.
Things I liked:
Reasonably fast server brings in 937 Mb iso in 10-15 min.
Universal LiveUSB installer easily makes LiveUSB.
ALL my laptop hardware recognized and drivers provided
....except for internal closed-source wifi.
Easily sets up open-source external wifi.
Xfce desktop neat, intuitive & responsive.
Uses Ubuntu whisker menu and includes a LibreMenu menu editor.
Network mgr working well, given wifi drivers.
FF is 25; LO is 4.2; amd64 kernel is 3.13.
Boots to browser on-line in ~60 sec; shut-down < 5 sec.
GUI makes it easy to disable my touchpad which disrupts typing.
Things I didn't like:
Inefficient choices in initial 937 Mb base configuration.
937 Mb iso doesn't include closed-source ttf-mscorefonts, Broadcom drivers & flash;
....also doesn't include open-source LibreOffice, Geany & tzdata.
Configuring 2 Gb of persistence took a really long time.
LibreOffice took a long time to bring in as well.
*Apt-get needed to install tzdata; ntp updates desktop to local time on reboot.
Mousepad editor poorer than leafpad, much poorer than gedit IMO.
Bug 1: whisker menu editor doesn't save (or properly display) liveUSB favorites;
....Mint 16 doesn't have this problem with favorites panel display
Bug 2: does not recognize closed-source drivers brought in
....nor indicate correct status of devices using closed-source drivers.
LibreMenu requires a wholesale upgrade of gtk+ and python3 infrastructure.
Things I don't understand:
Why screensaver set only to blank screen.
Why Ubuntu Software Center rather than Synaptic.
*Maybe because I didn't understand Ubuntu Software Center usage as root.
SGIN 15.6" Laptop Notebook Intel Celeron Quad-Core 2.8 GHZ 8GB RAM 256GB SSD HD
$189.00
A-Tech 8GB DDR3 1600 PC3-12800 Laptop SODIMM 204-Pin Memory RAM PC3L DDR3L 1x 8G
$13.99
Team T-FORCE VULCAN Z 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin PC RAM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) XMP
$35.99
HyperX FURY DDR3 8GB 16GB 32GB 1600 MHz PC3-12800 Desktop RAM Memory DIMM 240pin
$12.90
Crucial DDR3L 16GB 1600 2x 8GB PC3-12800 Laptop SODIMM Memory RAM PC3 16G DDR3
$21.50
Crucial 16GB (2x 8GB) Kit DDR3L 1600MHz PC3-12800 UDIMM Desktop 240-Pin CL11 RAM
$23.33
Samsung 8 GB PC4-17000 DDR4-2133 1Rx8 DDR4 Desktop Memory HP P/N 798034-001
$10.00
CONSAIR Vengeance RGB PRO 16GB (2PK x 8GB) 3200MHZ DDR4 C16 DIMM Desktop Memory
$45.00
HyperX FURY DDR4 16GB 32GB 64GB 2666MHz PC4-21300 Desktop RAM Memory DIMM 288Pin
$119.80
HyperX FURY DDR4 64GB (4x16GB) 3200MHz PC4-25600 Desktop RAM Memory DIMM 288PIN
$129.95