There's no disputing that IBM (now Lenovo) builds some of the best business laptops in the industry. The R50e, like its ThinkPad siblings, offers a robust design and solid everyday performance, but consumers looking for whizz-bang multimedia features will be left wanting. The system's price tag will attract many, but you should be aware that its feature are scant - especially when you can get much more from other manufacturers. Business buyers looking for a fleet of reliable workstations, however, should love this budget model.

Pros: Attractive starting price; top-notch build; excellent support tools
Cons: Relatively slow; no FireWire, S-Video or Bluetooth


The ThinkPad R50e is IBM's most affordable laptop. The good news is that the wholly-black ThinkPad R50e (332x269x38mm, 2.8kg) looks and feels exactly like any other ThinkPad laptop, even the most expensive ThinkPad T43p (from £2170 ex. VAT). The only physical difference, except for a few connectivity options, is that the ThinkPad R50e lacks a touchpad. Instead, you'll have to make do with IBM's excellent trackpoint and three mouse buttons.

Regardless of the lack of a touchpad, the ThinkPad R50e sports a robust build quality synonymous with IBM laptops. The system's thick metal hinges that connect the core of the base to the top cover might add a little weight, but it keeps it extremely durable. A ThinkLight keyboard light located on the top edge of the display even illuminates the keyboard to let you work in low-light conditions - this sounds trivial but is actually a godsend when working on an aeroplane or in bed.

The ThinkPad R50e is only available with an Intel Celeron M Processor 360 (1.40GHz) processor, so you can rule out the more capable Intel Pentium M chip. It also comes as standard with 256MB of PC2700 DDR SDRAM (upgradable to 2GB), 40GB hard disk drive (4200rpm), CD-RW/DVD-ROM combo drive and Intel's Extreme Graphics 2 graphics chipset. Unlike other models in IBM's collection, the system is available with only one type of screen - a 15in. display with a native resolution of just 1024x768 pixels.

Intel's ageing Extreme Graphics 2 graphics chipset, which uses 64MB of shared system memory, is fine for day-to-day duties (such as working with two-dimensional business applications and browsing the Web), but is poor when it comes to 3D modelling and gaming. Indeed, we had to dust off a copy of Futuremark's 3DMark2001 SE benchmarking suite to test the system's gaming performance - most systems now run the latest version of the software, 3DMark05 Pro. Nevertheless, the screen is relatively bright and crisp and provides wide horizontal and vertical viewing angles of 170 degrees.

As expected for a business laptop, the ThinkPad R50e offers optional integrated wireless connectivity (additional £60 ex. VAT) thanks to Intel's latest Centrino Mobile Technology which supports both 802.11b and 802.11g wireless standards (Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG). Standard connectivity options include 10/100 Ethernet, V.92 modem, Type II PC Card slot, two USB 2.0 ports, parallel port,headphone/line-out and microphone/line-in jacks.

But there's no support for Gigabit Ethernet, built-in Bluetooth, FireWire, infrared, S-Video-out for hooking up to a larger display, serial port, memory card slot, digital video-out port, or dedicated buttons to turn Wi-Fi on or off. You should, however, appreciate the dedicated volume controls.

1 2 »