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Lenovo 14w Laptop: AMD A6-9220C, 14" 1080p, 4GB DDR4, 64GB eMMC Expired

$129
$299.00
+ Free Shipping
+303 Deal Score
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Lenovo has Lenovo 14w Laptop (81MQ000JUS) for $299 - $170 w/ ecoupon code THINKPEEK14 = $129. Shipping is free. Thanks tonershop

Specs:
  • AMD A6-9220C 1.8GHz 1MB Cache (Up To 2.7GHz) Processor
  • 14" 1920x1080 FHD Anti-Glare Display
  • Integrated AMD Graphics
  • 4GB DDR4 1666MHz Memory
  • 64GB eMMC
  • 802.11ac Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 4.2
  • Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit
  • Ports:
    • 2x USB 3.0
    • 1x USB Type-C (Charging)
    • 1x HDMI
    • 1x MicroSD Card Reader
    • 1x Audio Combo Jack
  • 3 Cell 57 WHr Battery
  • 3.39 lbs
No longer available:

Lenovo via Newegg also has Lenovo 14w Laptop (81MQ000JUS) for $129. Shipping is free.

Original Post

Written by
Edited October 31, 2019 at 09:29 AM by
Processor Type : AMD® A6-9220C dual-core processor (1.80GHz, up to 2.7GHz Max Boost, 1MB Cache)
Display Type : 14" FHD (1920 x 1080) anti-glare
Memory: 4 GB DDR4 1666MHz (Onboard)
Hard Drive: 64GB eMMC
Liteon QCA 6174A 802.11ac; Bluetooth 4.2
Windows 10 Home
Model: 81MQ000JUS

https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/lapt...81MQ000JUS
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Score
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$129
$299.00

Community Wiki

Last Edited by slickkitty July 3, 2020 at 03:26 PM
RAM is not upgradable. There appears to be no SSD connector to add an SSD:
https://slickdeals.net/f/13497700-lenovo-14w-14-windows-10-pro-laptop-129?p=131449135#post131449135

You can use the microSD slot for storage, and some system files.

Using an SD card (or USB) as Permanent Storage in Windows 10:
https://www.radishlogic.com/tools...indows-10/

The simple, minimum steps needed to update the software and settings, withou reinstalling:
https://slickdeals.net/f/13497700-lenovo-14w-laptop-amd-a6-9220c-14-1080p-4gb-ddr4-64gb-emmc-129-free-shipping?p=131637961#post131637961

Also, make sure hardware acceleration is turned on for the browser and apps you are using.
How To Manage Graphics Performance Per App On Windows 10
https://www.addictivetips.com/win...indows-10/

It may also be affected by the battery/performance settings. You may want to keep the settings on max performance, even on battery.

Lenovo Support Page for 14w/Type 81MQ:
https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/e...s/14w/81mq

User Guide:
https://download.lenovo.com/consu...201903.pdf

Hardware Maintenance Manual:
https://download.lenovo.com/consu...201903.pdf

You cannot upgrade the SSD in this version of the 14w (the m.2 header is missing)
https://jameshasanswers.com/how-t...mq-laptop/

Bios update link:
https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/e...e%3Abv0as6

Windows 10 Debloater - Guide on removing misc items that is not essential to use windows
https://github.com/Sycnex/Windows10Debloater


HotKey
For anyone that's interested in locking the FN key as primary button (Ex. volume , brightness etc).

Hit F2 repeatly to go to bios at the Lenovo screen.
Go to the setting call Hot key and enable it.
Then go to the last page to save and exit.

Here is the link to the manual if anyone needed it:https://download.lenovo.com/consu...201903.pdf
It's page 19 of the PDF, page 13 of the manual, if anyone is looking for it.

Touch pad driver use Elan

Graphic driver:
I went ahead and uninstall the original Radeon software and install the win 10 software (425MB). It did a complete install and updated the video driver.

https://www.amd.com/en/support/gr...on-r5-m430

My graphic driver is date 11/1/2019 version 26.20.13031.10003

Chrome youtube playback issue:
Installed H264ify extension for Chrome to optimize the GPU of this unit instead of using all the CPU's resource.

Chrome Hardware Acceleration turn on/off
https://www.lifewire.com/hardware...me-4125122

For better coloring screen:
Radeon setting and turned on the Virtual Super Resolution (VSR) and the color is completely different.

