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Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3
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The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 is Lenovo's mainstream everyday laptop — the budget-and-student workhorse that sits below the IdeaPad Slim 5 and well below the ThinkPad line. This page covers three model years: Gen 8 (2023), Gen 9 (2024), and Gen 10 (2025), each built in 14", 15", and 16" sizes across Intel and AMD platforms — around thirty distinct models sharing one name. Two things matter before you quote. First, Gen 8 and Gen 9 are physically the same laptop: identical chassis, identical 16:9 screens on the smaller sizes, identical 47Wh battery, with only the processor generation changed. Second, Gen 10 is a genuine redesign — 16:10 displays everywhere, OLED options, a bigger battery, aluminum lid options, two SSD slots, and, crucially, a real memory slot. That last point reverses the single most important value rule of the earlier machines. Gadget Salvation has been buying used Lenovo IdeaPad laptops directly from their owners since 2008, so you can turn yours into cash without listing it anywhere. Find your code below, select your configuration above, and you will see an instant cash offer. For context on where the IdeaPad line sits against Lenovo's business machines, see our ThinkPad vs. IdeaPad comparison.
Read your model code first — it decides everything
Every IdeaPad Slim 3 carries a code like 15IAH8, 16IRU9, or 15ARP10. Lenovo builds it from three pieces, and once you can read it you know exactly what you own:
The pieces of the code
- First two digits — screen size. 14, 15, or 16
- Middle letters — processor platform. Starts with I for Intel or A for AMD
- Final number — generation. 8 = 2023, 9 = 2024, 10 = 2025. Read this digit first; it tells you which half of this page applies to you
Intel platform letters
- IAH — Alder Lake H45: 12th Gen Core i5 H-series (Gen 8)
- IRH — Raptor Lake H: 13th Gen Core i5 / i7 H-series (Gen 8 and Gen 10)
- IRU — Raptor Lake U: Core i3 / i5 / i7 U-series and the renamed Core 3 / 5 / 7 chips (Gen 8, 9, and 10)
- IAN — Alder Lake N: Intel N100, N200, Core i3-N305 (Gen 8 only)
AMD platform letters
- AMN — Mendocino: Athlon and low-power Ryzen 3 / 5 with Radeon 610M (Gen 8)
- ABR — Barcelo Refresh: Ryzen 3 / 5 / 7 U-series (Gen 8)
- ARP — Rembrandt+: Ryzen 5 / 7 HS-series (Gen 10)
- AHP — Hawk Point: Ryzen 5 / 7 8000-series HS chips (Gen 10)
Two naming quirks. Lenovo markets Intel versions as "IdeaPad Slim 3i," but the label on the laptop still reads "IdeaPad Slim 3" — the "i" is not part of your code and does not change your quote. Separately, some Gen 10 codes end in R (15IRH10R, 14IRH10R, 16IRH10R). That is a board revision, not a different specification; Lenovo publishes matching specs for both and we quote them identically.
The three changes that move your offer
If you read nothing else on this page, read this. Lenovo altered three things between the earlier machines and Gen 10, and all three affect what your laptop is worth.
1. Memory went from sealed to upgradable
On Gen 8 and Gen 9 there are no memory slots at all — every module is soldered to the board. Whatever your laptop shipped with is what it has forever, no previous owner could have changed it, and no buyer can. That makes a 16GB unit permanently more valuable than an 8GB one.
On Gen 10 Lenovo added a real DDR5 SO-DIMM slot. Some Gen 10 units pair one soldered 8GB module with an open slot and take up to 24GB total; others use the SO-DIMM slot alone for up to 16GB. So a Gen 10 machine may have been upgraded — check what it actually reports rather than assuming the factory figure.
2. Storage went from one slot to two
Gen 8 and Gen 9 have a single M.2 2242 slot — and a subset of Gen 8 models have no slot at all, with 128GB of UFS flash soldered to the board instead.
Gen 10 has two M.2 2242 slots. Lenovo shipped these with one drive fitted and deliberately left the second slot empty for owners to expand. If yours has two drives in it, that is a genuine user-added upgrade and it raises your offer — report the total.
