@@Sharkguyanese17-zt4of There are a ton of guides online on how to install a Linux OS, you don't need specifically CJ to show/tell you. Basically you have to make a bootable USB drive and then simply follow the steps. Watching a couple of videos online about it + doing the USB + installing it should take you about 1 to 2 hours. Othen than Zorin OS, there's also Linux Mint, Fedora and Ubuntu as options. Though Zorin is usually the closest in look&feel to Windows users.
Heyo CJ! I, much like most folks, watch a host of different tech RUclipsrs, and I gotta say, you're probably the most meticulous and professional among them. I've seen similar praise on your videos in the past, but I just wanted to drop in and commend you for your hard work. Please keep doing this, you're a gem; the subscribers will come in by the dozen.
8:00 As far as I know, literally the only difference between regular windows and S-Mode windows is that it forces you to use only apps from the Microsoft store and acts like it's doing you a favor. It still does all the same bloat that regular windows does.
You can transfer the license from a local license linked to the hardware, to your Microsoft account. Then to another system. Or you can pull the product key with a power shell command.
I generally consider that tier of laptop to be manufactured e-waste. Most people who buy them thinking it's some kind of good deal end up replacing them in a year or so because of how poorly they perform. They're only useful for niche situations that don't need much performance and are best run with energy efficient hardware (headless services like home automation, 3D print server, etc.), but those uses don't even need it to be a full system with screen/keyboard/trackpad.
I would recommend getting a used Lenovo/HP/Dell but I understand some people are not comfortable buying used devices. This would be a good machine to run home assistant though.
@@ElevatedSystems I will be honest, I had no idea what that was until two minutes ago. I am "pro" mechanical engineer and I live for this kind of shit. you might have given me a new hobby. i was playing with the default firmware on my ender like a noob :D
Well, doesn't matter if the OS is lighter when it doesn't work well. I tried Linux so often and there always seemed to be some issue, doesn't matter if it's old or new hardware, PC or laptop.
Heh, Hyundai is educating people here in the UK (in advertisements) on how to properly pronounce their name. Hint: it’s different from yours, too 😂. Thank you so much for another nice review CJ! My conclusion tends to be similar. I don’t put Windows on low end laptops, because it’s too much for them. But then I’m also not wasting my 7950X’s talents on Windows either… 😅 I got a few VMs for that. So eventually I found their right place. (As most people will guess, I’m not really a gamer.)
Honestly putting Chrome OS or some linux distro for this thing. I've got an HP running around here where I pulled a similar experiment on. Due to hardware issues, I'm stuck on Chrome OS so at least it will work.
I would be curious to see Chrome OS Flex onto it. It might get the speakers to work. I've installed this OS on a 14 year old business laptop, dual-core/4GB of ram and it turned it into a surprisingly functional computer again. Most of the hardware was detected straight away. Including the speakers/audio.
I run Debian with XFCE on a 2gig equipped netbook. That $150 laptop looks like a perfect replacement! How is the battery life? Is it so abysmal as to not warrant mentioning it, or did I miss it?
Thanks for the review. I don't know what the target market is for this computer but as it is out of the box it would be too frustrating to use for even the most casual user.
@@JasonsLabVideos Oh definitely. If you are really crazy add an egpu and game and edit videos too. Up the Ram and add a 1 TB ssd for 80$, and you have a fairly competent machine even today.
Used hardware is a hard sell for most ppl at the absolute lowest end of the budget scale. The possibility of "loosing" even a couple hundred dollars is not an option. New equipment comes with a liberal return policy.
I tested several including Manjaro, the audio is a kernel support issue so for now there doesn't seem to be a permanent solution. But there may be a workaround I haven't thought of.
I would be interested in how chrome os and window s perform on this thing. It would be interesting to see if lite linux distros really are undisputed for lower end hardware. Looking more specifically at things like the number of available apps, resource utilization, and learning curve.
There are Chromebooks with this exact hardware and they work good but usually don't fit the needs of buisness users. Win S isn't as lite as it could be, mostly due to windows defender.
Chromebox, has greater upgradeability than a Chromebook. Plus the added security and efficiency of Chrome OS, It means any business user on a budget should at least consider it, as a viable option. Especially with all new options that are available from Android apps to Linux.
I just have to mention that Chrome OS is a linux distro too. It's based on Gentoo, though it's pretty heavily modified, if I'm not mistaken. And, yeah, given how weak that Celeron is, and with only 4 GB of RAM, I'd say that clearly the lite Linux distros (like AntiX) should be undisputed for this kind of hardware. Though Chrome OS I think is pretty well optimised for this kind of hardware too.
Just don’t get why they can’t hit that cheaper prices since Lenovo has a nice pentium laptop at $130 at the time of purchase I was like this is a steal at Walmart
I forgot the battery life chart. It was actually pretty good. 6 hours and 47 minutes on the Procyon Battery Life test.
@@Sharkguyanese17-zt4of There are a ton of guides online on how to install a Linux OS, you don't need specifically CJ to show/tell you. Basically you have to make a bootable USB drive and then simply follow the steps. Watching a couple of videos online about it + doing the USB + installing it should take you about 1 to 2 hours.
Othen than Zorin OS, there's also Linux Mint, Fedora and Ubuntu as options. Though Zorin is usually the closest in look&feel to Windows users.
Heyo CJ! I, much like most folks, watch a host of different tech RUclipsrs, and I gotta say, you're probably the most meticulous and professional among them. I've seen similar praise on your videos in the past, but I just wanted to drop in and commend you for your hard work. Please keep doing this, you're a gem; the subscribers will come in by the dozen.
8:00 As far as I know, literally the only difference between regular windows and S-Mode windows is that it forces you to use only apps from the Microsoft store and acts like it's doing you a favor. It still does all the same bloat that regular windows does.
