Is there a better alternative?

If you’re looking for an affordable 15.6-inch notebook that doesn’t ask you to compromise, then the Acer Aspire E 15 might be just the ticket. It’s only $600 for a Core i5-8250U, 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SATA SSD, and Acer throws in a discrete Nvidia MX150 GPU that’s good enough for some light gamers. Battery life is also superior, but you do have to put up with a larger and heavier chassis.

　　Acer’s Swift 3 is another viable alternative, coming in at $680 for the same configuration as our review unit. It equips a smaller 14-inch Full HD display, and so it’s a bit sharper albeit on a smaller display. Its battery life is better when watching video, and it’s a slightly faster performer, but the Swift 3 isn’t nearly as modern looking nor as svelte.

　　Finally, if you want to flip your display around and use your budget machine as a tablet, then the Dell Inspiron 13 7000 is an option. It’s $800 for our review configuration and sports a smaller 13.3-inch display, but you can’t deny its enhanced flexibility. Battery life falls short of the IdeaPad 530s, though, and so if working away from an outlet is important then you’ll want to steer clear.

　　

How long will it last?

The IdeaPad 530s enjoys a robust build that’s guaranteed to last as long as most other thin and light notebooks, including those that cost significantly more. The components are up to date and should keep up with general productivity for quite some time, while the industry-standard one-year warranty is shorter than we’d like.

　　

Should you buy it?

No. The IdeaPad 530s makes too many compromises to receive a wholehearted recommendation from us.