The ThinkPad E220s is the 12-inch sibling of the 14-inch Lenovo ThinkPad E420s notebook. This pleasantly portable laptop offers the latest generation Intel Core series processors and graphics with 4GB of system memory. Good performance and a reasonable price in a notebeook that weighs just a little more than three pounds ... what's not to like?
Lenovo offers several configuration options for the ThinkPad E220s but at the time of this writing the two featured processor options available at Lenovo.com are the slower Intel Core i3-2357M processor (1.30GHz) and the faster Intel Core i7-2617M processor (1.5GHz). Like the 14-inch E420s we previously reviewed, the E220s doesn't come with the same two- or three-year standard warranty as other ThinkPad business notebooks. In addition, Lenovo uses a non-removable battery and a 7mm thin Seagate hard drive (standard notebook hard drives are 9.5mm) in order to give this laptop a lighter weight and thinner shape.
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Build and Design
As previously mentioned, the E220s is the smaller version of the 14-inch E420s. These E-series notebooks have several design elements that set them apart from the traditional ThinkPad exterior. The E220s has rounded corners and polished metal trim around the edges rather than the all-business, box-like shape that has become a hallmark of ThinkPads. Open the screen lid and you'll find a simplified keyboard and touchpad without extra media buttons or quick launch keys. The screen has a large glossy piece of plastic covering it, which Lenovo calls "Infinity Glass". It helps improve contrast and color saturation but it also creates reflections from sunlight or bright indoor lights and is a magnet for smudges and dirt on your display. .
Although the exterior of the E220s is very consumer friendly, this notebook has a metal alloy support structure inside the chassis for increased durability. Lenovo also gave the E220s a spill-resistant keyboard, "ThinkVantage Rescue and Recovery" which restores your system settings in the event of a system crash and the typical "Active Protection System" which detects sudden drops and parks your hard drive to prevent hard disk failure from drops. As nice as those features are I wasn't impressed with the support structure of the screen lid. It flexes too easily and I am concerned about long-term screen protection if you're a frequent traveler. I can't imagine this lid can withstand too many hits from a flight attendant jamming suitcases into the overhead compartment.
The more interesting part of the E220s' design is Lenovo's commitment to being eco-friendly. The E220s is EPEAT Gold, ENERGY STAR and RoHS compliant, the LED-backlit displays are 100% free of mercury and arsenic. The plastic components are made from more than 10% recycled material and the notebook comes in 100% recycled paperboard packaging printed with nontoxic inks. My only complaint is that Lenovo apparently thinks environmentally conscious consumers don't like removable batteries. The Li-polymer battery in the ThinkPad E220s is packed inside the chassis and there is no easy way to replace the battery on your own without complete disassembly of the laptop.
Ports and Features
The E220s has a modest selection of ports including standard VGA, HDMI v1.4, Ethernet, two USB 2.0 ports, a USB 2.0/eSATA combo port and a memory card reader. I'm a little disappointed that Lenovo didn't include a USB 3.0 port for modern high-speed hard drives and flash drives, but that's a common omission in this price range. Since the E220s is a hybrid of a consumer laptop and a small business notebook, you don't get a docking station port or an ExpressCard slot. All picture descriptions are left to right.
Keyboard and Touchpad
The E220s features the newer "Chiclet" or island-style keyboard with extra spacing between the keys. This is the one area that continues to divide many ThinkPad owners; some of whom continue to think Lenovo should use the same keyboard used on the ThinkPad T60 five years ago. This new keyboard has a fantastic feel with excellent key travel (the distance between pressed and un-pressed positions) and each key has a slightly concave surface to help improve typing accuracy.
I think it's unfortunate that the keyboard is not backlit. The E220s has the old "ThinkLight" which is essentially a LED flashlight built into the screen bezel next to the webcam that shines down on the keyboard. Some people argue that the ThinkLight offers better visibility in the dark compared to a backlit keyboard but since the light is built into the screen lid you have to tilt the screen forward to get just the right amount of light on the keyboard ... which isn't always ideal for viewing the screen.
The E220s has the traditional TrackPoint pointing stick in the center of the keyboard with three buttons below the spacebar. This continues to be a great way to control your mouse cursor and gives you a three-button mouse at the same time. The touchpad is one of the new extra-large "buttonless clickpad" with a matte surface. This works by you pressing down on the bottom left or right corners to click. Lenovo did a reasonable job here, but it isn't perfect. We found the clickpad requires varying levels of pressure to register a click and it won't always register a click depending on where your fingers are touching the clickpad surface.
