An okay laptop

Pros Novo button next to the audio/microphone jack is absolutely fantastic. No need to fight Fn+F2/Fn+F3 to get to BIOS/EFI menu. Just push the button using a paper clip and you get a choice of boot sequence, BIOS, etc. Despite the laptop plasticky feel, the keyboard feels surprisingly solid. See my biggest problem with the keyboard in the Cons section. I successfully full-installed Lubuntu 16.04.1 on a Samsung USB 3.0 ultra fit and all is working, even the built-in next-to-camera microphone. I boot off it as my primary OS. Windows 10 was quite fast after I decrapified it by re-installing it. No need to worry about the license. It's built-in in the BIOS. Cons My biggest problem is with the Shift key! I'm not sure what the designers were thinking but the key is way off to your right! Very difficult to get used to. It has only two USB ports right next to each other. I had buy a USB hub. Upgrading RAM & HDD is doable but not easy! It takes a bit work and patience. I upgraded it with a 8GB RAM stick (for a total of 12GB) and an SSD drive. You have to remove 13 bottom screws (start with the center one for the DVD-RW and then remove the optical drive) but the process is not bad if you're tech savvy. I recommend to use a guitar pick to gently pry the bottom cover off. Battery is not removable. On the fence The spec calls for "up to 5.5" hours but I only managed to get about four hours with intermittent usage/sleep mode.Read full review

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