brought a lot of changes to the ThinkPad name. Most prominently, the glossy painted lid and Chiclet keyboard. With the smaller Edge 13 and Edge 14, build quality wasn’t a huge problem; we only had a few minor concerns like screen protection and hinge quality. The Edge 15, with its larger size, seemed to hit the breaking point where the lack of an internal framework created considerable chassis flex around the palmrest and keyboard areas. The Edge 13 had panels that felt as hard as rock with absolutely no keyboard flex, which obviously didn’t carry over as the size was increased past a certain point. In the end, our only recommendation would be to steer toward the smaller Edge 13 or 14 if you like the design or look at higher ThinkPad models if you need a 15-inch screen.

Pros:

• Good performance
• Comfortable keyboard and touchpad
• Quiet cooling system

Cons:

• Keyboard and palmrest flex
• Build quality not up to ThinkPad standards