It's a niche laptop that's also a vote of confidence for the future of Chrome OS. It's perfectly capable of handling the Web surfing, emailing, Google Docs/Office Online productivity … Feature Review Last year’s Lenovo Chromebook C330 was a breath of fresh air in the budget market, but its successor misses the beat just a bit. We ran our usual Chromebook benchmarks on Lenovo’s 2-in-1, and it’s one of the slowest we’ve tested. The thick lid can only be twisted slightly, but this requires intentional force. There’s a single USB-C 3.0 port, a USB-A 3.0 port, a full-size HDMI connection and a DisplayPort port for connecting external displays, a full-size SD card reader, and a combo audio jack. That’s a quad-core CPU running at 2.0GHz, and it’s just barely fast enough to keep up with the lightweight Chrome OS for basic productivity tasks. Highs and mids are muddled, and there’s no bass to speak of. What the Lenovo Chromebook C330 lacks in raw power, it makes up for in convenience. Warping the lid causes the screen to distort, but this is not a normal oc… Without reservation, I can wholeheartedly recommend Lenovo's C330. The one-year warranty is industry-standard. Conclusion: For the money, the Lenovo Chromebook S330 is simply one of the best budget laptops you can buy (and arguably the absolute best cheap Chromebook you can lay your … Realistically, I'd expect closer to 7 hours of actual mixed use, though you could stretch that out if you're willing to dim the display or limit yourself to media consumption. The Chromebook C330 sits at just about the opposite end of the size spectrum from the Acer Chromebook Spin 15. The non-backlit keyboard is shallow and a bit lacking in tactile feedback. With its Chromebook C330, Lenovo takes a step back to the formula that made Chrome OS a success with an excellent budget offering. On top of that, it's fairly safe to say that Lenovo Chromebook C330 is a more popular laptop, based on its reviews… The right has a Kensington security slot, power and volume controls, and a headphone jack. The latest performance Ratings & Reliability of all computers The display is bright enough for most indoor environments, but it will get quickly washed out with any significant amount of ambient lighting. Its 133 PPI density means you'll see every individual pixel, but backlighting on my unit was even, with no bleed or glow outside the off-angle typical of IPS panels, though the housing for the screen is flexible enough when tilting backward and forward to give you a bit of that characteristic liquid effect. In short, where Acer’s 2-in-1 is comically large, Lenovo’s option seems so small it almost borders on cute. Lenovo's C340 Chromebook is now available in a XXL display size with a convertible hinge. It’s only real weakness is the lack of backlighting. However, Lenovo seems to have put a bit more work than seen in most plastic laptops. This isn't a $700 Chromebook. Of course, we say it “almost borders on cute” because it has very large bezels for such a small notebook. The Chromebook C330’s connectivity is definitely in its favor. However, before we get to talk about the actual Chromebooks, I want you to be absolutely sure that a Chromebook is the right pick for you, so keep these aspects in mind (scroll past this section if you’re already familiar with Chromebooks): 1. Lenovo Chromebook C330 reviews, pros and cons. Like most Chromebooks under $500, the Lenovo Chromebook C330 is made entirely of plastic. I also wish the hinge for the screen was a bit stiffer. The flexing in the chassis and keyboard deck do nothing to change that impression. After spending some time with the Lenovo … No, unless battery life is your primary concern. My biggest pet peeve in Chromebooks is a poorly engineered touchpad. According to my own super-scientific testing (I scraped it with a pin), it is made of plastic, though, and not glass. These are the best cheap Chromebook deals for December 2020, The best cheap HP laptop deals for December 2020, Save $140 on this HP Pavilion Laptop for the holidays, This Samsung HD monitor just got a $110 price cut at HP, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel now run faster on Apple’s new M1 Macs, Save $40 on this Fire 8 Kids Edition at Amazon today, These are the best cheap iPad deals for December 2020. The Acer is also $70 more expensive, and that includes an active pen that supports Chrome OS inking functionality. The Chromebook C330 is a plastic build that’s a little bendy in some places, but that doesn’t mean you need to worry about it falling apart. The Chromebook S330 weighs a shade over three pounds (3.3 lbs) and features a 14-inch display. If you’ve become accustomed to Full HD displays or even higher, like the 2,400 x 1,600 (235 PPI) display on the Chromebook x2, then you’ll find this one to be a fallback to a grainier time. Chromebooks run Chrom… The Lenovo C330, unfortunately, does precisely that. If so, then you might very well be considering a Chromebook, a platform that which offers some low-cost options even as it moves upscale. Being ARM, it also seems to have a bit of an edge with Android apps — both in anecdotal use and in some benchmarks. Spend just a little bit more for a better Chromebook – you’ll be happy you did. It's not perfect by any means, but it doesn't need to be. Being a bit on the thicker side, I had hoped for more key travel. That model will set you back $280, and you can spend another $20 to upgrade to 64GB of storage. Wider viewing angles for the screen are important. The Lenovo Chromebook C330 offers tons of endurance and its keyboard enables comfortable typing. That compares to