Orrrrr -
For a way nicer image from defaults:

On the desktop, right click and then clock AMD radeon settings.
Click "display"
Turn OFF varibright, virtual super res, GPU scaling; scaling mode should be full panel.
Click "color" near the top and set color temp to "automatic."

Windows Reinstall-Clean(A lot of people contributed this and put together, thx)
Step 1: download the Windows Media Creation Tool [microsoft.com]
-- plug in your USB, run the Media Creation Tool and select "Create installation media for another PC" and select version Windows 10 Pro x64

Now you have a live USB to install Windows


Step 2: download the Lenovo eMMC driver [lenovo.com]
-- open File Explorer and navigate to your Downloads folder
-- click the File menu (top left corner) > Open Windows Powershell
-- copy/paste the following command to extract the drivers:

.\annt06ww.exe /verysilent /dir=c:\lenovo_14w /extract="YES"

This puts 4 files in a folder called "lenovo_14w" on your C drive
-- When you install Windows, delete the existing partitions, click "Load driver", and navigate to this folder on your USB and select the .inf file to load your eMMC driver

Step 3: download the Qualcomm WLAN Driver [lenovo.com]
-- move this file from your Downloads folder to your "lenovo_14w" folder on the C drive that you created in Step 2
-- drag/drop to copy this whole folder to your USB

Now restart your PC and tap the F12 key while it boots
-- select your USB key from the boot manager menu

Note: Others to consider:
When downloading touch pad dirver use Elan.
When finish all windows updates use Windows 10 Debloater to get rid of junks.
Quote from DealzOnWheels :
It was slow for me too, guys, but if you tweak the system, allocate virtual space for ram, etc., It is actually pretty decent...

My worries were ram and hd, I fixed those though, thankfully.

My secret?:
Tweek (not the powder or rocks, ie ur settings, fix them n00bz)
Create virtual memory from the he, I allocated 16gb so for me I have 20gb of ram on this, 4gb + 16 virtual
Get large memory card, I have 256gb and may upgrade, as needed

...

Linux Distro(installed to eMMC not live usb):
https://slickdeals.net/f/13497700-lenovo-14w-laptop-amd-a6-9220c-14-1080p-4gb-ddr4-64gb-emmc-129-free-shipping?p=132126397#post132126397
Quote from SennamonTea :
Ok so I've had this laptop for a few days now and tested almost all the LInux Distros for those interested.

Here are the list of the best experiences right after install(all are 64bit):

#1 Zorin Lite 15

#1 Xubuntu 18.04, only edit you will need is change touchpad behavior to disable trackpad while typing(enable and set it to 0.2 seconds, increase time if you need to). Other minor gripe is it doesn't come with htop, but it'll prompt you in terminal on how to install. Super fast start up(~5seconds to log in from cold)

#1*Peppermint 10, this distro actually works the best right out of the box, all hotkeys work and everything. HOWEVER, this is a big however. I cannot get this distro to install, it errors out at configing since it doesn't have the controller for the eMMc drive. If you can get it to install I figure it'd be just as good if not better than Xubuntu

#2 Manjaro 18.1.2XFCE, very good but has some screen flicker at max brightness and slower than Xubuntu. Also sometimes on start up it has graphical glitches.

#3 Lubuntu 18.10. Everything good except one thing, which for me is a pretty big no, default driver for touchpad does not enable tap to click on touchpad, I didn't stay long enough to enable it.

#4 Lubuntu Mate18.04.3 :good but slower than previous distros, also has more screen tear for me on youtube

#5 Crunchbang++, keeps freezing and having issues

#6 Debian cannot start
Edit: I haven't tried installing to the eMMC, but the machine runs Debian stable reasonably well installed on a USB 3.0 dongle. I highly recommend the 5.2 backports kernel & the backports firmware-atheros package. Bluetooth is working.

#7Bodhi LInux 5.0.0: freezing/slow/slow startup

#8 PopOS: I tried a heavier OS for fun, this seems to work just fine, a little slower than the rest but as expected for a heavier specced OS

I didn't try Linux mint or Ubuntu, those are heavier distros that I did not want to touch. They usually work with everything but not my purpose of using this laptop. Hope this helps you.
Quote from nnSlick :
MX-Linux installs perfectly on my two lw14s. Even the hotkeys work at the first boot and hardware video decoding works beautifully without requiring any tweak when I tried VLC or YouTube.
Zorin Lite 15 works
Linux Mint Mate 19.3 installs and works.
Ubuntu Mate 19.10 installs smoothly.
xubuntu 19.10 installs but may experience screen tearing when boot up, known issue.
Elementary OS 15.1 installs and browser gpu hardware acceleration optimized.
A lot of distros have problem dealing with the emmc/controller from other user's test.

