Linux on 14" i5 Lenovo Yoga 530-14IKB, 2 in 1 works well
IanJuly 2019. KDE Neon 5.16. Lenovo model 81EK00LMGE
I'd been looking for a 2 in 1 touchscreen laptop, and having searched, and found people having difficulties with Linux compatability with the hardware, I wanted to be safe. But none of the Linux computer companies made a 2 in 1 laptop.
I liked the feel of the Lenovo Yoga Ideapad 530 hardware. It has a lighted keyboard and accepts an Active Pen stylus.
Linux compatibility. The yoga 530 has several different models containing different hardware. Some will work with Linux, others not.
Not OK: The AMD Ryzen 7 model 530 -14ARR, had a Realtek RTL 8821 CE wifi chip that wasn't supported by the KDE Neon, Lubuntu 19.04 or Ubuntu Mate 19.04 distros out of the box. And the workarounds did not work for me. The rest of the ARR model appeared OK during the short test period.
OK: I exchanged it for a 530-14IKB version with an Intel i5 8250U CPU. With Intel wifi chip and Intel UHD 620 graphics. 256gb M.2 SSD and 8gb Ram. Success! KDE Neon 5.16 works fine. *See EDIT below.
Installing Linux from from a USB stick was simple. With the PC off, poke a paperclip into the Nova button hole on the right side of the case next to the power button for 5 seconds. The boot menu appears. Select Boot Options. Then select the USB. It then boots into the distro on the USB stick. Follow the install procedure. There was nothing extra needed then or after installation.
Conclusion 530-14IKB: All hardware works OK with KDE Neon 5.16. Not tested the active pen yet. Standy mode has worked completely OK so far by shutting the lid. Recovering to full use afterwards. The fan remains always quiet during normal use. Only under heavy load can you notice it. But it's not bad. All function keys work OK for volume, brightness, monitor switching etc.
*EDIT. I've just discovered a glitch. Where it appears that connecting a Bluetooth device causes the WiFi to slow down dramatically.