Lenovo ThinkPad SL500 is business notebook with good specifications and features for an equally good price.
Introduction:
Lenovo ThinkPad SL500 has everything a business device may need: good specifications, bargain price, solid design, performance and safety features. Therefore, it seems that the Lenovo ThinkPad SL500 portable computer would be perfect for companies which cut expenses but still care for productivity.
Lenovo ThinkPad SL500 pros:
+ Lots of ports, including FireWire and HDMI
+ Physical wireless connectivity switch for easy compliance with flight regulations
+ Fantastic heat dissipation
+ Modern business design
+ Excellent performance
+ Plenty of customization options
+ Built-in webcam
Lenovo ThinkPad SL500 cons:
- Wedge design makes accessing some ports difficult
- Glossy lid is a fingerprint nightmare
- Wasted space that could have been used for full-sized arrow keys
The design:
Lenovo ThinkPad SL500 measures 14″ x 11.2″ x 1.5″ (with the updated, 9 cell battery). Considering that the laptop has a 15.4-inch 1680×1050 LCD display and quite good graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS 256 and Intel Core 2 Duo processor it is not that big. The Lenovo SL500 is finished with glossy black lid and strip below the LCD so the fingerprints will be clearly visible. Fortunately most of the notebook is finished with matte plastic so there won’t b too many fingerprints there, at least. All in all, the Lenovo SL500 has very good build quality and plenty of ports: four USB 2.0, FireWire, VGA, SD card reader, HDMI, Audio in/out jacks and more. Also, as you can see in the picture below, on the right side of the touchpad is the fingerprint sensor.
Performance:
As the Lenovo SL500 is a business device you should not expect to be able to play the latest 3D games on it. The laptop has a decent graphics, but it is still not enough for playing advanced games. If you are looking for a gaming machine have a look at the Sager NP8660 review. The screen in has very good viewing angles both vertical and horizontal. Moreover the display is quite bright so even in direct sunlight you can see something. The laptop does not overheat and sometimes you might even get impression that it does not heat at all. The speakers in Lenovo SL500 are quite loud, at least above average but they lack bass. The keyboard is comfortable, responsive and not too loud. The touchpad is also very sensitive and has dedicated scroll regions at the bottom and the right side which also improves navigation. Also the fingerprint sensor work very well.
Available Lenovo SL500 configurations / specifications:
• Platform Technology
• Intel Centrino 2
• Windows Vista Certification
• Windows Vista Premium Ready
• System Flash Memory
• Intel Turbo Memory (2 GB)
• Built-in Devices
• GPS, Stereo speakers, Cellular antenna, Bluetooth antenna, Wireless LAN antenna
• Embedded Security
• Trusted Platform Module (TPM 1.2) Security Chip , Fingerprint reader
• Width
• 14.1 in
• Depth
• 10.2 in
• Height
• 1.5 in
• Weight
• 6.6 lbs
• Color
• Black
• Localization
• English
• Cellular WAN connectivity
• Avoid spotty WiFi with this laptop’s installed hardware that enables Internet access to more reliable subscription-based WAN cellular broadband networks.
• Notebook type
• Game-friendly laptop, Business laptop, Mid-size laptops (6-7.5 lbs.)
• Screen type
• Wide-screen
• Wireless capabilities
• 802.11 pre-N, 802.11g, 802.11b, 802.11a, Mobile broadband, Bluetooth
PROCESSOR
• Processor
• Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 / 2.4 GHz
• Multi-Core processor technology
• Dual-Core
• 64-bit processor
• Yes
• Data bus speed
• 1066 MHz
• Processor features
• Intel 64 Technology, Enhanced SpeedStep technology, Execute Disable Bit capability, Intel Virtualization Technology, Intel Trusted Execution Technology
• Chipset type
• Mobile Intel PM45 Express
CACHE MEMORY
• Type
• L2 cache
• Cache size
• 3 MB
RAM
• Installed Size
• 2 GB / 3 GB (max)
• Technology
• DDR2 SDRAM – 667 MHz
• Memory specification compliance
• PC2-5300
• RAM form factor
• SO DIMM 200-pin
• RAM configuration features
• 1 x 2 GB