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Lenovo IdeaPad 1 14in Celeron 4GB 64GB Cloudbook

MikeMA

MikeMA

pfm Member
My daughter needs a new Windows laptop for work. She works as a direct employee of the NHS and also privately for other clients including the NHS (yes I know, but it's complicated). She already has an NHS issued laptop for her NHS work, but needs another Windows laptop for her private work. It will be used mainly for running MS Office applications plus basic general stuff like browsing the internet, shopping and banking etc. She has seen and likes the look of the Lenovo IdeaPad 1 14in Celeron 4GB 64GB Cloudbook available from Argos (she has some Argos vouchers she can use towards the cost). It looks o.k. to me but I'd be grateful to know what the pfm IT geeks who know all about this stuff think? Any decent looking alternatives - appearance matters, it needs to be new and shiny - she should consider?
 
I don't know about now, but I always thought Celeron processors were to be avoided.
 
If the NHS computer is not locked down to prevent booting from USB you could use that hardware with an external Windows-2-Go SSD drive. The NHS laptop can be configured such that when the W2G SSD is plugged into a USB port it will boot from that and you'll have your own computer that you can take with you. By default W2G hides the drives on the host computer so there won't be any accidental damage to files etc.

Of course you have to make your own W2G SSD and that could be done from the existing NHS installation or any other Windows installation. I could even post a working one with Win 10 Pro and M$ Office 2019 Pro Plus already activated.

What is the NHS machine? Booting from USB3 gen 1 feels just as fast as an internal disk. Even an old 2010 Mac Mini works O.K. from its USB 2 port.

Cheers,

DV
 
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Darth Vader said:
If the NHS computer is not locked down to prevent booting from USB you could use that hardware with an external Windows-2-Go SSD drive. The NHS laptop can be configured such that when the W2G SSD is plugged into a USB port it will boot from that and you'll have your own computer that you can take with you. By default W2G hides the drives on the host computer so there won't be any accidental damage to files etc.

Of course you have to make your own W2G SSD and that could be done from the existing NHS installation or any other Windows installation. I could even post a working one with Win 10 Pro and M$ Office 2019 Pro Plus already activated.

What is the NHS machine? Booting from USB3 gen 1 feels just as fast as an internal disk. Even an old 2010 Mac Mini works O.K. from its USB 2 port.

Cheers,

DV
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Thanks DV. I'm afraid this would be too complicated for my daughter. I thinks she just wants a laptop of her own to keep her public sector/private sector/ academic work separate and avoid possibly infringing NHS privte use rules.
 
Just to be clear with a W2G external SSD/hard drive the internal computer disc is effectively put to sleep and not used. Its as though it has been removed and replaced by the external disk/ SSD. It depends on how securely the NHS computer needs to be and if the work stuff is that sensitive then admin would also lock down USB boot on their computers. My daughter has a very securely locked down company Macbook Pro and you can't boot from an external drive. Without more info I can't advise but for most company security provided that no private stuff ends up in the machine nor company stuff copied onto external storage it should be O.K.

W2G is great for mobile people because you only need to take a tiny SSD that fits in a shirt pocket/large purse and plug it into a host computer when visiting remote sites. You have all your work and private stuff with you. I use WD green SSD M.2 drives as they are very low power. They may work a little slower but it doesn't matter over a USB connection.

Cheers,

DV
 
Probably best to avoid darths inception pc troupe

That being said I have the basic surface go which i purchased really just for taking notes when out and about.

Its a pentium or celeron something or other with 4 gigs.

Reality is its a bit shit. Anything running windows with 4gigs will be. And this device is from microsoft so a nice clean install of windows no doubt will be laden with further crap from a third party.

Dont do it.

You would be better spending 2-300 on a second hand 3 year old nice specced machine.
 