Every generation uses the short 2242 card (42mm), not the common 2280. There is no 2.5-inch bay in any of them.
3. Screens got dramatically better on Gen 10
Gen 8 and Gen 9 topped out at FHD: 16:9 panels on the 14" and 15.6", 16:10 WUXGA on the 16", 45% NTSC color throughout, and a low-end TN option on the cheapest units.
Gen 10 moved everything to 16:10 and added OLED: a 15.1" WQXGA 2560×1600 OLED at 500 nits and 165Hz, or a 16" 2.8K 2880×1800 OLED at 120Hz, both covering 100% DCI-P3 with DisplayHDR True Black 600. An OLED Gen 10 is by a wide margin the most valuable IdeaPad Slim 3 there is.
Which generation do you have?
Turn the laptop over. Lenovo prints a label on the bottom cover with the product name, the full model code, and a machine type — four characters such as 82XM or 83K1, followed by four more and a two-letter country code. Match yours below.
✅ Gen 8 — 2023
- Code ends in 8: IAH8, IRH8, IRU8, IAN8, AMN8, ABR8
- Screens are 16:9 on the 14" and 15.6"; only the 16" is 16:10
- 47Wh battery, 65W round-tip adapter
- Two 1.5W speakers
- No memory slot; single M.2 2242 slot (or soldered UFS flash)
- Colors: Abyss Blue, Arctic Grey, Frost Blue
- Plastic lid and base — no metal anywhere
- Fingerprint reader in the power button was optional; no IR face sign-in
✅ Gen 9 — 2024
- Code ends in 9: confirmed as 14IRU9, 15IRU9, 16IRU9
- Processor reads Intel Core 3 100U, Core 5 120U, or Core 7 150U — the giveaway, since these renamed chips appear nowhere in Gen 8
- Physically identical to Gen 8: same dimensions, same 16:9 and 16:10 panels, same 47Wh battery, same 1.5W speakers, same ports
- No memory slot; single M.2 2242 slot
- Colors: Arctic Grey, Abyss Blue only — no Frost Blue
- If your chassis matches Gen 8 but your processor is a Core 3 / 5 / 7 with a three-digit U number, you have Gen 9
✅ Gen 10 — 2025
- Code ends in 10: IRH10, IRH10R, IRU10, ARP10, AHP10
- Every screen is 16:10, and sizes shifted — the 15" is now 15.3" (or 15.1" on OLED), not 15.6"
- 50Wh or 60Wh battery — larger than the earlier 47Wh
- Two 2W speakers
- A memory SO-DIMM slot and two M.2 2242 slots
- A Copilot key on the keyboard — an instant Gen 10 tell that no earlier model has
- A visible camera bump on the lid edge
- Optional aluminum lid and optional IR camera for face sign-in; no fingerprint reader
- Colors: Luna Grey, Cosmic Blue, Polar Blue, Seafoam Green
- Optional Wi-Fi 7 with Bluetooth 5.4
❌ This is a different laptop
- IdeaPad 3 without "Slim" — the same line under its older name, codes ending in 6 or 7
- IdeaPad Slim 3x — a 15.3" Qualcomm Snapdragon X machine; the label says "3x"
- IdeaPad Slim 3 Chromebook — runs ChromeOS on a MediaTek chip, not Windows
- IdeaPad Slim 5 / Slim 5i — the tier above, with better displays and build
- IdeaPad Slim 1 — the tier below
Fastest checks if the label is gone. Press the Windows key, type msinfo32, and press Enter — the System Model line shows your code. Then open Settings → System → About and read the Processor line. Two thirty-second physical checks narrow it further: look for a Copilot key (a dedicated key near the right-hand Alt with a ribbon-style logo — Gen 10 only), and check the screen shape — a squarer, taller 16:10 screen on a 14" or 15" machine means Gen 10, while a widescreen 16:9 means Gen 8 or Gen 9. Our guide to finding a Lenovo model number and our guide to finding your processor type cover both in detail, and you are always welcome to send us a photo of the bottom label instead.