Interested in Linux and a beginner a quick reading article wrote by Gnudist,
https://slickdeals.net/f/13497700-lenovo-14w-laptop-amd-a6-9220c-14-1080p-4gb-ddr4-64gb-emmc-129-free-shipping?p=131914594#post131914594

Cloudyready (Chromebook alike)
You can install cloudyready
https://www.neverware.com/freedownload

to make it a chromebook (touchpad does not work as of now). You may need this hack(link should be working now):
https://neverware.zendesk.com/hc/...-3-upgrade

Chromium Hardware Acceleration In Linux
Elementary OS 5.1 may have this implemented, according to user tenkay.

tenkay's Chromium Hardware Acceleration:
https://slickdeals.net/f/13497700-lenovo-14w-laptop-amd-a6-9220c-14-1080p-4gb-ddr4-64gb-emmc-129-free-shipping?p=133126067#post133126067
It works and successfully changes the Chromium codec to MojoVideoDecoder in xubuntu 19.10 confirmed by slickkitty.

GPU monitor Radeontop Installation
https://slickdeals.net/f/13497700-lenovo-14w-laptop-amd-a6-9220c-14-1080p-4gb-ddr4-64gb-emmc-129-free-shipping?p=133159409#post133159409

For those still reading July 3rd 2020: Fresh Installed Ubuntu Mate 20.04 LTS runs great for couple of months since the version came out in April. The previous 19.10 had a bit of stability issues but this one is very stable. Trust me I tried to messed it up like how I did to 19.10.

Before Mate I tried xubuntu 20.04, very good and stable too. It is just my personal favor for mate. Xubuntu gives more custom adjustable options which I like. Mate is more smooth more versatile on software packages of how I like to operate. I did notice on comparison of the version that xubuntu used less ram right after boot up. Mate used a bit more but manage seemed smarter after usage.

Happy Fourth, stay healthy, and strong mind(meditation helps a lot, more than you think Wink).

2,255 Comments

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Featured Comments

Ya. Lenovo.com
VERRRRY SUSPICIOUS. Virus.

Roll Eyes (Sarcastic)
This is a great laptop for basic use. I got it three weeks ago when it was $160 at Lenovo, at this price it's amazing for a basic 1080p laptop with 4GB ram. It's an improvement over most Chromebooks in this price range. The only drawback I've found is that the touchpad, keyboard, and fascia show fingerprints easily. Other than that, it looks and feels like a high quality laptop, with a good screen, with smaller bezels than most.
it's $129...you want 4k ips screen too?

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Joined Feb 2013
L5: Journeyman
> bubble2 533 Posts
79 Reputation
djbtwcny
11-14-2019 at 06:17 PM.
11-14-2019 at 06:17 PM.
Boots in 30 seconds flat with Fast Boot enabled.
Reply
Joined Sep 2006
L11: Skeptic
> bubble2 3,527 Posts
1,105 Reputation
buzzy
11-14-2019 at 06:44 PM.
11-14-2019 at 06:44 PM.
Quote from slickkitty :
Even after tweak having it as windows 10 OS the laptop would be high maintenance to keep it up to perform.
What's needed besides a regular Disk Cleanup? That could even be set to run as a scheduled task.
Reply
Joined Aug 2011
L6: Expert
> bubble2 1,750 Posts
205 Reputation
supersteals
11-14-2019 at 06:46 PM.
11-14-2019 at 06:46 PM.
Quote from djbtwcny :
Mine boots to desktop in 45 seconds (cold boot), and loads Edge in about two seconds. Yahoo takes probably 6 seconds.

Edit
30 seconds flat with Fast Boot enabled




What 48 hour time limit? I believe you have 30 days from invoice.



I believe it was engineered to be a Chromebook, but then Microsoft wanted in on the action.
What did you do to get to 30 second boot up?

