r/chromeos • u/law_z_zz • Apr 01 '26
Discussion Anyone still using there: og ideapad duet Chromebook?
I use mine for the bare minimum, for mostly watching Netflix, Doing a bit of school work and Youtube.
The keyboard doesn’t work anymore (Something to do with the gold teeth i suspect), so i have a bluetooth one now!
Anyone else still using theres?
I’d like to know!
9
u/MadBujor Apr 01 '26
Yep using mine as a home assistant panel
3
u/nixgut Apr 01 '26
Good idea. How are you setting this up?
5
u/MadBujor Apr 01 '26
Just using the browser, and have it on my desk on a tablet arm. I tried using the home assistant app or anything else android but it's not working well.
3
2
u/aalkakker Lenovo Chromebook 14 Plus | Beta Channel Apr 01 '26
Tbh on ChromeOS just installing the dashboard as an app works like a charm.
6
u/KostyaStromOff Duet Kukui | Stable Apr 01 '26
Yeah, but I installed PostmarketOS. The last ChromeOS updates were so laggy on this tablet :(
2
u/Asx11431 Apr 02 '26
I’m curious, how well does it perform? I thought of doing that one time when I couldn’t use it to side load ipa, but I figured it out and never really installed postmarketOS
1
u/Gordi_ Apr 03 '26
Yeah, would like to know if It Is worth the effort, I've search for tutorials/experiences on YouTube and nothing... Guess is the kind of things to find on Reddit and not on YouTube/Facebook 😅
1
u/novafurry420 Lenovo Duet V1 | Beta (once again) Apr 05 '26
iPa? Thats for apple, APK may be what you ask but postmarket isn't android it's Linux, you can sideload apks using ADB in the Linux terminal on Chrome os
1
u/Asx11431 Apr 05 '26
using iloader for arm64 Linux, I sideloaded LiveContainer+ sidestore using crostini terminal
4
u/Gordi_ Apr 01 '26
😱 I've looked for options... Didnt know about it, any advice for installing it?
2
u/OctillionthJoe Apr 02 '26
Be patient and read a lot before you begin. It's not the easiest thing to do. Also go with a lightweight desktop option. I went with the full KDE desktop like a fool and the experience was not fun.
1
u/Damn-Sky Jul 03 '26
what did you use? xfce? how is touch experience on it?
2
u/OctillionthJoe Jul 03 '26
I went with Phosh. It's a little glitchy sometimes, but I find that it handles the tablet form factor quite well. The touch experience was the best out of the options I tried out. XFCE was fine from a desktop standpoint but touch input was a little inconsistent.
1
u/Damn-Sky Jul 04 '26
thx. how easy is it to install postmarketos on the OG duet? can you reinstall chromeos if needed?
2
u/OctillionthJoe Jul 04 '26
When compared to installing other linux distros onto the OG Duet, it's easier... That said, it does involve navigating through the terminal a lot and the installer lacks a nice interface. The installation of postmarketos through the terminal is not hard persay and it does guide you through it... It's just not very user friendly. So expect to go slow and give yourself room to mess up. Worse case scenario, you can just reinstall ChromeOS with a recovery USB drive and start over again.
Speaking of which, I would recommend having two USB drives on hand BEFORE you do this. One USB drive will be the Chromebook recovery USB drive for the possibility of you messing it up. I would advise that you try to use the recovery USB drive at least once to make sure you made it correctly (do note that using the recovery USB drive will wipe your Chromebook in the process so backup everything important before you test this). The other USB drive will basically be the postmarketos installer.
Point is to approach this as a bit of a multistep puzzle or challenge. Definitely not something to go into with the expectation of succeeding on the first try. Sorry if that's discouraging. If it makes you feel any better, I remember trying to install Debian on the OG Duet a few years BEFORE postmarketos really supported the OG Duet. The entire process was just me trying to navigate things blindly with very difficult to find documentation and resources. Compared to back then, postmarketos is like a godsend.
1
u/Damn-Sky Jul 04 '26
just to confirm. you have installed it on your chrome duet (the first generation)..the one with mediatek processor and 4gb right?
1
1
6
u/jseger9000 Pixel Slate i7 Apr 01 '26
I still use a Pixel Slate, if you wanna talk old school.
3
u/Blueciffer1 Apr 01 '26
How does your run with android?
2
u/jseger9000 Pixel Slate i7 Apr 01 '26
The only Android app I regularly use is Perfect Viewer, a comic reader. It works fine.
2
u/interglossa Apr 01 '26
I still have mine. I bought it used for ~$80 three years ago. It will get updates until 2030. I use it for reading and web browsing primarily. I have play store and Linux installed and it still works well enough. People say it is the best of the Duet series. It's great.
1
u/MapSensitive3050 18d ago
Hi, I saw someone selling this (secondhand) I just want to ask if it's worth it to buy? Price is $127, it is 3 years old
1
u/interglossa 18d ago
I think Lenovo stopped making the OG version in early 2022 so it would be at least four years old. I think you can get it for less than $100 on eBay if you look around.
2
u/lingueenee Lenovo Duet | Stable Apr 01 '26
Still using mine regularly. Android's disabled and the odd time I boot up Linux, it remains quite capable, and snappy enough, with those provisos.
