Lenovo IdeaPad 3 Chromebook 14inch FHD Laptop (MediaTek MT8183, 4 GB RAM, 64GB eMMC, ARM Mali-G72 MP3 Graphics, Chrome OS) – Abyss Blue

Product Information

READ NEXT: Dell Latitude 7410 Chromebook Enterprise review Lenovo IdeaPad 3 Chromebook review: Performance and battery life

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 Chromebook review: Surprisingly good Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 Chromebook review: Surprisingly good

You have the metal-effect plastic base, mid-grey keyboard keys, a textured plastic hinge and a cheap-looking screen. Lenovo has made some great-looking mid-price laptops over the years, but this cheaper one won’t convince too many eyes – it’s anything but a budget model close-up. That metal effect illusion works best from a distance. Consider plugging in a mouse for home use, but all you right-handers will have to do so on the “wrong” side of the laptop because the Lenovo IdeaPad 3’s USB ports are all on the left. There is the usual trio: one USB 2.0 and two USB 3.0s, but I’d expect to see the slower one on the right hand-side of the Lenovo IdeaPad 3.A propensity to wander also means that Chromebooks need solid Wi-Fi, since they may be far from a wireless base station. While I didn’t experience any random disconnects or slowdowns while testing the IdeaPad 3 connected to a Netgear Nighthawk router, it is unfortunate that the laptop uses the older 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard. This offers adequate speed and reliability today, but the next-generation 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) standard provides better future-proofing. When I benchmarked this chip, I got results that were quite poor. It's why I am leaving out the usual comparison table in this review. There's not a lot in our library of Chromebook benchmarks to compare it to on the low end. In 3D Mark, results were a mere 723. Even when I ran the Speedometer 2.0 test, which tests web browsing performance, it scored 44.9 out of 140. This shows that the GPU onboard isn't quite powerful for gaming, and the CPU isn't for serious web browsing. Putting it through the normal benchmark tests, the Chromebook posted the following scores; Jetstream 2 – 58.31, Basemark 3.0 – 340.71, Geekbench 5 (Android version) – single-core 447, multi-core 855. This puts it miles behind the likes of the premium

Lenovo IdeaPad 3 Chromebook - 14in FHD, Mediatek, 4GB RAM Lenovo IdeaPad 3 Chromebook - 14in FHD, Mediatek, 4GB RAM

However, give it a little time and the IdeaPad 3 Chromebook turns out to be surprisingly useable. The flat keys don’t have much travel, but they do have a light and fairly crisp action with no wobbles or flexing in the middle. Halloween sale | This Halloween, shop stunning range of devices and get up to {savingPercent} off. Shop now > You don’t necessarily need to upgrade, however. Over a day or so of light use, including web browsing with a handful of tabs open at once, I found the IdeaPad 3 to be mostly free of sluggishness. It also took only around 10 seconds to boot up. I did encounter a significant slowdown when I was transferring a multi-gigabyte file from an external drive, but the system never froze up completely.Just like its predecessors, the IdeaPad 3 is very much an entry-level Chromebook – in fact, it’s one of the cheapest available in the UK. It’s a strictly frills-free device: it has a conventional clamshell design, an 11.6-inch screen and a Celeron processor, so nothing unexpected in the slightest. I also appreciate that the IdeaPad 3 uses a USB-C cable for charging. This makes it easier to use a charging cord from another device if you can’t remember where you placed the AC adapter. Many bargain-basement Chromebooks still use proprietary barrel-style charging cables, which can be difficult and expensive to replace if your child loses them. Plenty of Typing Comfort We’re not going to tell you that this is the perfect budget Chromebook. It feels cheap, the screen really isn’t up to scratch and you don’t have to spend much more to get a better device. If it had the lightweight design and better screen of the Asus C223 it might nudge closer to budget brilliance. Again, it's very likely that the dim, low-resolution screen played a big part in the IdeaPad 3's strong showing here. A Bargain Chromebook

Lenovo IdeaPad 3 Chromebook Laptop, MediaTek Processor, 4GB

Battery: These systems do not support batteries that are not genuine Lenovo-made or authorised. Systems will continue to boot, but may not charge unauthorised batteries. Lenovo has no responsibility for the performance or safety of unauthorised batteries, and provides no warranties for failures or damage arising out of their use. **Battery life is based on the MobileMark® 2014 methodology and is an estimated maximum. Actual battery life may vary based on many factors, including screen brightness, active applications, features, power management settings, battery age and conditioning, and other customer preferences. For a brief overview of the differences, and to get a grasp on what Chromebooks have to offer, read this I would be happy doing 90% of my work on the Lenovo Ideapad 3 were it not for one thing: the low-quality screen.When it comes to battery life, however, the IdeaPad 3’s advantage is apparent. No other Chromebook we’ve tested recently comes close to its result on our video battery rundown test, which involves playing a locally stored video at 50 percent screen brightness with Wi-Fi turned off until the laptop dies. So, is the IdeaPad 3 Chromebook 11 the Chrome OS bargain of the century or a cut-price duffer we should warn you of? Inevitably, the truth lies somewhere in-between. This might be a super-cheap Chromebook, but you don’t have to spend a whole lot more to find some competition.

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 14in MediaTek 4GB 128GB Chromebook Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 14in MediaTek 4GB 128GB Chromebook

If you need a Chromebook for simple computing needs, and budget is your primary shopping criteria, the IdeaPad 3 will likely meet your needs. By giving up a high-resolution display, you get enough computing power for basic tasks, plenty of external connectivity, excellent battery life, and a reasonably attractive, well-built chassis. The Lenovo IdeaPad 3 is not a great laptop for movie-watching or basic gaming. While this laptop can technically play Skyrim – more on that later – the limited colour reproduction does not remotely show that fantasy world at its best.You don't have permission to access "http://www.littlewoods.com/lenovo-ideapad-slim-3-chromebook-14in-fhd-mediatek-mt8183-4gb-ram-64gb-storage--nbspblue/1600722374.prd" on this server. Buy It Direct Ltd is a limited company registered in England. Registered number 04171412. Registered office: Unit A Trident Business Park, Leeds Road, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, HD2 1UA. This laptop uses a standard cylindrical plug to charge, which is obvious when you remember there aren’t even any USB-Cs here. A charge takes around two hours, and it goes from flat to 30% in 30 minutes. Should you buy the Lenovo IdeaPad 3? The Lenovo IdeaPad 3’s fake metal plates aren’t really a reason to be put off this laptop but its screen might be.