I have one of these and also loved it… until the hinge snapped. They sent me a replacement top panel, but I still haven’t gotten around to fixing it because it’s a bit nervewracking. You have to lift the (pretty delicate-looking) screen off which is held on by adhesives.
Lovely little device, but not as durable as it might appear.
It's a nice little device, but did experience fair share of problems too...
- Hinge snapping -- a little screw in the front that holds the screen in angle pretty much broke out from the chassis, breaking the part of front panel in process, too. Now I can't hold the panel in angles. Either I have to open it all the way or close.
- Battery stopped charging -- ended up removing it.
Now I just have it plugged in to do trivial things once in a while...
My concern with a device of this size is typing. How do you use a keyboard barely larger than a credit card? Do you thumb-type, touch type, hunt-and-peck with just your index fingers?
It is one of those devices I could see always carrying with me but only using in emergencies. It has HDMI, Ethernet and serial ports. What more could you ask for?
> How do you use a keyboard barely larger than a credit card?
If you can use a phone's virtual keyboard, which is even smaller and has no physical separation between the keys, you should be able to use a keyboard like that one. It feels strange at first, but you adjust quickly. (I don't have any experience with that GPD, but I have experience with an old EeePC, which is similar-sized but probably has smaller keys because it doesn't have any keys to the left and right of its trackpad.)
A phone keyboard supports swiping for words and never requires multiple buttons to be pressed. Tapping on a small target is one thing; trying to hold down a modifier without pressing adjacent keys is something very different.
I am proficient with phone keyboards, but part of that proficiency is almost never using any punctuation, numbers, or symbols that aren't on the primary screen. Once I need anything more specialized (say if I wanted to do any coding) my speed drops by a huge factor.
I can hold my phone in one hand, and type with just my thumb, and my thumb covers the full spread of the keyboard. Or I can type with two thumbs for things that are longer than a few words, and again reach the entire keyboard without shifting grip.
But also I don't type much - in fact as little as possible - on my phone, and certainly not code. I will switch to my laptop for anything more than a few words if it's possible.
You'd be surprised. On the GPD I had, I managed full 10 finger typing (albeit one finger at a time). It worked surprisingly well and I managed to code at a good enough speed that I could be fairly productive on it.
Somewhat similar, but I owned a Toshiba Libretto back in the late 90s and the keyboard was quite compact. I could still touch type even though my fingers were all right next to each other, so it's not a deal-breaker.
He probably has one of the 1st generations which were cheaper (and crappier). I would not recommend paying more than 100EUR for it. The build quality was terrible and the firmware ridiculously buggy. I am told both things have improved in recent GPD endeavours but then so has the price.
I also have a MacBook Pro and a GPD Micro PC. The latter is ideal for taking into the field (in the case of my GPS work, literally a field) to connect to the various pieces of hardware I deal with. It's really a pocket-sized industrial PC, in the sense it has a lot of physical ports, e.g. Ethernet, a DB9 serial port, etc. taking it quite useful for hardware hackers.
Same, this is the one that’s caught my eye the most. I hope they get suspend working reliably though (and cut down on power usage in suspend) - that’s been my biggest issue with my Reform 2 and it’ll be even more important for a more portable device.
If it had the modem, I wouldn't need the smartphone at all. My smartphone is just a sensor suite + hotspot now; the Micro PC form factor and functionality is superior for all actual computing tasks.
The Micro PC is a really cool device, but owning one I couldn't really recommend it outside a very small niche.
Form factor, ports, and performance are all great. The firmware is very frustrating though. Mine shipped with a newer firmware (4.18) than was available to download, and it was miserable. The machine would power on to blank screens, and have random crashes. I was wary of downgrading because I couldn't put the "newer" firmware back on.
Finally gave in and stability was much improved on 4.13. Boot issues still happen though (less frequently). They seem possibly exasperated by Linux. It can require 3 or 4 attempts at holding the power button to force a reset. Unplug anything that could be back-feeding power so it will actually reset (not confirmed). Just all around annoying if you power it on and off a lot.
Other issues to consider. The hinge support is somewhat fragile. I try to be gentle opening and closing. I think I also put some epoxy around the plastic screwhole pillar. The battery has a permanent over-discharge cutoff that a number of users have hit so I've been careful to keep a charge on it.
there is a good chance you could try out other firmwares on your micropc. the win and win2 both had read/write capabilities via flashrom. i've done the backup/restore of the firmware on both.
the caveat is you stand a chance of soft bricking your device if you reboot after a failed write operation, or fully bricking your device if you didn't back up your firmware prior to a failed write.
