Lenovo N22
A VERY AFFORDABLE CHROMEBOOK.
EASILY FOUND ONLINE or via retailers such as Officeworks, the Lenovo N22 can be picked up for under $300. Built from tough plastic, the chromebook is a fairly thick at 30 x 21.2 x 2.2cm and weighs a backpackfriendly 1.22kg. It’s based on lower-end hardware — a dual-core Intel Celeron N3050 CPU, 2GB of RAM and a 16GB eMMC SSD for storage. Still, that’s enough to keep ChromeOS snappy, run an array of apps, and play video. There is also a more powerful version with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage for $200 more.
Even better, the laptop is fanless, and the efficient hardware means it can trundle along for a touch over 11 hours with careful use. The 11.6-inch screen has a 1,366 x 768 resolution, and is bright with pretty passable colour. It’s touch enabled, too, though the laptop does not fold into a tablet. The N22 has three USB ports, HDMI out, webcam, 3.5mm audio jack, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a 4-in-1 card reader.