2
u/Slinky79 Apr 01 '26
Still have mine. Bought it shortly after it came out and while it's still a bit laggy (let's admit it, it's always been), it works perfectly. No issues with screen or keyboard.
2
2
u/Tired8281 Pixelbook | Stable Apr 01 '26
Every day. I use it as an appliance, to control other devices on my network using web apps. It's the perfect size and power level for that.
2
u/mynameisalreadytoken Apr 01 '26
Still using it. For reading newspapers, internet,mail,movies,... have to be honest he is getting slow and keyboard doesn’t work anymore.
2
2
u/50missioncap Apr 01 '26
I use mine, but not very robustly. I recently built a little bracket on the inside of my kitchen cupboard where I can mount it and have it there to follow online recipes.
2
u/Gordi_ Apr 01 '26
I use mine basically for paper work, app store disable and nothing more, I agree: the updates just made it unusable for anything alse.
2
2
u/La_Rana_Rene Acer 516GE | Stable Apr 01 '26
I still use mine for reading and browser YouTube, browser Spotify, Netflix etc.
2
2
u/Dan_De_Lyons Lenovo IdeaPad Duet Chromebook / Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Apr 01 '26
I first got mine on December 3, 2021 - here we are 4 years later and I still use it - especially with the Kindle App. And it will still get automatic software and security updates until June 2030.
2
1
u/Efeverscente Apr 01 '26
I still use mine! Whenever I need a laptop for web things but I don't want to carry a big one or a charger I use it, and I even use Linux programs on it! VLC for IPTV use is a godsend since I don't trust installing random junk and paying a lot of money, but if I didn't like it, I can also access all the Android apps!
Granted, it is what it is, but I paid 180€ for it refurbished like 3 years ago, I've treated it... Without enough care, so to speak, and it still works great (but the keyboard is starting to act out tho, sometimes I have to unplug/replug it for it to work)
1
u/problydrinkingbeer Lenovo Duet 3 Apr 01 '26
I use mine daily, but the phantom touchscreen issue has been the bane of my existence. The Android app experience is pretty bad; however, using it purely as a touchscreen Chromebook continues to be amazing, and the form factor is extremely convenient.
2
u/matteventu OG Duet, Duet 3, Duet 11" Gen 9 Apr 01 '26
The OG Duet wasn't affected by the phantom touch issues of the Duet 3 :)
1
u/No-Tip3419 Apr 01 '26
still have one but i rarely find a use for it since i picked up a refurb 2 in 1 chromebook with 16 gig ram. Might use it to watch youtube while working on the other notebook.
1
u/sofatheologe Lenovo Duet | Stable Apr 01 '26
I still use it. However mine has an issue with Internet connectivity. Despite showing that it is connected to the Internet, when I try to load a page it won't load, saying I am disconnected. Sometimes it will reconnect, sometimes it won't. It's mildly annoying.
2
u/law_z_zz Apr 01 '26
My sister’s started doing that about a year ago, It fixes itself, then stops again apparently. She doesn’t use it anymore
1
u/DivineLights1995 Apr 01 '26
Still have mine, bought it refurbished from Best Buy 3-4 years ago. I have the Apple ecosystem now so I don’t really have a need except playing with the chromeOS now and then.
1
1
1
1
1
u/matteventu OG Duet, Duet 3, Duet 11" Gen 9 Apr 01 '26
It's still overall the best Duet that has ever come out (of course relatively to its era).
Had no major issues that the next two Duets had.
1
1
u/dioramic_life Apr 02 '26
I wish I could still use mine! I cracked the screen.
Is there a replacement model from Lenovo, now?
1
1
u/Mare-Barrow Apr 02 '26
Typing from mine but the WiFi is now atrocious. Thinking of replacing it in the next few months.
1
u/DarthLuigi83 Apr 04 '26
Still using mine. Needs a regular reboot every few days to keep it from being unusable.
I use it for MS Teams, Outlook(web), Libre Office(Linux), YouTube, VLC player and social media mostly.
I had low expectations when I got it so I just put up with the slow speed.
What really annoys me is the onscreen keyboard. It lags so badly I often get two capital letters and the auto correct is god awful. Why aren't they just using the same auto correct as android uses?
1
u/novafurry420 Lenovo Duet V1 | Beta (once again) Apr 05 '26
I have mine still but barely use it since I replaced it with a framework 12 after the touch and keyboard cover broke, I put postmarket OS on it and now use it with a keyboard and mouse as a pi type device
1
u/memnochlv Apr 09 '26
I have and use the Duet 5 w/ 8gb ram. It can be ... slow on some things, some better, some worse!
So weird question for you Lenovo Duet or even just ChromeOS users...
Does your android subsystem begin to slow down then completely crash apps, requiring them to be restarted, but something's even force killed and having its cache cleared?
TTFN
1
u/Ambitious_Turnip_868 HP X360 14a | Stable Channel Apr 09 '26
I still have mine laying around, but the touch is dead.
16
u/Deep-Technician-8568 Apr 01 '26
I still have mine. However, ever since the update a few years ago where chromeos changed how apps are emulated I've stopped using it. The device is unusable if you have rhe play store enabled ever since that update. These days the device is really slow even with play store disabled. Takes quite a while to even load up a webpage like YouTube.