I bike nearly every day, it's been years since I fell and, if my memory serves me, I fell because I was being a goofball with friends or something along those lines.
I've been bicycling my whole life, so I've got a bit of practice, but I've only fallen once, when the steering column of the crappy foldable bike I was using at the time broke off. My laptop easily survived the crash: when you fall from a bike, you don't fall on your back.
I had a GPD Win 2 for a while. It's a similar device, except targeted at gaming instead of productivity. I loved it! (I did occasionally use my Win 2 for productivity, but it was 99% for playing games.)
GPD's newer Win models are all more powerful, but they're also bigger and the Win 3 has a completely different form factor. They're good in their own ways, but I still miss the pocket-ability of the Win 2, and occasionally wish I hadn't sold mine.
There's a small group on the gpd_devices discord that throws around ideas for a "Win Min" - something in a similar size and form factor, but with upgraded specs. I'm not holding my breath, but I would love to see that.
> There's a small group on the gpd_devices discord that throws around ideas for a "Win Min" - something in a similar size and form factor, but with upgraded specs. I'm not holding my breath, but I would love to see that.
OpenPandora vibes. One day the Pyra will come out. One day.
Had one for three years. Use it nearly every day, but I work with embedded systems in robots/industrial machinery. One handed operation, tons of IO, dual boot, fits in back pocket etc. have made this indispensable.
One dead battery, replacement part from alibaba via GPD rep given link. Easy to disassemble via screwdriver and spudger. Works great now. Injection molded piece that held the threads where the hinge attached also failed. Drilled a little pinhole and added a small machine screw, nut and threadlocker. No more problems. Nut goes under the plastic hinge cover. The fix is literally better than original.
Other than that, the only issue I've had is getting grub to see the screen as landscape. Grub config options seem to get ignored. Oh well. Standard rotation is sorted with boot scripts and the OEM Windows 10 side works great.
You don’t need a fanny pack, it fits in my jeans pants, granted I wear TAD Intercept jeans which have slightly larger front pockets, but still most pants it fits fine. GPD Micro PC is also my favorite device and I carry it everywhere along with a Verizon LTE usb stick and I’m never in a situation I can’t work if the need arises, even without a seat as you get good thumb typing on it. Highly recommend it to those with system admin components to their responsibilities. I’ve also used the serial port several times while working at a data center.
There is a very slight taper. I actually own a pair of 5.11 Defenders (not sure about flex part) and I would say very similar cut. However TAD jeans are massively higher quality than 5.11, much better work, more pockets and extremely durable. They are real denim and should be treated as such. I typically wear same pair daily for around 2-3 weeks straight and then wash them. I have 3 pairs in total and well worth the investment for me. When I have to wear other pants I feel naked and don’t have all my EDC how I want it, all the pockets, including magazine pockets I find useful and probably carry more than women can in a purse without being noticeable to a causal observer.
At a previous job, I was the engineering manager for a new neo-bank and was on call 24/7 for it. I have a beefy Lenovo P52 that I hated carrying around and leaving in my car lest it get stolen. So I got a GPD Pocket. It fit very well into my back pocket.
Not only did it work great for emergency situations (I ran Ubuntu MATE as well) when I needed to SSH into machines, check stuff on Datadog, edit code to make a quick fix, push code to our K8S environments and more, but I actually found myself frequently at coffee shops and bars coding away happily on it. It brought a certain amount of freedom and cool factor with it. It was a delightful little device with a very sharp and crisp screen, a surprisingly useful keyboard that combined well with my i3 environment, that I could actually be productive on (save for running our test suite which took around 30 minutes and sucked the life out of the battery). It also got a lot of onlookers asking questions about it, leading to those ever so fun random conversations that can lead to night long friendships over wine and coffee.
I genuinely miss it and will probably pick up another one now that I just got hired as a CTO for another project with equally demanding on-call schedules and uptime requirements. Although I don't drink anymore so none of those fun conversations. Ce la vie.
> It also got a lot of onlookers asking questions about it, leading to those ever so fun random conversations that can lead to night long friendships over wine and coffee.
Hah. So true!
It's always interesting to see that even today with all the fancy miniature devices we have, how many people still see these UMPCs as almost magic. My Zaurus in the early 2000s used to get this kind of attention which was understandable. But I'm surprised that random people will still strike up conversations whenever I use modern UMPCs in public...
