Pinebook: An Affordable 64-bit ARM based Open Source Notebook • Hacker News Board

Re: Pinebook: An Affordable 64-bit ARM based Open Source Notebook

#61

Post by bigiain » Wed, Apr 18, 2018, 5:43 AM UTC

VoidWhisperer wrote: post #3

What could you feasibly use this for? The 1.2GHz CPU seems like it would put a bit of a damper on almost anything besides answering email and basic word processing.

You'd be surprised - although it's a pain to get some software running on it - it runs all the SDR software I use pretty well (mostly rx only using RTL SDR sticks, but I've used it for tx with my HackRFOne as well).

Anything you can run on a Raspberry Pi you can get going on this - I largely use it as "a Raspberry Pi with a keyboard/screen/battery" - which it mostly does better than my PiTop (which has a vastly inferior screen and keyboard).

Re: Pinebook: An Affordable 64-bit ARM based Open Source Notebook

#62

Post by dajt » Wed, Apr 18, 2018, 5:43 AM UTC

quickthrower2 wrote: post #59

bunfunton wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What kind of issues do people conceal?

I got a refurb Thinkpad and: 1. Battery puked out pretty quickly, so that's $100 (AUD) to fix on a $500 second hand laptop. 2. Some keys stopped working, could be bad luck as laptops have shite keyboards normally. Both are not necessarily concealed issues BUT this is the kind of shit you are dealing with with second hand laptops and the savings don't seem to justify it, for me anyway. Plus less NSAWare. The main bene…

The keyboard at least might be a cheap fix. I got a new Thinkpad and the right-hand shift key was useless which is the one I use. I couldn't be bothered returning it and bought a keyboard off ebay. About 5 - 10 mins to install and its great now.

Re: Pinebook: An Affordable 64-bit ARM based Open Source Notebook

#63

Post by usr1106 » Wed, Apr 18, 2018, 5:44 AM UTC

They had one on display (and to touch) at FOSDEM. Mechanics felt cheap, but what can you expect at the price point.

I asked about the Allwinner misery with Linux kernel support. They answered that is no longer an issue with the new 64 bit chips. I have not verified the statement.

I would try one if they had a reasonable distributor in the EU. Now it's gambling with customs. Might not come much cheaper than e.g. an HP with Intel Atom and 32 GB of eMMC. And those play in a whole different league in build quality. (I use them with Linux.)

Re: Pinebook: An Affordable 64-bit ARM based Open Source Notebook

#64

Post by shams93 » Wed, Apr 18, 2018, 5:45 AM UTC

limeblack wrote: post #28

Honest question. Why don't people buy old laptops instead of cheaper new ones? I'm no expert but the cost to performance ratio isn't to far off. I am typing this on T420 Thinkpad laptop. I get desiring to use open hardware but at the detriment of performance doesn't quite make sense.

Yeah I went the same way as you got a t420 upgraded to ssd and threw Ubuntu studio in it and it smokes. I use it for everything from native Android development to music and video production and with lxde compared to windows 10 it's smoking fast even though it's not exactly lightweight. When you dj with a laptop the last thing you want is a flimsy device. Mixxx enables me to dj on the same device I use for software engineering.

Re: Pinebook: An Affordable 64-bit ARM based Open Source Notebook

#65

Post by phaer » Wed, Apr 18, 2018, 5:48 AM UTC

megy wrote: post #31

limeblack wrote: post #28

Honest question. Why don't people buy old laptops instead of cheaper new ones? I'm no expert but the cost to performance ratio isn't to far off. I am typing this on T420 Thinkpad laptop. I get desiring to use open hardware but at the detriment of performance doesn't quite make sense.

I bet this is cheaper, and lighter than your thinkpad, with a better battery and require less care.

I got my x220 for 150€ plus 70€ (3 years ago, still running smooth) for a new replacement battery, so it's not directly comparable. The x220 might be a bit heavier but it's not too bad and I got a x86 cpu (i5-2540M) with 8GB of memory compared to the arm64 with 2GB in the pinebook. Considering the memory usage of many contemporary desktop programs thats makes quite a difference too me

Re: Pinebook: An Affordable 64-bit ARM based Open Source Notebook

#66

Post by crowbahr » Wed, Apr 18, 2018, 5:49 AM UTC

cubano wrote: post #38

freedomben wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you get a good one. I've been burned so many times now by people selling something they know has problems. They often don't manifest during the "test drive." It sucks.

Refurbished by a reputable re-seller always seems to work well for me, altho it adds a bit to the cost. I've picked up i5(2600)/8g/500G laptops for 150 like this on several occasions.

And who is a reputable reseller of old ThinkPads? It seems like it's the wild west in the market and I am interested in an old reliable ThinkPad with an expansion slot for an ssd.

Re: Pinebook: An Affordable 64-bit ARM based Open Source Notebook

#67

Post by bigiain » Wed, Apr 18, 2018, 5:51 AM UTC

walrus01 wrote: post #30

Wifi looks like it is 1x1 SISO and 2.4 GHz only. Can it run Debian?

Yep - at least my one (delivered May last year) only has 2.4GHz Wi-Fi on board).

I run Ubuntu on mine, but there's recent Debian Jessie support in the forums...

Re: Pinebook: An Affordable 64-bit ARM based Open Source Notebook

#68

Post by crowbahr » Wed, Apr 18, 2018, 5:52 AM UTC

examancer wrote: post #37

msh wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And how long does its battery last?

10000mah and an ARM A53 mean it should last 10 hours or more with moderate brightness settings. It's hard to beat this for a light cheap terminal/browser with plenty of battery if that is something you need.

Reviews I read said 4-6 hours. Poorly optimized probably.

Re: Pinebook: An Affordable 64-bit ARM based Open Source Notebook

#69

Post by kinkora » Wed, Apr 18, 2018, 5:59 AM UTC

et2o wrote: post #10

I wish the Motorola Atrix concept of plugging your phone into a laptop-shell and using the phone's CPU, memory, storage, etc. had taken off. My iPhone is already much more powerful than this ARM laptop, but I obviously can't use it like a laptop.

you mean this? https://www.sentio.com/

In android world, the concept is alive & well. I myself use the sentio desktop app to connect to a monitor and use a bluetooth keyboard/mouse.

Re: Pinebook: An Affordable 64-bit ARM based Open Source Notebook

#70

Post by sjellis » Wed, Apr 18, 2018, 5:59 AM UTC

limeblack wrote: post #28

Honest question. Why don't people buy old laptops instead of cheaper new ones? I'm no expert but the cost to performance ratio isn't to far off. I am typing this on T420 Thinkpad laptop. I get desiring to use open hardware but at the detriment of performance doesn't quite make sense.

"Honest question. Why don't people buy old laptops instead of cheaper new ones?"

That's exactly how I've done desktop Linux: buy ex-corporate laptops from a reputable refurbisher. You get a quality machine with a good chassis and keyboard, highly-compatible internals (all-Intel) and a decent screen for a good price. Performance doesn't matter if you aren't doing stuff that actually needs the power. Trade-offs are worse power management, and short life-span (I change my Linux laptop every couple of years).