48 hour is the wait time after I went online started a return, then they have to approve the return - they take 48 hours for that (already exceeded). In days of Amazon, this is like being in early 2000s with return process
Reply
Joined Sep 2004
L7: Teacher
> bubble2 2,713 Posts
1,830 Reputation
spike32
11-14-2019 at 06:46 PM.
11-14-2019 at 06:46 PM.
enable hibernate

win+X to activate
Reply
Joined Sep 2006
L11: Skeptic
> bubble2 3,527 Posts
1,105 Reputation
buzzy
11-14-2019 at 06:50 PM.
11-14-2019 at 06:50 PM.
Quote from SeadudeW :
30%-40%?! LOL! Starting to think some people in this forum are not to smart!
It's fun having all the cool people like Seadude and his pals just hang out here. This really must be the place to be.

Reply
Joined Sep 2006
L11: Skeptic
> bubble2 3,527 Posts
1,105 Reputation
buzzy
11-14-2019 at 06:57 PM.
11-14-2019 at 06:57 PM.
Quote from xmonger :
They put a nice little AC Wifi card in this cheap slow laptop. I have Fios gigabit service.

On the Win 10 speedtest app I am showing 6ms 365.69 mbps dn / 293.12 mbps up
So apparently the MMC can handle more than 2.5MB/s or 20mpbs.
Reply
Joined Nov 2019
New User
> bubble2 4 Posts
14 Reputation
FabulousRaccoon944
11-14-2019 at 07:13 PM.
11-14-2019 at 07:13 PM.
Quote from blizzard43 :
Guys, I'm chanting Abracadabra and getting a 10000 passmark on the cpu now. My cinebench scores are insane.
Bought 4 of the Lenovo $129 and 1 Costco $280. Took most of day to get both updated. Should have bought couple more of the Lenovo putters. I was a technology director and have purchased many thousands of computers, and can testify that when all items updated on the Lenovo it is a very stable and fast enough machine for most people. If this one, or model with SSD and 8 gig of ram is on Black Friday, will return Costco and get couple more of the Lenovo's. The Costco one was much faster to update though, but not worth the differential to most folks. I have laptops with I5 8th gen and 10th gen, and there is a difference with the Lenovo, but not that much in normal use. Not sure why folks are saying videos not working and sluggish internet..
Reply

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Joined Sep 2004
L7: Teacher
> bubble2 2,713 Posts
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spike32
11-14-2019 at 07:19 PM.
11-14-2019 at 07:19 PM.
What reason did you put for the return, if you choose broken, did you actually call in? what did you write in the box?
Reply
Joined Dec 2007
L6: Expert
> bubble2 1,157 Posts
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slickkitty
11-14-2019 at 07:23 PM.
11-14-2019 at 07:23 PM.
Quote from buzzy :
What's needed besides a regular Disk Cleanup? That could even be set to run as a scheduled task.
Free up disk space is very vague but that pretty much sum it up.
From the back of my head windows needs 30% to 50% free disk space to run smoothly?
Personally I really feel sorry for this laptop and what MS did to it.
MS should slap Windows 7/8.1 in and call it "Simple OS", for these type of laptop. It should run smoothly and problem free.
Windows 7/8.1 Requirement(about the same):
1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor*
1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
Reply
Last edited by slickkitty November 14, 2019 at 07:42 PM.
Joined Oct 2011
L3: Novice
> bubble2 183 Posts
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Gnudist
11-14-2019 at 08:33 PM.
11-14-2019 at 08:33 PM.
Quote from UpbeatPickle3430 :
Good info. Let me get this straight. To the other person who asked about dual boot you told them Xubuntu in basic install uses 8 GB (unless you load it up with lots of apps on install).
Right.