Which one did you have? I have P2 MAX (just changed the battery after 2-3 years), but rarely use it outside vacations. Cannot really see myself coding happily on it, even though the keyboard and the screen are decent it's not really comfortable for long typing sessions
It's a "shut up and take my money" system for me; I've dream of a netbook/micropc with trackpoint and keyboard taking as much space as it can for about 12-13 years now. Thx!
Yes, it is on the Gen 1, but the Gen 1 has a lot of other deficiencies in the HW that make it not so great as a daily driver today.
The OneMix ones have a capacitive trackpoint that's not as good (-> it works like a tiny trackpad area), but they also have touchscreens.
IMO the newer GPD Win ones are probably the best implementation of mousing on a small devices. You have all the options: A touchscreen, A small trackpad, and A joystick that has a mouse mode which behaves like a trackpoint.
I was so sad when I specifically ordered an HP laptop for work (The other choice was Dell) to get the keyboard with a trackpoint on it, only to find out that the HP layout only has two buttons.
It turns out my years of ThinkPad training has given me permanent muscle memory that the button underneath the middle of the space bar is middle mouse and therefore paste :)
For others in similar position as parent (i.e. in need for a hand held portable Linux computer) but couldn't buy a GPD device for various reasons(availability, cost, trust issues etc.); Then here are two recommendations which are just as good(or better?):
1. Buy a used smartphone with postmarketOS support[1]. I suggest Poco F1 if you want to make phone calls with it right away (or) Oneplus 6/6T if you can wait a bit long for it to be fixed. I use Poco F1 as a daily driver and these are the most powerful, feature complete Linux smartphones right now.
If your work depends upon tool adamant on glibc and couldn't be compiled for musl then Mobian works on the aforementioned devices[2] too.
Use a foldable bluetooth keyboard, case with kickstand; you can get just as productive as a GPD albeit more portable and also feel good about taking away a device from potential e-waste.
2. Buy a 11" used Chromebook (Mainly used in schools) which is supported by Mr.Chromebox's UEFI firmware[3], You can use any Linux with it but I use PeppermintOS for its light weight and OOB support for Chromebook. Of course any portable laptop could run Linux, But they tend to cost 2x-3x the Chromebooks.
I don't feel that way, Productivity benefits of a Linux handled aren't compromised to any significant effect by having a detached foldable keyboard(With layouts we're used to) as compared to attached smaller keyboard, especially when you can use it as a normal phone in any pocket :P
May be its a user preference, I just put out options as 'Choice' is the crux of Linux ecosystem.
Gotta disagree here a tad, I got a small tablet (windows but doesn't matter in this context) that I intended to use while commuting on the subway but the external keyboard/holding the device up wasn't at all comfortable on the lap in a subway train. Having had a proper keyboard as a base/holder would definitely have been an improvement when going on a subway/train.
You make a valid point, But I think a even a GPD like device wouldn't be comfortable on the lap while traveling if we have to crouch over while typing due to neck strain.
I think what's best in this situation is display glasses, Like VR headset but only that it outputs our computer/phone display for stereoscopic vision. I've been tracking such glasses for a while[1] as I have limited freedom of movement with my neck as its held by rods.
I really miss the slide out keyboards. Touch screen SSH sessions are a miracle if they work, and it's frustrating when you retype a word for the fifth time in a row only to realize autocomplete was trying to 'help' you.
There is a Logitech BT KB that has a slot to place your phone/tablet in. It's a way to get the laptop feel, which is needed when you need to type on your lap. It's quite heavy though, almost 2 pounds. That's because it needs to be heavy enough to not tip over if an iPad or something is attached to it.
I personally think if you have an Android phone, Termux is really powerful, its basically a linux container, and you can do a lot on it,
And with Root its even more powerful.
And of course Android is always going to be more usable the mobile linux.
For me personally I just can't work on my phone, its too small, there is no place to work on anything!
Termux is an excellent piece of software, I recently saw a security researcher from Zambia using only Termux for his development[1] and research as he couldn't afford a computer. I'm sure there are plenty more like him in developing economies, Where using smartphone for better computing is not just a lifestyle but a necessity for livelihood.
Because Google with its Playstore API restrictions has stopped Termux from releasing in Playstore, It has robbed people in the similar circumstance as that Zambian gentleman of the opportunity. Now, One has to have enough knowledge about existence of third party app stores like F-Droid to make use of Termux like applications.
Even then, Android's enthusiast scene is highly dependent upon 'privilege escalation', To auto update Termux from F-Droid it needs root.