Every model code, by generation
Gen 8 — 2023
- 14": 14IAH8, 14IRH8, 14IRU8, 14IAN8, 14AMN8, 14ABR8
- 15.6": 15IAH8, 15IRH8, 15IRU8, 15IAN8, 15AMN8, 15ABR8
- 16": 16IAH8, 16IRH8, 16IRU8, 16ABR8
Gen 9 — 2024
- 14": 14IRU9
- 15.6": 15IRU9
- 16": 16IRU9
Gen 10 — 2025
- 14": 14IRH10, 14IRH10R, 14IRU10, 14ARP10, 14AHP10
- 15.3": 15IRH10, 15IRH10R, 15IRU10, 15ARP10, 15AHP10
- 16": 16IRH10, 16IRH10R, 16ARP10, 16AHP10
Machine types we have confirmed
- 83EQ — 14IAH8 · 82XL — 14ABR8
- 83ER — 15IAH8 · 82X7 — 15IRU8 · 82XB — 15IAN8
- 82XQ — 15AMN8 · 82XM — 15ABR8 · 83ES — 16IAH8
- 83E6 — 15IRU9
- 83K1 — 15IRH10
Reading the rest of the long code
- The first four characters are the machine type, which fixes size, platform, and generation
- The middle four identify the exact factory build — memory, storage, screen, color
- The last two letters are the market. US means it was sold in the United States; GE, UK, IN, PH, and similar codes were sold abroad
- Examples: 82XM000DUS is a US-market 15ABR8, 82XB00CPUS is a US-market 15IAN8, and 82XM0089GE is the same 15ABR8 sold in Germany
Lenovo did not build every platform in every size or every generation — the Intel N-series only ever appeared on Gen 8 in 14" and 15.6", for instance. Rather than matching against a list, read the code printed on your own machine; that is always the correct answer. Imported units are fine and we buy them.
Processors by platform
Every processor across all three generations uses integrated graphics — there is no discrete graphics option anywhere in the IdeaPad Slim 3 line.
Gen 8 Intel — H-series
- IAH8: Core i5-12450H — 8 cores (4P + 4E), 12 threads, up to 4.4GHz, 12MB cache
- IRH8: Core i5-13420H — 8 cores (4P + 4E), 12 threads, up to 4.6GHz, 12MB cache
- IRH8: Core i7-13620H — 10 cores (6P + 4E), 16 threads, up to 4.9GHz, 24MB cache
- Intel UHD Graphics throughout
Gen 8 Intel — U-series and N-series
- IRU8: Intel U300, Core i3-1305U, Core i3-1315U, Core i5-1334U, Core i5-1335U, Core i7-1355U
- Iris Xe graphics on the i5 and i7 — but only on 16GB dual-channel units; 8GB units fall back to UHD
- IAN8: Intel N100 (4C/4T, 3.4GHz), N200 (4C/4T, 3.7GHz), Core i3-N305 (8C/8T, 3.8GHz)
- The N-series is the budget floor of the entire line — some shipped with 4GB of memory and 128GB of soldered flash
Gen 8 AMD
- AMN8: Athlon Silver 7120U, Athlon Gold 7220U, Ryzen 3 7320U, Ryzen 5 7520U — 2 to 4 cores, Radeon 610M
- ABR8: Ryzen 3 7330U (4C/8T), Ryzen 5 5625U and 7430U (6C/12T), Ryzen 5 7530U (6C/12T, 4.5GHz), Ryzen 7 5825U and 7730U (8C/16T, 4.5GHz)
- The ABR8 Ryzen 7 models were heavy US big-box sellers and are the best-value Gen 8 AMD configurations
- Lenovo later renamed some AMN8 chips — "Ryzen 5 40" and "Ryzen 5 7520U" describe the same hardware
Gen 9 — Intel U-series only
- Intel Core 3 100U
- Intel Core 5 120U
- Intel Core 7 150U
- Intel integrated graphics
- These three renamed U-series chips are the definitive Gen 9 marker. If your processor is one of them, your laptop is a Gen 9 regardless of what the chassis looks like
Gen 10 Intel
- IRH10: Core i5-13420H (8C/12T, 4.6GHz, 12MB), Core i7-13620H (10C/16T, 4.9GHz, 24MB)
- Also offered: Intel Core 7 240H, Core 5 210H, Core 3 100U
- Intel UHD Graphics
- Note that the i5-13420H and i7-13620H appear in both Gen 8 and Gen 10 — the processor alone will not separate those two, so check the code, the screen shape, or the Copilot key
Gen 10 AMD
- AHP10 (Hawk Point): Ryzen 7 8840HS, Ryzen 5 8640HS, Ryzen 5 8540U — with DDR5-5600 memory
- ARP10 (Rembrandt+): Ryzen 7 7735HS, Ryzen 5 7533HS, Ryzen 3 7335HS — with DDR5-4800 memory
- Integrated Radeon graphics
- The AHP10 Ryzen 7 8840HS is the strongest AMD chip in the line. AHP10 units also carry faster memory than ARP10 units, which is a small additional value edge
Some US retailers listed 2025 units under AMD's newer marketing numbers, such as "Ryzen 7 170." Those names do not appear on Lenovo's own specification sheets, so if your laptop reports a processor name that is not listed above, quote the name your machine actually reports in Settings → System → About and we will match it.
