STACK #195 Jan 2021

FEATURE LIFE TECH

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 1

BUDGET- FRIENDLY LAPPIES

Nit picking Nit is a unit of measurement for brightness that tends to be used in relation to projectors and tellies. But nits are important for laptop screen brightness, too. Expect to find a common range of between 200 and 300 nits for laptops, with 300 being great. Anything over 300 nits is particularly bright.

Thankfully, laptops don’t have to cross the $1,000 threshold, as these affordable options prove. The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 1 is a Windows-based laptop in a Chromebook- sized body. There’s 64GB of internal storage to handle the basics alongside 4GB of RAM. And it’s built with ultimate portability in mind, with an 11.6-inch tablet-

sized HD (1366x768) display, alongside the connectivity perks you’d hope for: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi,

USB, and even an HDMI port for an external screen. Alternatively, have a gander at the similarly sized and specced Acer Spin 1 SP111-33-C3YD. Intel advances Intel Tiger Lake is the 11th-generation of CPU, and it’s built to be speedier than ever before. It’s a noticeable performance leap compared to 10th- generation Intel CPUs, which translates to more responsive computing and faster-loading, well, everything. The performance improvements are great to the point that Intel integrated graphics are just as useful for being productive as they are for a sneaky gaming break. Like the Lenovo IdeaPad, the Acer Spin 1 has 64GB of internal storage and 4GB of RAM as well as a bright and colourful 11.6-inch HD display. As a 2-in-1, you can rotate the screen around for a keyboard-less view of the touchscreen, too. Climb above the $500 budget and Lenovo returns with the tidy Ideapad S145. This 14-inch

Lenovo Ideapad S145

HD laptop is built for a mix of performance and longevity, with 128GB of SSD storage and 4GB of RAM. It’s also built with portability in mind, and the Intel Core i3 dual-core CPU is great for entry-level computing. The HP- 15EQ1048AU is also worth a look, especially for those

Crafty laptop Nestled between the Slim 1 and Spin 1 is a laptop option that’s sure to impress any budding Minecraft-obsessed student: the Minecraft 14-inch 402 HD. This Minecraft- branded looks the part with a green design, Minecraft stickers, and a copy

after a bigger screen. This HP laptop has a 15.6- inch HD BrightView display, with 25GB of SSD storage and 8GB of RAM. At around 1.6kg, it’s still portable despite the larger screen size, and you can take it from dead to 50 percent battery in just 45 minutes.

of the game. And it has respectable innards, too. There’s a 14-inch HD (1366x736) screen, an Intel quad-core CPU, 64GB of storage, and 4GB of RAM. The crafty cherry on top is a 12-month subscription to Microsoft 365, which offers a great suite of productivity tools.

Acer Spin 1 SP111-33-C3YD

HP-15EQ1048AU

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