And that's exactly why I'm evangelizing Linux smartphone at every chance I get, I'm not telling those who couldn't afford a PC should move on to a Linux phone, I'm telling we need to break the duopoly in the mobile ecosystem to gain back the freedom in mobile computing. Linux phone, Especially aftermarket projects like pmos seems to be best bet for me since coincidentally developing economies are e-waste dumping grounds for the rest of the world.
My GPD Pocket experience was pretty bad. The battery swelled up and there was no replacement stock available. The reply I got was: sorry old model. The thing wouldn't even turn on without the battery connected, so it was trash at that point.
I wish I could use one of those, I had one actually some years ago but my eyes were burning (I have huge fonts compared to average people in my regular 17inch laptop).
> I’m very vigilant and still a bit freaked out when I carry the Macbook around. Careful in tight spaces! Better not hop on a city bike with it in my backpack, ’cause what if I fall?
I've actually found MacBooks to be impressively sturdy. Perhaps I've been lucky. I've dropped my 2016 Intel MBP once while coming out of my car, it hit the pavement on its corner. There was a little dent in the corner, and the screen/lid was a couple millimeters askew from the body, but it worked fine and was my mainstay for a few years more.
A colleague had this beautiful star-streak pattern on the aluminum back of their screen from the time they knocked their Mabook down their driveway, in a botched attempt to catch it as it fell. They were even a bit sad when they had to upgrade, and actually asked if they could swap the case!
In contrast, I had an old Lenovo laptop just explode from falling on the pavement.
(On the other hand, I've had to get the macbook repaired twice due to the butterfly keyboard issue...)
With all that said, the MBP is obviously heavier than the GPD Micro, and the lightness of the latter makes it inherently less fragile.
I agree with you on sturdiness - I thrown one 7 feet onto concrete and it was dented but kept working for years. I think the bigger issue is the mental model of "what if I break it?" being applied to a $300 machine vs a $3000 machine is very different.
My MBP fell off my chair (maybe 18"?) onto a wooden floor and the screen shattered. Not sure what it cost my employer to replace that, but I am extremly unimpressed w/ the durability of these things. It was certainly inconvenient for me to have to switch computers for a couple weekswhile mine was being repaired.
I mean that's the nature of a unibody machine with edge to edge glass sandwiched in.
The main body is amazingly sturdy. I've crushed mine behind a power seat with enough force to bend the aluminum but the machine kept on bar some faint stuck pixels in the imprint of the keyboard.
But drop it the wrong way and the aluminum lip will give way immediately, and it's no different than if you dropped a thin pane of glass with no protection right on its edge.
For what it is I say the Macbook is very study. It's never going to be a rugged book with the current design, but I haven't had many "ultrabook-style" machines that were as tough as a Macbook.
I too have found the MacBook Air family to be hardy. Have owned probably 20 of them since they came out. Rock solid hardware, modulo a certain butterfly keyboard incident or three.
I owned businesses. I didn't use all of them myself. I do tend to buy The Latest Thing every year or two. And my purchase history of computers is of interest to you because...?
I had the same thought too. I read your comment as you ‘personally’ used 20 of them. Given the Air had several episodes of years without changes, that would imply they were replaced with the exact same model.
> And my purchase history of computers is of interest to you because..
Not the OP, but saying you "owned 20 of them" certainly made it sound like you personally had gone through 20 Macbook Airs in 13 years and I too had questions why.
Wasn't sure what could prompt such frequent replacement with the same product. Maybe if one had a rage problem rendering them inoperable after throwing into a wall, or some other serious condition, perhaps OCD? I've encountered crazier things in my life.
My old 2011 MBA is still chugging along just fine, despite lots harsh use and hot tub time.
The nearby air has extremely high moisture content, I didn't dream the MBA would be able to sustain the abuse for so many years without getting fatally corroded.
It's taken substantial splashes and even a partial dunk or three.
When my 2014 MBP was just a couple years old I drove away with it on the roof of my car (granted, in a soft plastic case). It fell off on the highway where it laid between lanes until someone stopped and picked it up and contacted me.
Small dent in one of the corners from hitting the pavement, but it’s still going strong today. Battle scars.
May be worthwhile checking the policy fine print. My homeowners insurance has a $2k per incident claim limit fwiw, unless the item is explicitly scheduled (which increases the premium).
I closed my M1 MBA's screen on a plastic fork right at the base of the hinge, cracked the glass (but why?) nameplate because the hinge was ultra tight with zero clearance between the screen and base when closed (room for error), and a few weeks later pinstripes started appearing on my screen due to electrical damage from the crack.