MikeMA said:
My daughter needs a new Windows laptop for work. She works as a direct employee of the NHS and also privately for other clients including the NHS (yes I know, but it's complicated). She already has an NHS issued laptop for her NHS work, but needs another Windows laptop for her private work. It will be used mainly for running MS Office applications plus basic general stuff like browsing the internet, shopping and banking etc. She has seen and likes the look of the Lenovo IdeaPad 1 14in Celeron 4GB 64GB Cloudbook available from Argos (she has some Argos vouchers she can use towards the cost). It looks o.k. to me but I'd be grateful to know what the pfm IT geeks who know all about this stuff think? Any decent looking alternatives - appearance matters, it needs to be new and shiny - she should consider?
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Sticking with Argos this is the lowest spec I would suggest if a mate/family member asked me what to get and mentioned similar tasks. £350.

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/6829498

Basically the machine you linked to is not a proper laptop, it runs a cut down Windows 10 called S, 4GB of Ram and 64GB of souped up SD Card storage is too little. I recommend 8GB Ram and a 256GB Solid State Disk as what you really need to run Windows 10 without frustration.

I agree with garyi that a refurbished laptop would offer better value, there are a number of decent resellers if you Google selling Dell and HP lappys pretty cheap.

Gus
 
I would advise against any kind of messing around with a work laptop, especially a NHS one. If they catch you somehow then saying that a bloke on the internet advised me to do it won't stop them from showing you the door, probably without collecting £200.

I used a Lenovo T series at my work and they were bombproof in normal use but a bit outdated now. If you can get hold of one second-hand from someone reputable who also provides support and will build the software to your spec then I'd go for that. So long as you're not going to be doing any heavy duty video editing that is.
 
If your daughter is self employed then a £500 laptop actually only costs her about £300 if she pays tax and NI at 20% which is effectively 32p in the pound paid and even cheaper if she pays the higher rate of tax @40% making a £500 laptop around £250.

Btw AV forums classified is a great source of second hand and brand new laptops/iPads/phones etc.
 
2ManyBoxes said:
I would advise against any kind of messing around with a work laptop, especially a NHS one. If they catch you somehow then saying that a bloke on the internet advised me to do it won't stop them from showing you the door, probably without collecting £200.

I used a Lenovo T series at my work and they were bombproof in normal use but a bit outdated now. If you can get hold of one second-hand from someone reputable who also provides support and will build the software to your spec then I'd go for that. So long as you're not going to be doing any heavy duty video editing that is.
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Once again someone who has completely misunderstood! W2G is a Microsoft Enterprise offering. It allows you to use other computer hardware without any 'messing about' with it. Ideally you would configure your hosts to boot first from USB rather than internal disk. If you power on such a computer it will boot from and use its internal disk if however you plug a W2G USB device then the machine will boot from and use that instead. The running W2G machine doesn't even 'see' the internal drive of the host machine and security wise can be locked down hard. Alternatively make life a little harder and leave the disk as first boot device. You'll then have to hold the F12 key at boot and select USB from the drop down menu. Its a great way to share hardware without another user screwing it up for the rest and yes some computers are used by multiple users. You give a user their own computer for 30 quid or so.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/wi...o-go-frequently-asked-questions#wtg-faq-usbvs

(Ignore 'recommended drive' as I can use any old hard drive or SSD)

From what I have seen of the NHS they were still using old machines running XP last time I visited.

I have 11 Lenovo laptops all T series going back to the T.2x and those latter are still working fine but stuck on XP.

Cheers,

DV
 
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FWIW, from recent experience I would avoid Dell like the plague - my Inspiron throws a wobbly every time there's a Windows10 update, and frequently when there isn't.
 
Really, to get some longevity here, you need to look at 8GB RAM and an SSD. That should do most/all basic activities well and have a reasonably expectation of a 3-5 year lifespan. I'd certainly take that on a tight budget vs. a traditional disk and 4GB of RAM, even with a better processor.

From a quick look at Argos, and it has to be new - this would be one: https://www.argos.co.uk/product/6829498

It has a Pentium which is just passable but the RAM/SSD are fine and it is full HD.

