I introduce to you… Laptop Roundup, where, periodically, I will discuss my recommendations for laptops currently available on the market. I will highlight laptops for the budget conscious, the gamer, the graphic artist, the traveling business person, and the movie/music lover. I will be highlighting various types of laptops, so features, such as price, screen size, screen resolution, processor, memory and keyboard style will vary from post-to-post.

In honor of the November Black Friday Deals crowd, I am starting off with a great deal I came across on a 7th Gen i5 Lenovo. Lenovo is one of three brands that I currently recommend. Considering the power of this machine, the i5 is perfect for the casual gamer or graphic artist, traveling business person, and at $399, it’s definitely a budget conscious purchase.

Here are some of the desirable specs:

Processor: Intel i5 7200U @ 2.5 Ghz (7th Gen)
Ram: 8GB DDR4 @ 2133Mhz
Wireless: AC

Here are some of the less desirable specs:

Screen: 1366×768 (720P not 1080P)
Hard Drive: 1TB 5400RPM (Great Size, Slow Speed)
Touchscreen: No
Back-lit Keyboard: No

The model # is: 310-15IKB

This laptop will get the job done. Thanks to the amount of memory, it can easily handle having 20 web browser tabs open, while watching a movie, running Photoshop and checking mail with Outlook in the background. The new 7th Gen i5 processor will keep everything chugging along smoothly, and the Wireless AC will allow you to stream or download the largest files as fast as your modem will allow (assuming you also have a Wireless AC router).

To sum this deal up, if you are looking for a powerful laptop without the frills, then this is it. The only downside is that it comes with a standard Hard Drive instead of Solid State, but at this price it’s hard to find a Solid State with the other specs. On the upside, I can install a Solid State Hard Drive in this machine for you and your bootup time / app loading will be only a fraction of the time.

Click here to see the deal.