With a name like the Edge 15, you’d expect Lenovo’s newest business-centric 15-inch laptop to be pretty portable. Don’t let the name fool you: This notebook carries some considerable bulk with it.
Lenovo just announced the new Edge 15 at IFA 2014, and the company says that it’s under an inch thick, and the company’s thinnest 15-inch notebook as well. However, it still weighs over 5 pounds, which is a weight territory that even some gaming notebooks are approaching these days, never-mind business laptops. The Edge 15’s chassis is made of aluminum.
Complaints about weight aside, the Edge 15’s highlight feature is its hinge, which lets you bend the system 300 degrees, allowing you to put the laptop in stand mode. This could prove useful when making a presentation, especially if you don’t have a projector around.
The Edge 15 will at least pack in capable specs. For starters, the Edge 15 will ship with a 15.6-inch 1080p multi-touch display, processors that range between Intel’s fourth-gen Core i5 and Core i7 lines, as much as 1TB of hard drive space, and up to 8GB of RAM.
If you choose, you can outfit the edge with a 256GB SSD. We suspect that the larger storage capacities will come in mechanical flavors. Just beware of the trade-offs; generally, you get slower speeds and access times, but more space with mechanical drives. SSDs are generally smaller, but will make your system run much quicker.
You’ll be able to equip the Edge 15 with an Nvidia GeForce 840M dedicated GPU, which is on the lower end of Nvidia’s newest series of mobile GPUs. However, it should still suffice if you want to game a bit during downtime. The Edge 15’s AccuType keyboard is back-lit, which will make it easier for you to work when you have to stay at the office late.
Lenovo claims that you’ll be able to work for up to eight hours with the Edge 15, but the company doesn’t mention whether that number is specific to a single task. Expect the Edge 15 to include a few USB ports, along with 802.11n or 802.11ac Wi-Fi.
The Lenovo Edge 15 will start at $899 from Best Buy starting sometime in October.