Quote from UpbeatPickle3430 :
Then it sounds like you were talking about a SPECIAL made Debian Install on a 64gb stick , that has everything on the stick that you formatted to work on any laptop/desktop all by itself. And then you were able to have all those programs going in Debian ... and got great speed, and was working great for you!
So you have windows 10 pro installed on your laptop, and use Debian on a Stick with spicy sauce of your creation on the 64gb stick. Amazing job! Can you maybe post some if it in wiki 2nd/3rd post with how you did it (links). Cool bro.
There is really no special sauce on the Debian install, you can install Linux to a toaster, basically. Debian is officially ported [debian.org] to 10 different computer architectures, and there are unofficial releases for another score or so. The linux kernel is used on chromebooks and android and all the TOP500 [wikipedia.org] supercomputers and open source UNIX-like operating systems (Linux & FreeBSD) dominate servers as well as embedded devices (e.g. routers, TVs, smartwatches, video game consoles, etc.). I have a proxy on my local low-power celeron always-on server that has the latest Debian and Ubuntu packages I install on it, so it is easy for me to install a rump-load of extra programs with a single command without impacting my crummy bandwidth so I tend to load up my systems with a bunch of extra crap, including a range of different desktop environments [itsfoss.com] and programs [ubuntupit.com]. Unlike Windows, where every damn proprietary program wants to install its own program group and start automatically (and often to phone home to report on what your are doing with your computer) extra programs that are not running don't seem to slow a Linux installation down much, and Linux installs don't suffer nearly as much from the bit-rot that reduces a veteran Windows install to a crawl over the years,

I have a now-retired Ubuntu computer that I upgraded in place every 6 months from April 2005 until I put it out to pasture a couple of years ago (when it was running Ubuntu 18,04 bionic, the current long term support release). It was still usable, but why bother with a single core overclocked Athlon XP 1700+ CPU and 1.5 GB of DDR1 when you can buy a new laptop that has 3+ times as much memory and a processor that is 7 times as fast for $130?

So like I said, I just installed Debian on a USB stick a few years ago, and cloned it with dd [wikipedia.org] so I have several configured operating systems in case I lose one or it goes hind-end up.

When you take a Windows hard drive and transfer it to a new computer you often scramble the operating system unless you uninstall all the hardware from the Device Manager before you transplant it (or at least that used to be the case back in the early naughts when I still used Windows). Even then, often the OS isn't quite right and you might want to do a fresh install (and a reinstall every couple of years when the system slowed down). That isn't the case with Linux, 15 years ago I was astounded when I took an old suse install and put it in a new machine prepatory to formatting and reinstalling and found that everything was working properly after I edited my xorg.conf file for the new graphics driver (even that is generally not necessary these days).

So I just took my USB stick on which I'd installed Debian with another computer a couple of years ago, and inserted it in the 14w, went into the UEFI BIOS with the F2 key, went to the Boot menu, disabled secure boot and enabled Legacy Support and made Legacy the first booted option. Linux came up and everything was working but the wireless. So I attached a USB hub with ethernet and installed the latest backports version of the atheros firmware (sudo apt-get -t buster-backports install firmware-atheros), and while I was at it, I figured I might as well install the latest backports kernel as well, since the Lenovo was relatively new hardware ( sudo apt-get -t buster-backports install linux-image-amd64). And of course I updated every other package on the installation while I was at it, which just requires a single command (UG is my command line alias for "apt update ; apt full-upgrade"). You can do all that with user-friendly GUI programs, of course, but Debian and Ubuntu have been my daily driver for 15 years, so it is just faster and more efficient for me to use the terminal.

I still can't believe what a hassle it is to update a Windows installation, the hunting and pecking for various programs and endless reboots, and the insane amount of time. Then the damn machine hangs you up for often many minutes both when you shut down and restart while it installs the updates. And then it sometimes requires running the whole cycle 2-3 more times! My server has been running for a couple of weeks and done several complete updates to the latest versions of all installed packages, but is still humming along fine, though I guess if I felt like it I could restart it to refresh a few services.
Code:
# needrestart
Scanning processes...                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
Scanning candidates...                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
Scanning processor microcode...                                                                                                                                                                                                              
Scanning linux images...                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

The processor microcode seems to be up-to-date.

No services need to be restarted.

No containers need to be restarted.

