Gole1 - Interesting Cherry Trail device?

[Grench]

Spoiler

What amazes me most is the price point. The SoC itself is $28 in 1000 piece trays.

I wonder what display they're using...?

Will it run Debian? At least it dual boots Android, so not 100% stuck with Windows.

2hr battery life - but looking closely they aren't truly going after it being a 'mobile' device, but instead a 'desktop replacement' with a built in screen and battery to get the free Windows 10 license.

 

[fusion_power]

It looks like the Atom is not as dead as we thought after all that news about.
It also gets even smaller: Intel Compute Stick with x5-Z8300 inside and a active mini-fan! 20 Years ago this thing would be comparable to an most powerful workstation for sure. I like to live in the Future! ^^

 

[Agricola]

The fact there's already a VERY similar unit called "Pipo x3" and the translation of their indiegogo and YouTube page is absolutely horrible just makes me want to run far, far away. Interesting concept, yes, but there are so many alternatives and with the language barrier and incosistent information (Does the 4GB/64GB unit have a 1080p screen as they said on their second video or not as it's written on their technical specifications? Is Linux supported? Nobody seems to know!) I don't want to support any of it. And then there's also the fact they don't seem to handle their own Indiegogo, but ARMdevices.net (eventhough it's an x86) does. And if that all wasn't enough, their 2,5" drive slot seems to be clipped on right unter the device where it blocks the "Professional Cooling System" which is just a few passive holes for airflow as it seems.

It just doesn't appear to be very professional; as if a few guys got the hardware design from Pipo and wanted to sell it on their own with the support of the more or less famous website ARMdevices.net and an optional SSD slapped on the bottom.
I definitly wouldn't support it.

 

[rygD]

2hr battery life - but looking closely they aren't truly going after it being a 'mobile' device, but instead a 'desktop replacement' with a built in screen and battery to get the free Windows 10 license.

That seems like a pretty poor choice as a reason to make something like this. I suppose for those that must have Windows it is a way to save money? My response to those people is "try harder", as you probably don't need it as much as you think.

I can't really think of any reason why I would want this over something else, and I was really trying to come up with something positive to say.

 

[Agricola]

It looks like the Atom is not as dead as we thought after all that news about.

The Atom itself is not dead, but the research is for financial reasons. And it also cut into Intel's lower middle class CPUs. So in a couple of years, we probably won't see any new Atom devices except for very low-cost ones as this, but for now it's still kicking.

 

[erico]

Looks pretty descent for the price, I´m sure I´d be able to find good use for it.
Maybe a better battery with that hd dock?
Unfortunately, I can´t afford any price at all, not even ´cheap´ at the moment.

 

[pmprog]

Some bits I find interesting...

Professional Cooling system
Full aluminium body means that the device can work all the time without any heat problem.

So the heat is going to come straight out to your hands if you're holding it. But then what gets a bit stranger

If you plonk it on top of a HDD case, where's the heat going? That's right, straight to the HDD.


Oh, and the best bit for me - take a look at their company name : ARM devices NET, with their website http://ARMdevices.net
Thought this was an Intel device ;-)

 

[benoitb]

Is this really by Charbax ? The guy owns armdevices.net. He is a bit of a crazy videoblogger, Archos fan and shoots anything moving at electronics salons and in Shenzen.

 

[comradekingu]

No, but crowdfunding devices have spokespersons. Or display-people in this and other cases.

It puts a face to the otherwise big and un-human coorporation behind the device.

Heat travels upwards, towards the screen. Where it doesn't escape by the looks of it.

I didn't understand this device either.

 

[Grench]

It looks like this one is going to become a reality soon. Liliputing got a review sample unit:
http://liliputing.com/2016/07/gole1-mini-pc-review-blurring-lines-tablets-desktop-pcs.html

Kudos to Mr. Linder at Liliputing for a solid review. I particularly like how he fiddled with Ubuntu on it after checking out the Windows and Android installs. It shows a lot of promise for the Cherry Trail SoC's capability of running a mainstream Linux distribution too.

 

[sulu]

It looks like this one is going to become a reality soon. Liliputing got a review sample unit:
http://liliputing.com/2016/07/gole1-mini-pc-review-blurring-lines-tablets-desktop-pcs.html

There is a picture where they opened the case. It seems to me, the battery could have easily been made replaceable without tools. 2cm case thickness and 2.6Ah electric charge also sounds like a standard 18650 cell should have been an option (maybe even two with some re-arranging of components).
I wonder if not implementing this is mere unthoughtfulness or actual planned obsolescence.

