Lenovo is home to some of the best Windows laptops you can buy today, and its wide range of brands can accommodate practically any user whether you're a professional, student, gamer, or casual productivity master.
The IdeaPad lineup is great for anyone shopping for a cost-effective laptop, and despite its mid-range market approach, models like the Slim 5i (Gen 8) have some great features and durable build quality. The IdeaPad Slim, in particular, is perfect for anyone who wants to travel as light as possible while still getting the benefits of a 16-inch display and full keyboard with a number pad.
Lenovo generally offers these laptops starting at about $930, but that's for an entry-level configuration. Newegg's sale easily beats that price, and that's for a higher-end version with a 13th Gen Intel Core i7-1355U processor (CPU), 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM, a huge 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe solid-state drive (SSD), and an FHD+ non-touch display. Regularly priced at $1,110, it's now down to $900 at Newegg. That includes three months of Xbox Game Pass for free.
✅Perfect for: Students, travelers, casual users, productivity masters, professionals, and anyone else who wants to travel light without sacrificing too much screen real estate.
❌Avoid it if: You want a laptop that can handle heavy gaming thanks to a discrete GPU, or you need something like a convertible laptop with extra versatility and a touch display.
A great laptop for college students and travelers
Lenovo's IdeaPad Slim 5i 16 (Gen 8) has more to it than first meets the eye, and the Newegg deal I'm spotlighting here just keeps getting better the longer I look at it.
Focusing first on the performance hardware, Intel's 13th Gen Core i7-1355U has 10 cores, 12 threads, and a boost clock up to 5.0GHz for its Performance cores, as well as Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics. It's not going to handle a heavy gaming load, but it will be able to play lighter games. With three months of Xbox Game Pass thrown in for good measure, you'll have a wide selection of games from which to choose.
With productivity in mind, the 16GB of LPDDR5-5200MHz RAM is what you want for heavier multitasking. And Lenovo didn't skimp on the storage either; this discounted model has a 1TB capacity for the speedy M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD. A 56.6Wh battery is quoted by Lenovo as hitting up to 10 hours, but that will likely come down by a few hours in real-world usage. Still, that should get you mostly through a workday or string of lectures without needing a charge.
The 16-inch screen is what you want if you plan on multitasking without an external monitor. I've used practically every size of laptop for daily work, and I've come to the conclusion that 16 inches is what I need to properly handle a professional workflow when I'm on the move.
This model does not have a touch display, but that shouldn't be a huge deal for most people as this isn't a convertible PC. The lack of touch functionality should help boost battery life as well. The screen has a 1920x1200 (FHD+) resolution for the 16:10 aspect ratio, about 300 nits brightness, an anti-glare finish, and a 60Hz refresh rate.
A keyboard with number pad and a 1080p webcam
Lenovo's keyboard features a number pad and a backlight, helping you crush productivity even after hours. Above the display is a 1080p webcam with privacy shutter for video conferencing, and the laptop also has dual 2W speakers with Dolby Audio optimization. There's no IR sensor for facial recognition in this discounted model, but it does have a fingerprint reader for Windows Hello.
Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1 are on board to handle connectivity, and the laptop also boasts some respectable physical I/O. Dual USB-C 3.2 (Gen 1), two USB-A 3.2 (Gen 1), HDMI 1.4, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a microSD card reader are included.
Newegg's discounted model has the sleek Abyss Blue finish and aluminum chassis that has undergone MIL-STD-810H certifications for durability. Altogether, landing this laptop for $210 off the regular price at Newegg should be considered by anyone who needs a wide range of features, snappy performance, and a 16-inch display in a relatively thin and light PC.