User sessions running outdated binaries:
 luser @ session #570: dropbox[3467], kdeinit5[3043]
luser @ user manager service: systemd[1611]
One caveat I should mention with installing my preferred version of Linux, Debian, is that by default it does not include the proprietary firmware and non-free packages in an installation unless you use an alternative installer, [debian.org] but Ubuntu and its derivatives do include most of the required proprietary stuff to get your computer running. Ubuntu comes in 2 major types, the long-term support (LTS) version released every April in even-numbered years (which is supported for 3-5 years), and the regular versions which are released every 6 months, but only supported for 9 months. You can upgrade from one LTS version to the next, but if you use the regular releases you have to upgrade to each in sequence. So since Ubuntu 19.10 was just released last month I would advocate installing that since the upgrade from 19.10 to the next LTS version 20.04 which will be released next April is easier than going from the last LTS release, 18.04 to 20.04. Then I would stick to the LTS version until the next LTS version is released and then upgrade to that. Generally Ubuntu will ask you if you want to upgrade LTS versions a few months after the latest LTS version has been released. I have fired up a USB live installer with Xubuntu []https] 19.10, code named Eoan Ermine on the 14W, and I can confirm that wireless and bluetooth work fine, and it seems to recognize the eMMC controller.
xubuntu@xubuntu:~$ sudo bash
root@xubuntu:/home/xubuntu# fdisk -l
Disk /dev/loop0: 1.44 GiB, 1530642432 bytes, 2989536 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/mmcblk1: 58.25 GiB, 62537072640 bytes, 122142720 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: C6004D96-7FBD-4AEB-AC23-34A6DC1A4170

Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/mmcblk1p1 2048 534527 532480 260M EFI System
/dev/mmcblk1p2 534528 567295 32768 16M Microsoft reserved
/dev/mmcblk1p3 567296 120092671 119525376 57G Microsoft basic data
/dev/mmcblk1p4 120092672 122140671 2048000 1000M Windows recovery environment


Disk /dev/sda: 14.93 GiB, 16004415488 bytes, 31258624 sectors
Disk model: USB Flash Drive
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x6e460c94

Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sda1 * 0 3218687 3218688 1.5G 0 Empty
/dev/sda2 3198136 3206071 7936 3.9M ef EFI (FAT-12/16/32)
/dev/sda3 3219456 31258623 28039168 13.4G 83 Linux
So I am guessing any version of *buntu 19.10 will install just fine on the 14W.

The reason I called it *buntu is that Ubuntu comes in a variety of different flavors depending upon the desktop. Ubuntu itself is based on Gnome 3, which requires above average hardware to run smoothly (and it is kind of OSX-like and I don't really like it personally). But there are several other flavors of *buntu, as well that run different desktop environments. It doesn't much matter which one you start with, you can easily install other desktops as well later, and I have never noticed anything but occasional cosmetic issues and program duplication (and every once in a long while package version conflicts which are easily resolved if you are an experienced user). Check out this web site [itsfoss.com] to read about some of the versions of Ubuntu. There are also a lot of other Linux "distributions" based on *buntu but they add their own repositories, as well. These include Mint Linux, Peppermint, Zorin, Pop!_OS, which have all been mentioned on this thread, as well as many, many others. There are also many distributions based on Debian (and in fact, Ubuntu is based on Debian, but Debian and Ubuntu use different repositories and are not interchangeable). Frankly, I think the "based-on" distributions are more trouble than they are worth. They are often much harder to upgrade to the next major version if you are not an experienced user, and frankly, don't bring all that much to the table that you can't get from stock *buntu or Debian. So if you want Cinnamon desktop that comes with the standard version or Linux Mint, for instance, just install another stock version of *buntu like Ubuntu-Mate, and then install the cinnamon desktop, which you can do with a single command like "sudo apt install cinnamon-desktop-environment" (I'm on Debian so can't check the exact package name). BTW, if you are interested in learning about different open source operating systems (often called distros) I recommend checking out a web site called Distrowatch [distrowatch.com].

So I (stupidly?) have 9 different Linux desktop environments installed on my flash drive, but I'd recommend against using some of them on this underwhelming but adequate bit of kit. Gnome 3 is a very heavy desktop, Ubuntu itself (which uses Gnome 3) wouldn't be my choice on this box. Likewise, budgie and cinnamon don't really show their chops best on slower hardware.

KDE/Plasma (called Kubuntu https://kubuntu.org/ http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu...-amd64.iso) is an extremely configurable desktop environment that is very reminiscent of Windows (by default, a little too reminiscent for my tastes, but like I said, it is very configurable). And it actually runs adequately well on this Lenovo, even off of my tired, slow flash drive.

BTW, to image the downloaded Linux installer ISOs to a flash drive a good tool is a program called Balena Etcher [balena.io], it is free, cross-platform, and open source.

