And Gold is in every Electronic Device..
GPD WIN 2
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vcoleiro1
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Yep, which made me think about why we are worrying about Tantalum
But then again, I suppose you should do what you can to not fund conflict
WizardStan
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I think that's because gold can be purchased through non-conflict means. It'll cost more, but it can be done.
There's a lot of talk about conflict-free tantalum, but I don't think any source actually exists.
I could be very wrong about that. It could simply be because we've had high-conflict sources of gold for centuries so we don't even think about it, probably aren't aware of it most of the time, but tantalum capacitors are pretty fresh in our mind so we think about them more.
vcoleiro1
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This was a interesting and somewhat related article: https://www.engadget.com/2018/02/06/ethical-smartphone-conscious-consumption/
Failbert
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Judging by the cover, about their "quantitve" business approach, making things marketable for everyone and pushing them super cheap, I think they either aren't aware or decided not to get involved. But this is just a general perception and I do not presume everyone at GPD is like that.
A near 100% sure signal that they don't care about sourcing of tantalum is that if they would, they would use it as a marketing pitch. One, because it's a good-hearted approach good for PR. Two, because in it's essence it's a statement- "just" doing it (using conflict-free sourced materials) without saying that You are doing it is going to achieve very little in the long run, because in theory You spare some suffering but don't influence other manufacturers to also walk this path, so no real change will ever happen.
*(putting aside discussion whether it will ever change anything and whether every other material is "ethical"- I think we have this discussion in another thread already, and I am not 100% sure about my stance yet
),
Just received my prototype of the GPD Win 2 and want to post some first expressions here.
I will do a lot more tests (except for testing too many games, as we've seen a lot of its power already), but right now, Windows is downloading a 3GB Update... yay
So I didn't do more than have annoying Cortana talk to me during Windows setup right now
Okay, first the good things:
So yes, it's a pretty neat toy and definitely an improvement compared to the GPD Win.
Let's hope the screen will be better than I had with a first impression!
I will do a lot more tests (except for testing too many games, as we've seen a lot of its power already), but right now, Windows is downloading a 3GB Update... yay
So I didn't do more than have annoying Cortana talk to me during Windows setup right now
Okay, first the good things:
- Build quality is really nice.
- Keyboard is better than the one in the GPD Win
- Overall size is okay... bigger than the Pyra and GPD Win, but still portable.
- Very good speaker quality
- DPad: Feels quite mushy for me - but that could be that it's a prototype (it also feels like the travel distance when pressing left is different than when pressing right). You will probably play most games using the analog stick though.
- Button location: As I feared, for me ABXY is pretty uncomfortable where it is. My wife even has bigger issues with that (as she has smaller hands). It's still playable and you probably can get used to it, but I'd rather have them where the right analog stick is.
- Keyboard: While the keyboard is better than on the GPD Win (but not as good as on the Pyra / Pandora in my opinion), there is one thing that's annoying me... and that's the space key. First, it's not located in the middle - and when typing, I mostly hit ALT with my thumb where I would expect the space key. That's probably something I simply need to get used to Second, the space key is lower than the other key. It's even lower than the surrounding bezel in most areas. Which means it's harder to press, so when fast typing, the space key is what mostly slows me down.
- Screen: Hmm... could be - once again - the prototype, but there are two things I noticed: 1. Uneven light bleed (like on earlier versions of the GPD XD). On dark screens, you can see where the LEDs are located to the left and right. 2. I haven't played anything yet, but moving the mouse pointer has a visible blurry trail! So it seems to me the response time is pretty bad here. No big deal with modern 3D games I guess, but playing VCS2600 games might be as bad as on the Pandora. I'll investigate more here!
- The fan can be clearly heard, even when not doing anything demanding. That was to be expected though, as you can't get the horse power the CPU has without producing a lot of heat (at least not with current technology).
So yes, it's a pretty neat toy and definitely an improvement compared to the GPD Win.
Let's hope the screen will be better than I had with a first impression!
JDTAY
Half Pepperoni, All Cheese
ED: "Hello there, everyone! I just received a prototype for the Pyra's top competitor, and I'm enjoying it very much, but by golly, there are just a few things about it that worry me. I shall now describe them in excruciating detail. "
I just received a prototype for the Pyra's top competitor, and I'm enjoying it very much, but by golly, there are just a few things about it that worry me. I shall now describe them in excruciating detail. "
ClockworkCoder
Chaotic Neutral
ED always does that with the Pyra tooED: "Hello there, everyone!
I still don't see the GPD Win 2 as competitor, it's just a different device. Everyone has his/her favourite PC / laptop, everyone has his/her favourite game console and everyone has his/her favourite handheld
I love all of them
I'm selling it as well, as I do sell all other GPD products.
Anyways, here's a quick video with what I mean with the blurring. Thankfully, it's not as bad for gaming as I had feared (some VCS2600 games are unplayable on the Pandora screen thanks to the response time), as the brighter LCD still everything clearly visible.