I predict this thing to be dead, when the the battery dies of age and no replacements are available. Which will probably happen within 2 or 3 years.

 

[_jr_]

Kudos to Mr. Linder at Liliputing for a solid review. I particularly like how he fiddled with Ubuntu on it after checking out the Windows and Android installs. It shows a lot of promise for the Cherry Trail SoC's capability of running a mainstream Linux distribution too.

I'm not sure that

Not everything worked perfectly out of the box, but it’s good to know that it’s at least possible to switch to a different operating system.

deserves such praise. It would at least have been interesting (and relatively easy) to test whether screen tearing that seems to be a common issue with intel's drivers is noticeable on this system (e.g. on a composited desktop, when playing a video or a OpenGL/Vulkan game).

 

[directive0]

I have to say; I'm intrigued.

 

[Grench]

I'm not sure that

deserves such praise. It would at least have been interesting (and relatively easy) to test whether screen tearing that seems to be a common issue with intel's drivers is noticeable on this system (e.g. on a composited desktop, when playing a video or a OpenGL/Vulkan game).

I disagree. This system isn't advertised to even support any environment other than WinX and AndroidX86. The fact that the reviewer took a few minutes to boot it under a Linux based OS at all is, IMHO, worthy of praise. Clearly there aren't drivers in stock Ubuntu for the on-board sound & WiFi - which he solved for the purpose with external USB devices for the purpose of the review. This was an early pre-production device review - not a "Linux on this device" review after all. For me, the fact that he was able to get Ubuntu to -run- on it without serious monkeying around is a great sign - i.e. it isn't blocked.

It was a 1 page brief review of a pre-production (beta?) device. If you're expecting full details of minutia of every aspect - that would be outside the scope of what he was doing.

 

[Grench]

So - my Gole1 came in late last week and I haven't had a chance to do anything more than verify that it boots and the display works. Did anyone else here pick one up? I haven't searched very hard, but I wasn't able to find a good English community or support forum for these yet.

It's a cool little device. This thing has a ton of ports on it. I could have done without the weird pinkish gold coloration, but hey - it was relatively inexpensive and should be fun to fiddle with while I wait for a Pyra.

 

[directive0]

What do you plan to do with it? I was thinking about getting one but my desk is covered in things to tide me over until the Pyra and I don't think I could justify one more thing.

 

[Grench]

What do you plan to do with it? I was thinking about getting one but my desk is covered in things to tide me over until the Pyra and I don't think I could justify one more thing.

Frankly, I'm not sure yet. It's the only device in my house right now that has Windows installed. I'm not sure if I'll keep it that way or not. I may fiddle with alternate OSs on it, but first I want to get a solid recoverable backup of the Windows install - which might be an interesting endeavor in itself. It's a very odd device. I may just relegate it to multimedia - TV & audio use as it has wired Ethernet, an HDMI out and enough ports to run a pile of USB devices (wireless keyboard) through. Or I may potentially set it up as a silent (no fan) recording station using the TASCAM XLR-USB. Broad capabilities in theory, just a real odd form factor. I have the 4GB RAM & 64GB eMMC version.

The thing that sits in the back of my mind and bugs me though - it has a Windows 10 install, no license tag, no restore media. I normally like to drop new computers to bare disk and install my own OS so I know what is/not lurking on it. I'm not sure yet if that is possible on this weird little device. I doubt stock Windows 10 comes with the drivers for it, I'm loathe to pay for Windows. I'm wondering if I can get a Debian install working with the sound and networking hardware on it, though I'm not even sure yet what the underlying hardware is. Should be an adventure.

 

[Grench]

So, the Gole1 dual boots Windows 10 and Android stock. I fiddled with the Android install last night and I'm pretty impressed so far.

I still haven't figured out what I'm gooing to do with it in the end. I already have nicer Android tablets & phones. The Windows 10 install doesn't overcome the minimal hardware, so there isn't much that the Windows install will do that my Linux computers can't.

Still - it's going to be a fun device to fiddle with. I'll see about getting Debian installed and working on it after I have a chance to dd back up the entire existing OS installs.