Closing a portable PC with a pen inside was the leading cause of accident. I don’t know if it is anymore, since there is generally no deep trench at the top of flat-keys keyboards, like there were on deep-keys keyboards.
I can relate to that. Fell of a bike last week going 15-20 kph, my backpack with 14" MBP M1 fell on the pavement and slided a few meters -- not a scratch (or dent) on that thing. And there's nothing in my backpack to soften the blow!
All of this seems perfectly reasonable, but I take issue with the "walled garden" comment for Macs. It's a true, and legitimate, complaint about iOS. Personally on iOS I find it makes for installing software much less of a concern, but I do understand that other people prefer a different balance.
Macs aren't walled gardens, you're free to install whatever you want, the default security requires that software be signed but does not require the use of the app store, and apple put a _lot_ of work into ensuring that Macs remained secure but could also have whatever non-tacos OS you might want.
I am not sure what more could be done to make a Mac not be a "walled garden".
> rather than mindlessly reaching for the phone and scrolling through news, I choose to pull out the Micro and read some code.
That's the gem here. I'm looking for ways to stop reaching for my phone. Looking at many people around me I definitely do pretty well but I want even more.
That's why I was looking at various small machines, even some modern reimplementations of LISP machines but nothing caught my eye.
i got the GPD pocket 1 with 8GB ram and a 128GB ssd. for comparison i had a 2012 macbook with 4GB ram and 128GB ssd. yes, the mac is snappier, but i always admired the irony of this tiny thing having similar specs. for extra fun i put an apple-logo sticker on it and used them side by side.
the battery died after about 2 years of use. and i could not find a replacement battery, so i got a onemix 1s whose battery died less than a year later. ironically i was then able to replace the gpd pocket battery, but not the onemix battery.
my next device though is going to be the pinephone with its keyboard extension. i found that i only use the pocket when outside when i don't want to carry a real laptop, and that happens rarely enough that an even smaller and much cheaper device should be enough. i still want a device with a keyboard because typing shell commands on a touchscreen is just painful.
I have a Chuwi minibook, similar form factor. I'm on my third battery, which has convinced me to avoid this sort of niche but poorly supported device in the future.
I'm researching the Chuwi minibook now and amazon.co.jp sells an japanese quality tested version "FFF UMPC FFF-PCM2B". Also in Japan, Donki Hote is selling a similar device called NANOTE NEXT (7inch, 8GB RAM, 64GB SSD). Both are at a similar price point. I'd also like to namedrop panasonic let's note (bigger form factor)
RE the GDP's portability: I had a One Mix Yoga (similar form factor) a few years ago and also used a bunch for this reason as well:
> It’s ultra-portable. It resides permanently in my waist bag (a.k.a. fanny pack for my American readers) alongside my wallet and phone, and I carry it around everywhere when I’m out and about. It’s super lightweight for a laptop (I hardly feel the extra grams), and reaching for it only takes a second or so, as does putting it away.
Though I'm pretty biased, this makes me excited for the future of VR computing.[1] Obviously headset form factors are larger than the GDP Micro right now, but there's a lot of appeal to being able to strap a device on virtually anywhere you are (in your background, on the couch, on your bed) and being able to make some incremental progress on some problem you're working on.
I say this as someone who has a Simula One on preorder, but yeah I think the form factor will need to get a lot more compact before I’d use a VR computer on the go in the same way I’d use one of these. Excited to try it out regardless!
It definitely could be though, and not having to have a display that’s physically as large as it looks virtually could be a big advantage. I hope there are FOSS options like Simula when that day comes and we’re not all stuck with the tech giants like we are with smartphones. :)
I do miss my n900 best portable computing experience I ever had.
I think the security model or rather lack of a security model, would have done it in in the end even without Microsoft's help.
Loss of the eePC 900/1000 series is another exhibit in the case that
"Markets are a Myth". How could such a self evidently near perfect
form factor be deemed "niche"?
Just looked it up on amazon and am not sure how 300 euro turned to $600+, without taxes and shipping. Overpriced if you asked me. Not too fond about Celeron processors either.
Low supply (out of production most likely), high demand (those of who like them REALLY like them). Their retail price has been steadily rising, when they're in stock at all, and the ebay prices have gone completely insane.
When I see expensive ($600+), small niche toys like this, I always think "what is that, a keyboard for ants?" I appreciate clever ideas, but it has to be practical--and my hands (and neck and shoulders) need a usable keyboard. Otherwise, it's a toy.