Screen and Speakers
The E220s has a 12.5-inch display with a "glass" surface and a 720p (1366x768) resolution. This appears to be the same 12.5-inch panel used on the Lenovo IdeaPad U260 with a 16:9 aspect ratio and LED backlighting. The E220, however, has a reflection-prone glossy layer over the screen instead of the plane matte surface on the U260. Our test lab results show the display has a peak brightness of 228 nit with an average contrast ratio of roughly 175:1.
Horizontal Viewing angles are relatively good and vertical viewing angles are pretty narrow. There is significant color inversion after 20 degrees off-center vertically. This shouldn't be a problem as long as you don't try to view the screen from above or below.
The E220s has a speaker bar below the screen that holds two very small speakers. They deliver a surprising level of sound clarity and decent volume despite their diminutive size. There is just the slightest hint of bass so if you plan to listen to your entire music library on this laptop then you'll want to buy a set of hood headphones or external speakers.
Audio out options include HDMI and a headphone jack. Note the headphone jack doubles as a microphone jack; therefore when buying a headset, make sure you get one that supports the combo port (i.e. also has a combo microphone/headphone jack as well).
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Performance and Benchmarks
The E220s is loaded with enough processor and graphics power to handle everyday tasks like office productivity software and web browsing with ease. The Core i5 processor in our review unit is fast enough for more demanding photo and video editing applications. The 4GB of memory included in this system is enough for basic multitasking and the Seagate hard drive is reasonably fast but Lenovo also offers an optional 128GB solid state drive (SSD) for those people who want faster performance. Although the E220s features the newer Intel HD Graphics 3000 this laptop is not intended for gaming and you'll probably run into the occasional problem if you try to play a variety of graphics-intense games.
Heat and Noise
The E220s is basically silent during normal web browsing or using Microsoft Office. Its single cooling fan pushes hot air out the exhaust on the right side of the chassis; the heat only becomes noticeable if you block the exhaust or stress the processor with HD video editing or gaming. At maximum speed the fan in our review unit produced a weak high-pitched whine but it wasn't loud enough to be disruptive in a typical office or classroom environment. The fan does a good job keeping the notebook cool; the area around the vent on the bottom of the notebook is the only area that gets warm. All exterior temperatures shown below are listed in degrees Fahrenheit.
| Lenovo Laptop Batteries on sales | ||
 Lenovo ThinkPad E40 Battery Li-ion, 7200 mAh, 11.1 V | Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 14" Battery Li-ion, 7200 mAh, 11.1 V |  Lenovo ThinkPad SL300 Battery Li-ion, 4800 mAh, 10.8 V |
 Lenovo Thinkpad W500 Battery Li-ion, 6600 mAh, 10.8 V |  Lenovo ThinkPad X201s Battery Li-ion, 7200 mAh, 10.8 V | Lenovo Thinkpad R500 Battery Li-ion, 6600 mAh, 10.8 V |
Battery Life
We measured a rather unimpressive four hours and 48 minutes of battery life during our battery rundown test (Windows 7 Balanced power profile, 70% screen brightness, wireless active, and refreshing a web page every 60 seconds). This is better than the battery life from the similarly sized Lenovo IdeaPad U260 but it's barely more than half the battery life of the ThinkPad X220.
Again, keep in mind that the E220s' battery is non-removable similar to Apple MacBooks or the Alienware M11x. Once the battery is drained you have to find a power outlet because you cannot simply put in a spare or attach a battery slice.
Conclusion
The Lenovo ThinkPad E220s is a reasonably attractive and well-equipped 12-inch laptop for average consumers and small business professionals. This laptop has its share of flaws, but the flaws are largely minor considering the fact you can buy this thin and light notebook for less than $650 online.
Less than five hours of battery life while web browsing is below average these days and you can't swap batteries on your own. The lack of USB 3.0 combined with the quirky touchpad are also issues that I hope Lenovo addresses in next year's model.
The biggest problem for the E220s might actually come in the form of Lenovo's own ThinkPad X220. For just $220 more than the base price of the E220s you can buy the vastly superior X220. The E220s is indeed a nice laptop, but if you're a business professional I'd have a hard time recommending this laptop instead of the ThinkPad X220 unless your budget is limited to $700.
Pros:
- Thin and relatively light design
- Good keyboard, thouchpad and TrackPoint
- Decent mid-level performance
Cons:
- Unimpressive battery life
- Integrated battery
- No USB 3.0
