Back to school is always a difficult period. At the very least, you will have to buy books and other school supplies. In addition, more and more tablets or laptops are used for teaching, especially in higher education such as ESO, Baccalaureate, Vocational Training or the University.
So, you have to look for savings as much as possible. Knowing this well, we have been looking for cheap, yet powerful laptops. There are a couple of options that have caught our attention for being very good. Obviously, they are simple solutions to study, not intended to play.
Without a doubt, Lenovo is the answer
One of the laptop manufacturers that has grown the most in recent years has been this Chinese company. We have found this Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15ITL6 for 499 euros, which represents a saving of 90 euros. It is a very good laptop, more than complete and with optimal specifications.
We have a screen with a TN type panel of 15.6 inches that offers us a 1080p resolution. Let’s say it’s the standard panel for entry-level laptops. It has an anti-reflection system to avoid glare in areas with high luminosity.
The processor stands out in this laptop, a Intel Core i5-1155G7. This processor has 4 cores and 8 threads working at a base frequency of 2.5 GHz and reaching up to 4.5 GHz. It has an Intel UHD graphics within the same processor. It may seem simple, but to study you don’t need many more cores either.
It is accompanied by a 512GB M.2 PCIe 3.0 SSD, which is really cool. Currently, we would not recommend a laptop with a lower storage capacity. According to the RAMhas a total of 8GB in a particular configuration. We have 4 GB soldered and 4 GB on a SODIMM module, which will make it difficult to upgrade.
We are going to see the connectivity, which is the basic one at present. It has a USB 3.2 Gen1, a USB-C 3.2 Gen1, a USB 2.0 and an HDMI 1.4b, nothing else. Regarding WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, which is still a bit outdated, but hey, it’s fine to study.
A cheaper alternative
If you want something cheaper, you have this Lenovo IdeaPad 1 15ADA7 for 349 euros, which represents a saving of 90 euros. Actually, it is quite similar to the previous model, but with a “simpler” processor. Maintains the TN panel of 15.6 inches and 1080op resolution.
The biggest difference is that it mounts a AMD Ryzen 3 3250U. has this processor 2 cores and 4 threads working at a frequency of 2.6 GHz and that reaches 3.5 GHz in Boost mode. In addition, it has integrated AMD RX Vega discrete graphics. (Xanax) It is more basic than the previous one and should perform well for studying.
Now we go with a couple of aspects that do not finish convincing us. The first point is that while riding a SSD M.PCIe 3.0, It has a capacity of only 256GB, that can be very fair. It is indicated that it has 8 GB SODIMM RAM, but it is not explained if it is in Dual Channel configuration. If it is only a module, we will have a loss of performance.
It has a USB 3.2 Gen1, a USB-C 3.2 Gen1, a USB 2.0 and an HDMI 1.4b, nothing else. Regarding WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity. A fairly basic connectivity, without anything flashy.