the Chromebook Spin 11 at around nine and three-quarters hours and the Chromebook Plus V2 at eight and three-quarters. Robby Payne, Lenovo Flex 5 Chromebook Review: the new measuring stick, Chrome Unboxed, … Just want an extra machine for web browsing and the occasional YouTube video? Outside of that very specific complaint, it's a good touchpad, with a nice low-friction texture that makes gliding around much easier and precise movements more fluid. Compared to some other more expensive Chromebooks I've used recently, this is among the better touchpads out there, especially given the price. Given the low-power CPU and the small, low-resolution display, we thought the 2-in-1 should get great battery life. The C330 is offered in both 32GB and 64GB storage variants, but our review is for the more expensive $300 64GB model. MediaTek's MTK8173C is acceptable, but nothing more. The 100e, at $219, is definitely a cheap Chromebook. The contrast is good, though, and its gamma seems accurate, meaning YouTube videos were neither too dark nor too light. For many, the appeal of a $700 Chromebook is lost if all you need is a cheap internet-connected machine for the kids, kitchen, or grandma. About this review. Lenovo’s Chromebook C330 is one of the newer budget Chrome OS machines to hit the market, and it’s a 360-degree convertible 2-in-1 to boot. The Lenovo Chromebook C330 has three redeeming features: It’s one of the least expensive Chromebooks on offer, it’s a 360-degree convertible, and it gets great battery life. Kimberly Gedeon, Lenovo Flex 5 Chromebook review, LaptopMag, June 19, 2020. Unsurprisingly, given the low price and CPU, there’s no Thunderbolt 3 port. We put the entry-level Chromebook C330, configured with a MediaTek MTK 8173C processor, 4GB of RAM, 32GB of eMMC storage, and an 11.6-inch IPS display at a 1,366 x 768 resolution. We put the entry-level Chromebook C330, … Liked: Low cost, Quick at simple tasks, Compact and lightweight, Transforms into a tablet Long battery life Disliked: Poor performance … As is tradition, I wrote a large chunk of this review from the Chromebook without any problem, though my speed was down a bit to around 95WPM from my 110-120WPM average. Unfortunately, the 11.6-inch display seems to float in a sea of bezel, and that combined with the all-plastic build makes the Chromebook C330 one of the few we’ve reviewed that feels like it’s a budget machine. Interestingly, the Chromebook C330 isn’t the thickest (0.77 inches) or the heaviest (2.6 pounds) 2-in-1 in its class. Productivity apps like Microsoft’s OneNote are fine, but that’s as far as you’ll want to push things. Best Chromebook for 2020: Acer, HP, Asus, Lenovo and more. It’s better than the keyboard on the Chromebook Spin 11 and rivals the one the Chromebook x2. The tapered front and rounded back are unadorned. Lenovo's Chromebook isn't very thin, or metal, and it doesn't have a high PPI display, but you'd have to pay a lot more than $280 to get those features. The touchpad is large for such a small machine, and it supports the usual Chrome OS multitouch gestures just fine. The Chromebook C330’s keyboard is the usual island version with black chiclet keys and white lettering, and it’s a nice surprise. The C330 is powered by a MediaTek MT8173C. Only the Acer Chromebook Spin 15 with its Pentium N4200 processor was as slow, scoring 24.5, and even the Chromebook Spin 11’s Celeron processor managed a 35.4. Lenovo's Chromebook C340-11 offers a 360-degree for convertible versatility. Given its cost, size, and build, this makes an excellent option for consumers who are looking to outfit a student or two with something for the school year. The C330 is one of the best "cheap" Chromebooks money can buy, period. Two and three-finger gestures all worked as expected. It's not an especially powerful SoC, and it's a bit old at this point, but in benchmarks and day-to-day use it's about on par with the low-end Intel N-series Celeron chips in cheaper Chromebooks. Most Chromebooks at this price go for TN panels, IPS is a surprise. Lenovo rates the C330 as lasting 10 hours on a charge, which I think is more than a bit optimistic. The only thing I'd have liked to see is a 2nd Type-C port on the right for ambidextrous charging. You could also spend just about twice as much, or around $600, and upgrade to the HP Chromebook x2. This is nothing unusual for low-priced notebooks, and of course, more expensive Chromebooks like the Chromebook x2 and Google’s Pixelbook have much better panels. Don’t want to spend a lot of money on a new notebook? But it’s also very slow, its display is disappointing, and it feels very much like a budget notebook. Two downward-firing speakers are on audio duty, and they put out a sound that’s good enough for notifications and other system sounds. Find one at Lenovo - http://lon.tv/u6kzq (affiliate link) - Lenovo's new low cost Chromebooks include this 2-in-1 with an 11.6 inch IPS touch display. It has an 11.6-inch, 1,366-by-768 TN LCD screen, which has truly unfortunate viewing angles. The all-white plastic build is surprisingly robust for the price, but I wish the shell for the screen were more reinforced; it flexes a bit more than I'm comfortable with when pulling the display up, down, or flipping it around. The C330 follows the traditional 2-in-1 Chromebook design with a screen that can flip back for tablet use. You get through way more than a day at work or school and have plenty left over for some Netflix binging. Unfortunately, the C330's performance is mediocre and its low-res display does not impress. On the one hand, the display is glass, the screen is IPS, and