GPD Win (x86 Computer / Palmtop)

[SNESFAN]

I gotta agree with Levi here, not only do tablets have more surface area to disperse the heat, glass is also a pretty good conductor of heat. I am slightly concerned about the built up heat both the pyra and win will produce. I know ED recently posted on the subject, I still have my reservations.

 

[vcoleiro1]

Pretty sure the WIN will have a heat sink on top between the sticks. They have said many times they cant put buttons in that area (as the community wanted) because something will be there. Given that the XD has a heat disperser there, I'd say there is a very high chance that will be the case with the WIN.

The official word from GPD is that they are going to use a large heat sink. This follows every second person telling them to worry about heat issues everyday since they announced the WIN. They must go to sleep hearing "What about the cooling" continually in their head.

 

[EvilDragon]

I gotta agree with Levi here, not only do tablets have more surface area to disperse the heat, glass is also a pretty good conductor of heat. I am slightly concerned about the built up heat both the pyra and win will produce. I know ED recently posted on the subject, I still have my reservations.

You're not alone here, it's also one of my biggest concerns.
It's scary how much heat these modern SoCs can produce... I know for normal usage, this won't be an issue, but when running something that needs a lot of CPU power, it will really be bad I fear.

Pretty sure the WIN will have a heat sink on top between the sticks. They have said many times they cant put buttons in that area (as the community wanted) because something will be there. Given that the XD has a heat disperser there, I'd say there is a very high chance that will be the case with the WIN.
The official word from GPD is that they are going to use a large heat sink. This follows every second person telling them to worry about heat issues everyday since they announced the WIN. They must go to sleep hearing "What about the cooling" continually in their head.

I can understand them, that's the thing that spins around in my head for weeks!

One issue is that heat sinks add more weight as well. The GPD XD was roughly as heavy as the Pandora... so I guess the Pyra and Win will have a similar weight as well...

 

[vcoleiro1]

GPD just made the following update - they have changed the WiFi chip to a dual channel one:

"GPD win will change the Wi-Fi chip.

Considering many contributions hope win can support dual channel WiFi,so we decide to change the single channel Wi-Fi chip into dual channel Wi-Fi chip.So it means GPD WIN now can support 2.4GHz and 5GHz dual channel wireless connection. That’ s to say. GPD WIN can both support 802.11b/g/n and 802.11a. The former chip can run WiDi technology. But for this modification,This dual channel chip can only support Miracast, While it should don’t affect the players demands of mobile wireless projection. Cause Miracast and WiDi is shared."

 

[Christoph.Krn]

What we need to do (and what I'll concentrate on for the next few weeks) is show off the features of the Pyra properly (with videos and on the website).

The upgradable CPU, the replaceable battery, the resistive screen, etc.
All features most don't see at all when taking a quick look and comparing the Win with the Pyra.

This needs to change. People need to know what's great about the Pyra and where the pricing comes from.

I just sent you a PM that you will probably want to read soon.

 

[Fzero]

I just sent you a PM that you will probably want to read soon.

I agree.

I think something fairly simple, but informative, like a lot of product landing pages are nowadays, or have been for a while now.
Single page.

Take the LG G5 page for example

http://www.lg.com/uk/mobile-phones/g5/index.html

Something like that, with the large imagery and info, nice and clean and simple.
But all hyping the Pyra



[edit] I was meant to quote the post ^ from ED rather than Christoph.Krn ... but screwed it up and only quoted part of it

 

[rygD]

GPD just made the following update

They need to stop using my comments to steal attention from the Pyra*. They still haven't switched to Linux as the default OS.



*This is a joke. As I mentioned earlier, this was discussed by their backers, and it is good that they listened. There are still quite a few things they need to fix to get my interest.

 

[Chip]

I think a lot of folks are waiting for linux to get sorted out on cherry trail. There's at least one device shipping with ubuntu (without functioning HDMI audio), but for the most part, it's still a bit of a mess. And even if intel et al sort out the SoC drivers, there's no guarantee that whatever wireless chip GPD uses will end up with support.

 

[vcoleiro1]

Another update from GPD. They have added a Xbox Guide button for better xinput/Steam compatibility. It replaces the print screen key

Here's the update:

A new update about keyboard layout

We added a Xbox guide button in the top right of the right column.Please see the Pic blow:

 

[Exophase]

So in response to this overwhelmingly negative reaction to their keyboard design they say they'll show some modifications. First thing they show is a single repurposed button with a function no one asked for in the key block everyone wants gone.

Are they really this tone deaf or are they taking the piss out of their supporters?

I mean, good for them for realizing that this device doesn't need a print screen key. Unfortunately I never noticed that was a print screen key in the first place, so now I know that at some point they thought it should have one. They are just comically oblivious.

 

[vcoleiro1]

They don't want to change the Keyboard layout , as they have locked in the pcb design. And the molds for the keyboard cutouts. That's their official response, as they say it would delay the project by a month. I know it sucks, I'm the one most dissappointed by that. But it is what it is. The Xbox guide key was actually asked for by a number of people, it is in response to them that they added it.

 

[iprice]

Both Pyra and the this should have gone with something like Gmail Tap, which has just been announced.


