GPD Win (x86 Computer / Palmtop)

[ThinkPad]

TRAITOR!
I don't remember if you mentioned you were getting a Pyra or not. I would be interested in a comparison between the 2. Might as well toss a Pandora into the mix as well.

I will try to get both Pyra and GPD WIN.
The thing is that this device will be released before Pyra.
Also the Pyra will be slightly smaller.

 

[vcoleiro1]

When is the Pyra scheduled for release?

 

[Mr_Loon]

Looks like a very good spec for $299, good to see they've gone with 4GB Ram and 64GB eMMC. Wonder what sort of cooling method they'll use for the Z8500, from a quick read round the web there are thermal issues with this chipset when used in a passively cooled tablet, can only imagine that cooling is more difficult in a handheld.

Seems to me is what they really needed though was a 50 page keyboard layout thread as the one they've seemingly gone for looks to be far from sensible, each to their own though.

Surprised to see they've only got one backer so far, wonder if that's due to lack of publicity, for instance, I can't even see anything about the GPD Win Indiegogo campaign on the official GPD website homepage.

In their shoes I'd be selling the GPD Win as a hand held steam machine with the option of booting either SteamOS or Win10, saying that I've no idea how difficult it would be to get SteamOS running on such hardware.

The thing is that this device will be released before Pyra.

Seems like a possibility, but this depends on whether they hit problems at the prototype phase and may also depend on whether they meet their funding targets, for which they'd need to have just 335 backers at $299.

The amount of chinglish on the indiegogo makes me think GPD indeed is a very small company :v

According to the Indiegogo page they have 6 team members.

 

[WizardStan]

That was seriously fast. "So fast it'll make your head spin" fast. I'm actually a little worried now.

 

[vcoleiro1]

I vaguely remember them saying their GPD WIN team is 6 people . The company itself has many more people than that.

 

[EvilDragon]

Even the shipping date sounds unreal.

Yes, considering they don't have anything yet except for a small dummy... that sounds a bit too early. But let's wait and see.

The thing is that this device will be released before Pyra.

Eh? We've got all stuff tested, the case is almost done (only getting the last few tweaks), once Nikolaus has the last annoying issue (instability) fixed, we're ready to order the mass production, which will take place 2 - 3 months later.

So, who knows, we MIGHT be earlier than October, but it would be very interesting if they also can deliver in October already, in my opinion.

 

[PowerGod]

oh, understood, 2 months later ;P

 

[vcoleiro1]

Well supposedly they have done the PCB design as well. We tried to get them to change some things a little while ago, but they told us the PCB design was already done. They say that also in the Indiegogo campaign.

 

[fusion_power]

Yes, considering they don't have anything yet except for a small dummy... that sounds a bit too early. But let's wait and see.

I wonder how long their real concept/dev time was. If the posted schedule is correct and they manage to ship their product in time, you really have to ask them how in the world they were able to do it. October 2015 started the concept/market research? Can't imagine that, at least when Pyra development time is normal, what's pretty likely with such an small niche device class.

Overall, I find the design good, pretty sleak, something like that I had in mind for the Pyra actualy. They managed to get side-by-side Shoulder triggers, using the rounded corners (hey, I also had such an Idea XD ) Device stil has alot of connectivity, decent looking gaming controls (I just don't like cross-shaped D-Pads), the Keyboard looks usable.
I recently informed myself abpout the Intel Atom series, the used Atom x5-Z8500 is a compared beefy 64bit Quad Core CPU up to 2.2GHz, including DX11 compatible GFX unit, all in all under 4 Watt TDP (not sure what the OMAP5 needs in comparison). I can imagine a future Pyra variant with such an Atom CPU, even the Atom x3 should be good enough for our needs.

 

[directive0]

The keyboard layout is superior.
If its able to run Debian I will get one for myself.

That's the key. I can't imagine running that thing with Windows, personally.

 

[TrashyMG]

The keyboard layout is superior.
If its able to run Debian I will get one for myself.

The keyboard also looks impractical for an adult man sized thumb to hit any of those keys properly.

 

[EvilDragon]

I wonder how long their real concept/dev time was. If the posted schedule is correct and they manage to ship their product in time, you really have to ask them how in the world they were able to do it. October 2015 started the concept/market research? Can't imagine that, at least when Pyra development time is normal, what's pretty likely with such an small niche device class.

Well, if the time from evaluation to PCB design is that short, they basically are just using a finished reference design, which you can get from the companies (we also have the reference design for the EVM).

That's an easy part. If we simply copied the EVM schematics, the Pyra would be out for quite a long time already, but with only one SD Card slot, no sensors, no CPU board, etc.
Doing that is what takes time.

And if they got a team consisting of 6 persons, they can work 6 times faster than Nikolaus, so designs that take 6 months can be done in one.

However, they are awaiting prototypes in April, and I would never give out any final date before the prototypes are out there.
There can be some serious bugs, you never know...

Overall, I find the design good, pretty sleak, something like that I had in mind for the Pyra actualy. They managed to get side-by-side Shoulder triggers, using the rounded corners (hey, I also had such an Idea XD )

Yes, though the side-by-side shoulder buttons only work because they only have one USB port there

 

[Klumpen]

I honestly don't see any appeal if it only comes with Windows 10.

 

[fusion_power]

Well, if the time from evaluation to PCB design is that short, they basically are just using a finished reference design, which you can get from the companies (we also have the reference design for the EVM).

