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Get a Lenovo 100S 14-inch laptop for $179.99

This lovely blue system includes a free year of Office 365 Personal. Plus Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens for just $3.79!

Rick Broida Senior Editor
Rick Broida is the author of numerous books and thousands of reviews, features and blog posts. He writes CNET's popular Cheapskate blog and co-hosts Protocol 1: A Travelers Podcast (about the TV show Travelers). He lives in Michigan, where he previously owned two escape rooms (chronicled in the ebook "I Was a Middle-Aged Zombie").
Rick Broida
3 min read

CNET's Cheapskate scours the web for great deals on PCs, phones, gadgets and much more. Questions about the Cheapskate blog? Find the answers on our FAQ page. And find more great buys on the CNET Deals page.


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Lenovo

About yesterday: Big goof on my part. I thought the Y3 smartwatch ran Android Wear, when in fact it's powered by Android 5.1 and plainly says so on the product page. The thing is, the implementation of the OS looks so much like Wear, I thought the page was mistaken. (It does have a fair number of English translation errors.)

The good news is it shouldn't matter much to your overall enjoyment of the watch. But I do apologize for the error. If you ordered a Y3 and feel like you no longer want it, contact me and I'll see if I can help get the order cancelled.

Tip-top laptop

Everyone's computing needs are different. Some folks need horsepower, some need portability. Some just want a roomy screen and comfy keyboard for computing basics. If you haven't guessed, today's deal is for the latter crowd.

For a limited time, and while supplies last, Best Buy has the Lenovo 100S-14IBR 14-inch laptop for $179.99 shipped (plus tax) -- a price that includes one year of Microsoft Office 365 Personal. Take note that you need to have and be signed into a Best Buy account (which is free), otherwise you'll see the regular $229.99 price.

I've mentioned the Lenovo 100S before, but it was always the smaller version, the one with the 11.6-inch screen. I dig that one, but it's definitely a little cramped, typing-wise. This model gives you a full-size set of keys.

The flipside is that the screen resolution remains at 1,366x768, which I think is fine for a 14-inch display, but still more or less the equivalent of 720p. If you plan on working with photos or spreadsheets, you may find yourself wishing for more pixels.

But, again, this system was built for the basics: web, word processing, email, maybe some Netflix. Oh, and that Office subscription will definitely come in handy, what with Word, Outlook and all that. You'll have a decision to make in 364 days, but it's easy to make a move to free alternatives should you decide to.

The 100S was definitely designed with cloud computing in mind, offering only 32GB of local storage, expandable through microSD or any of its three USB ports. There's also an HDMI port, Bluetooth 4.0, modern Wi-Fi (meaning AC) and a battery good for up to 7 hours, according to Lenovo.

Over 400 Best Buy customers collectively rated the 100S 4.2 stars out of 5, the consensus being that it's a particularly good choice for students.

Your thoughts?

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This is definitely the game deal you're looking for.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Bonus deal: Game time! Say what you will about the movie, there's no such thing as a bad Lego game. For a limited time, Cdkeys has Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Win) for $3.79, redeemable via Steam. Price on Steam proper: $39.99! If you have kids who like either Star Wars or Lego, this is too good to pass up.