But you can still see it:
And here are some quick comparison shots to the Pandora and Pyra:
[doublepost=1518193477,1518193420][/doublepost]
Actually, I do that with every handheld or item I receive
I always say what I love and what I don't like.
And yes, the GPD Win 2 is a lot better than the GPD Win 1 (especially the keyboard), and it's definitely worth its money as well.
I love all of them
I'm selling it as well, as I do sell all other GPD products.
Anyways, here's a quick video with what I mean with the blurring. Thankfully, it's not as bad for gaming as I had feared (some VCS2600 games are unplayable on the Pandora screen thanks to the response time), as the brighter LCD still everything clearly visible.
But you can still see it:
And here are some quick comparison shots to the Pandora and Pyra:
[doublepost=1518193477,1518193420][/doublepost]
ED always does that with the Pyra too
Actually, I do that with every handheld or item I receive
I always say what I love and what I don't like.
And yes, the GPD Win 2 is a lot better than the GPD Win 1 (especially the keyboard), and it's definitely worth its money as well.
Thanks to the Comparasion Shot whit the Pandora and the Pyra, now i know, that the Pyra will fit in the same Pocket like the Pandora
Caine
Hardcore Member
Oh wow, that cursor ghosts quite a bit there.
Yeah. I think a lot more than on the GPD Win. But I'll try doing comparisons of all of them.
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mr.white
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Sound as bad as on the GPD Win 1. Just wondering we got some complete different impressions from other prototypes...
As mentioned, it's a prototype, it should not be taken as final version.
Some Pyra prototypes have a horribly mushy keyboard as well
BTW: just noticed that connecting the charger on the GPD Win 2 makes the same audible whining / buzzing noise as connecting a USB device on thr Pyra.
(Normal USB devices are silent on the Win 2, only charging is noisy).
We're not alone out there
Sent from my XT1650-03 using Tapatalk
Some Pyra prototypes have a horribly mushy keyboard as well
BTW: just noticed that connecting the charger on the GPD Win 2 makes the same audible whining / buzzing noise as connecting a USB device on thr Pyra.
(Normal USB devices are silent on the Win 2, only charging is noisy).
We're not alone out there
Sent from my XT1650-03 using Tapatalk
I'm really hoping quality of the screens improves in the final product.
Asides from the insane amount of light bleed on the left edge which is very very noticeable on any dark screen the bottom left edge of my lcd has a permanent shadow.
You can see the pointer in that area, the pixels aren't dead, they're just dark.
[doublepost=1518202853,1518202813][/doublepost]Also the right side of the screen hinge can be pulled up and down and it doesn't really effect anything but still annoys me.
Asides from the insane amount of light bleed on the left edge which is very very noticeable on any dark screen the bottom left edge of my lcd has a permanent shadow.
You can see the pointer in that area, the pixels aren't dead, they're just dark.
[doublepost=1518202853,1518202813][/doublepost]Also the right side of the screen hinge can be pulled up and down and it doesn't really effect anything but still annoys me.
levi
Still fresh, damnit!
Looks like the backlight blocks that minimise light bleed are slightly misaligned with the LCD matrix. I've no idea why pinkish light is bleeding from the back of that block at the bottom though. Perhaps they're not using white LEDs exclusively, but a mixture of different coloured LEDs to add up to white, and a red LED is mounted within the backlight block, allowing a little light to bleed back out of it, but I have a hard time envisioning a sensible design where they've needed to do that.
Phawx
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Hmm. It's interesting both you and Skelton are saying the speaker quality is great, but on my prototype, it's just average. I wonder if they are using different speakers now?
Regarding the Dpad, yea it's not the best. But I will say to give it some time, it took me ~30 minutes before I found it reliable.
For the ABXY being on the inside, it doesn't bother me, but I know that even Victor isn't a fan of the trigger buttons but Victor is a giant
(This is to say, hand-size seems to be a *big* determining factor if you'll be okay with the layout or not. Apparently I just have perfect sized hands for the Win2 and seem to be the only one that finds thumb typing comfortable and can hit 40WPM pretty easily.) Regarding your LCD, I don't think there are that many 720p IPS LCDs available, so I have to think we have the same panel. That is to say, I would imagine that retail units will have the same LCD. Having said that, I'd be interested in a comparison video of response time between Pandora and Win 2.
Could be, these are prototypes after all.
That's why I said you shouldn't see it as final unit.
Yeah, well, it's a typical GPD Dpad.
Not bad but not the best.
But as said, most games played on such a system are probably the ones using an analog stick.
Oh, I'm not so sure about that. The GPD XD had at least two different panels during its lifetime.
So they could still be sourcing some.
The one the Pandora uses is pretty bad. Playing VCS2600 is no fun there.
The one the Pyra uses is great - that's also the reason I've chosen the one for 50 Eur and not the one for 15 Eur.
I made a video comparing Phoenix on Pandoras and Pyras screen a few years ago... I'll look for it.
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