Memory and storage in detail
Gen 8 and Gen 9 memory — sealed
- No memory slots. Every module soldered. Not upgradable, by you or anyone before you
- Capacities: 4GB, 8GB, 12GB, or 16GB depending on platform
- LPDDR5-4800 on IAH8, IRH8, IRU8, IAN8, and all Gen 9 models
- LPDDR5-5500 on AMN8
- DDR4-3200 on ABR8 — still soldered; the different memory type does not mean slots
- 8GB units generally run single-channel; 12GB and 16GB run dual-channel
- Because it can never be added, 16GB commands a premium that never erodes
Gen 10 memory — a real slot
- Two possible arrangements: one soldered module plus one DDR5 SO-DIMM slot (dual-channel capable, up to 24GB total as 8GB soldered + 16GB in the slot), or a single SO-DIMM slot alone (up to 16GB)
- DDR5-4800 as configured — the installed modules are DDR5-5600 running at 4800 because of a platform limit
- DDR5-5600 on AHP10 models
- A Gen 10 may have been upgraded after purchase. Check what your laptop reports rather than what the box said, and quote the real figure — you will be paid for the upgrade
Gen 8 and Gen 9 storage
- One M.2 2242 slot — the short 42mm card, not the common 2280
- Capacities: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB
- PCIe 4.0 x4 on IAH8, IRH8, IRU8 and Gen 9; PCIe 3.0 x4 on IAN8 and ABR8; PCIe 3.0 x2 on AMN8 — the slowest in the line
- Maximum 1TB, except IAN8 which caps at 512GB
- No second slot and no 2.5-inch bay
Gen 10 storage — two slots
- Two M.2 2242 PCIe 4.0 x4 slots, up to 1TB per drive
- Lenovo shipped a single drive and left the second slot empty on purpose, describing it as available for owner self-expansion
- Factory capacities: 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB
- If a second drive has been added, count both and report the total — it is a genuine upgrade and it raises your offer
- Still the short 2242 form factor, and still no 2.5-inch bay
Some Gen 8 units have no drive slot at all
A subset of Gen 8 IAN8 and IRU8 configurations shipped with 128GB of UFS 3.1 flash soldered to the board instead of an M.2 SSD. These have no storage slot whatsoever — nothing to remove, nothing to upgrade, ever. If your laptop reports 128GB and you cannot find a drive to swap, this is why. It is a real configuration rather than a fault, and these are the lowest-value units on this page.
A note on the 2242 form factor
Across all three generations, every M.2 slot takes a 2242 card — 42mm long. Most laptops and most retail SSDs use the 80mm 2280 card, which physically will not fit here. If you or a previous owner upgraded the drive, it had to be a 2242. This is worth knowing because it is a common source of confused listings that quote the wrong part.
