Lenovo unveils budget Windows 10 laptops and Chromebooks for schools

Lenovo has unveiled a slew of budget Windows 10 laptops and Chromebooks with Intel and AMD processors for the education market.  

The new Windows 10 lineup includes the Lenovo 14w Gen 2 and 100w, 300w, 500w Gen 3, while the Chromebook lineup includes the Lenovo 14e Gen 2 and 100e, 300e, 500e Gen 3.

Chromebooks

The Lenovo 500e Gen 3 heads up the Chromebook range, and features an 11.6-inch HD (1366 x 768) touch display on a 360-degree hinge for flipping between tablet, laptop and tent modes.

To ensure it survives the bumps and drops between home and school, the 500e Gen 3 has rubber bumpers and a Gorilla Glass display, reinforced ports and hinges, and a water-resistant keyboard that can cope with up to 360ml of spilled liquid. Like all the new education laptops, the 500e Gen 3 meets the MIL-STD 810H ruggedness specification.

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It also features a shutter to block the 720p webcam when it’s not needed, as well as ‘world-facing’ 5MP camera. 

The 500e Gen 3 Chromebook runs on an Intel Celeron N5100 processor and features Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1, with 4G mobile broadband available as an option. It can be configured with up to 8GB of RAM and up to 64GB of eMMC solid-state storage. Ports include one USB-C 3.2 Gen 1, two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, HDMI-out, a MicroSD card reader, and a 3.5mm audio jack. 

The laptop measures 11.4 x 7.97 x 0.78 inches (289.6 x 202.4 x 19.9 mm) and weighs 2.9lbs (1.3 kg). 

The Lenovo 500e Gen 3 Chromebook will be available in the US in May, starting at $429.

Windows 10 laptops

The top-end Windows 10 laptop is the Lenovo 500w Gen 3, which is powered by an Intel Pentium N6000 processor with up to 8GB of RAM and up to 128GB of M.2 SSD storage.  

Like its Chromebook sibling, the 500w Gen 3 has a privacy shutter on its front-facing 720p camera, a 5MP world-facing camera, the same selection of ports and the same display. It also features rubber bumpers to protect against drops.

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The Lenovo 100e and 300e run on AMD’s latest Chromebook-optimised processors, while the Windows-based 100w and 300w models run on AMD 3015e processors.

On the Windows side, the Lenovo 14w Gen 2 will be available in May from $334. The 100w Gen 3 is available in June from $299, while the 300w Gen 3 is available in May from $359. The top-end 500w Gen 3 is available in June from $429.

The remaining Chromebooks are the Lenovo 14e Gen 2, which is available in May from $334, the 100e Gen 3 (May, from $299) and the 300e Gen 3 (May, from $359).