Lenovo 11e 11.6" laptop notebook Intel Celeron N2940, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD, HD, Camera, Windows 8.1 Pro

Pros: - Windows 10 Pro x64 - 4GB RAM -128GB SSD - Celeron Quad-Core (what??) - Bluetooth / AC Wifi - Lightweight - 6+ hours battery life - Minimal bloatware - Decent keyboard feel - Screen Mirroring works - Sound quality Cons (very few minimal cons at this pricepoint): - Only two USB ports - No physical wifi switch (dedicated hotkey though) - Hotkey FN button disabled out of box but keys work I picked this up on an impulse buy last week. This was on sale for $199. I know PCs and this was a steal at that price and is still a great deal at the currently listed price of $270. I have a custom built desktop for gaming and everything else at home and a bunch of workstations at work but I lacked an ultra-portable. The main use for this will be as a backup in case something goes wrong with my home PC (need to be able to get work and school work done) and to take with me on trips if needed. It's also nice to be able to do homework or light browsing somewhere other than the home office. What I like about it - The laptop has some great hardware specs (true quad-core!) and runs Win 10 effortlessly. It's not a powerhouse but it's definitely a few steps above your average Chromebook or under-powered "netbook" that you can get for the same price. Very little bloatware came installed. I removed McAfee and a few Lenovo add-ons that weren't necessary for normal operation of the hardware / software. Took maybe 20 minutes to go through. There are a few things you'll want to keep so don't go uninstalling anything that says Lenovo (will update and provide a list later). Battery life states 6+ hours on full charge. With the screen at 25% brightness, the estimated jumped to 7 hours 22 minutes. Impressive. The design is simple and functional. Nothing too flashy. The bottom of the laptop and the bezel for the lid is coated in this grippy texture that makes it nice for use on your lap or other sloped surface. It doesn't slide. What I dislike about it - I use the term dislike very loosely here but the only thing I noticed that wasn't right was that the hotkeys did not work out of the box. There are an assortment of functions like volume, screen brightness, wifi off/on, etc. that can be controlled by pressing the Fn key and another key but none of them worked for me. Not a big deal since I use the controls within the OS primarily. Still something I will investigate further. **EDIT - so as of week or so ago, I discovered that the hotkey options in the BIOS were set to disable the Fn key and just use F1 - F12 as hotkeys. I switched it back to what I am accustomed to (Fn + punction key for hotkey function) and all is well. There are also options to switch the CTRL and Fn key which I may still use since the Fn key is in a weird spot. Only two USB ports available, with at least one being USB 3.0. Other uses: - This will be an outstanding student laptop if what you want an actual PC to do homework, browsing, media playing and maybe light (very light) gaming. - It's also just a great little PC to have in place of a Chromebook or even a tablet if you're considering a portable device. Windows 10 (and Windows 8 / 8.1) have screen mirroring technology built into the OS so as long as your hardware supports it (most new devices will) you can mirror the device's screen on a smart TV or other smart display. All in all, this is a great deal and you should buy it while you can, even at $270. **EDIT** - So as promised, I went back and made a list of the bloatware that I removed in case someone could benefit from it. Software Removed: - McAfee (should be self explanatory as to why I removed it. Windows Defender (aka - Microsoft Security Essentials) is perfectly fine as an antivirus / antimalware SCANNER. If you want live internet security you want a better full security suite like Bitdefender Internet Security. - Active Protection System (only needed for a HDD, safely stops HDD if the laptop is dropped, not necessary for SSD). - Lenovo Quick Optimizer ("toolbar that allows the user to view computer optimization status, quickly optimize the computer, and launch the Lenovo Companion universal app." So in other words, it allows you to manage PC status like temp files, settings that can be done from elsewhere. To me it's unnecessary and redundant if I can do these functions in the OS so I removed it.). - Lenovo Battery Gauge (simple battery gauge that can go on the task bar. Windows already has one so I removed). - REACHit (a cloud service from Lenovo for storing and managing data. I like simplicity so I have one Google account to store important data and that uploads my pictures from mobile regularly. No need for another product that does the same thing, removed). - Lenovo Experience Improvement (feedback tool for Lenovo. I can submit feedback and bug reports on my own, I don't need an added program to do that, removed). Software Kept: - Lenovo On Screen Display (displays hotkey status as a message on the screen. Have yet to get hotkeys to work but the messages do work for caps lock button) - Lenovo Power Management Driver (probably only needed to use the built-in Lenovo power profile but I kept it just in case. It doesn't look like it uses many resources if any.) - Lenovo System Interface Foundation (have yet to evaluate this one but apparently it is tied to Lenovo Companion so that it can access the MS app store. I don't think I'll use the app store so I may remove both. Kept for now though).