Display & audio
Gen 8 and Gen 9 panels
- 14": FHD 1920 × 1080, 16:9 — IPS 300 nits or TN 250 nits, non-touch
- 15.6": FHD 1920 × 1080, 16:9 — IPS 300 nits (touch or non-touch) or TN 250 nits
- 16": WUXGA 1920 × 1200, 16:10 — IPS 300 nits only, non-touch
- 45% NTSC color coverage, anti-glare, 60Hz, TÜV low blue light (software), 88% active area ratio
- The 15.6" is the only size ever offered with a touchscreen
Gen 10 panels — all 16:10, OLED available
- 14": WUXGA 1920 × 1200 IPS 300 nits, or WUXGA OLED 400 nits, 100% DCI-P3, HDR True Black 500
- 15": 15.3" WUXGA 1920 × 1200 IPS 300 nits (touch or non-touch), or 15.1" WQXGA 2560 × 1600 OLED, 500 nits, 165Hz, 100,000:1, DisplayHDR True Black 600
- 16": WUXGA 1920 × 1200 IPS 300 nits, or 2.8K 2880 × 1800 OLED, 500 nits, 120Hz, 100% DCI-P3, DisplayHDR True Black 600
- IPS models reach 1200:1 contrast at 45% NTSC and 90.7% active area ratio
- OLED was offered only on the aluminum-lid models, and it is glossy where the IPS panels are anti-glare
TN vs. IPS on the earlier machines
The cheapest Gen 8 and Gen 9 configurations got a TN panel: 250 nits, 400:1 contrast, and narrow vertical viewing angles — 15° up and 35° down. IPS panels are 300 nits, 800:1 or better, and 85° in every direction. Tilt the screen back and forth: if colors wash out or invert dramatically, you have TN. That distinction is worth reporting accurately.
Audio, and OLED burn-in
Gen 8 and Gen 9 use two 1.5W user-facing speakers; Gen 10 upgraded these to 2W. All are tuned with Dolby Audio and paired with a dual-microphone array and one 3.5mm combo jack. There is no subwoofer and no separate microphone input on any generation.
If you have a Gen 10 OLED, check for burn-in before you quote: display a plain white or grey image full-screen and look for faint ghosting of the taskbar or a browser bar. Visible retention affects the offer, so it is better to report it up front.
Ports & connectivity
The port set is remarkably consistent across all three generations, so counting ports will not identify your model. The one visible change is that Gen 10 moved the power button onto the right-hand edge alongside the card reader.
- 1× barrel-style DC-in power connector
- 1× HDMI 1.4 (caps at 4K @ 30Hz on every generation — this never became HDMI 2.0 or 2.1)
- 1× USB-C, full-function (USB 3.2 Gen 1 at 5Gbps, DisplayPort 1.2 video out at up to 4K @ 60Hz, and USB Power Delivery charging at 45–65W. Not Thunderbolt on any generation)
- 1× USB-A 3.2 Gen 1
- 1× 3.5mm headphone / microphone combo jack
- 1× USB-A 3.2 Gen 1
- 1× SD card reader (full-size SD, present on every model on this page)
- 1× power button (Gen 10 only — on Gen 8 and Gen 9 the power button sits above the keyboard and may contain the fingerprint reader)
- 1× One Key Recovery button (Gen 10)
Good news if your original charger is missing: the USB-C port supports Power Delivery charging at 45–65W on every generation. A standard 65W USB-C laptop charger will run and charge these machines. We still prefer that you include the original 65W barrel adapter, but a missing charger is less of a problem here than on most laptops.
Features these laptops do not have, so you do not need to look for them: no Ethernet port, no cellular or WWAN, no Thunderbolt, no discrete graphics, no optical drive, no pen or stylus support, no second USB-C port, and no 2.5-inch drive bay. On Gen 8 and Gen 9 there is also no memory slot, no second storage slot, and no IR face sign-in. Missing any of these is normal and does not reduce your offer.
Wi-Fi 5 / 6 (Gen 8–9) Wi-Fi 6 / 7 (Gen 10) Bluetooth 5.1–5.4 USB-C Power Delivery SD card reader No Ethernet No Thunderbolt
Battery, build & more
Battery & charging
Gen 8 and Gen 9: a 47Wh lithium-polymer battery in every model regardless of size or platform. Gen 10: either 50Wh or 60Wh, with Lenovo rating the 60Wh units at up to 17 hours of 1080p video playback. Every generation uses a 65W round-tip three-pin adapter and supports Rapid Charge Boost, rated at two hours of runtime from a 15-minute charge.
