<p>My son wants a Lenovo laptop (will be a freshman engineering major in the fall) and we are currently debating between the Lenovo 420 or the Edge. Does anyone have an opinion on which one is better to buy? The Edge is several hundred dollars cheaper, has an HDMI port, but has flimsier hinges and general build. The new 420 and 520 (coming out this week) will have HDMI ports (important to my son), are clunkier, but are supposed to be great quality. He is not a gamer, but will watch "TV", listen to music, and do school-related stuff on his laptop. Thanks!</p>
<p>I’ve always been very fond of the ThinkPad series, so I’d say the T420.
If you care to spend a little more (you probably don’t), you could buy the X220, which is basically as good as the rest of the ThinkPad line but only 2.5 lbs (a little more with a 9-cell).
ThinkPad is good though, either way.</p>
<p>I’d recommend the T420, also. We got my son a Lenovo in the SL series, which lacks a few features of the ThinkPads. I looked it up on Wikipedia and the article states that the Edge is similar to the SL in the omission of the features. The SL has been a good computer, but it DID have problems with the hinges, and it cost more than $100 to get it fixed. So if you could avoid that problem by going with the sturdier model, I would recommend it.</p>
<p>Other than that, the Lenovo has been wonderful. Our “computer guy” said he likes Lenovo laptops more than HP.</p>
<p>Thinkpad. There’s a reason the edges are cheaper. Nothing like Thinkpad quality, even within the Lenovo family.</p>