I conducted a huge amount of research before I chose this particular version of the Lenovo 11e. I've used Lenovo laptops at work for years and they have always worked well and have been very sturdy. This unit is no exception. I purchased mine from Amazon for $235.00. I liked the fact that I could get a Windows 10 machine with 128GB SSD hard drive and 4GB of RAM for the price of a Chromebook. Chrome OS is nice for what it is, but it is very limited since you can only run Chrome OS apps. This 11e runs a full version of Windows 10 64-bit which means you can load any Windows 10 compatible software. I've loaded the full Microsoft Office 2016 Professional Suite since I have a license (I teach a night class at a local community college and that is one of the perks). I'm new to Windows 10, but I've been using Windows since version 3.0; it's come a long way baby. For my usage, this little laptop is perfect. I use if for email and web searching mostly. Like others have reported the screen was a little hazy or washed out looking for the first few days and now it looks normal. I find typing on the keyboard to be fine, and I think the touchpad works great. Others have reported the touchpad to be quirky. One interesting note, my 11e came with the square power receptacle. I have a new Lenovo T450 as my work computer, and both came with exactly the same power supply. I have found the sound to be good, both with the speakers and headphones. I've watched some Netflix and that works fine. I have a USB attached DVD drive and I'm able to watch movies and install software from the DVD drive. I just plugged it in and it worked. I deleted a couple of the installed Lenovo software, and immediately installed the Chrome browser. I'm using the Windows 10 email for Gmail, Exchange (community college mail server) and my Live.com/outlook.com accounts. Setup was easy and the functionality seems to work fine. Now that I've had this little unit for a week, I can honestly say that If I had it to do over again, I'd buy this one over again.

This review is for the Lenovo ThinkPad 11e 11.6" notebook. (Reviews for different models sometimes get grouped together; it's important to know which model is being reviewed so as to avoid confusion). My 11e came with Windows 10 Professional installed on a 128 SSD with 4gb of RAM. Both the RAM and the drive can be upgraded by removing the bottom panel on the lower clam shell. I cannot comment on the ease of upgrades, not having performed any. Edit: I did, however, remove the bottom panel from the lower clamshell (six Philips screws) and found the SSD, RAM chip, and battery all easily accessed. EDIT: I decided to upgrade the RAM to 8gb. It's a single chip and requires that the original 4gb chip be removed. The upgrade was quite easy; remove the six Philips screws, remove the old chip, insert the new chip, replace the six Philips screws, done. I have not noticed any increase in performance; this upgrade was done because I noticed that with a number of Chrome tabs open and Office Excel and Outlook open the available RAM was getting quite low. The RAM was $40 from Amazon. Crucial Ballistix Sport SODIMM 8GB Single DDR3 1600 MT/s (PC3-12800) CL9 @1.35V 204-Pin Memory BLS8G3N169ES4 . The machine comes with some small amount of 'bloatware', mainly in the form of Lenovo utilities and McAfee malware protection. Not being a fan of McAfee I removed that software (using Control Panel) but left the Lenovo software on the machine for further exploration. The 11e comes with Microsoft Office installed as a purchase option; I have a subscription to Office 365 and once I used my Microsoft Account credentials the Office suite downloaded the required updates and registered itself without issue. My specific 11e showed the Windows Defender definitions to be over 200 days old; assuming Lenovo isn't using a +200 day old image to build the drives it's reasonable to assume that my unit has been sitting on a shelf for awhile. (Which may be one reason the selling price tends to be well below the manufacturer's suggested retail price). I ran Windows Updates and the major Windows 10 update that was released awhile back had to download and install, taking over an hour to complete (note that I have a fairly decent cable broadband network; the installation took quite some time after the download had completed). I then ran DiskClean to remove the Windows.Old files to recover the disk space. Fit and finish of the case are quite good (considering the price range the 11e lives in). However there are two embedded lights in the top clamshell that indicate when the power is on (or sleep is initiated); these