Lenovo 14" 1080p Laptop @ Lenovo $130. WOW

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VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
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This came with Win10 Pro Educational? Interesting. I wonder if mine will.

Make sure to make a recovery USB, if you are able to. The normal MS MCT USB sticks don't have Educational edition on them.
 

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
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per the SD thread i read about this the other day, if you have the eMMC version there's no ports to upgrade the drive. only option is to permanently mount an SD card if you want to expand storage.

ginormous thread:
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
9,990
126
per the SD thread i read about this the other day, if you have the eMMC version there's no ports to upgrade the drive. only option is to permanently mount an SD card if you want to expand storage.
Planned obsolescence at its worst. Horrible for e-waste as well. eMMC-ONLY (with no SATA or M.2 ports) should be BANNED, IMHO. They need to provide a way for users to replace/upgrade storage, not if, but when, the eMMC fails or becomes unreliable. (*)

(*) It's not like I'm asking the world here, but most laptops these days sold with eMMC, also have options to be sold (same mobo) with either SATA or M.2 "proper" SSDs (at a higher price-point), and all I'm asking, is maybe a quarter USD worth of connector material to allow these laptops to not become obsolete and e-waste in three years.

Edit: I would be willing to strike a middle-ground, and for laptops whos motherboard layouts do no include a native SATA or M.2 pinout anywhere, then it would be acceptable simply to have BIOS/UEFI boot support, for the SD card slot to boot a Linux distro, at least then, you could put the laptop to work, even if the internal eMMC fails on you.

This regulation would be primarily environmental in nature, to prevent pre-mature (and easily preventable!) e-WASTE.

Apparently, these eMMC models, are NOT "M.2 upgradable". :( Sigh. Would have been REAL nice of Lenovo, to keep that option. Gotta save those two pennies!

 
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VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
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Some SD'ers not so happy with this laptop. If it's anything like my Dell 11.6" with A6-9220e, then yeah, this review comment is probably spot-on.


11-02-2019 at 05:54 AM #516


rendering finance.yahoo.com to a usable state took >30 secs in both edge and chrome. amazon took me about 30 secs to render, search for 'laptop' and click the first result and render.

It really is painful for anyone used to a modern browsing experience on their phone or otherwise.

If someone doesn't know any better, it'd probably be borderline acceptable.

My boys who regularly use chromebooks at school and our spare macbooks at home both tried to click around a bit and thought it was bad.

We all want this fantastic machine for the small amount we paid, but I think we got what we paid for in this instance. If the build quality were cheaper I'd probably return it, but it seems like a durable product that I can find specific use cases for - if I don't give it to my aging mother.

note: updates completed overnight and none were available this AM so it's fully updated.

User "jayhawknative" reports that this laptop actually comes with the Academic version of Windows 10 Pro, so you'll want to use the proper ISO: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/s...ndows10iso

This might be useful too.


Edit: This SD'er really like theirs.
11-06-2019 at 03:29 PM #883


I received mine today. I got all the updates done in under an hour.

Anyone complaining about this $130 laptop is insane. Build quality is excellent. Speed is very good for browsing the web and doing some lite office work. I will not be installing Linux, as there is no need.

I ran this laptop side to side with my HP Omen i7 for web browsing. I actually like the lenovo better. It's a great size, light weight, and seems to have very good battery life.

Speed is fine for basic tasks. I should have bought more for gifting.

Edit: Unlike my Dell 11.6" laptop with eMMC and an A6-9220e, which I just recently did a fresh install of Win10 1903 on using a USB MCT stick, apparently these Lenovo 14w laptops need the eMMC driver for Win10 in order to perform a fresh install.
11-06-2019 at 06:02 PM #908


Quote from DJRobNM


I have tried to install 1903 using various USB options but when I get to the drive selection I cannot see the 64gb eMMC.

Tried turning off various options in BIOS including Secure Boot to no avail.

Anyone have any ideas?

