Lenovo unveils another Chromebook competitor -- $249 Windows 8.1 laptop

With PC shipments continuing on a downward slope, manufacturers are finding new ways to attract consumers. In the high-end segment, it is all about specs: high-resolution screens, lots of battery life, powerful processors and so on. But, at the other end of the spectrum, the focus is on value for money -- to a certain extent, it is about cramming as many nice things as possible into a package that does not break the bank.

Chromebooks are probably the offerings that best cater to this audience's needs, assuming folks can live without Windows on their new machines. If that is not the case, there are a couple of interesting options on the PC side, one of which is Lenovo's new ideapad 100 line.

Starting at just $249 and offered in 14-inch and 15-inch versions, the new ideapad 100 laptops offer all the right features that more demanding consumers might want in this segment, with likely one exception: a high-resolution screen. The major downside to the ideapad 100 line is the 1366 by 768 display resolution, which I personally find to be subpar in 2015.

I should mention that the ideapad 100 line is not designed to compete with Chromebooks, and here is why. First off, it runs Windows 8.1 (with Update pre-installed), which means that users will be able to run all of their favorite software, including well-known programs such as Office. The processors are "up to" Intel BayTrail-M generation N3540, with integrated graphics made by the same US chip maker.

The ideapad 100 line can also be had with hard-drives as large as 500 GB, which makes the laptops suitable for those who need to store lots of (large) files offline. For those who need some speed, there is an SSD path -- with SSDs up to 128 GB in size listed as available.

Lenovo says that buyers will be able to get their hands on ideapad 100 laptops with up to 8 GB of RAM. I have mentioned (and will continue to mention) "up to" because in some cases there is no baseline configuration listed, only the upper end of the spectrum.

Other specs include: one 1.5W speaker, one USB 3.0 port, one USB 2.0 port, HDMI, 4-in-1 card reader, Ethernet jack, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, 0.3 MP front-facing camera and a 30 WHr battery. The 15-incher comes in at 378 x 265 x 22.6 mm (14.88 x 10.43 x 0.89 in) and 2.3 kg (5.07 pounds), while the 14-inch model measures 340 x 237.8 x 20.2 mm (13.39 x 9.33 x 0.80 in) and weighs 1.9 kg (4.19 pounds).

Battery life is, as you might expect, not great. Lenovo says that, based on its testing, the ideapad 100 laptops should last up to 4 hours on battery, which will not woo consumers who are paying attention to the Chromebook crowd. Still, given the size of the laptops and weight I assume that not many will want to carry them around on a daily basis. They ship starting June.

Lenovo also has something for those who want more and are fine with paying more. The new Z41 (a 14-inch laptop) and Z51 (a 15-inch laptop) are designed as PC replacements, packing plenty of processing power, lots of storage, and multimedia-oriented features. Prices start at $499. They also start shipping next month.

"We’ve created the new Lenovo Z41, Z51 and ideapad 100 laptops specifically for customers who want simple and functional design", says Lenovo's Bai Peng. "But because our customers are diverse, so our products are not ‘one size fits all’ either. Our three new laptops offer customers the choice to select the one that’s right for them -- two specialized for multimedia and one all-rounder".

Lenovo says that both Z41 and Z51 will be available with "up to" Intel Core i7 processors (fifth generation), 16 GB of RAM, 1 TB of internal storage (conventional HDD or Hybrid Solid State drive). There are also optional stereo 2.5 W JBL speakers, which are Dolby-certified.

Here are the commonalities: 1,920 by 1,080 resolution and 200 nits brightness for the display, integrated Intel graphics card (optional dedicated AMD R7-M360 graphics for Z41 and R7-M375 for Z51), two USB 3.1 ports, one USB 2.0 port, HDMI, VGA, 4-in-1 card reader, Ethernet jack, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0, 1 MP front-facing camera, 41 WHr battery (again, just 4 hours of estimated battery life), and, last but not least, Windows 8.1 running the show.

There is also an optional backlit keyboard. On Z51, Lenovo says there is an Intel RealSense, optional of course, front-facing camera which able to capture depth, touting a 3D effect and 3D scanning capabilities, and allow users to use gestures to control their laptop. It is a unique feature, for sure, but it remains to be see how much it will cost and what real-life advantages it has, if any.

The 15-incher comes in at 384 x 265 x 24.6 mm (15.12 x 10.43 x 0.97 in) and 2.3 kg (5.07 pounds), while the 14-inch model measures 347 x 249 x 24.4 mm (13.66 x 9.8 x 0.96 in) and weighs 2.1 kg (4.63 pounds). There are some color options announced: chalk white, crimson red (only for the 14-incher) and ebony black.