It's actually surprisingly practical. It's designed for thumb typing, rather than touch typing. The keys are clicky and easy to hit. I can do about 60WPM on it.
But you're not paying for a laptop by its mass, more like lack thereof. And Chromebooks has about literal kilograms more than strictly necessary, so there comes the delta.
$534 from Ali express which is about $100 more than the 2021 price of $445. It is going on sale on 8/22 for $417 which is much closer to the price in TFA.
A small AliExpress tip: if you’re going to buy anything from AliExpress for more than throwaway money, always use a credit card, because if it doesn’t arrive they will not honor their guarantees and will not refund your money. Make sure you can honor their guarantee by doing a chargeback, if necessary.
265 comments
[ 4.6 ms ] story [ 252 ms ] threadLovely little device, but not as durable as it might appear.
- Hinge snapping -- a little screw in the front that holds the screen in angle pretty much broke out from the chassis, breaking the part of front panel in process, too. Now I can't hold the panel in angles. Either I have to open it all the way or close.
- Battery stopped charging -- ended up removing it.
Now I just have it plugged in to do trivial things once in a while...
It is one of those devices I could see always carrying with me but only using in emergencies. It has HDMI, Ethernet and serial ports. What more could you ask for?
If you can use a phone's virtual keyboard, which is even smaller and has no physical separation between the keys, you should be able to use a keyboard like that one. It feels strange at first, but you adjust quickly. (I don't have any experience with that GPD, but I have experience with an old EeePC, which is similar-sized but probably has smaller keys because it doesn't have any keys to the left and right of its trackpad.)
I am proficient with phone keyboards, but part of that proficiency is almost never using any punctuation, numbers, or symbols that aren't on the primary screen. Once I need anything more specialized (say if I wanted to do any coding) my speed drops by a huge factor.
But also I don't type much - in fact as little as possible - on my phone, and certainly not code. I will switch to my laptop for anything more than a few words if it's possible.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OQO
wonder how this form factor w/ some arm iron in it would perform...
I tend to use my lappy plugged in to a real keyboard/monitor to get anything done, so the small size is very attractive.
[0] https://mntre.com/media/reform_md/2022-06-20-introducing-mnt...
[1] https://mobile.twitter.com/minut_e/status/155805356090603110...
Form factor, ports, and performance are all great. The firmware is very frustrating though. Mine shipped with a newer firmware (4.18) than was available to download, and it was miserable. The machine would power on to blank screens, and have random crashes. I was wary of downgrading because I couldn't put the "newer" firmware back on.
Finally gave in and stability was much improved on 4.13. Boot issues still happen though (less frequently). They seem possibly exasperated by Linux. It can require 3 or 4 attempts at holding the power button to force a reset. Unplug anything that could be back-feeding power so it will actually reset (not confirmed). Just all around annoying if you power it on and off a lot.
Other issues to consider. The hinge support is somewhat fragile. I try to be gentle opening and closing. I think I also put some epoxy around the plastic screwhole pillar. The battery has a permanent over-discharge cutoff that a number of users have hit so I've been careful to keep a charge on it.
the caveat is you stand a chance of soft bricking your device if you reboot after a failed write operation, or fully bricking your device if you didn't back up your firmware prior to a failed write.
How often do people fall on bikes? I biked for years in SF with my work laptop and never had an issue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSm7bjGjEwM
GPD's newer Win models are all more powerful, but they're also bigger and the Win 3 has a completely different form factor. They're good in their own ways, but I still miss the pocket-ability of the Win 2, and occasionally wish I hadn't sold mine.
There's a small group on the gpd_devices discord that throws around ideas for a "Win Min" - something in a similar size and form factor, but with upgraded specs. I'm not holding my breath, but I would love to see that.
OpenPandora vibes. One day the Pyra will come out. One day.
One dead battery, replacement part from alibaba via GPD rep given link. Easy to disassemble via screwdriver and spudger. Works great now. Injection molded piece that held the threads where the hinge attached also failed. Drilled a little pinhole and added a small machine screw, nut and threadlocker. No more problems. Nut goes under the plastic hinge cover. The fix is literally better than original.
Other than that, the only issue I've had is getting grub to see the screen as landscape. Grub config options seem to get ignored. Oh well. Standard rotation is sorted with boot scripts and the OEM Windows 10 side works great.
How are the legs on the Intercepters? Any taper at all?