Size and weight by generation
- Gen 8 / Gen 9 14": 324.3 × 213.8 × 17.9 mm, from 1.31–1.37 kg
- Gen 8 / Gen 9 15.6": 359.3 × 235 × 17.9 mm, from 1.55–1.62 kg
- Gen 8 / Gen 9 16": 359.3 × 257 × 17.9 mm, from 1.74 kg
- Gen 10 14": 314.4 × 224.1 mm, 16.9 mm thin with aluminum, from 1.29 kg with OLED
- Gen 10 15": 343.4 × 239.5 mm, from 1.49 kg with OLED and 1.59 kg with IPS
- Gen 10 16": 360 × 251 mm, from 1.58 kg with OLED
Camera
Gen 8 and Gen 9: either a 1080p FHD or a 720p HD webcam, both fixed-focus, both with a physical privacy shutter, neither with infrared. Gen 10: the FHD option became a hybrid RGB + IR camera enabling Windows Hello facial recognition, still with the privacy shutter. A Gen 10 with IR face sign-in is the better configuration.
Keyboard, touchpad & fingerprint
Six-row keyboard with multimedia function keys throughout; the 15" and 16" models include a numeric keypad. Backlighting was optional on every generation — a unit with no keyboard backlight is normal, not broken. Gen 10 adds a Copilot key and 1.3mm key travel. Touchpads grew from 69 × 104 mm on the Gen 8 15.6" to 75 × 120 mm on the 16" and on all Gen 10 sizes. A power-button fingerprint reader was optional on Gen 8 and Gen 9; Gen 10 dropped it in favor of the optional IR camera.
Build & colors
Gen 8 and Gen 9 are PC-ABS plastic top and bottom — no metal anywhere, which is what separates the Slim 3 from the Slim 5 above it. Colors were Abyss Blue, Arctic Grey, and Frost Blue, with Frost Blue limited to Gen 8 in 14" and 15.6".
Gen 10 added an aluminum option: an anodized stamped aluminum lid over a plastic base, 1mm thinner than the all-plastic version and the only way to get OLED. Colors changed to Luna Grey, Cosmic Blue, Polar Blue, and Seafoam Green. Run a fingernail across the lid — cool and rigid means aluminum, and that raises your offer. Every generation passed MIL-STD-810H testing regardless of material.
Security & operating system
Firmware TPM 2.0 integrated into the processor on all generations — no separate discrete TPM chip. BIOS administrator, power-on, and hard-disk passwords are supported; please clear any you set before shipping, since a locked BIOS prevents us from testing the machine. All models shipped with Windows 11 in Home, Pro, Single Language, or S mode variants. A machine stuck in Windows 11 S mode is a factory setting rather than a fault and does not reduce your offer.
Frequently asked questions
If the label has rubbed off, press the Windows key, type msinfo32, and press Enter — the System Model line shows the same code. Then open Settings → System → About and read the Processor line.
Two physical checks get you most of the way in under a minute. Look for a Copilot key — a dedicated key near the right-hand Alt with a ribbon-shaped logo. Only Gen 10 has one. Then look at the screen shape: if a 14" or 15" machine has a squarer, taller screen it is Gen 10, and if it is clearly widescreen it is Gen 8 or Gen 9. Between those two, the processor decides — a Core 3 100U, Core 5 120U, or Core 7 150U means Gen 9, and anything else on this page means Gen 8.
Our guide to finding a Lenovo model number walks through each location with pictures. If none of it works, photograph the bottom label and send it to us — we would rather read it ourselves than have you guess.
Gen 8 versus Gen 9. These are physically the same laptop — same chassis, same screens, same battery, same ports. Nothing you can see separates them. The processor does: Core 3 100U, Core 5 120U, or Core 7 150U means Gen 9. Anything else means Gen 8.
