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Top 3 Best Lightweight Laptops 2020 Buying Guide

A lightweight laptop is very convenient for travelers like me because manufacturers sometimes forget that weight remains one of the most important criteria when making their choice.

In this buyer guide, I offer you an overview of the best lightweight laptops of the moment according to your budget and your needs.

Which lightweight laptop to choose?

Comparative of the Top 3 Lightweight Laptops

Lenovo Legion Y520-15IKBM: The best lightweight and powerful notebook on the market?

If you are looking for a lightweight and powerful laptop, you are in the right place, because you will find all these qualities in this Lenovo Legion Y520-15IKBM. Indeed, the Chinese brand has introduced in this notebook 15 ” all the technology of a computer gamer, taking care to keep the lightness and finesse in its overall design.

Several models are offered on this Legion Y520 version and they differ mainly in their performances especially at the level of the processor, the graphics card and the format of the hard disk. Zoom on the highlights and weaknesses that characterize this Y520.

The Strong Points

Performance: The Lenovo Legion Y520-15IKBM is really a lightweight and powerful computer. You can choose between the powerful Core i5 and Core i7 processor combinations, the independent GTX 1050, 1060 and 1070 graphics processor, a RAM memory ranging from 6 GB to 16 GB and a 1 TB HDD, a 128/256 SSD. Go or the combination of both. These performances, even for the lowest settings, allow you to play smoothly best games of the moment.

The Design: The Y520 takes the successful design that characterizes the range of “Legion”, namely a frame in black and red marked by angular lines and a grainy plastic at the cover of the screen. The edges are thinner than the actual thickness of the computer, to provide a rather successful impression of finesse. As for the air vents, they have aggressive lines to detach the Legion Y520 from a simple laptop and give it a more gaming character.

Display: The Y520 features an IPS display, in Full HD definition, which offers a color temperature of 6905 K. Color reproduction is, more good than average. The same is 1240: 1 contrast. With this screen, you also have excellent visibility even in a bright environment, and a very comfortable overall vision on both angles and from the front.

Battery: Lenovo has developed an automatic, real-time switchover between the integrated Intel HD graphics card and the independent GeForce GTX graphics card with Nvidia Optimus technology.

The latter performs an assessment of the performance requirements of the graphics processing and chooses accordingly the GPU that supports them. As a result, energy consumption is always optimized, which increases battery life. However, this battery is reduced in gaming mode and in this case, the Y520 must not be far from a power source.

The Weak Points

Keypad: The Legion Y520-15IKBM’s keypad set goes well beyond the usual keypad keypads, especially in terms of quality and ergonomics, thanks to a 3-level RGB backlight, and an “all-in-one” layout. chiclet “which offers well-spaced keys from each other. However, we note the wrong placement of the keypad, which is located just above the directional arrows, which can make a little unpleasant use.

Lenovo Ideapad 120S-14IAP: the best value for the money

Lenovo is not the biggest computer brand in the world. To surprise you, Lenovo has developed an ultraportable entry-level offering value for money really unbeatable. Indeed, besides its lightness, the first qualities of the Ideapad 120S-14IAP are its robustness, its elegance and especially its ridiculous selling price. Of course, concessions were made from the performance point of view, but the Ideapad 120S does not have to blush at the laptops of the same range.

It should be noted that the “portable” side of the Lenovo Ideapad 120S-14IAP is really effective, not only compared to the size and weight of the device that is just 1.44 kg, as you will discover in the few lines that follow.

The Strong Points

Battery: The Lenovo Ideapad 120S-14IAP has a very good autonomy with nearly 8 hours in normal use, as underline the data of the manufacturer. In permanent navigation mode with active Wifi, you have almost 5 hours of battery life. You can even use the computer to charge other devices when turned off. So you have the ability to carry your device everywhere without fear of running out of battery.

The Price/Quality Ratio: If you do not have a big budget, but want a good laptop, go for this Ideapad 120S-14IAP. While the computer is an entry-level, with fairly limited performance processor side (Pentium or Celeron), graphics card and RAM (4 GB), but the quality of manufacturing and finishing of the whole is quite remarkable and the price really ridiculous.

Design: The highlight of the Ideapad 120S-14IAP is its sleek and understated design. For this, Lenovo has opted for sleek finishes at the chassis. So you have a case both smooth and reinforced mat, whose overall silhouette is refined and clean lines. The available colors also highlight this elegance with tones such as onyx black, denim blue, platinum silver, white blizzard or coral red.

Robustness: Lenovo has opted for a lightweight one-piece chassis for the design of the Ideapad 120S. The set has a special finish that gives it protection against wear. The lower part of the computer also features rubber elements to make the ventilation more optimized and the overall life of the Ideapad extended. The computer can be used anywhere without worries.