I have done hundreds of windows installations and never seen this issue before.
Had the same problem and figured it out. You need the BayHub eMMC Bridge Driver found here [lenovo.com]. Extract it using this command:

annt06ww.exe /verysilent /dir=<PACKAGEPATH> /extract="YES"

<PACKAGEPATH> is the path to where you want to extract it (eg: C:\new)

Then take the 4 files and put them onto the USB stick and then when it gets to the window where it cannot find a drive to install on then click on load driver. You can also integrate the driver into the USB installer using something like NTLite.

Someone unhappy with the "slow" CPU performance. Which I basically more-or-less concur with.
11-06-2019 at 07:27 PM #918


Yeah this processor is absolutely garbage. Nevermind the Q6600, this processor has a lower passmark than an E8400. I've updated everything and this laptop struggles to run chrome on one tab. Even 1080p videos on Youtube stutter and the CPU is constantly under 100% load with chrome. Lenovo should have never shipped this computer with Windows 10. The laptop is clearly not able to handle even the most rudimentary tasks. I would only recommend this if you were intending to install a lightweight Linux distro or as a gift to someone you really dislike.

Tweaking the power-management might be helpful in increasing the CPU speed.
11-06-2019 at 09:29 PM #934


Quote from FrozenIpaq


For those talking about lackluster performance, I suggest looking at what the clock speed is when you are doing certain tasks - I found that when the machine was sluggish (most of the time), it was operating at 1.19ghz and not the 2.0+ that it should be. A few tweaks and a restart later and it was performing much better at over 2.0ghz when browsing with Firefox. Pages loaded at a more acceptable rate (it's not going to be fast) and videos seemed to play fine.

So for those having issues - access the task manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) and go to the Performance tab and see what the current clock speed is. If it's around 1ghz, that explains the extremely bad performance.
Was one of the tweaks clicking on battery and sliding the level to best performance?

That's the only thing I did and it runs well into the mid 2's under full load.

Apparently, these are older stock, and do not have the latest BIOS updates (which include some security fixes - important!):
(Someone mentions making sure that your PC is Activated within Windows 10, before updating the BIOS.)

BIOS AND DRIVERS: The driver changes are negligible, but you will want to run the BIOS update from the Lenovo support page:
https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/e...IOS%2FUEFI

One user saw improved performance with a BIOS update:
Yesterday at 06:28 PM #1081


A Bios update has made all the difference for me between a computer I would not even give to a preschooler to one that can fulfill it's intended purpose of providing a Roku alternative. Mine arrived Tuesday and I turned off indexing and updated Windows to the current version that night. Since then I have run Win Update several times and kept it set on "Pause Updates for 7 Days". Last night, using the Edge browser, I was unable to view movies on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and Sling without stuttering and/or buffering. All Hulu commecials buffered at least twice. Netflix stuttered not only at the "high" setting of up to 3 GB per hour, but also at the "Medium"setting - standard video quality up to 0.7 GB per hour. After typing several letters into a search box using a hunt and peck method, further letters would not appear for several seconds.

All of these problems resolved after a bios update. It still cannot play Youtube's Metallica 1080p/60fps/Surround 5.1 video but does play a previously untested "Earth From Space Full HD 1080p 60fps".

VP9 HW-accelerated codec download from the MS store for Win10, might improve performance in some browsers while watching YT?
Yesterday at 06:55 PM #1090


Quote from hepworth
Try installing the "vp9 tools" from the microsoft store and rebooting, then see how Edge does with it. Or try the h264 patch mentioned a few times in the thread that forces youtube to send h.264 video instead of vp9.

Runs well on my 6th gen i7; 7% cpu and 26% gpu...and the 520 integrated supposedly sucks at vp9 decoding.

Link: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p...verviewtab

"Play VP9 videos in any video app on your Windows 10 device. VP9 is a popular video codec for streaming over the internet. These VP9 Video Extensions are designed to take advantage of hardware capabilities on newer devices. For devices that don't have hardware support for VP9 videos, software support is provided, but the playback experience might vary based on the video resolution and device performance. These extensions also let you encode VP8 and VP9 content on devices that don't have a hardware-based video encoder."
 
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Macgyversite

Golden Member
Dec 8, 2002
1,161
107
106
I think they ship from Indonesia...

