Live data from Hacker News

Chuwi Minibook X

tylercipriani.com

41–50 of 318 posts

Re: Chuwi Minibook X

#42
Alan Cox had a pre-netbook netbook smaller than a VHS tape at linux.conf.au 2001, and milled about chatting with colleagues and fanboys while his kernel builds scrolled by in the background. Everyone would gawk at the strange little machine.

It was Japanese, naturally.

At linux.conf.au 2007 we chose a smaller conference bag, designed to carry your electrical accessories and nick-knacks... it turned out to be the perfect size for the new EeePC (and later the MacBook Air 11").

Re: Chuwi Minibook X

#43
I use a GPD Win Max 2 for this purpose (https://fluctlight.net/gpd_win_max_2) and while it has its quirks, the performance of a Ryzen APU is significantly better than the Chuwi Minibook X.

I think my desire for this kind of product is something lighter, but this set of notes on the Chuwi feels like the compromises GPD gives you but with less power.

Re: Chuwi Minibook X

#44
post #42

Alan Cox had a pre-netbook netbook smaller than a VHS tape at linux.conf.au 2001, and milled about chatting with colleagues and fanboys while his kernel builds scrolled by in the background. Everyone would gawk at the strange little machine. It was Japanese, naturally. At linux.conf.au 2007 we chose a smaller conference bag, designed to carry your electrical accessories and nick-knacks... it turned out to be the perf…

HP used to have extremely small laptops in the early 90s, specifically the omnibook 300

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_OmniBook

Re: Chuwi Minibook X

#45
> Keyboard is terrible – it only registers keystrokes when you hit the exact center of each key.

I'm a big believer in cheap, small, low-power laptops. For simple tasks, you don't need that much compute.†

But you can't skimp on the keyboard! Especially because, one of the big advantages of a low-power laptop should be for writing!

------

† Okay, Electron exists... you shouldn't need all that compute.

Re: Chuwi Minibook X

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

50Hz is a weird refresh rate. Even back to the 80s (and before?) PCs have been 60Hz at a bare minimum.

50Hz is what European power runs at, as opposed to North American 60Hz. This had some correlation to the analog film frame rates being 25 fps in Europe and nearly 30 fps in America, though I’m not entirely sure what the cause was. Nowadays it’s probably a performance / battery saving “feature” attempt.

TV signals (PAL and NTSC) were 50 and 60 Hz so as to be in sync with the flickering of electric lamps.

When film is converted to 50 Hz TV, the film is sped up 24->25 fps and every frame shown twice. When converted to 60 Hz TV, there is "2:3 pulldown": every even frame is shown twice, every odd thrice. (Actually, both PAL and NTSC have interlaced video modes, with only every other line updated each frame, so as to conserve bandwidth.)

BTW, when 60 Hz computer monitors were introduced in Europe and used in office spaces with fluorescent lights with passive ballasts that flickered at 50 Hz, some sensitive users suffered headaches from using the computer screen for too long. These days, both fluorescent lights and LCD backlights tend to flicker at much higher frequencies that it isn't much of a problem.

Re: Chuwi Minibook X

#48
post #28
post #22

Netbooks aren't dead, they're just called Chromebooks now

Chromebooks aren't netbooks. They're Android tablets with non-removable keyboards. The idea of a netbook was very small, cheap, portable, full-featured computer that you could use like a normal computer . All the ports, your desktop OS, and so on. Chromebooks ain't it, even if they compete in the market segment that made netbooks a success.

So replace the OS: https://docs.mrchromebox.tech/

I've done that with mine. Worked great, and now I get around 30 hours of battery life with a lean linux distro, as long as I'm only like reading websites or writing on it.

Re: Chuwi Minibook X

#49
Used laptops are such a good deal that you could something high quality in excellent condition for so little that I almost can't justify buying something like this. Like used Dell XPS laptops are ridiculously cheap and they're amazing for the used price.

Or really buy any laptop rated highly by Dave2D or other reviewers that's 4 to 5 years old.

Re: Chuwi Minibook X

#50
That $350 price tag is good for that configuration. Not sure how fast the USB-c ports are. It should have an HDMI 2.0/2.1 port. Mini PC's with the N150 CPU support 2 4k@60Hz monitors.
Post reply on HN