Lenovo IdeaPad 1 14 81VS009GUS Ultra-Cheap Laptop (14″, AMD A6 with Radeon R4, 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC)
The Lenovo IdeaPad 1 14 81VS0001US is one of the cheapest laptops during this year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. Best Buy will sell this 14-inch notebook for only $119.99. That’s with a free 1-year Microsoft (Office) 365 Personal subscription. So what’s the catch?
If you’re planning to use the laptop only for the basic home and office tasks, the Lenovo IdeaPad 1 81VS009GUS can be described as “usable”. The biggest drawback is its generally weak processor – the AMD A6-9220e. It is suitable only for light computing duties like web browsing, MS Office apps, music and movie playback, and similar. But even in these tasks, the A6-9220e won’t be able to deliver as smooth user experience as with the mainstream mid-range or higher processors from the AMD Ryzen or Intel Core U series. However, if you wan’t to open a web page or two, do some text editing, or play an online video, the IdeaPad 1 81VS009GUS will enable you to do that. The A6-9220e includes the AMD Radeon R4 integrated graphics. The AMD A6 CPU and Radeon R4 as a very basic graphics processor can handle only the lightest computer games.
Furthermore, the Lenovo IdeaPad 1 81VS009GUS has a quite limited internal storage space. The laptop has only 64 Gigabytes of eMMC storage, which is very small by today’s notebook standards. But, if you don’t install many Windows programs and don’t plan to save large amounts of data on the laptop, then 64GB size can be enough.
As for the system memory (RAM) which is responsible for multi-tasking ability of a laptop, the included size of 4GB is a bare minimum for normal laptop PC use. If you usually don’t run many programs at the same time and don’t regularly use tens of web browser tabs at the same time, then 4GB will be enough. Thankfully, the laptop has a microSD card slot in which you can install a compatible memory card to expand the storage space.
As expected, the Lenovo IdeaPad 1 81VS009GUS has a very basic display. The 14-incher sports HD resolution, without sharpness of Full HD and higher resolutions. The display is based on TN technology, providing much narrower viewing angles than IPS screens.
The Lenovo IdeaPad 1 comes with a 35 WHr battery. That’s a relatively low capacity, but the notebook’s computing platform is among the power-efficient ones. Lenovo claims the IdeaPad 1 14 has a battery life of “up to 8 hours”.
A good thing about this notebook model is its portability thanks to its light weight of 3.1 pounds and thin 0.7″ profile.
The laptop’s chassis is made of plastics in “platinum gray” color.
Specifications of the Lenovo IdeaPad 1 14 81VS009GUS
Here are the specs of the Lenovo IdeaPad 1 14 81VS009GUS with descriptions of its features. For comparison against other laptops, you can use the "Compare Specs" button.
| Brand | Lenovo |
|---|---|
| Laptop Type | Standard non-convertible laptop This laptop features a clamshell-only design, without ability to convert itself into a tablet. |
| Performance | Entry-level performance This notebook provides a basic computing power. It can be used for the daily home and office tasks, but operation won't be as smooth as on the mid-range or high-performance laptops. On the positive side, entry-level laptops tend to be very power efficient. Read more about performance of the laptop in the CPU, GPU, RAM, and Storage sections below. |
| Screen Size | 14-inch The 14" laptop screens are a compromise between portability of 13.3" or smaller laptop displays and comfort of the popular 15.6-inchers. |
| Screen Resolution | 1366x768 pixels HD This is an entry-level screen resolution, oftentimes found on budget laptops. It doesn't deliver picture sharpness and space on the screen like the Full HD or higher resolution laptop displays do. |
| Touchscreen | No This laptop doesn't support touchscreen input. |
| Other Display Specs | TN type Displays based on the old TN technology lack wide viewing angles you can find on IPS screens. The colors may look washed out or inverted at certain viewing angles. |
| Processor (CPU) | AMD A6-9220e (able to complete everyday tasks, but can be sluggish) |
| Graphics (GPU) | AMD Radeon R4 integrated graphics (for the lightest games only) |
| System Memory (RAM) Size | 4GB RAM 4GB is a small RAM size for computing in 2022. For smooth operation of a laptop during everyday tasks, at least 8GB is recommended. |
| Data Storage | 64GB eMMC A very small but usable capacity. |
| DVD Optical Drive | None |