No, They shipped from the USA.


per the SD thread i read about this the other day, if you have the eMMC version there's no ports to upgrade the drive. only option is to permanently mount an SD card if you want to expand storage.

ginormous thread:

This is a great feature and makes it possible to still use a USB thumb drive to off load files or store extra ones. I guess you can still use a small form factor Thumb drive for Ready Boost too?

Read a lot of the thread and there are a lot of Clueless people over there.

This laptop runs fine. It is so far a super clean simple laptop that will do what it is intended to do. Browse. Email. Watch videos and last a LONG time on battery power.
Planned obsolescence at its worst. Horrible for e-waste as well. eMMC-ONLY (with no SATA or M.2 ports) should be BANNED, IMHO. They need to provide a way for users to replace/upgrade storage, not if, but when, the eMMC fails or becomes unreliable. (*)

(*) It's not like I'm asking the world here, but most laptops these days sold with eMMC, also have options to be sold (same mobo) with either SATA or M.2 "proper" SSDs (at a higher price-point), and all I'm asking, is maybe a quarter USD worth of connector material to allow these laptops to not become obsolete and e-waste in three years.

Edit: I would be willing to strike a middle-ground, and for laptops whos motherboard layouts do no include a native SATA or M.2 pinout anywhere, then it would be acceptable simply to have BIOS/UEFI boot support, for the SD card slot to boot a Linux distro, at least then, you could put the laptop to work, even if the internal eMMC fails on you.

This regulation would be primarily environmental in nature, to prevent pre-mature (and easily preventable!) e-WASTE.

Apparently, these eMMC models, are NOT "M.2 upgradable". :( Sigh. Would have been REAL nice of Lenovo, to keep that option. Gotta save those two pennies!


This is prolly the worst thing about the laptop. Not ram or EMMC upgradable. The Ram can be taken care of with Ready Bboost and the SD card expansion. Its not a total loss. The laptop still has 30GB free.


The people that say it cannot load websites. Well I dont know what they are doing.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
9,990
126
Apparently, BestBuy is selling a "Platinum Grey" twin of this laptop. Well, more like a distant cousin. Only Win10 Home, not Pro Edu, and not an Aluminum chassis, only plastic, and not FHD (1080P), only HD (768P), and not an A6-9220C, only an A6-9220e. But roughly similar "checkbox specs". (Edit: May be "S-Mode", I didn't check.)


For those that may have missed out on the Lenovo website coupon deal (which is almost certainly going to pop up again this month, as we get closer to BF).
 
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VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
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126
I wish that I knew where I saw it, but someone talked about mounting an SD (microSD) card, as more-or-less "fixed" storage in a cloudbook laptop, and then linking the \Windows\SoftwareDistribution folder to it, so that Windows Updates wouldn't overwhelm a 32GB eMMC cloudbook laptop. I support possibly you could set up a secondary \Program Files directory on it too, to install applications onto. Certainly, you could also use it for \Users\xxx\Documents and \Users\xxx\Downloads and Pictures.

I should experiment with that, I've got that Dell 11.6" A6-9220e with 32GB eMMC, and it could really use some additional space, somehow, as with the 8GB RAM upgrade and the Win10 1903 re-install, the PAGEFILE.SYS and HIBERFIL.SYS (which I don't believe that you are able to move off of the eMMC) are twice the size as in the default software image, so that eats up much of the free space, and there's barely 2.7GB left for downloads, browser cache/history/bookmarks, and Windows Updates.

Edit: See here:

Edit: Was successful mounting the SD card and linking the \Windows\SoftwareDistribution folder to the SD card's storage rather than the 32GB eMMC, which is a good thing, since there was only 2.7GB free on the eMMC after fresh installation of Win10 1903 Home 64-bit, AMD video drivers, Firefox, a couple of utilities, and of course, all of the current Windows Updates, which I did (stupidly?) before adding the SD card mounted filesystem and linking it.

But was unsuccessful trying the same thing on a Lenovo IdeaPad 100S, which is running Win10 1903 Home 32-bit, and has been upgraded throughout the years from 1503 on upwards. Not a fresh install. For some reason, the script didn't seem to fully work on this laptop / Windows installation. Sigh.
 
