Lenovo Thinkpad E545 20B20011US Laptop (Windows 8 Professional, AMD Dual-Core A6 5350M (2.9GHz) Processor, 15.6" (1366 x 768) HD Display, SSD: 320 GB, RAM: 4 GB DDR3) Black

I decided to buy the Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E545 because of the combination of features and low price.Features that I like:1. Keyboard - Lenovo makes the best keyboard bar none. You will notice that you can type more accurately using its keyboard. It is also spill resistant. I prefer a 15.6-inch notebook computer because it is just large enough to provide a full-size, separate numeric keypad area to the right of the letter key area. I use this computer as a desktop replacement and rarely carry it around (I use a small (11.6-inch) and light Acer Chromebook C720 running Google Chrome OS for that).2. 4 Gb memory, expandable to 16 Gb. Many notebook PC's can only go up to 8 Gb maximum. I use a free software called "meminfo" to indicate the percentage of memory used at any moment in the lower right area of the display. If this number goes above 50% often, I'd suggest upgrading the computer's memory to 8Gb or more.3. Three USB 3.0 ports and one USB 2.0 port. The USB 3.0 port is useful for connecting to external hard drives and thumb/flash drives that support USB 3.0 Super Speed data transfer. USB 3.0 is about 3.5 times faster than USB 2.0 in real world data transfer speed. The USB 2.0 port is an always-on variety, so that it can conveniently provide charging power to your other electronic gadgets like smartphone and tablet without having the computer to be turned on. The USB 3.0 ports are backward compatible, so USB 2.0 and 1.1 devices can also be plugged into them. Of course, these devices won't work at USB 3.0 speed.4. VGA and HDMI ports - easy connection to legacy and modern flat screen TV's and monitors. Most notebook PC's have either VGA or HDMI port, but the E545 has both.5. Windows 7 installed and Windows 8 optional (included).6. This is a complete (built-in 720p webcam, optical drive, SD card reader, etc.) and reasonably low cost laptop for everyday computing.7. Instead of separate headphone and microphone jacks on older PC's, the E545 has a 3.5mm combo headphone/microphone jack which will accept headphone/mic connector from your smartphone/MP3 player/tablet.8. There is a LED to indicate power status cleverly located on the "i" of the "ThinkPad" moniker. One can be seen on the lid of the computer,and the other is on the palm rest near the right edge.9. If you are also considering a slightly less expensive alternative  Lenovo B590 Windows 7 Pentium 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black) 59410452 , be aware that it is just a "regular" Lenovo, not a "ThinkPad" Lenovo. The "ThinkPad" line has many details and features (hardware/firmware/software) that others don't - An important one being that the E545 has a sensor built-in to detect the computer "falling" and will park its hard drive heads to minimize damage to the data area on the drive, increasing the "recoverability" of possibly precious data.10. Bluetooth 4.0 is built-in. You can use Bluetooth versions of wireless mouse, wireless keyboard, wireless headset, and wireless speakers with the E545.11. The Lenovo Thinkpad E545 has an AMD A6-5350M CPU instead of the usual Intel CPU. It is plenty fast and efficient for my applications (Chrome browser with 20+ open tabs, Skype, anti-virus and firewall software, and system tuneup software). Windows DOES slow down with use, so I'd suggest using paid or free system tuneup software such as Tuneup Utilities or Glary Utilities, respectively.Update 7-21-2014The Lenovo Thinkpad E545 has THREE kinds of password protection that you can set to protect your privacy. This may be important, as your files are stored locally on the hard disk drive.There is the power-on password (POP) which you can set to always ask you to enter a password before the computer will load the operating system.There is a supervisor password (SP) that you can set to protect the BIOS settings so that they cannot be changed unless the correct supervisor password is entered.And then there is the hard disk password (HDP) which will protect the contents of the entire drive, EVEN when the drive is installed on a different computer.If you set the HDP, as well as the POP, then you will be asked to enter two passwords whenever you turn on the computer. You may want to skip on the POP setting to simplify the power-on process since you have set the more important HDP.If you choose different passwords for each, I'd suggest writing them down on your "password booklet". For convenience/manageability, I just set all three to use the same password. Be aware that if you forget your hard disk password, no one will be able to recover the contents of the drive for you.Update 9-10-2014I found adding another 4Gb of memory to the E545 made a lot of difference in operation smoothness, especially if I have several programs running at the same time. The cost of a 4Gb memory is currently $40, making it easily justifiable. The technical specification is 4GB 1600 MHz DDR3L PC3-12800 1.35V SODIMM.It is easy to install this memory upgrade yourself. Make sure the computer is turned off. Remove the battery. Take out three screws securing the large bottom cover so it can be removed. There are two memory slots; one of them is already filled with a 4Gb memory module. To install an additional memory in the empty slot, push the memory module with the gold plated contacts edge at an angle into the slot and then press down until the two spring loaded metal holders snap into place. Note that the memory module has a notch so that it can only fit one way. Now you have 8Gb and the computer will automatically recognize it.

