[Costco] Lenovo laptop $150

[jpiniero]

https://www.costco.com/lenovo-ideapad-1-15.6%22-laptop---intel-pentium-silver-n6000---1080p---windows-11-s-mode---microsoft-365-personal-1-year-subscription.product.100858024.html

4 GB of ram and eMMC drive... but hey $150.

 

[IEC]

+$14.99 shipping online, but may be in-store in your Costco at this price (YMMV).

8GB DDR4 SODIMM (for 12GB total) and an old m.2 SSD will make this suitable for light office duties. Battery should be sufficient for all-day use given low wattage passively cooled 4c/4t CPU (6W TDP).

Passive cooling = no noise, no dust, no moving parts
Comes with Windows 11 S but can be taken out of S mode or upgraded to other OS easily.
1 year Office 365 personal sub ($70 retail)

I bought one and will throw in some old laptop DDR4 (8GB SODIMMs) and an old m.2 SATA SSD and use it as a beater laptop to keep in my bag. These upgrade components would otherwise be e-waste to me so quite happy about the "free" upgrades. Expecting performance on-par with Skylake quad cores which we know is more than adequate for light office work.

Only downfall is the 220 nit 45% NTSC screen, but it's kind of expected at a $150 price point...

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Yeah for $150 this is really a pretty killer machine. Nice looks, upgradable RAM and storage, full Win 11.

My son will be in need of a laptop before too long, and I think this or something similar to it will be just right for a first school laptop.

Hell might be worth picking up two just to have a spare travel/home laptop around.

 

[IEC]

Overall impressions: $150 is a decent price for this low power system. I'm unconvinced it's worth it unless your use case fits its niche (mine does). I had DDR4 SODIMMs and a nVME SSD lying around unused which made the value proposition better. Stock with 4GB, 128GB eMMC, and S-mode Win11 is pretty trash.

Pros:
No moving parts, fanless operation = silent
Cheap. Did I mention cheap?
15.6" screen 1920x1080
Full numpad
Webcam with privacy slider (physical)
Windows 11 Home license
1 year Microsoft 365 personal license
1 free DDR4 SODIMM
1 free m.2 2240/2280 slot
1 USB-C, 1 USB 3.0 (5Gbps), a USB 2.0, HDMI, SD card reader

Cons:
TN 45% NTSC screen, 220 nits
Single free m.2 appears to only be PCIe 3.0/nVME compatible, an old 512GB SATA m.2 did not get recognized
You're getting 1/2 the CPU performance of a Skylake-class desktop "K" processor (see: fanless)
- Though if you think about this, that's pretty impressive in a 6W TDP, completely passively cooled.
45W portable 20V barrel charger, not capable of charging via USB-C



The bottom cover of the laptop has a copper plate built into it which should theoretically help m.2 heat dissipation/sinking. To bridge the gap and make it actually beneficial I used 0.5mm thermal pads along the length of my drive. Went from 68C with bottom cover removed to 40-43C with it in place, so it does something.

My 2c on this deal.