After I was in school years in the past, I put my hard-earned, burger-flipping job {dollars} right into a Toshiba Chromebook 2. It had a beneficiant 13.3-inch show, value round $330, and regarded like a MacBook from afar. (I admit with embarrassment that the final bit was crucial to my shopping for choice.)
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The laptop computer obtained me by two semesters earlier than the battery began to empty itself with no regard for scholar life, the Wi-Fi would swap off at random intervals, and that MacBook-looking show would actually detach itself. My school funding was gone however not forgotten.
Quick ahead to this week, once I started testing Lenovo’s $350 Flex 3i Chromebook, first introduced at CES in January. When you’ve shopped within the sub-$350 market earlier than, then you realize simply how troublesome it may be to discover a laptop computer that is really viable.
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Lenovo Flex 3i Chromebook
An inexpensive touchscreen laptop computer that punches above its value class.
After spending the previous few days with Lenovo’s comparatively low-cost laptop computer, I am unable to assist however envy school college students who’ve such competent computing choices on this value vary at this time.
To place issues into perspective, ask your self this: What do you worth in a laptop computer? Would you like a high-resolution show? Does it have touchscreen assist? What ports do you want? Does privateness matter to you?
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Regardless of the place your thoughts takes you, there’s an opportunity that this Lenovo Chromebook will meet your calls for. The Flex 3i has a 1920 x 1080 decision show that may be folded backward into tent mode and pill mode, a wealth of ports together with HDMI, USB-C, microSD, and a headphone jack, and even a privateness shutter for if you’re not utilizing the webcam — or if you wish to know for positive that you simply will not pop right into a video name wanting all awkward.
The keyboard feels satisfyingly clicky, with sufficient cushioning to maintain inputs close to silent. June Wan/ZDNET
Now, earlier than I fuel you up with what looks like the very best deal on the web since free TVs, let me make it clear that this Chromebook is not going to exchange a MacBook or high-end Home windows laptop computer. The Flex 3i can barely deal with a 1080p video edit, the trackpad, realistically, solely has room for one to 2 fingers at a time, and the construct high quality is an absolute grand slam if you happen to’re a fan of plastic and nothing but it surely.
And whereas I am at it, it does not assist that if you set the laptop computer in tent or pill mode, the top-firing audio system change into back-firing audio system. It is like listening to somebody speaking, however their again is dealing with you. I digress.
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By and enormous, the Lenovo Chromebook has greater than sufficient computing energy for many college students, distant employees, and informal customers alike, with 4GB of RAM and an Intel N100 processor. It is within the extra conventional apps and companies the place the Flex 3i actually shines.
Pill mode disables the keyboard and trackpad on the again. June Wan/ZDNET
Issues like on-line content material creation, streaming films and TV exhibits (or the NBA playoffs), and attending video conferences are dealt with with grace, and never as soon as did I hear any hissing noises or indicators of overheating. That is greater than I might ask for from a $349 laptop computer.
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The portability of the Flex 3i is the cherry on prime. In comparison with the 16-inch MacBook Professional that I normally lug round, the Lenovo weighs lower than three kilos and it is as backpack-friendly as laptops come.
For $349, I problem you to discover a laptop computer with extra performance and advantages than the Lenovo Flex 3i Chromebook. I am not saying that is the very best laptop computer in the marketplace, however it could’ve simply been on the prime of my shopping for checklist if I used to be nonetheless in school, and that is coming from somebody who’s had all of the experiences with shopping for $300 laptops.