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ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
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@VirtualLarry and @ElFenix

Have you guys ever used the Ready Boost feature or the SD card slot "Program Files" feature ?
no, closest thing i've had to this sort of computer is a couple of windows tablets. i suppose i could do that to the working one (DVP8), though that has an internal usb port available so you can hack a flash drive into permanent storage. i'd really like a replacement for that with a proper mobile processor but intel hasn't figured out how to make one yet.

i need to take a heat gun to the other and see if i can replace the battery (microcenter tw100 10").
 
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Macgyversite

Golden Member
Dec 8, 2002
1,161
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106

Toshiba M.2 NVMe 2242 240GB SSD. Would that fit into this laptops wifi card socket? And then use a nano-dongle for wifi?

Thats a good question. Todays dongles just like todays thumb drives are super low profile.

To me this is a cheapie laptop so I am trying to keep it that way. However if you have a SD card, nano Thumb drive, and a NVMe laying around. You could make this into a better unit. I have two out of three and will see how the SD and Thumb work.

I did some research and the socket might not work with anything else but that Wifi/BT card. Plus the length limit might be an issue.
 
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Macgyversite

Golden Member
Dec 8, 2002
1,161
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I tried to do the "Ready Boost" but Win10 said the main drive is fast enough.

I got it updated to Build 1909. You need to be plugged in and have to the Display and HD turning off to "never" in the power options. Worked for me at least.

I have not had a chance to apply the latest AMD drivers yet.
 

Macgyversite

Golden Member
Dec 8, 2002
1,161
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Yes. It clearly says 1909 in the build data and when I patched it. I also verified it in the update history.
 

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Macgyversite

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My wife likes it. The Apps run better if there are any like "Youtube" etc. The battery lasts a long time. Its light and well made. The Screen is great. Good deal if you only use it for what it was intended to do.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
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As I posted in my collection of snipped from the SD original thread, regarding the eMMC driver: Most eMMC are supported natively in Win10, but apparently, the one in this one requires a driver? Is that still true, in Win10 1909, or is it included in that version?

The reason that I ask is, I bought a few more of these, and was thinking of a use for one of them, for a recent client of mine. I would be restoring an image backup of Win10 Home, from a Zacate APU laptop (E-300). Which, would probably work fine, and Win10 would probably fine all of the drivers OK, EXCEPT, what do I do if I need to supply the eMMC driver? Would have to manually install the driver package, on the E-300 laptop, BEFORE imaging and restoring the Lenovo, and that might not even work, IF the eMMC driver install package, requires the hardware to be present on the system (hopefully not).

Could be interesting to try to get working, but it sounds like a bit of a chore. My client would probably be pleased, if I could get this combo working, "New" laptop, with their backup Win10 image from their current (much older) laptop.
 

Macgyversite

Golden Member
Dec 8, 2002
1,161
107
106
As I posted in my collection of snipped from the SD original thread, regarding the eMMC driver: Most eMMC are supported natively in Win10, but apparently, the one in this one requires a driver? Is that still true, in Win10 1909, or is it included in that version?

The reason that I ask is, I bought a few more of these, and was thinking of a use for one of them, for a recent client of mine. I would be restoring an image backup of Win10 Home, from a Zacate APU laptop (E-300). Which, would probably work fine, and Win10 would probably fine all of the drivers OK, EXCEPT, what do I do if I need to supply the eMMC driver? Would have to manually install the driver package, on the E-300 laptop, BEFORE imaging and restoring the Lenovo, and that might not even work, IF the eMMC driver install package, requires the hardware to be present on the system (hopefully not).

Could be interesting to try to get working, but it sounds like a bit of a chore. My client would probably be pleased, if I could get this combo working, "New" laptop, with their backup Win10 image from their current (much older) laptop.

I will check tomorrow.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
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I just wanted the thank the OP, @Macgyversite , for this deal. I got a 1080P laptop for a great price, and my semi-elderly Mom got a new early Christmas present, because her 4-year-old Lenovo IdeaPad100S (11.6", Bay Trail quad-core, 32GB eMMC) stopped charging. (I have yet to take a look at it an see if I can revive it.)

But the laptop in this deal thread seems to be right my Mom's speed.
 
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