GPD Win (x86 Computer / Palmtop)

[ekianjo]

The Japanese love their UMPCs no matter the OS

The japanese mainly love:
- windows
- iOS

and they start to be able to bear Android somewhat on phones (tablets, not really there).

It's not because there is a small community of folks who use Linux in japan that you should derive assumptions on the whole country.
Plus, kickstarter efforts mean NOTHING. If you count the number of backers overall, even the most successful projects are backed up by several hundred folks only, or maybe a few thousands at stretch. It could be either a niche market or early adopter market, you really can't say from a Kickstarter effort.

And Linux in Japan is non-existent - really, guys, get over it. Of course some devs use Linux like everywhere else, but that's certainly nothing mainstream. (far less than Linux in other markets, at least).

 

[vcoleiro1]

Well Linux is a vast minority use case in every country being what, 2% of all OS's used.

So any number you can get out of that small pool is going to be a plus.

 

[Luvarim]

Im looking for an handheld for steam inhome streaming. I have a little son and so are long hours in front of my pc no option for a time. Is the GPD Win (or pocket) a good solution? Or should i better buy a Shield portable (but then i have to buy a nvidia gpu?) Thanks for an good advice, Luvarim

 

[NetBLOKS]

Hmmmmm, good idea.
Never tested it out before.
If you've got time till tomorrow evening, I'll give it a try.

 

[TheOldOne]

I've had no problems with steam inhome streaming on the GPD Win.

 

[Alperoot]

Im looking for an handheld for steam inhome streaming. I have a little son and so are long hours in front of my pc no option for a time. Is the GPD Win (or pocket) a good solution? Or should i better buy a Shield portable (but then i have to buy a nvidia gpu?) Thanks for an good advice, Luvarim

Lots of videos on Youtube give good signs about it. They especially say the 5GHz Wi-Fi helps, but I don't own the device so I can't try it out myself.

 

[ElPoco]

Steam inhome streaming is running fine on my GPD Win.

 

[NetBLOKS]

I just tested and can confirm, it runs really well.
Just be sure to add the steam streaming_client.exe in the steam home folder to the firewall exception list.

 

[slaeshjag]

Well Linux is a vast minority use case in every country being what, 2% of all OS's used.

So any number you can get out of that small pool is going to be a plus.

Really, in japan, you'll be struggling to find *any* linux users. You'll be measuring its market share in ppm, not %.

 

[dimag0g]

Not sure if you guys know this: Microsoft Office Mobile is free for devices with a screen < 10.1", and GPD Win does qualify. I was able to install Word, Excel and PowerPoint Mobile, and they all function properly, (including editing) for free.
Considering GPD Win has HDMI and USB, I basically now have a free office suite able to read most MS Office file formats (including old .doc etc., except for macros) which can be comfortably used with a real mouse, keyboard, display and printer.

Maybe this is common knowledge, but it's not mentioned anywhere on this forum so I figured dropping a comment wouldn't hurt.

I only wish my GPD Win were not crashing so often.

 

[rohezal]

My Pandora died and I need a new pocket pc until the Pyra is ready. Should I buy a second hand pandora or the gpd win? Is it possible to run debian inside a vm via gpd? How often does the gpd win crashes? Is there a difference between the revision?

 

[rygD]

I vote for the Pandora, for obvious reasons.

 

[Kippykip]

My Pandora died and I need a new pocket pc until the Pyra is ready. Should I buy a second hand pandora or the gpd win? Is it possible to run debian inside a vm via gpd? How often does the gpd win crashes? Is there a difference between the revision?