| Keyboard & Input | Non-backlit keyboard without dedicated number pad The keyboard has no backlit keys and no separate numeric pad you can usually find on the right side of the keyboard on many laptop models. Touchpad with click buttons built into the surface The left and right click buttons are built into the surface of the touchpad, as opposed to separate physical buttons. |
| Speakers & Audio | Stereo speakers As usual, the device features a pair of built-in stereo speakers. Combo microphone and headphones audio jack This laptop has the ordinary 3.5mm combo audio jack that supports both headphone output and microphone input simultaneously. |
| Camera | Front-facing web camera Laptops usually feature a frontal webcam located on the display bezel. This laptop is no exception. |
| Wi-Fi Wireless | 802.11AC The 802.11AC is the previous-generation wireless networking standard. It's also known as Wi-Fi 5. 802.11AC is succeeded by 802.11AX Wi-Fi 6 with data transfer speed and multi-device connectivity improvements. |
| Bluetooth | Yes This laptop has a built-in Bluetooth module. It enables you to connect the computer to Bluetooth mice and other Bluetooth peripherals, smartphones, and other Bluetooth-equipped devices. |
| Ethernet Network Port | No This laptop has no Ethernet LAN port for wired internet and networking connectivity. |
| USB Ports | 2 x USB 3.0 A pair of full-size USB ports. |
| Video Output Ports | 1 x HDMI HDMI is a widely used digital video output port. You can find HDMI-in ports on most computer monitors and TVs. |
| Media Card Reader | MicroSD card reader The laptop has a slot for MicroSD memory cards. These are small SD cards commonly used in smartphones. |
| Other Features | Microsoft (Office) 365 Personal 1-year subscription for free By purchasing this laptop, you get a free-of-charge 1-year subscription for Microsoft 365 Personal package that also includes MS Office programs. |
| Battery | 35 WHr capacity |
| Weight | 3.1 pounds |
| Height | 0.7" |
| Width | 12.9" |
| Depth | 9.3" |
| Casing Material | Plastics |
| Casing Color | Gray |
| Windows Version | Windows 10 in S mode Windows 10 in S mode is a very secure but limited Windows version that can't run every Windows program. It is upgradeable free-of-charge to full Windows 10, supporting all modern Windows programs. You can also upgrade to Windows 11, if the hardware requirements are met. More info on windows.com. |
| Warranty | 1-year A typical laptop warranty length. |
| Year of Release | 2019 |
| Country / Region | United States The device under this particular SKU name is sold on the US market. It may be also available under different SKU names in the US and other regions. |
User Reviews and Q&A on the Lenovo IdeaPad 1 14 81VS009GUS
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2 out of 5 Speed of access
Tony –
Start up getting to Google Chrome very slow and takes forever to access any website. I have a Lenovo Ideapad 130S 11″ I bought last year with an Intel chip that works super fast. Why the difference?
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Dan –
What storage device is included? Hard drive storage is much slower than SSD and eMMC, especially when opening programs and starting Windows. Also, processor’s speed and RAM size can have big impact on that.
I use it as a chromebook. Took off all the other junk. Seems to be better not using windows.
swacman –
I only paid $120 so at that price it”s ok.
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SA’TARA TYLER –
how were able to achieve this conversion? I am having trouble even getting websites to load on this darn thing.
Girly –
Can I install simcard in this laptop
Dan –
This laptop doesn’t have a built-in SIM card slot.
Question
Lucas –
Its possible add a ssd ?
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Question
Tiffany –
What Walt charger this use I mistakenly threw mines away?
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Jack Spratt –
Charger is 45 watts at 20 volts output.
Bon Jovi –
Should have thrown the whole thing away. After uninstalling factory installed garbage and using CCleaner I still only have access to 20 gig free drive storage because the useless restoration partition. Multitasking from Youtube to anything else is complete lagfest. Was able to get it to play the Hearthstone card game, but any game with basic 2D graphics is stupidly unresponsive.
Question
Frank –
Can you use it with dj sofware
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Ember –
The one I bought my daughter definitely has a webcam. But the RAM is overloaded simply trying to use zoom for school. Looks like it’s soldered to the board too. Looking at other options now.
Jim –
Yes, there is a camera. Not a good one, but it’s there1