lights face outwards when the unit is open and thus are presented to anyone sitting opposite, such as at a library table. Small LED pinpoint lights would have sufficed. This is a case where form did not follow function. Not objectionable, but certainly not necessary. Keyboards and screens are extremely subjective - what fits one personal admirably is ruinous for another. That being said, I find the keyboard of the 11e to be acceptable. There is nice spring action on the keys, and the keys themselves are wide for a computer of this genre. It should be noted that there is no light on the keyboard to indicate Caps Lock. However there is a screen pop-up that appears briefly (about 3 seconds) when the Caps Lock is toggled on or off. Most keyboards have the Function Keys dedicated first to the "F" number (so that being in Microsoft Outlook, for instance, press F9 refreshes all of the folders) and special functions (such as speaker volume) only coming into play when the Fn key is pressed. On the 11e that is reversed. Pressing the F9 key brings up the Windows Settings; to get Outlook to refresh one needs to hold down the Fn key while pressing F9. Not necessarily a bad thing, but takes some getting used to if one is used to the other way 'round of doing things. EDIT: One may "lock" the Fn key by holding the Fn key down and pressing the Esc key. This turns on a small light on the Fn key and subsequent usage of the Fn key returns it to "normal". That is, with the Fn key in the 'locked' position pressing F9 when in Outlook does indeed refresh the folders rather than bring up the Windows Settings app. To bring up the Windows Settings app, for example, one holds down the Fn key (while it is in the "locked" status) and presses the F9 key. The touch-pad is acceptable, but nothing exceptional. The same can be said for the speaker system - on a device this size, in this price range, one can't reasonably expect too much. One note on the speaker volume switches (on the right side of the bottom clam shell) - they are directly in back of the Power switch. The Power switch is recessed more than the speaker switches but still one should be careful when using the switches sight unseen. Oddly enough the F1 function key toggles the speaker on and off and Lenovo thought highly enough of that function to have an LED built into the key when the speakers are silenced. Too bad they didn't find the same design to be desirable when designing the unlighted Caps Lock key. The external power cord uses a flat plug design that fits into the left rear side of the lower clamshell, not a standard round plug. This design may cause those who use "universal" power cords to have to abandon them. There is an HDMI port, two USB ports, an Ethernet port, an SD card slot, an earphone port, and a slot for securing a computer lock. The SD card, by the way, does insert nearly all the way into the slot; only enough of the edge sticks out to enable one to push on the card in order for the card to eject via spring. This is very nice in a machine of this size - frequently the card will insert only halfway into a machine, leaving the card vulnerable to bumps and bruises. Performance of the machine is acceptable if one remembers that this is not a gaming machine, but rather one designed around "educational" requirements. (The 11e is part of the Lenovo "EDU" series, and they place a sticker by the touch-pad to remind one). I've experienced no issues with Internet videos playing (of course some of that relies on connection capabilities); however my main task with this machine is for business purposes (Word, Outlook, Excel, and designing Access databases). For my purposes the performance is fine, but YMMV. Note again that the RAM upgrade had no apparent improvement on performance other than the percentage of RAM used is lower. The SSD helps with program loading and boot time, even when BitLocker is fully enabled. After installing the latest version of Windows 10 Pro, Office 365, Google Chrome browser, Dropbox, DIA diagramming, CCleaner, BelArc, CutePDF Writer, and three office printers along with a couple of hundred megabytes of business files the SSD still shows over 96gb free. Overall a nice, compact educational or business notebook computer. I'm rating it at only four stars because of the keyboard (the (to me) odd way the Fn key is used and the lack of a Caps Lock key light) and because the machine seems a bit heavy for its size. At something over 3 pounds (I've read 3.3 pounds for this model) it is noticeably heavier than the Samsung Chromebook and the Acer Cloudbook that I have been using, both in the same price range. Of