I’m at a bit of a loss here with the ThinkPad Edge. We get it, small business computing. But what is there to small business that an IdeaPad or a ThinkPad can’t provide?

Why does there need to be a ThinkPad Edge? And for that matter, where does ThinkPad SL fall now? That WAS touted to be the small business ThinkPad, but seems like it’s more being slotted in as a de-featured R Series replacement with the recent refresh.

The way I see it, SMB needs don’t necessarily come down to technology, but to services and price points. I’ve heard the arguments that SMB wants/needs more consumer oriented features that just aren’t appropriate on ThinkPad. Going by that logic, the biggest feature differences are the AMD processors (which bring in a lower price point with a bit more performance than Intel’s CULV) and HDMI output. The color choices help broaden appeal, but that’s it.

From the services perspective, ThinkPad’s traditional global level of service with fast turnaround is ideal, if even a bit overkill. The support provided with consumer level machines really isn’t suitable for “mission critical” PCs, like those in a small business, as quality of service is closely managed down to the penny and there are too many places for the ball to drop. ThinkPad-level service isn’t perfect, but it is far more consistent than consumer-level service.

Let’s say Lenovo compromised some things, added a few others to appeal more to SMBs and in the end “lowered” the price: $549 before discounts and with a standard warranty. Right now you can get a ThinkPad T400 for $636 with standard warranty. While this is arguably an exceptional price, it’s not all that different from the Edge starting price and will offer a fair amount more functionality with its Core 2 Duo processor and robust, time proven design. On the other hand, it is bigger and more than a pound heavier, with no color choices or HDMI.

Maybe that’s enough of a reason for Lenovo to start a whole new product line, or maybe their channel partners have been screaming for this for a long time. It would be fair to expect this not to be a big seller on the website or through existing sales relationships in big corporations.

Either way, it’s stretching the brand capital they have left. They tried SMB laptops under the Lenovo name before and it failed miserably, but was that because of the name or the product? Time will tell on this one, but I can’t help but feel things are getting a bit crowded with a unique laptop model for every form factor and price point, crossing both consumer and business laptop lines.