The Screen: Lenovo equips the Ideapad 120S-14IAP with a Full HD definition screen, the equivalent of 1920 x 1080 pixels, which is a minimum nowadays to enjoy HD content. This screen also has an anti-reflective surface so you can keep full visibility despite a bright environment.

The Weak Points

Performance: Lenovo Ideapad 120S-14IAP is rather stingy on performance with processors far from current standards (Pentium and Celeron), a limited RAM to 4 GB and an Intel HD graphics card. The only satisfaction concerns the possibility of opting for hybrid storage with the use of SSD technology which is both very fast and very discreet.

HP X2 10-P038NF: a cheap but reliable ultra-light notebook

In this product, the HP brand wanted to offer a computer that is both lightweight and slim, but also multifunctional. Indeed, the X2 10-P038NF is a mix of computer and tablet. Its performance in terms of processor (Intel Atom x5-Z8350 1.44 GHz) of RAM (4 GB), SSD (64 GB) and graphics card (Intel HD 400) suggest an ultraportable configuration.

However, its detachable screen allows its wider uses. We find an only pity that Windows 10 is not yet very well optimized for satisfactory use of the tablet mode. Focus on the raw qualities of this computer.

The Strong Points

The Screen: The HP X2 10-P038NF features a 10.1-inch WXGA (1280 x 800) multitouch display, which can be easily detached from the keyboard. Magnets are present to help you reposition it properly. Thus, you can enjoy 4 modes of use, namely a portable mode, a tablet mode, an easel mode and finally a tent mode. These 4 modes make the computer very convenient for mobile users and students.

The Hinge: You can definitely put the Pavilion X2 in any position, so the hinge was well designed. The magnet system makes it possible both to hold the keyboard dock securely with the screen, but also to guide you in the positioning of the latter when you want to combine the two elements.

Battery life: HP announces up to 10.5 hours of battery life for this version X2 10-P038NF and the ability to get 50% of this total charge in just 30 minutes. So you can use it all day without being afraid of running out of battery, in office tasks, internet browsing and reading multimedia content.

Ergonomics: The HP X2 10-P038NF is an ultralight notebook with only 0.58 kg in tablet mode against 1.09 kg with the base, and can accompany you wherever you go. The notebook fits easily in the hand’s thanks to beveled edges and does not slip under the fingers. Finally, it is good to note that the keyboard is “chiclet” type with keys certainly small, but well spaced for a comfortable and intuitive typing.

The Weak Points

The battery charging capacity: There is a consequent automatic discharge of the battery of the HP X2 10-P038NF in case of prolonged non-use of the device. If you do not use the device for a long time, consider recharging it a little before using it.

How to choose a lightweight, but a powerful laptop?

Our nomadic life has forced computing giants to imagine small, even extremely thin, compact, but powerful, beefy computers that are typically capable of performing tasks far beyond simple office processes. This new computer segment, however, remains expensive and a choice is carefully considered if you want to acquire the ultraportable that really meets your expectations. Here are some things to consider before buying such a device. Laptops under 2000 dollars

Future use of the computer

Depending on the future use of the ultra notebook, you can already eliminate many products that surely you will not need. Indeed, for everyday use in work, office, internet browsing, multimedia playback you can just a classic ultraportable that is neither tactile nor hybrid and can not, in any case, manage performance-hungry games.

In contrast, an ultraportable for gamer must not lack resources especially on components like the graphics card, the screen, and the processor. This use will depend on many of the following features, including the budget and configuration of the device.

The Budget For The Purchase

As we said earlier, the ultraportable segment is still expensive. While the price has significantly improved in the direction of the customer in recent years, given the tariff wars between manufacturers and technological advances, but there is still a chasm between entry-level products and those who are the best performers. It is, necessary to count between 300 € and 2000 € if you wish to make the purchase of an ultraportable. This sum can easily reach 3000 € for the most advanced configurations.

Battery

According to the architecture of the ultraportable and the performance of its battery, it is able to provide a range between 4 hours and more than 10 hours (or 12 hours for the MacBook Air).

For gamer-oriented laptops, this battery is much lower, especially during gaming sessions, because the computer uses its resources to ensure proper operation. Models with a “switchable” graphics card (automatic deactivation in the case of an application that does not require too much means) are notably proposed in order to optimize the use of resources and thus promote autonomy.

Ergonomics

This point is closely related to the use you want to make of your computer. However, an ultraportable, as the best combination of small size and performance, must be lightweight and compact so you can carry it anywhere with ease. In addition, hybrid versions must give you the approval of a tablet and the features of a laptop.

The keyboard part is also a central element for the comfort of use. If ultrafine keyboard surfaces are somewhat difficult to grasp, it is done quickly as the device is used. Finally, the quality of the screen is not to be taken
lightly, especially with regard to the visibility on the corners.

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