This is a solid laptop for the price. Whether to buy or not comes down to how willing and comfortable you are with playing with the hardware and investing in a few upgrades. If you need something that you never, ever have to open up, then I'd say keep looking. Otherwise:The biggest problem with this machine that I've encountered is the wireless card. It's junk, frankly. I'm waiting on a replacement/upgrade for it as I write this, and for the moment I'm enduring very dodgy network connectivity after days spent updating and rolling back drivers and fiddling around in Device Manager to no avail. If you're going to be using an ethernet cable most of the time, then it's not a major concern. In any case, the $23 for a card I probably would have upgraded to anyway isn't a deal breaker, but it was annoying to deal with out of the box. The ludicrously slow speeds you'll encounter at first are a result of one of the power management utilities combined with outdated drivers, and can be resolved in about 15 minutes. Just look out for the wimpy card dropping the ball (and your connection) left and right after about a week of use. I don't know if it's a problem with this particular card, or if I'm unlucky and ended up with a faulty one, but I can't overstate how obnoxious it is to deal with. Once the new card arrives, the old one is going right to the recycling center where it belongs.The RAM is upgradable to 16GB, which is fantastic. The 4GB it ships with is fine, but since I use some RAM-eating programs I've already bumped it up to 8GB (about $40) after seeing another reviewer do the same and have yet to see any signs of strain. The processor is very decent, one of the better ones I saw in this price range. It's a huge step up from the aging Dell I was using before. A lot of consumer laptops lack muscle; this thing is more powerful than a lot of more expensive computers I looked at, especially some of the "lifestyle" brands where you're paying for the name and the styling over what's actually under the hood. Thinkpads don't win any beauty contests, but it's what's inside that really counts (other than the network card...)As far as the rest goes, the keyboard feels solid (won't break if the cat walks across it or something) and typing is comfortable with slight separation between the keys; the numpad is an interesting inclusion, though I don't know if I needed it. The trackpad and nipple (or whatever we're calling that thing) are very responsive, though the trackpad buttons leave a little to be desired-- you have to click like you mean it. My last laptop had a dead backlight, so the glare-free screen doesn't bother me by comparison; it might annoy others, since it does limit your viewing angle quite a bit. I actually find it to be a feature, so people sitting nearby can't snoop on me! The function keys have the potential to annoy if you use a lot of keyboard shortcuts, as they've been "helpfully" reassigned to control media playback/volume, brightness, and the webcam, but a legacy setting is available to switch them back to normal F keys.I was surprised to find that the lid lacks a latch, which made me nervous the first few days, but since it has yet to pop open I suppose it's fine. The battery is average, or slightly above. I'm averaging three hours, but I also keep the screen brightness cranked all the way up, so I'm sure it could last a lot longer than that.The fact that it ships with Windows 7 is a definite win, and since you have the option to upgrade to Windows 8.1 if you want, you really can't go wrong. I absolutely hate 8, so the inclusion of 7 was perfect for me. Remember to make recovery disks to protect your precious 7; the laptop comes with a utility that will do this for you.Once I've got an solid state HDD in it, and a respectable network card, this will be my ideal laptop. Lenovo's build quality is pretty solid, and I think this computer is fairly future-proof if you bother to upgrade it. Even with all the parts swapping I'm doing, I'm still not spending as much as buying a laptop that ships with the specs I'm upgrading to, so I'm satisfied.

This seems sturdier than my old Acer which died of old age. I prefer the keyboard of the Lenovo for typing. I hate the touch pad and built in mouse, so I bought myself another wireless mouse and now don't have the frustration of those two items. I disabled them both. I am advised by some younger people that I should have bought more memory 6 instead of 4, but otherwise, I got a good deal on the computer. For an older person who only does her banking and email on a computer, uses the internet just to research on specific things and plays card games for fun, I am satisfied that I made the right decision. Wish I personally had more memory, but that another thing all together.

A solid, reliable, everyday business computer. And I love using the TrackPoint.

I bought it for my daughter for school and it is great laptop.

I like it!!!!

Excellent laptop at this price