But what do you really need to get the job done?
The Lenovo ThinkPad 11e Chromebook has definitely made me think again.
When I opened up the ThinkPad 11e for the first time, I struggled to remember if had actually used a Chromebook before, or if I'd taken one look at the ram and storage specs and lumped them in with some of the grossly under-powered Windows notebooks I've tried and rejected in the past.
If that is what I have done, more fool me. Because it turns out the ThinkPad 11e is a very useful, reliable and surprisingly versatile tool indeed.
Physically there's not much to turn your head; it's dark grey and boring. But boring in a good way. Several notebooks and tablets I've handled recently were akin to balancing slippery pieces of glass on your lap. How long you could own one of those beautifully fragile works of art without cracking, chipping or shattering it is definitely up for debate. On the other hand, the ThinkPad 11e is about as solid as it gets - super heavy-duty hinges and even a rubberised surround on the lid/display half which means I'd confidently let my kids bung it in their school bag. I might even trust myself to carry it under my arm across a tiled floor. (I'm extremely clumsy, so that's a lot riskier than it sounds)
The keyboard is perfectly spaced out and nicely responsive, but this is where I ran into my first conflict with Chromebook philosophy. There's no Home key. No End key. In fact, there isn't even a Caps Lock key. This really had me stumped for a while, but some intensive Googling revealed the trick; ALT+SEARCH TURNS CAPS ON. A BIT MORE LABOUR INTENSIVE, BUT YOU GET USED TO IT. Yes, that's right, there's a Search key where Caps Lock usually is. That's what you have to understand about Chromebooks; they're really just an internet browser in physical form.
This was going to take a bit of getting used to.
(There are many other keyboard shortcuts that are worth training yourself to use. Click here for some of the most important)
What I found a bit too frustrating was the lack of left and right buttons on the trackpad. One button just isn't enough for me, but that was nothing a wireless mouse couldn't sort out.
As I've mentioned in other reviews, I'm a Windows guy. I like to be able to change settings, personalise home and logon screens, in short, fiddle around under the hood. However, because I've always used Chrome as my preferred browser, it was very difficult to shake my Windows habits while using the ThinkPad 11e.
Not all the differences are negative though, not by a long shot. The ThinkPad 11e comes in both 2GB and 4GB ram configurations. I'm only using the 2GB version and yet not only was it lightning fast to start up, it was also unbelievably easy to SET up.
Remember (and this is as much a note to me as it is to you) a Chromebook is really just Google Chrome with a keyboard attached. This means your settings, bookmarks, passwords and preferences are all right there in front of you from the moment you log in to your Google account.
One of the pitfalls of doing reviews like this is the time I have to spend setting up new devices and phones. With the ThinkPad 11e it all happened automatically and virtually instantly. And that's on 2GB of ram. Meanwhile, a Windows machine running on 2GB of ram would probably still be starting up by the time you finished reading this review.
Onboard storage is the other issue that has always made me shy away from the world of the Chromebook, but again, here I think I may have made a mistake. If nothing else, Google is all about working in The Cloud. After using the ThinkPad 11e for a short time, I realised most of the things I carry around with me on my laptop's hard drive would be a lot more useful to me if I could access them from anywhere and from any device. Old habits really do die hard. The ThinkPad 11e has a mere 16GB of storage space (and once you take off the space used by the O.S. and apps, that's more like 8GB) but who needs it? And if you do need more for large media files or the like, there's a slot for memory cards anyway.
The other steep learning curve for me was dealing with extensions rather than applications or programs. The fact is, there's not really much stuff you can install on a Chromebook. But there are heaps of ways you can use your browser to watch, play, edit and publish. By doing these things online, rather than on your device, you keep storage and processing power free to keep things running smoothly and above all, reliably.
Sure the display is not the sharpest or brightest I've ever seen and obviously the processing power and graphics capabilities would never support high-end gaming. But that's not what the ThinkPad 11e is for. This is a machine with more than enough battery life to get you through the day, that'd probably stay in one piece if you accidentally sat on it on the couch and it syncs effortlessly with your existing Google settings and preferences.
Pretty good price too.
If you need a solid performer to take back to school or uni, I really encourage you to sit down with one of these and have a decent play. Yes I was up and running in under 5 minutes, but the ThinkPad 11e has changed the way I think about mobile computing forever.
Click here for the Lenovo ThinkPad 11e Chromebook's full specs and pricing
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