The World's Most Powerful Pocket-Sized PC

[jutleys]

The World's Most Powerful Pocket-Sized PC

https://igg.me/at/mini-pc/x/4107538

 

[levi]

No in-built keyboard though - it's a separate unit you need to carry separately and charge separately. And apparently a first project from this team, although that hasn't stopped this being insanely over-funded already.

 

[jutleys]

And you still have a touch screen keyboard.

 

[Linux-SWAT]

x86 = no

 

[AVahne]

Touchscreen keyboard is more or less useless on a Windows machine aside from light web surfing.

 

[ptitSeb]

That's a lots of port on such small format ! I wonder how they fit all of them and still have space for all the electronic (and fan?) needed for this.

 

[Alperoot]

x86 = no

I thought all cherrytail processors were 64-bit? Or am I just mixing up terminology here?

 

[Magic Sam]

@ptitSeb : no need for a fan, they just leave the Windows™ open and let the fresh air in

Cheers, Magic Sam

 

[PowerGod]

This thing is damn cheap !! I'll wait until September... and if it's true it will be mine too !!

 

[AVahne]

That's a lots of port on such small format ! I wonder how they fit all of them and still have space for all the electronic (and fan?) needed for this.

Well it's more or less just an upgraded Gole1, just from a different company, and that was apparently a terrible device.

 

[Grench]

Well it's more or less just an upgraded Gole1, just from a different company, and that was apparently a terrible device.

I have a Gole1. I use it occasionally when I -have- to have a Windows 10 machine to setup another device. (loading firmware onto keyboards, etc where there is no loader other than the Windows one)

The Gole1 wasn't horrid though. Just don't expect much out of it and it delivers just fine. It works.

The pictures & form factor of this - it looks like they really did an 'homage' to the Gole1.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/gole1-cheapest-windows10-intel-touch-mini-pc/x/14213354#/

Can we PLEASE turn off the auto-media tagging stuff? Please please?

 

[ptitSeb]

Ah, I see, not as bad as I initialy thought.

 

[levi]

I thought all cherrytail processors were 64-bit? Or am I just mixing up terminology here?

While you can use the terms x86 and x64 to distinguish between the two instruction sets and the processors that run them, x64 chips still process 32-bit x86 instructions just fine, and x86 is still a relatively common identifier used to describe compatible chips from the 8086 to the latest Xeons which almost from the time dot (or at least after the 80386) supported multiple instruction sets from the old 16 bit set to MMX and SSE up to the x64 set. Wikipedia documents the 64 bit instruction set under x86-64, but that as far as I can recall was an AMDism, and Intel seem to call it Intel 64 (although it was first laid out by AMD so I guess they get the naming rights here).

 

[benoitb]

Less powerful than a gpd win2. Just saying.

 

[___]

while I think the device looks kind of interesting, first thing that is a deal breaker for me is the win10 and android crap. Pretty sure running linux on this will be a nightmare, but who knows. We'll see when it's finally out. Second deal breaker is that this device is most likely not meant to be repaired...

@Grench how is the gole1 maintenance wise? is the battery exchangable? is it easy to get a replacement?

By the looks of it, it is a throwaway device with no replaceable parts. I wonder if the SSD is soldered onto the board or m2.

If the device has a replaceable battery, an m2 slot for the ssd so you can replace it/switch it with one of your own, and installing an actual OS is possible to replace windows10/android, I think I would be interested. The price is hard to beat.

 

[ArchiMark]

Read comments and owner Leo was asked if if you can install linux. His reply was:

A boot manager, Win10 and Android will be pre-installed.

Linux can also be added to the boot up menu.

Thanks.

 

[Grench]

while I think the device looks kind of interesting, first thing that is a deal breaker for me is the win10 and android crap. Pretty sure running linux on this will be a nightmare, but who knows. We'll see when it's finally out. Second deal breaker is that this device is most likely not meant to be repaired...

@Grench how is the gole1 maintenance wise? is the battery exchangable? is it easy to get a replacement?

By the looks of it, it is a throwaway device with no replaceable parts. I wonder if the SSD is soldered onto the board or m2.

