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Lenovo
If you’ve been eyeballing a Chromebook but wishing for a model that’s a bit more versatile, a bit more, shall we say, flexible, today’s deal is for you.
For a limited time, and while supplies last, Best Buy has the Lenovo N20p 2-in-1 touchscreen Chromebook for $229.99 shipped (plus tax). That’s a full $100 off the list price.
What makes this a 2-in-1 as opposed to a, um, 1-in-1? Simple: The screen can rotate a full 300 degrees, thus allowing you to transition between regular laptop mode and “stand” mode. That tends to be preferable for things like watching movies and playing games.
Frankly, I don’t know why it can’t just go the extra 60 degrees and convert to a full-on tablet, but with a price like this, it’s hard to argue about limitations.
The system features an 11.6-inch touchscreen, an Intel dual-core Celeron processor, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of solid-state storage — all fairly standard for a Chromebook, and sufficient for the kinds of tasks you’re likely to perform with it: Web browsing, e-mail, Google Docs, Netflix streaming and so on.
Lenovo, as you may recall, was the recent recipient of a much-deserved black eye for the whole Superfish debacle. Not an issue here: No Windows means no spyware. (Also no blue screens of death, driver headaches or gradually diminishing performance.) This is purely anecdotal, but most people I know who have tried a Chromebook have loved a Chromebook. (We’ve got two in the house, and they’re honestly far better than I expected.)
Oh, and as for this particular model, CNET rated it an 8.0 (out of 10) and praised its battery life, keyboard and design — statements based on a $330 price tag. At this price: woot!
Bonus deal: If you like comics, don’t miss this: Amazon has Kindle Edition of DC Comics 52 (issue #1) for free. Don’t own a Kindle? Grab it for Android from the Google Play store. Although the print version is a scant 25 pages, it sells for $28.99 — so this is a particularly valuable freebie. 52 tells the story of the heroes who protected the planet during the one-year absence of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman.
Contest: The Asus Zenbook UX305 is a super-slim aluminum Ultrabook that’s racking up some gushing reviews, including an Editors’ Choice from Laptop and four stars from PC World. And TechSpective (which gave it a score of 95 percent) is giving you the chance to win a Zenbook UX305. Just scroll down to the bottom of the review and subscribe to one or more TechSpective newsletters.
