This cheap Chromebook is the perfect holiday gift for students and kids

Lenovo Chromebook 3
(Image credit: Lenovo)

This pre-Christmas deal can help you save a chunk on a brand-new Chromebook, perfect for work and play.

Right now, you can get the Lenovo Chromebook 3 for just $109 ($30 off of the MSRP) at Best Buy in the retailer’s pre-Christmas deals.

While many users will look to macOS or Windows for the best laptops for students, Chromebooks are becoming more popular than ever. That’s because they’re lightweight, and have a much lower price point than traditional laptops thanks to the required spec being considerably lower than a Windows or Mac.

Chromebooks can be even more useful if you spend any amount of time in Google’s suite of apps and web apps. If you do a lot of work in Docs or Sheets, save your files to Google Drive, or manage your emails with Gmail, you’ll find plenty to like in a Chromebook.

Lenovo Chromebook 3 -was $139, now $109 at Best Buy

Lenovo Chromebook 3 - was $139, <a href="https://shop-links.co/link?skuId=6500335&publisher_slug=future&exclusive=1&u1=hawk-custom-tracking&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bestbuy.com%2Fsite%2Flenovo-chromebook-3-11-6-hd-laptop-celeron-n4020-4gb-memory-64gb-emmc-onyx-black%2F6500335.p%3FskuId%3D6500335&article_name=hawk-article-name&article_url=hawk-article-url" data-link-merchant="bestbuy.com"" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">now $109 at Best Buy

Get this Chromebook for just over $100, allowing access to Google apps and services as well as a keyboard, trackpad, and camera.

For that impressive price point, the Lenovo Chromebook 3 offers a portable design with just about HD resolution on its 11.6-inch screen. There’s no touchscreen here, but there is a full keyboard and trackpad for a more traditional laptop experience, as well as a front-facing camera for Google Meet.

Speaking of Google, the Lenovo Chromebook 3 packs just 64GB of storage because it relies on cloud storage for the most part, and just 4GB of RAM, too. Still, if you’re browsing the web, watching YouTube videos, or doing some work, you’re unlikely to notice.

New apps can be added via the Play Store, and Chrome OS is built for rapid searches for the answers you need. The lack of powerful internals also makes it lightweight, portable, and allows for impressive battery life, too.

User reviews are positive, with many buyers noting this is their first Chromebook, and while some have noted it can take time to adjust to Chrome OS after spending time with Windows, it seems it’s clear it’s worth a try – especially at this price.

Lloyd Coombes

Lloyd Coombes freelance tech and fitness writer for Live Science. He's an expert in all things Apple as well as in computer and gaming tech, with previous works published on TopTenReviews, Space.com, Dexerto and TechRadar. You'll find him regularly testing the latest MacBook or iPhone, but he spends most of his time writing about video games as Editor in Chief at GGRecon.com. He also covers board games and virtual reality, just to round out the nerdy pursuits.