If the device has a replaceable battery, an m2 slot for the ssd so you can replace it/switch it with one of your own, and installing an actual OS is possible to replace windows10/android, I think I would be interested. The price is hard to beat.

Gole1: The battery is effectively just a built in UPS. It -might- hold the thing for an hour. I use mine as just another HDMI connected computer. It is the only machine I own with Win10 on it and only gets used when I need to do something that cannot be done on Linux. I use it for loading firmware to my Vortex keyboards, registering my ereader with Adobe's inane DRM software, etc. So, I might have 'used' that computer a dozen times since I bought it - and pretty much never with the screen that is on it. The Gole1 is not Linux friendly - don't bother trying.

To my understanding, having the screen on this gives them access to 'free' Win10 OS installs for a tablet device of under 7". Some weird program Microsoft runs - don't know the exact details. So, it might simply be cheaper to slap a display on it and call it a tablet than it is to license the OS without the tablet?

If you're simply wanting a much more powerful tiny passive (no fan) computer, check out the Compulabs Fitlet 2. I have two of them - they're fantastic and ship with a choice of Win10 OR Linux Mint pre-installed. The Fitlet 2 is considerably more expensive, but would eat this 'worlds most powerful pocket sized pc' for lunch - and still fits in a pocket.

 

[Alperoot]

While you can use the terms x86 and x64 to distinguish between the two instruction sets and the processors that run them, x64 chips still process 32-bit x86 instructions just fine, and x86 is still a relatively common identifier used to describe compatible chips from the 8086 to the latest Xeons which almost from the time dot (or at least after the 80386) supported multiple instruction sets from the old 16 bit set to MMX and SSE up to the x64 set. Wikipedia documents the 64 bit instruction set under x86-64, but that as far as I can recall was an AMDism, and Intel seem to call it Intel 64 (although it was first laid out by AMD so I guess they get the naming rights here).

I see. But isn't having one of those chips more sensible than having, say, ARM? I mean, it looks like the whole point of the thing isn't much of a difference than the rest of the UMPCs, which is running regular computer software?

@ptitSeb : no need for a fan, they just leave the Windows™ open and let the fresh air in

Cheers, Magic Sam

Oh yeah, that'll keep your house warm in the winter

 

[Grench]

In their defense, though, they are using an SoC that would hypothetically fit within the Pyra's thermal envelope. 2W TDP? Likely 4W-6W realistic - but still. It's kind of the last/best of the Cherry Trail mobile SoCs that they're using for this. It isn't going to completely suck - just don't expect it to play 'real games'.

 

[levi]

I see. But isn't having one of those chips more sensible than having, say, ARM? I mean, it looks like the whole point of the thing isn't much of a difference than the rest of the UMPCs, which is running regular computer software?

There are plenty of other handhelds that run x86 compatible chips these days.

However, there are reasons to prefer an arm core to an intel/amd core especially in mobile computing, which is why almost every phone today runs on an ARM processor cluster. They can generally do more than enough within a respectable power envelope that gives you better battery life. I get the feeling that's becoming less true day by day though, as ARM designs aspire more towards ultimate power, while some of the latest Intel chips tend towards cutting the TDP significantly these days, and ARM designs crammed up to ten times into a single package struggle against thermal limits and have to be throttled back just as Intel designs have to throttle back in the same enclosures.

There are other more philosophical reasons to prefer one to the other. ARM cores only have to implement an instruction set that was set out in the late 80s, which Intel chips are beholden to implement an instruction set laid out in the mid 70s. It's a whole different generation of design. On top of that they're required to implement every brain dead extension since the mid 80s in their latest chips, while ARM will happily cull failed or superseded instruction sets. All of these inclusions need transistors and each transistor heats the whole shebang up a fraction of a fraction of a degree, even when not in use but just powered. Modern chips can switch parts of themselves off though, which solves that problem only leaving the problem that laying out thousands of mostly off transistors builds up the failure rate, and means more units have to be thrown away, meaning the unit you got costs many times what it actually cost to make, while ARM designs, when available at least, are always a different order of magnitude in price.

But sure, the fact you can play Skyrim on this today is something no ARM chip can emulate.