Gen 8 versus Gen 10 with the same processor. The Core i5-13420H and i7-13620H were sold in both. Use the screen shape (16:10 and a 15.3" panel means Gen 10, 16:9 and 15.6" means Gen 8), the Copilot key, or the camera bump on the Gen 10 lid.
The six Gen 8 platforms. Every Gen 8 model at a given size is the same chassis, color, weight, and port layout, so you cannot tell an Intel N100 with 4GB from a Core i7-13620H with 16GB by looking. The three letters before the 8 in your code, or your processor name, is the only reliable test. Guessing here can swing your offer substantially.
IdeaPad 3 without "Slim." Lenovo renamed the line for 2023. Older machines are branded "IdeaPad 3" with codes ending in 6 or 7, like 15ITL6 or 15ALC6. If your code does not end in 8, 9, or 10, this page is not your machine.
IdeaPad Slim 3x. A 15.3" machine on a Qualcomm Snapdragon X processor. The label says "3x," and Settings → System → About shows a Snapdragon rather than Intel or AMD. Easy to confuse with a Gen 10 since both are 15.3" and 16:10 — check the processor.
IdeaPad Slim 3 Chromebook. Runs ChromeOS on a MediaTek Kompanio chip. If your laptop boots into ChromeOS rather than Windows, it belongs on our Chromebook pages.
IdeaPad Slim 5 or Slim 5i. The tier above, with better displays and higher resale value. This one is harder than it used to be, because Gen 10 Slim 3 models can also have aluminum and OLED — so read the label rather than judging by feel.
How you report memory depends on your generation. On a Gen 8 or Gen 9 the memory is soldered and cannot have been changed, so report exactly what the machine says — not a figure you saw in a listing for a different configuration. On a Gen 10 there is a SO-DIMM slot, so it genuinely may have been upgraded; check Settings → System → About and quote what is in it now. Storage works the same way: a Gen 10 has two M.2 slots and a second drive may have been added, and you will be paid for it.
If you would rather remove an added memory module or a second SSD before shipping, that is fine — just quote the configuration you are actually sending. Our guide on the factors that determine laptop resale value covers prep work that takes ten minutes and can move a unit up a condition grade.
In between, the order runs: processor tier (an i7-13620H or Ryzen 7 8840HS well ahead of an N100 or Athlon Silver), total memory, total storage and whether a second Gen 10 slot is filled, OLED versus IPS versus TN, aluminum versus plastic, touchscreen, IR face sign-in or a fingerprint reader, whether the keyboard is backlit, cosmetic condition, and battery health. Memory carries unusual weight on Gen 8 and Gen 9 precisely because it is sealed — a buyer who needs 16GB simply cannot upgrade an 8GB unit.
Many people don't realize that a service like this exists for an everyday budget laptop at all. Gaming rigs and MacBooks get all the attention, so owners of ordinary machines tend to assume the only options are a marketplace listing full of lowball offers, a manufacturer program that pays in store credit, or a closet shelf where the laptop quietly becomes worthless. Gadget Salvation has been a cash-for-electronics buyback service since 2008, and a working IdeaPad still has real value. You answer a few questions, you get an instant offer, we email you a free prepaid and insured shipping label, and we pay you in actual money — not credit, not gift cards — within about two business days of the laptop reaching us. There is no listing to write, no strangers to meet, and no fee deducted from your total. You can browse every Lenovo laptop we buy to check anything else you have sitting around, and our post on preowned laptop trade-in value explains why acting sooner beats waiting — budget laptops in particular lose value every month they sit unused.
You do not need to open the bottom cover or pull the M.2 cards yourself, and on the Gen 8 units with soldered UFS flash there is nothing to remove anyway. Our technicians run certified data sanitization on every machine that arrives, whether or not you reset it. On a Gen 10 with two drives fitted, tell us both are present so neither gets missed. The full process is documented on our data erasure protocols page. If the laptop will not boot far enough to reset, ship it as-is and let us know.
Pack it with the 65W adapter if you still have it, print the free prepaid and insured label we email you, and drop it off — our shipping instructions cover boxing a laptop so the screen survives the trip. Once it arrives and passes functional testing, payment is approved within roughly two business days. Choose PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, or CashApp, or a paper check mailed to your address.