the build quality isn't the creaky-bendy junk you expect at netbook-level pricing; but on the other, that screen is just 200 nits, performance isn't amazing, and the keyboard could be backlit and a bit nicer to use. It claims to max out at 45W of output, but in my own metered tests, the Chromebook never seemed to pull over 30W. It doesn't impair its use at all or break any functionality, but it's annoying if you're picky about it. You’ll get a much better display, significantly better performance, and an overall more robust and better-looking build. Lenovo’s Chromebook C330 is one of the newer budget Chrome OS machines to hit the market, and it’s a 360-degree convertible 2-in-1 to boot. That’s the slowest we’ve seen on a Chromebook since we started running this benchmark. The Chromebook C330 sports an 11.6-inch IPS display running at 1,366 x 768 (140 PPI), which is notably pixelated even on this small of a panel. Productivity apps like Microsoft’s OneNote are fine, but that’s as far as you’ll want to push things. Simply put, while the Chromebook C330 isn’t a strong performer, it makes the most of its relatively large battery capacity. The Chromebook C330 does enjoy 4GB of RAM, and so that’s a plus. The plastic seems thick, durable, and easy to clean, without showing fingerprints or grime, and unlike many cheaper Chromebooks, it doesn't creak or bend disturbingly when you wrench on it (except the display, anyway). The Celeron processor in the Samsung Chromebook Plus V2 came in at 2,107 and 3,656, and that’s slow compared to more modern Chrome OS machines. Lenovo Chromebook C340-11 review: Budget-friendly 2-in-1 for school basics. In the Speedometer 2.0 test that provides an idea of how well a notebook will surf the web, the Chromebook C330 scored a very low 23.3. Aesthetically, it's an uninspired design typical of most 2-in-1s, but Lenovo's build quality exceeds what I would have expected given the $280 price. On the left, you have a USB-C port (which is also used for charging), HDMI output, a USB-A port, and an SD card slot. I was given a 64 GB Lenovo C330 on February 1 by our resident Chromebook guru Jerry Hildenbrand and have used it as my daily drive Chromebook ever since, … By comparison, the Chromebook x2 was more than three times as fast at 75.1. Experience the best of what Google's Chrome OS has to offer with one of these laptops or two-in-ones. That’s a bargain-basement price, for sure, which sounds appealing for a 2-in-1 that’s not going to weigh you down. When it comes to gaming, this 2-in-1 won’t impress. When web browsing, which is the most important Chrome OS functionality, the Chromebook C330 lasted for almost 11 hours. Big, pleasant texture, works as well as those in more expensive laptops (even if it's plastic). They get surprisingly loud without distorting, but they are very tinny and almost entirely lacking in bass. In fact, it’s reminiscent of the netbook given its white color scheme, a failed initiative from a few years ago to make low-cost notebooks good enough for web browsing and not much more. We were correct in our prediction. Yes. Of course, Lenovo did have to cut some corners. The USB Type-C port doesn't have much of a click when inserting a cable, but it works fine. The C330 follows the traditional 2-in-1 Chromebook design with a screen that can flip back for tablet use. Geekbench 4, running in Android, produced a single-core score of 1,446 and a multi-core score of 2,938. Picking up and setting down the laptop is enough to move it into a different position, and just a hair more resistance would have been optimal. We do need to keep in mind that the Chromebook C330 is an inexpensive Chrome OS 2-in-1. The 11.6-inch convertible is a sturdy, low-cost option for a student Chromebook. But historically, those cheap Chromebooks have had a bundle of compromises to weigh and compare. Specifically, I hate when the clicking mechanism is loose or a spring places the touchpad too far above the switch, giving an annoying rattle on tap. Sarah Tew/CNET We tested the top-tier C630 Chromebook configuration (model … There are 45 watt-hours of battery capacity tucked away inside the Chromebook C330’s chassis, and Chrome OS is a lightweight operating system. That’s a good selection of ports for connecting both legacy and more modern peripherals. Speakers are on the bottom to the left and right. The Chromebook x2, for example, scored 3,441 and 6,685 thanks to its Intel Core m3 CPU. But does the Chromebook C330 bring enough performance and convenience? You can keep a lot of tabs open in Chrome and run a few Android apps without running out of memory, but you’ll find things to be rather sluggish no matter what you’re doing. At least the 32GB of eMMC storage won’t make things any slower. No magnet to hold the display in position as a tablet. There is, unfortunately, no mechanism (like a magnet) to lock the screen in place in a tablet configuration. The layout fits the Chrome OS standard perfectly, and it has a snappy mechanism with plenty of travel for a precise typing experience. In our most demanding Basemark web benchmark testing, the Chromebook C330 lasted for almost six and a half hours, which is a very good score. The Chromebook comes with a USB Type-C charger in the vein of the ubiquitous, generic laptop charger: a black box with a tethered cable, and a port for AC input. The all-white plastic build is surprisingly robust for the price, but I wish the shell for the screen were more reinforced; it flexes a bit more than I'm comfortable with when pulling the display up, down, or flipping it around. 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