I have a Thinkpad Edge from 2009 that is still working "fine", but it has very little in common with a real Thinkpad. My rationale for buying it for 1/3 the price of the mechanically robust real thing was that I was capable of handling it gently, and wouldn't cry if it got stolen or crushed. It's my expendable travel laptop, not my daily driver. For the same use-case today, I'd probably get an off-lease refurbished Thinkpad rather than a new cheapo.
As a student, ThinkPad Edge was my laptop for a while, and despite some some hinge issues (that were caused by a drop), it's still working 5 years later. I don't think it was too bad.
I got an edge laptop for my (now) wife as well when I still was a student. Huge mistake. It had mediocre hardware that didn't work well with Linux (crappy wifi support and bad power usage), it was slow and had a keyboard that was pure garbage as well. Even thought it was small it was heavy, thick and the fan was loud. Battery life was crap as well. Spend more time than I care to admit optimizing it.
It still kinda works, I fixed the keyboard and all, but I don't want to use it anymore and just got it as a backup. It was the worst laptop I ever bought. Granted I can't say for sure that every edge laptop is like this, but I never want to touch one again.
Exact same, I'm staring at an E520 which I've used every day for the past few years, which now has a busted left hinge (until I get around to putting some sugru on it). Other than the bum hinge, a really solid laptop which has survived quite a few beatings.