That's an easy part. If we simply copied the EVM schematics, the Pyra would be out for quite a long time already, but with only one SD Card slot, no sensors, no CPU board, etc.
Doing that is what takes time.

Even with a finished reference design, they still have to make it work with all the additional components (we've learned that making an LCD screen work can be tough for example ). And they have to squeeze the reference design into that case of course. I would like to see the internals, like size of the Battery etc. Is a Stylus included, I guess not.

 

[slaeshjag]

It's a capacitive touch screen, so I doubt they'd have a stylus...

 

[Exophase]

I'm kind of torn on this..

There's a lot I like about the device, but I already have an aversion to Kickstarter; Indiegogo is significantly worse. And flexible funding.. for a hardware project? Does anyone know what their motivation is here? I hope it means that they have enough funding to do this on their own and are just using crowd funding for promotion. Otherwise they're saying that no matter how little money they get they're committed to fulfilling orders, even though the $100k goal is itself probably not enough to cover non-recurring design costs.

And please please get a passionate supporter to volunteer to edit the campaign page to have something resembling proper English. I don't think they really need to know Chinese or anything, the intent is pretty clearly communicated, just fix it..

By the way.. not sure how much people here are interested.. but Lordus has been investigating a Windows 10 Universal build of DraStic (supporting normal x86 devices like this one as well as ARM phones using Win 10 Mobile) and I've been working on optimizations for x86. So DraStic may be an option on this device w/o using some other OS. Of course DeSmuME may be good enough anyway, and you'd be able to get it for free, so this could be moot. But I have a pretty good feeling that we'll perform much better with high resolution rendering enabled.

 

[EvilDragon]

Even with a finished reference design, they still have to make it work with all the additional components (we've learned that making an LCD screen work can be tough for example ). And they have to squeeze the reference design into that case of course. I would like to see the internals, like size of the Battery etc. Is a Stylus included, I guess not.

Making an LCD screen work is not hard if you reuse a screen you already have (and it seems like they're using the same one they have in the XD), as coding the low-level stuff can be an issue.
Squeezing the reference design into that case (which is bigger than Pyras case) is probably not too hard, the battery is not replaceable, so it can be put anywhere and doesn't need an extra battery compartment.

The GTA04 (which also had to be squeezed into an existing case) was way less work than the Pyra. The modularity added quite a bit more work.
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And flexible funding.. for a hardware project? Does anyone know what their motivation is here? I hope it means that they have enough funding to do this on their own and are just using crowd funding for promotion. Otherwise they're saying that no matter how little money they get they're committed to fulfilling orders, even though the $100k goal is itself probably not enough to cover non-recurring design costs.

No, flexible funding does not mean they have to fulfill it.
It means that they can keep the full payment, even if it doesn't get funded... but AFAIK, they don't have to deliver in that case.

Not something I'm a fan of (though I should do the same ))

 

[Exophase]

No, flexible funding does not mean they have to fulfill it.
It means that they can keep the full payment, even if it doesn't get funded... but AFAIK, they don't have to deliver in that case.

Not something I'm a fan of (though I should do the same ))

I don't think Indiegogo says anything at all about whether or not you "have" to fulfill the thing you say you're going to give people for their money. They do not say that you have any lowered responsibility or expectations if a flexible funding goal is not met. Failed Indiegogo projects can probably be successfully sued just like failed Kickstarter ones can be, whether they reached their flexible funding goal or not. I don't see anything that would differentiate the two.

If that were really how flexible funding worked I think almost no one would support it if they understood that. If that's how people are treating it then it's very dishonest!

Flexible funding should mean that you don't really need any of the money to make the thing and you're just saying it'd be nice for some reason. It should NOT mean that the money turns into a donation with no expectation of reward if the funding isn't met. If the former doesn't apply for GPD (and it very well could, they didn't need crowdfunding for their other stuff AFAIK) then they're making a huge mistake, IMO. If this is what you think flexible funding is then please don't do it.

But it'll be moot anyway if they exceed the goal.

 

[Faust]

I'm kind of torn on this..

There's a lot I like about the device, but I already have an aversion to Kickstarter; Indiegogo is significantly worse. And flexible funding.. for a hardware project? Does anyone know what their motivation is here? I hope it means that they have enough funding to do this on their own and are just using crowd funding for promotion. Otherwise they're saying that no matter how little money they get they're committed to fulfilling orders, even though the $100k goal is itself probably not enough to cover non-recurring design costs.

And please please get a passionate supporter to volunteer to edit the campaign page to have something resembling proper English. I don't think they really need to know Chinese or anything, the intent is pretty clearly communicated, just fix it..

By the way.. not sure how much people here are interested.. but Lordus has been investigating a Windows 10 Universal build of DraStic (supporting normal x86 devices like this one as well as ARM phones using Win 10 Mobile) and I've been working on optimizations for x86. So DraStic may be an option on this device w/o using some other OS. Of course DeSmuME may be good enough anyway, and you'd be able to get it for free, so this could be moot. But I have a pretty good feeling that we'll perform much better with high resolution rendering enabled.

I can confirm that desmume with hi-res isn't optimize, I have a I7 3517u and a Geforce 640mLe and I can barely play with hi-res at full speed. Definitely I would buy again your software.

 

[vcoleiro1]

They had spoke about doing a crowd funder on the Chinese Baidu forum for some time now. I forget the reasons why. I will have to look again. Mind you googles chinese to english translation is not good.