Lenovo is the proverbial new kid in town, having been officially a brand only since 2005. Despite that, Lenovo has quickly ascended the ranks of PC vendors worldwide. Acquiring IBM’s global PC operations provided the company a platform to build its own brand name. However, it was a calculated mixture of quality products, smart marketing and strategic outsourcing that helped launched the brand to what it is today. The company’s brand recognition reached dizzying heights during the 2008 Beijing Olympics where it was a major sponsor.

 

At the beginning, consumers were reluctant to embrace the China-made Lenovo products due to concerns about quality and durability. In time, however, Lenovo products came to stand for quality products at reasonable prices. The June 2008 issue of Consumer Reports confirmed this, as it ranked Lenovo as No. 1 among budget priced laptops in terms of fewest repairs reported by users.

 

About a year ago, the Lenovo Thinkpad SL-Series was launched, a continuation of IBM’s Thinkpad series. These include the SL300, SL400 and SL500 models, which are targeted towards small and medium business executives.

 

Pros

The ThinkPad SL Series carries the same high level of quality that Lenova has become known for. And you can have it at a price that’s affordable. You can choose from a wide range of graphics suited for business applications and Web browsing. Some users like to emphasize the fact that the series is based on the Centrino 2 platform, which provides the latest integrated graphics and support for the latest CPUs and RAM+1. Another plus is that the series is certified as being environmentally friendly because of the units’ low emissions and energy efficiency. Its full-size, ergonomic keyboard is also an excellent feature.

 

Cons

Many users complain about the weight (2.1 – 2.9 kg); they say it is too heavy to be regularly used in mobile computing. A few complain about the use of DDR2 RAM, unlike the T-series that utilizes the newer DDR3. A few other users also complain about the quality of the touchpad.

 

Conclusions

Buyers who are familiar with IBM’s ThinkPad series will not be disappointed with Lenovo’s SL series. LaptopReviewsOnline’s review says “The SL series [units] are definitely a worthy product range.” WebTechPoint thinks “The Thinkpad SL Series has the reliability and durability small businesses require.” We think that the SL series deserves to carry the IBM ThinkPad name.

Related posts:

1. Lenovo Laptops
2. Lenovo IdeaPad S10 – Netbook Review

Tags: laptop review, Lenovo Laptops

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 4th, 2009 at 9:09 am and is filed under Laptop Reviews, and is tagged with laptop review, Lenovo Laptops. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.