course the Lenovo is a bit larger in dimension than either of those machines, has an SSD instead of a chip, and a replaceable RAM chip design. Still, in this class of machine lightness is expected, at least by me. ORIGINAL: Some owners have reported problems with the Lenovo wireless card, but I have not had any issues with that. However the 11e has inexplicably frozen on me one time - in the middle of writing some VBA code. The only recourse was to perform a hard restart, losing 20 minutes worth of work. EDIT: The 11e has experienced several network outages, on three different wireless networks; no other workstations on the networks experienced the problem - it is obviously within the Lenovo itself. I was tempted to reduce the rating to three stars (other reviewers note that Lenovo has sent a new wireless antenna but the new antenna did not resolve the issue. I have ordered in a USB adapter from Amazon and I will give that a try before reducing the rating. Note that I've also used the Ethernet port and have not experienced any problems. There may be a weakness in the wireless hardware on the 11e. Edit: After receiving the Edimax EW-7811Un 150Mbps 11n Wi-Fi USB Adapter (available on Amazon) I placed it into the right hand USB port on the Lenovo and set the network connection priority to "Ethernet, USB Wi-Fi, Internal Wi-Fi". At the end of a long day of usage the computer has not dropped the connection a single time. The adapter adds @ $10 to the overall cost of the laptop and takes up one of the two available USB ports but seems to do the job admirably. Edit: After some days of usage the Edimax adapter has been rock solid - not one network drop. HTH Regards, Jim

As an IT professional, I needed a simple, no-frills, small, lightweight laptop to take between offices. That, combined with a 1-day Amazon sale (for $200) it was a no brainer. Likes: - They keyboard is fantastic. It's very solid and actually enjoyable to type on. - Fast booting. It loads to Windows 10 Pro desktop in seconds. (SSD) - Upgradable RAM. Unlike the "one shot, one kill" soldered laptops, this allows you to upgrade (from 4GB) to 8. (and it's only a $30 upgrade!) - Decent battery life. I've not been able to do a solid test as of yet, but most people are saying at least 6 hrs, possibly 8. - Windows 10 Professional (use with Domains) - The computer body feels solid. I think it could handle a few small drops and still function relatively fine. - HDMI output (send video to an external monitor) Dislikes: - Screen def. isn't the sharpest. After tweaking a bit I recommend putting the contrast all the way up. I saw a big improvement with colors then. It didn't look as washed out. - Webcam isn't the best. (but it's to be expected for what the cost is) - It doesn't have the famous Lenovo "nub" mouse, but that's what external mice are for. Trackpad works well. - CPU is a bit puny, but it does the job (if something small). (i've heard that it's comparable to a low-power i3 class) Takeaways: In all, im very happy with the machine and would def. buy again. Because this is my first review for this (and I just got it) time will tell how well it performs in the future.

I wanted to switch back to Windows after using a macBook air for several years. I needed a tiny but rugged computer to dedicate solely to my work as a copywriter. This had almost the same specs as my old macbook air, cost a fraction of the price I paid for that computer severl years ago, and it was a Window's ten machine. Perfect. The keyboard is surprisingly roomy and comfortable, given that this is as small as the old, phased-out netbooks of yesteryear. The keys are nicely laid out, and although I don't mind a small keyboard due to my small hands, this was even a comfortable fit for my partner when he tried it out. (he's a fan of larger keyboards.) I love the anti-scratch case and the rubber seal on the perimeter of the computer. It's just rugged enough for me to feel comfortable about carrying it whereever I need to. (I'm infamous for somehow breaking computers, so this was a major plus) Another major plus is the solid state hard drive. I wouldn't purchase a computer without one of these today. Tehy are virtually unbreakable. Also they run so quietly, and they are incredibly efficient. Last but not least, call me old-school, but I love the dedicated volume buttons on the side, along with the tactile, dedicated on/off button. thank you, Lenovo!! These are noticeably absent on most modern computers. I'm so glad mine has them. Overall, this computer fits my needs (and my budget) perfectly. I'm happy with it, and confident it will last me a very long time.