Not only did it work great for emergency situations (I ran Ubuntu MATE as well) when I needed to SSH into machines, check stuff on Datadog, edit code to make a quick fix, push code to our K8S environments and more, but I actually found myself frequently at coffee shops and bars coding away happily on it. It brought a certain amount of freedom and cool factor with it. It was a delightful little device with a very sharp and crisp screen, a surprisingly useful keyboard that combined well with my i3 environment, that I could actually be productive on (save for running our test suite which took around 30 minutes and sucked the life out of the battery). It also got a lot of onlookers asking questions about it, leading to those ever so fun random conversations that can lead to night long friendships over wine and coffee.
I genuinely miss it and will probably pick up another one now that I just got hired as a CTO for another project with equally demanding on-call schedules and uptime requirements. Although I don't drink anymore so none of those fun conversations. Ce la vie.
Hah. So true!
It's always interesting to see that even today with all the fancy miniature devices we have, how many people still see these UMPCs as almost magic. My Zaurus in the early 2000s used to get this kind of attention which was understandable. But I'm surprised that random people will still strike up conversations whenever I use modern UMPCs in public...
It's a "shut up and take my money" system for me; I've dream of a netbook/micropc with trackpoint and keyboard taking as much space as it can for about 12-13 years now. Thx!
The OneMix ones have a capacitive trackpoint that's not as good (-> it works like a tiny trackpad area), but they also have touchscreens.
IMO the newer GPD Win ones are probably the best implementation of mousing on a small devices. You have all the options: A touchscreen, A small trackpad, and A joystick that has a mouse mode which behaves like a trackpoint.
It turns out my years of ThinkPad training has given me permanent muscle memory that the button underneath the middle of the space bar is middle mouse and therefore paste :)
1. Buy a used smartphone with postmarketOS support[1]. I suggest Poco F1 if you want to make phone calls with it right away (or) Oneplus 6/6T if you can wait a bit long for it to be fixed. I use Poco F1 as a daily driver and these are the most powerful, feature complete Linux smartphones right now.
If your work depends upon tool adamant on glibc and couldn't be compiled for musl then Mobian works on the aforementioned devices[2] too.
Use a foldable bluetooth keyboard, case with kickstand; you can get just as productive as a GPD albeit more portable and also feel good about taking away a device from potential e-waste.
2. Buy a 11" used Chromebook (Mainly used in schools) which is supported by Mr.Chromebox's UEFI firmware[3], You can use any Linux with it but I use PeppermintOS for its light weight and OOB support for Chromebook. Of course any portable laptop could run Linux, But they tend to cost 2x-3x the Chromebooks.
[1] https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Devices
[2] https://wiki.mobian-project.org/doku.php?id=install-android
[3] https://mrchromebox.tech/#devices
having an attached keyboard is the whole point though
May be its a user preference, I just put out options as 'Choice' is the crux of Linux ecosystem.
I think what's best in this situation is display glasses, Like VR headset but only that it outputs our computer/phone display for stereoscopic vision. I've been tracking such glasses for a while[1] as I have limited freedom of movement with my neck as its held by rods.
[1] https://needgap.com/problems/16-wearable-low-latency-display...
And of course Android is always going to be more usable the mobile linux.
For me personally I just can't work on my phone, its too small, there is no place to work on anything!
Because Google with its Playstore API restrictions has stopped Termux from releasing in Playstore, It has robbed people in the similar circumstance as that Zambian gentleman of the opportunity. Now, One has to have enough knowledge about existence of third party app stores like F-Droid to make use of Termux like applications.
Even then, Android's enthusiast scene is highly dependent upon 'privilege escalation', To auto update Termux from F-Droid it needs root.
And that's exactly why I'm evangelizing Linux smartphone at every chance I get, I'm not telling those who couldn't afford a PC should move on to a Linux phone, I'm telling we need to break the duopoly in the mobile ecosystem to gain back the freedom in mobile computing. Linux phone, Especially aftermarket projects like pmos seems to be best bet for me since coincidentally developing economies are e-waste dumping grounds for the rest of the world.
[1] https://twitter.com/cyb3rops/status/1548961346104053764
Some recommendations from my subreddit:
- https://www.reddit.com/r/ErgoMobileComputers/comments/uvjty1...
- https://www.reddit.com/r/ErgoMobileComputers/comments/sqvrsg...
- https://www.reddit.com/r/ErgoMobileComputers/comments/uvjnhe...
> I’m very vigilant and still a bit freaked out when I carry the Macbook around. Careful in tight spaces! Better not hop on a city bike with it in my backpack, ’cause what if I fall?
