I know a lot of people are looking for the best distro for their hardware - and I'm no exception!

This is just a hobby machine and the ONLY software I use is the browser. My hardware is 64-bit and uses UEFI (I think, I'm still a newbie). I've tried various Ubuntu based distro and they all seem sluggish. I recently installed Manjaro with Xfce and I like it, but think it could be better. I tried installing Arch myself and quickly got in over my head.

Here is my hardware: I've attached a screen shot of my device specifications too.
Lenovo IdeaCentre Q180

• Processor: Intel® AtomTM D2700 processor (2 cores / 4 threads, 2.13GHz, 1MB cache), integrated DDR3 memory controller (up to 1066MHz), Hyper-Threading technology
• Memory: 4GB, PC3-10600 1333MHz DDR3,
  non-parity, one 204-pin SO-DIMM socket, System automatically clocks down for processors with 1066MHz DDR3 memory controller
• Graphics: AMD RadeonTM HD 6450A Graphics, DirectX® 11, 512MB memory,
  Full HD (1080p) playback support, External monitor support via analog VGA DB-15 connector / digital HDMI connector
• Hard Drive: I upgraded to a 250GB SSD, but I don't remember the details.
• Chipset: Intel NM10 Express Chipset
• Internet: 11b/g/n wireless4, Realtek RTL8188CE
• Keyboard/Mouse: Wired

I have the most experience with Xfce, but I'm not married to it. Any recommendations are greatly appreciated.

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XFCE is advertised in slackware as a 'low cholesterol window manager.' I use it myself.

It appears every programmer either writes a minesweeper clone or a window manager. Take your pick. Basically any distro will do for that hardware. It's more about you. There's the auto-updating distros,(which all eventually fall over and need upgrading) and the ones like slackware which give you more to do (which lasts longer, if you like that) as well as speciality distros e.g. TAILS, DSL, LFS,Tomsrtbt, etc. It's _your_ choice. I use slackware, and I learn using it. But it's not for everyone.

I like Xfce too: the old reliable! Xubuntu is a bit variable in quality from one version to the next, but there are quite a few Xfce specialists:

I know how you feel about Arch. The first time I installed it, it took all day. the second time, I didn't succeed. The answer is Bridge Linux, which is really just an installation disk that will give you a working Arch system.

I agree with liking Manjaro, but what was your problem there?

AntiX MX will give you an installation of Debian stable customised for Xfce.

Salix is Slackware with Xfce, 600 extra programs, and added user-friendliness. That would be my personal choice.

An alternative would be the Mate desktop, which is best with Mint, although PCLinuxOS and Salix do good Mate versions.

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