Impressions: Lenovo Qitian D10

I’ve been playing Galgames again lately, so I started looking for a new device. The reason I didn’t just keep using the Rog Ally X handheld is mainly that it’s inconvenient for slacking off — one look and it’s obviously a game console, way too conspicuous.

So I started shopping around. My budget is really limited, so I unexpectedly found that a batch of these has recently shown up on the secondhand market: the Lenovo Kaitian D10. Plenty are advertised as being in great condition, but I figure they were probably recycled from somewhere too.

First, a quick summary of this machine’s characteristics:

• 10-inch screen, colors are okay, probably the same panel as the Duet3 Chromebook (at least it doesn’t shift colors, so it won’t make your eyes bleed)
• Pentium 5030 / 8GB / 128GB, performance is a bit lacking, but it’s enough since we’re only playing Galgames
• 2-in-1 design, comes with a keyboard, can be used as a temporary computer when needed
• Battery capacity is 30WH, bigger than the Surface Go, and it degrades less too — what you buy will be at 100% capacity
• Cheap, cheap, and fucking cheap. The secondhand market usually prices it around 500, 50 more for good condition with keyboard, and some defective ones might be 400-something

There’s honestly not much to say about the user experience. I only recommend installing Win10 LTSC and slimming it down to some extent. This 2-in-1 tablet also has a clever design: its keyboard is dual-mode. You can use it magnetically via those contact points, or flip a switch, detach it, and use it wirelessly over Bluetooth — you get to experience a high-end Surface keyboard. Of course, the keyboard layout itself is still pretty abstract, and the feel is garbage; let’s just say it’s usable.

Because it’s so cheap, this tablet has no oleophobic coating at all, so you’ll probably be leaving fingerprints everywhere. A screen protector isn’t really worth it either — at this price, just make do.

As for battery life, because the CPU is so weak, it actually lasts about 4-5 hours. For playing Galgames, that’s already quite durable. And isn’t using this thing to play games way better than some stupid Atom-level machine? At a price of 400-500, it’s already great value for focusing on Galgames. Theoretically this thing also supports Lenovo’s stylus, giving it an edge in expandability, and Lenovo also supports disassembling and maintaining it, so there’s some tinkering potential. If you’re lucky, you can even buy an LTE version on the secondhand market… but the CPU is a bit too weak, so I don’t think it’s worth it. In other words, I think this tablet is only suitable for playing Galgames on its own; any other slightly heavier work is unsuitable, and I’d suggest buying a higher-end product.

Machine has about 50% battery left at this point

Oh right, Microsoft updated its policy in June this year, and a bunch of machines had their Secure Boot certificates expire, making them unable to boot into the system — you can only get in by disabling Secure Boot. As luck would have it, this Kaitian D10 (called the IdeaPad Duet3 101GL5 overseas) is in that expired group, so unless Lenovo or Microsoft cleans up the mess for you, you can only get into the system by turning it off.

But again, at this price, what more could you ask for.