One good use-case for these is to buy a Windows 10 license that comes with a free laptop.
Better off just buying an old cd. I don’t think you can transfer the Windows which comes with these to a better machine.
You can transfer the license from a local license linked to the hardware, to your Microsoft account. Then to another system. Or you can pull the product key with a power shell command.
@@ElevatedSystems Oooh that’s good to know. I thought they locked the OEM windows to the hardware
@@ghost-user559 you install it on a VM the first time, keeping a backup of the blank VM with its HW keys. Then you can use it anywhere…
(Blank VM, before installing Windows. Few kilobytes if I remember correctly.)
I generally consider that tier of laptop to be manufactured e-waste. Most people who buy them thinking it's some kind of good deal end up replacing them in a year or so because of how poorly they perform.
They're only useful for niche situations that don't need much performance and are best run with energy efficient hardware (headless services like home automation, 3D print server, etc.), but those uses don't even need it to be a full system with screen/keyboard/trackpad.
I would recommend getting a used Lenovo/HP/Dell but I understand some people are not comfortable buying used devices. This would be a good machine to run home assistant though.
Or Klipper 🙂
@@ElevatedSystems I will be honest, I had no idea what that was until two minutes ago. I am "pro" mechanical engineer and I live for this kind of shit. you might have given me a new hobby. i was playing with the default firmware on my ender like a noob :D
It sounds a lot better than the RCA or Onn branded laptops at Wal-Mart. I'm glad you showed a Linux alternative to speed it up.
Well, doesn't matter if the OS is lighter when it doesn't work well. I tried Linux so often and there always seemed to be some issue, doesn't matter if it's old or new hardware, PC or laptop.
Heh, Hyundai is educating people here in the UK (in advertisements) on how to properly pronounce their name. Hint: it’s different from yours, too 😂.
Thank you so much for another nice review CJ!
My conclusion tends to be similar. I don’t put Windows on low end laptops, because it’s too much for them.
But then I’m also not wasting my 7950X’s talents on Windows either… 😅 I got a few VMs for that. So eventually I found their right place. (As most people will guess, I’m not really a gamer.)
Honestly putting Chrome OS or some linux distro for this thing. I've got an HP running around here where I pulled a similar experiment on. Due to hardware issues, I'm stuck on Chrome OS so at least it will work.
I would be curious to see Chrome OS Flex onto it. It might get the speakers to work. I've installed this OS on a 14 year old business laptop, dual-core/4GB of ram and it turned it into a surprisingly functional computer again. Most of the hardware was detected straight away. Including the speakers/audio.
You can get a Chromebook with the same hardware for the same price. Flex is a limited version of ChromeOS.
@@ElevatedSystems good point
I run Debian with XFCE on a 2gig equipped netbook.
That $150 laptop looks like a perfect replacement! How is the battery life? Is it so abysmal as to not warrant mentioning it, or did I miss it?
Oops, I forgot the battery life chart. It was actually pretty good. 6 hours and 47 minutes on the Procyon Battery Life test.
Thanks for the review. I don't know what the target market is for this computer but as it is out of the box it would be too frustrating to use for even the most casual user.
AKA a huge waste of money !
A ten year old thinkpad is the better move here.
@@ghost-user559 Yup, more durable better quality too instead of the cheap plastic garbage above. Just ad a 50$ ssd and it will beat it hands down.
@@JasonsLabVideos Oh definitely. If you are really crazy add an egpu and game and edit videos too. Up the Ram and add a 1 TB ssd for 80$, and you have a fairly competent machine even today.
Used hardware is a hard sell for most ppl at the absolute lowest end of the budget scale. The possibility of "loosing" even a couple hundred dollars is not an option. New equipment comes with a liberal return policy.
Great video. Thanks for the low end advice. I guess tiny 11 can't even install. Thanks again. Blessings
Have you tried "Tiny 11" on it?
Might an Arch based distro have been better for hardware support?
I tested several including Manjaro, the audio is a kernel support issue so for now there doesn't seem to be a permanent solution. But there may be a workaround I haven't thought of.
@@ElevatedSystems Try BSD? Would be fun to test it.
I would be interested in how chrome os and window s perform on this thing. It would be interesting to see if lite linux distros really are undisputed for lower end hardware. Looking more specifically at things like the number of available apps, resource utilization, and learning curve.
There are Chromebooks with this exact hardware and they work good but usually don't fit the needs of buisness users. Win S isn't as lite as it could be, mostly due to windows defender.
Chromebox, has greater upgradeability than a Chromebook. Plus the added security and efficiency of Chrome OS, It means any business user on a budget should at least consider it, as a viable option. Especially with all new options that are available from Android apps to Linux.
I just have to mention that Chrome OS is a linux distro too. It's based on Gentoo, though it's pretty heavily modified, if I'm not mistaken.
And, yeah, given how weak that Celeron is, and with only 4 GB of RAM, I'd say that clearly the lite Linux distros (like AntiX) should be undisputed for this kind of hardware. Though Chrome OS I think is pretty well optimised for this kind of hardware too.
Chrome Enterprise - combines the business capabilities of Chrome browser, ChromeOS, and ChromeOS devices to power your cloud workforce.
Just don’t get why they can’t hit that cheaper prices since Lenovo has a nice pentium laptop at $130 at the time of purchase I was like this is a steal at Walmart
please do more budget laptop so that students can buy the right laptop😊
As a broke ass bloke, i have many low end laptop. I try to work around the limitation and make it work. For gaming try playing old games.
Looks to me like a good replacement for the samsung np535
Hey CJ! How about to test ChromeOS Flex on it?
thats awesome
Winaero for the win
I see why those product keys are so so cheap
Lol put zorinos on it. Good old Microsoft.