Laptops Direct have this as a refurbed unit for a nice price - https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/gra...5.6-inch-fhd-amd-ra-a1-81mt002auk/version.asp
 
davidjt said:
FWIW, from recent experience I would avoid Dell like the plague - my Inspiron throws a wobbly every time there's a Windows10 update, and frequently when there isn't.
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I'd very much doubt I'b buy a Dell again. Just about everything that could go wrong, did go wrong (this was a good 10 years ago though).
 
Darth Vader said:
Once again someone who has completely misunderstood! W2G is a Microsoft Enterprise offering. It allows you to use other computer hardware without any 'messing about' with it. Ideally you would configure your hosts to boot first from USB rather than internal disk. If you power on such a computer it will boot from and use its internal disk if however you plug a W2G USB device then the machine will boot from and use that instead. The running W2G machine doesn't even 'see' the internal drive of the host machine and security wise can be locked down hard. Alternatively make life a little harder and leave the disk as first boot device. You'll then have to hold the F12 key at boot and select USB from the drop down menu. Its a great way to share hardware without another user screwing it up for the rest and yes some computers are used by multiple users. You give a user their own computer for 30 quid or so.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/wi...o-go-frequently-asked-questions#wtg-faq-usbvs

(Ignore 'recommended drive' as I can use any old hard drive or SSD)

From what I have seen of the NHS they were still using old machines running XP last time I visited.

I have 11 Lenovo laptops all T series going back to the T.2x and those latter are still working fine but stuck on XP.

Cheers,

DV
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WTG aka W2G was binned/deprecated by MS after 1903, reasons given:

WTG does not support feature updates. Therefore, it does not enable you to stay current. Additionally, WTG requires a specific type of USB drive that many OEMs no longer support.​
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Darth Vader said:
W2G is a Microsoft Enterprise offering.
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IIRC deprecated by MS. Hardly surprising it was pants. We used to use it but gave up about 3 years ago as it was so rubbish.


As for the OP, I'd get something like an i3 with proper SSD and 8 gigs and avoid Win10S
 
gintonic said:
IIRC deprecated by MS. Hardly surprising it was pants. We used to use it but gave up about 3 years ago as it was so rubbish.


As for the OP, I'd get something like an i3 with proper SSD and 8 gigs and avoid Win10S
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W2G was deprecated in 1903 after 11 years but that doesn't mean that you can't deploy it only that M$ don't want the bother of future support. Ditto with Apple computers however so far the Macs that I have used all boot from W2G even over a USB 2 port. I have 1909 running just dandy and once again I have to disagree with your assessment. It would seem that your deployment of W2G was pants and not WIndows itself. Using a USB W2G SSD works in practice just as fast on USB 3.0 (now gen1) as an internal SSD on the typical computers used by Joe public. I am about to confirm that I can get 2004 working as W2G. I think its great as you can have several people sharing one set of hardware but each with their own separate computing environment and at low cost around £30 for a 120GB SSD and space savings.

Cheers,

DV
 
Amber Audio said:
WTG aka W2G was binned/deprecated by MS after 1903, reasons given:

WTG does not support feature updates. Therefore, it does not enable you to stay current. Additionally, WTG requires a specific type of USB drive that many OEMs no longer support.​
-
Click to expand...
M$ may say that but its not true. I have W2G (my term) running on old 2.5" SATA hard drives and on WD SSD via USB.

Cheers,

DV
 
I recently bought a refurbished Lenovo x260 for my daughter to take to college. Well over $1000 new I got it for under $500. 8Gb RAM, 256GB SSD, i5 CPU - it’s a lot more laptop than you’d get new for the money.
 
Darth Vader said:
M$ may say that but its not true. I have W2G (my term) running on old 2.5" SATA hard drives and on WD SSD via USB.

Cheers,

DV
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“Support” is the key, it might work but we don’t support it so if it goes wrong you’re on your own, messing about at home as a hobbyist is a different kettle of fish to running an OEM, MSP or internal IT Dept.

If MS say it gone then as far as we are concerned it’s gone. If the employee is a geek this type of IT is fine, most don’t like or give a damn about such tech, the bosses just want their staff to do email, browse, use their lobs and create office docs for the most part, making them money is what they care about, not some fancy cool tech.
 
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