Ubuntu-Mate [ubuntu-mate.org] features the mate desktop, which is perhaps a bit lighter than KDE, and is also very configurable. Heck, with a package called mate-tweak [dedoimedo.com] you can easily make it look like your preferred proprietary operating system if that is something you would want to do. Personally, I occasionally find Linux desktops introducing features that I think are ungodly stupid, and then I almost always find out that they are copied from Windows, or, even worse, OSX. Luckily, it is Linux, which is all about personal choice, so it is easy to de-dumb the desktops. Anyway, you can download the 19.10 version of ubuntu-mate here [ubuntu.com].

Lubuntu [lubuntu.me] is the lightest of the *buntu herd, based on the LXDE desktop. It is Linux, so you can de-uglify it if you feel so inclined (the attractive Peppermint distro has elements of LXDE), but out of the box it is kind of plain. Download 19.10 here []http].

Xubuntu is based on XFCE, another light, traditional desktop. I think it is an excellent choice, configurable, stable, and after KDE, my favorite desktop. There is a reason why it has been so highly recommended in this thread. http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu...-amd64.iso

If you want to fool around with various distros without downloading them and running a live USB there are web sites [ostechnix.com] you can visit where you can remotely test drive hundreds of options.

BTW, UpbeatPickle3430, I didn't say I got great speed, exactly, rather it is adequate and not frustrating to use (at least in Linux). That is saying quite a bit since I have it installed on a slow USB dongle. It would be much faster if installed to the eMMC drive, blowing away Windows (or dual booting with it). I would make this 14W dual boot from the eMMC myself, but I like encrypting my Linux systems (which are really the only ones I really use), and that would be more of a hassle without blowing away Windows. Besides, Windows uses half the eMMC after updating, and if Windows were to get actually used it would require some room to grow, so I'd have to pare my Linux install down to maybe 15GB, which is OK, but would feel a bit cramped to me. A few years ago I built an i7 with 3 SSDs (Linux, OSX & Windows) and 32GB of RAM for some video editors I know, this box isn't that beast. The Lenovo would be a wrong choice for that kind of work load, but it is just fine for web browsing, email, office applications, multimedia consumption, etc.

Quote from UpbeatPickle3430 :
I was wondering if you could look into putting your Debian Super usb install on a MicroSD card in this laptop. I don't believe anyone has been able to install a distro on that microSD yet and boot from it, but it sounds like you would have the skills to do it.

Only do this if you like the challenge. The usb 3 stick works already, so keep taking us forward in getting this laptop to kick ass! Smilie
Bad news on that front, I put a bootable SD card in the reader but F12 is not recognizing it has a boot option. I haven't tried updating the BIOS, but that probably won't help.
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Joined Sep 2004
L7: Teacher
> bubble2 2,713 Posts
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spike32
11-14-2019 at 09:43 PM.
11-14-2019 at 09:43 PM.
Quote from Gnudist :
Bad news on that front, I put a bootable SD card in the reader but F12 is not recognizing it has a boot option. I haven't tried updating the BIOS, but that probably won't help.
Thanks for your posts, detailed and good
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Joined Oct 2016
L2: Beginner
> bubble2 48 Posts
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RMLA
11-14-2019 at 10:24 PM.
11-14-2019 at 10:24 PM.
I experience lag overall. Feel like the old days with a disk near capacity. Closing and switching apps experience unreasonable lag like a few seconds. Can't figure where the bottleneck is or maybe the CPU is incapable of desktop Windows.
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Last edited by gg661800 November 14, 2019 at 10:33 PM.
Joined Mar 2013
L5: Journeyman
> bubble2 555 Posts
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SeadudeW
11-14-2019 at 10:41 PM.
11-14-2019 at 10:41 PM.
Quote from spike32 :
What reason did you put for the return, if you choose broken, did you actually call in? what did you write in the box?
I just choose changed mind after purchase. In the comment section, I just put in this POS is slower then my 10 yrs old core2quad. That's all
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Joined Sep 2014
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DJspins
11-14-2019 at 11:33 PM.
11-14-2019 at 11:33 PM.
Quote from el31415 :
They should have bundled this laptop with a Windows Millenium and a free dial up internet.
For all the cry baby, like myself. You will not get anything better at this price point.
But better doesn't necessary translate to useable, depending on your need.
OMG you have become my favorite online personality😃. I doubt the pope could do an excorsism and release the demons from this AMD processor or HD
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Last edited by DJspins November 14, 2019 at 11:39 PM.
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