I've actually found MacBooks to be impressively sturdy. Perhaps I've been lucky. I've dropped my 2016 Intel MBP once while coming out of my car, it hit the pavement on its corner. There was a little dent in the corner, and the screen/lid was a couple millimeters askew from the body, but it worked fine and was my mainstay for a few years more.
A colleague had this beautiful star-streak pattern on the aluminum back of their screen from the time they knocked their Mabook down their driveway, in a botched attempt to catch it as it fell. They were even a bit sad when they had to upgrade, and actually asked if they could swap the case!
In contrast, I had an old Lenovo laptop just explode from falling on the pavement.
(On the other hand, I've had to get the macbook repaired twice due to the butterfly keyboard issue...)
With all that said, the MBP is obviously heavier than the GPD Micro, and the lightness of the latter makes it inherently less fragile.
The main body is amazingly sturdy. I've crushed mine behind a power seat with enough force to bend the aluminum but the machine kept on bar some faint stuck pixels in the imprint of the keyboard.
But drop it the wrong way and the aluminum lip will give way immediately, and it's no different than if you dropped a thin pane of glass with no protection right on its edge.
For what it is I say the Macbook is very study. It's never going to be a rugged book with the current design, but I haven't had many "ultrabook-style" machines that were as tough as a Macbook.
Not the OP, but saying you "owned 20 of them" certainly made it sound like you personally had gone through 20 Macbook Airs in 13 years and I too had questions why.
My old 2011 MBA is still chugging along just fine, despite lots harsh use and hot tub time.
Please expand.
The nearby air has extremely high moisture content, I didn't dream the MBA would be able to sustain the abuse for so many years without getting fatally corroded.
It's taken substantial splashes and even a partial dunk or three.
The MBA surviving that is quite impressive!
Small dent in one of the corners from hitting the pavement, but it’s still going strong today. Battle scars.
20220815 490 points, 571 comments https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32474827
Macs aren't walled gardens, you're free to install whatever you want, the default security requires that software be signed but does not require the use of the app store, and apple put a _lot_ of work into ensuring that Macs remained secure but could also have whatever non-tacos OS you might want.
I am not sure what more could be done to make a Mac not be a "walled garden".
That's the gem here. I'm looking for ways to stop reaching for my phone. Looking at many people around me I definitely do pretty well but I want even more.
That's why I was looking at various small machines, even some modern reimplementations of LISP machines but nothing caught my eye.
Maybe the GPD machines are it.
the battery died after about 2 years of use. and i could not find a replacement battery, so i got a onemix 1s whose battery died less than a year later. ironically i was then able to replace the gpd pocket battery, but not the onemix battery.
my next device though is going to be the pinephone with its keyboard extension. i found that i only use the pocket when outside when i don't want to carry a real laptop, and that happens rarely enough that an even smaller and much cheaper device should be enough. i still want a device with a keyboard because typing shell commands on a touchscreen is just painful.
> It’s ultra-portable. It resides permanently in my waist bag (a.k.a. fanny pack for my American readers) alongside my wallet and phone, and I carry it around everywhere when I’m out and about. It’s super lightweight for a laptop (I hardly feel the extra grams), and reaching for it only takes a second or so, as does putting it away.
Though I'm pretty biased, this makes me excited for the future of VR computing.[1] Obviously headset form factors are larger than the GDP Micro right now, but there's a lot of appeal to being able to strap a device on virtually anywhere you are (in your background, on the couch, on your bed) and being able to make some incremental progress on some problem you're working on.
[1] https://simulavr.com
1. A chorded keyboard: some people are working on this.
2. A keyboard apron: I've built a prototype of one here: https://www.wolframcloud.com/obj/george.w.singer/business/pn...
Verbose mode, please.
Pair it with a cheap tablet of your choice and you have similar functionality and (from what I hear) superior reliability --- at lower overall cost.
It definitely could be though, and not having to have a display that’s physically as large as it looks virtually could be a big advantage. I hope there are FOSS options like Simula when that day comes and we’re not all stuck with the tech giants like we are with smartphones. :)
In fact, noodling around as a result of this thread has revealed a more recent model from the same people: https://www.techadvisor.com/article/797640/planet-computers-...
That looks interesting enough to take a punt on.
The OP says it was 300 eur used. What else is available in this form factor but more towards this one's used price?
(this comment typed on a GPD Micro PC :)
Google, amazon, aliexpress... and 666eur was the cheapest I could find :/
Yeah... no.