I'd personally get the GPD-WIN but it depends on your needs.
As for revisions, it's very hard finding any information on it but here's my own list:

4 variants afaik
8700 CPU original no fan indigo-go model- crash prone as a VERY tiny resistor wasn't added in the production, also prone to overheating (? need to confirm)
Hard to find

8700 CPU with fan - seems pretty stable from what I've used (my brothers unit). I'd say this is the best option

8750 - lags more than the 8700, buttons are less clicky but the keyboard is nicer to type on fast and there's a annoying fingerprinty outside casing now.
The GPD logo in the inside is engraved but no metal logo, not too stable from personal experience.
Funny that this is a much later produced unit

8750 - unknown, saw it in many videos. only difference i could tell from above is the gpd-win logo was metal in the inside while still being a 8750 model. I've never seen a 8750 model without the metal GPD logo (engraved plastic) aside from my own unit

As for crashes, mine's crashed a lot but since I've removed classic shell I haven't had a blue screen (yet).

Also VM's run great, but just beware it'll drain the battery a lot more. I was running XP and debian jessie on VMWare just like a normal PC.

Another thing, the mouse mode switch sucks, honestly I'd get controller companion as that lets you control the mouse/controls better than the mouse switch and it turns the controls off when you start something fullscreen (like a game where you just wanna use the controller so it's great). If you don't want a fullscreen program turning off the controls (such as youtube) just hold START+SELECT and it'll create an exception for that program.

The MicroSD speed is also painfully slow so you gotta use a USB (also there's only 1 usb which is annoying).
The pandora has way more storage options while keeping a USB free.

So anyway, there's a crapload of issues but it's up to personal preference. If you just want to run emulators, definitely go for the pandora as that can run far more emulators at full speed (since a lot of X86 emulators are meant for higher spec computers such as DesMume, so they end up running like garbage on the GPD-Win).
If you want to run many X86/Windows games GPD-Win is the way to go, web browsing is also pretty good on there.

 

[ElPoco]

I have a 8700 with fan. It's working well for me. I don't have more crashes than with any other PC. However it's still running Windows.

If the Pandora does everything you want to do, I'd stick with a Pandora. The WIN has a shorter battery life, some quirks (bad hibernation support, the mouse mode switch issue) and a worse keyboard. And also the Pandora's OS is clearly meant for it, while with the WIN you sometimes feel that the OS and programs aren't designed for something like this.
But if you want more power or the ability to run x86 apps, the WIN is definitely a good option.

 

[elwing]

Steam+gpdwin /drool

 

[rohezal]

ED says it is rev. 2.5 with the metal top case. Does this help with crashing due to better heat dissipation? How long is the baterry life (absolute and if you compare it to a rebirth pandora)? I just need a pocket laptop until the Pyra is ready. I love the Telegram app and I hate smart phones.

 

[rygD]

I don't know much about the different revisions of the Win. If you are ok with Windows, and the Win would offer you something that you will miss with the Pandora and Pyra, AND you are willing to risk the crashes, you might as well go for it. Worst case, you sell it in a couple months because it isn't for you, and either wait for the Pyra or get another Pandora. Best case, you have the Win for whatever you will use it for, and when you get the Pyra you have that too.

 

[SNESFAN]

my win is still holding strong as a pocket laptop. I clocked it down/capped it at 1.5ghz and it's been a pleasure to use, no crashing, no overheating, about 9 hours on average of active use of email and web surfing.

Nothing amazing, but a nice little windows portable if you use it for the right things.

 

[elwing]

ED says it is rev. 2.5 with the metal top case. Does this help with crashing due to better heat dissipation? How long is the baterry life (absolute and if you compare it to a rebirth pandora). I just need a pocket laptop until the Pyra is ready. I love the Telegram app and I hate smart phones.

I can't say if they improved dissipation with the 2.5,it's only the screen shell that is in aluminum, it won't help with power dissipation... Also, depending on the game you target, you shouldn't worry too much about temperature, the win can get quite high, but it work just fine...
For the run time, I am getting over 5h with baldur's gates and icewind dale, but just around 2.5 to 3 hours on more demanding games...

 

[ElPoco]

I've disabled Turboboost on mine, and it's still powerful enough to run the games I run on it and even though it can get a bit hot, it never gets too high with the fan in "low" mode (where you hardly hear it). Battery life depends a lot on what you do with it. Very demanding games can get it down to 4 hours, but lighter task can get up to 10h.