Every character available using just two keys.






AF.

 

[ZXDunny]

The previous mobile keyboard I had prior to the Pandora was this:

And it was really, really nice to type on. I don't see any problems with left/right balance there either... Mind you, there's significant gaps between the keys which helps for typing speed.

 

[WizardStan]

they say it would delay the project by a month

Did they really say it would delay them by a month to fix the keyboard? Only a month? Just one month between making an obviously flawed device and making an arguably good one? That is nothing in the scale of these things.

 

[_jr_]

The Xbox guide key was actually asked for by a number of people, it is in response to them that they added it.

And it is an indication that the overlap between Pyra and GPD Win customers is really not very large.

 

[Faust]

I read several users reviews that said that the surface 3 (atom x7 Z8700) and the teclast x98 pro (x5 z8500) have some issues when trying to charge them through a USB plug on a computer, in a car.

It seems that those tablets can't be charged well through or charged at all. If it's really the case, it's a really bad thing, it's meant to be mobile computer, so being able to charge it in a car or in a flight it's important.

Does someone have more informations about it?

 

[Agricola]

I read several users reviews that said that the surface 3 (atom x7 Z8700) and the teclast x98 pro have some issue when trying to charge them through a USB plug on a computer, in a car.

It seems that those tablets can't be charged well through or charged at all. If it's really the case, it's a really bad thing, it's meant to be mobile computer, so being able to charge it in a car or in a flight it's important.

Does someone have more informations about it?

I don't, but what does that have to do with this topic? Charging and discharging is a matter of the charger chip, not the SoC. The only thing somewhat relating to this topic is that those devices have quite big batteries as the x86 CPUs and big screens need that power to be operational for an acceptable time, therefore the battery has to have a high capacity and to be charged for a long time, especially on low-energy chargers like on cars, laptops or planes, which often just give you 0,5A.

Or maybe you're relating to the standby of those chips using more energy than what can be charged with these chargers? When I use it, even my smartphone (Galaxy Note 2) cannot be charged with less than 1A @5V as the discharge is too high, also it gets quite hot, so that's (kinda) normal...

Can you put a link somewhere so we know what you meant exactly?

 

[FaeMinx]

Did they really say it would delay them by a month to fix the keyboard? Only a month? Just one month between making an obviously flawed device and making an arguably good one? That is nothing in the scale of these things.

Unless the entire purpose of the Win was simply to torpedo the Pyra... would explain the crowd funding, and the urgency to get it done asap.

They don't care about customer satisfaction, just trying to corral as much of the market as possible in the intial buying frenzy...

... when people realize how rubbish it is... they will say

"Look! We care! We are listening! .... we are releasing an updated device to adress these obvious issues. And it will be the same price as the Win!

Thank you distributors for clearing our inventory... we hope you support us for the Win2!"

 

[Faust]

I don't, but what does that have to do with this topic? Charging and discharging is a matter of the charger chip, not the SoC. The only thing somewhat relating to this topic is that those devices have quite big batteries as the x86 CPUs and big screens need that power to be operational for an acceptable time, therefore the battery has to have a high capacity and to be charged for a long time, especially on low-energy chargers like on cars, laptops or planes, which often just give you 0,5A.

Or maybe you're relating to the standby of those chips using more energy than what can be charged with these chargers? When I use it, even my smartphone (Galaxy Note 2) cannot be charged with less than 1A @5V as the discharge is too high, also it gets quite hot, so that's (kinda) normal...

Can you put a link somewhere so we know what you meant exactly?

It's about the current SoC and the future SoC, so yes it's more than related to this topic.

Actually I was wondering if it would be possible to charge the tablets with atom x5 or x7 through USB port available in car or flights, because it's the kind of place you like to enjoy your gaming handled.

I think it would be possible to charge the pyra in this kind of USB port and play with it at the same time.

I will edit to add the reviews later, when I'll be at home.

 

[Agricola]

Actually I was wondering if it would be possible to charge the tablets with atom x5 or x7 through USB port available in car or flights, because it's the kind of place you like to enjoy to use your gaming handled.

I think it would be possible to charge the pyra in this kind of USB port and play with it at the same time.

So you mean playing a game/doing anything else power-hungry while charging the device? While that's at no time the best way to handle a rechargeable battery as it gets quite hot, it is, if you really want to do that, a question of power input versus output. As these devices pretty much all charge via USB (right?), the input is determined by the USB specifications, which are 5V voltage, 0,5A current -> 2,5W of energy. Often, USB devices specifically for charging have a higher curren, the maximum I've seen was 5A, but you shouldn't expect a lot more than 1A in transportation, maybe even just 0,5A (which is btw what most laptops give you, and the Pandora afaik too).
The output is even more unclear, as you need to factor in display brightness, CPU usage, memory usage, WLAN, Bluetooth and a lot more. The GPD WIN will probably do better than any tablet with the same CPU (as the big displays eat up a lot of energy while the keyboard doesn't), but it's impossible to say how good or bad any device does until it's tested. Even the Pyra will probably have problems playing some high-end games/emulator while charging, but then again, its battery is huge. I'll personally be happy if I can play Heroes 3 VCMI for 10 hours on the Pyra while it's on a charger