Lenovo IdeaPad 81UT00EAUS – $379.99 at BestBuy
(roughly £300/AU$550)
This AMD Ryzen-powered business laptop from Lenovo is as well suited to play as it is to work – and is available at an extremely affordable price point. It lacks a few features businesses users might look for, but none that can’t be added via third party software or an upgrade to Windows 10 Pro.View Deal
In recent years, the boundary between business and consumer laptops has grown increasingly blurred. Sure, hardcore gaming laptops and enterprise models have their own unique traits (e.g. dedicated graphics cards for the former and sophisticated management features for the latter), but that doesn’t necessarily apply to entry level devices.
The IdeaPad 81UT00EAUS from Lenovo, for example, belongs to the popular S145 family, which is equally well-suited for home and business use. Available from BestBuy for $379.99 (roughly £300/AU$550), it’s currently out best business laptop deal.
The IdeaPad 81UT00EAUS run on an AMD Ryzen 3 3200 CPU and features a 15-inch full HD display, dedicated numeric keypad, 8GB of RAM (dual channel) and 256GB SSD (NVMe, PCIe). It also has three USB ports, a HDMI one and a memory card reader.
Should they need to, businesses can also upgrade to Windows 10 Pro via Microsoft’s store. But Windows 10 Home should prove sufficient for the overwhelming majority of SMBs.
Extra features such as Bitlocker device encryption, kiosk mode setup, remote desktop and Virtual Machine capabilities, meanwhile, can all be added via third party software.
In terms of caveats, there’s no Type-C connector or Ethernet port, the display is a TN model, the webcam is a VGA type model (so you may end up looking like a Minecraft or Roblox avatar) and the battery is a little underwhelming at 35Whr.
Bear in mind
- If the Lenovo Ideapad 81UT00EAUS is unavailable in your region, you may have to use a specialist parcel forwarding service to take advantage of the deal.
- If you’ve managed to get hold of a cheaper product with equivalent specifications, in stock and brand new, let us know and we’ll tip our hat to you.
