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Chuwi Minibook X

tylercipriani.com

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Re: Chuwi Minibook X

#261

Post by ryukoposting »

lexicality wrote: post #144

I have one of these. It's an awful piece of shit and I love it. I bought it because I was going on holiday and didn't want to take a real laptop both in case it got stolen and to dissuade me from using it. I ended up using it more than I would have a normal laptop because it's so small and easily carried. My current use case is for my commute into the office, it easily fits on the microscopic train tables and doesn't…

My solution for this use case is a used Thinkpad X270. Unreal battery life and adequate performance. Got mine in like-new condition a couple years ago for $90. It's a fine substitute for factory-spec e-waste. Mine has the cheapo screen, but it was a cheap laptop so whatever. I don't get the author's complaint about the "2K" (whatever that is) display. Cheap laptop has a cheap screen, oh the humanity!

Re: Chuwi Minibook X

#263

Post by cestith »

iainmerrick wrote: post #148
matthewn wrote: post #123

I got one of these a couple of years ago, put Linux on it, and was pleased as punch: https://www.mahnamahna.net/blog/linux-chuwi-minibook-x/ It's actually the keyboard that surprises me the most: I think it's really good (and I consider myself a bit of a keyboard snob). I've never had any issue like the author describes, of having to strike keys just-so.

Very different reports of the keyboard in this thread. Are there different builds of this or something? Or is it just a very polarising keyboard?

It’s possible at this price point that it’s a normally decent keyboard but with horrible quality control.

Re: Chuwi Minibook X

#264

Post by LtWorf »

LAC-Tech wrote: post #242
hellcow wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I travel with strict luggage limits (both size and weight) and hike all day. Removing weight absolutely helps.

The differenxe between a "heavy" and "light" laptop is about 250 grams, or the weight of a single apple. If you can hike all day there is no way you are weak enough for this to even register.

You most certainly aren't familiar with heavy laptops.

Re: Chuwi Minibook X

#266

Post by makeitdouble »

winter_blue wrote: post #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.

Battery can be an issue though. In particular, replacement batteries can be a PITA to get if the model gets discontinued or parts are only available through corporate channels.

Re: Chuwi Minibook X

#267

Post by semi-extrinsic »

nvme0n1p1 wrote: post #24
fg137 wrote: post #23

What's the problem with 2K 50Hz screen? Too high resolution? Lots of 15.6" Windows laptops come with 1080p screen which is painful to look at.

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

FWIW, I had a 4K monitor from 2016 - 2019 that I had to run at 24 Hz due to hardware limitations in a KVM switch. I used this for my day job and experienced no noticeable side effects, even for CAD work. Then again I always disable all animations in my OS.

Re: Chuwi Minibook X

#268

Post by fouc »

MrDOS wrote: post #250
rahoulb wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really liked the 12" MacBook (although my all time favourite computer was the 12" PowerBook G4 - chunky by today's standards but I just loved it). I saw a review of the MacBook Neo where the reviewer was yearning after the 12" - but suggested that Apple has made UI elements so big with such ridiculous spacing and border radius that it would be almost unusable at anything less than 13". Which would not surprise me i…

> it would be almost unusable at anything less than 13" Native resolution on a 13" MacBook Air is already pretty unusable. Out of the box, the 13" MacBook Air (physical screen resolution 2560x1664) is configured with display scaling so that the “looks like” resolution is 1470x956 (i.e., macOS renders everything at 2x1470x956 – 2940x1912 – and then scales it down to match the display for output). If you dial the “look…

gotta have dock hiding & menu bar hiding & compact toolbar/tab settings for browser. only 80-90px of wasted height. The rest is web view. I can't think of any website I frequent having that fixed-position header either, so I'm gucci.

Re: Chuwi Minibook X

#269

Post by desireco42 »

treysu wrote: post #241

I think the MacBook Neo has really made it hard for companies to compete. This would have been exciting a few years ago, but now it just feels overpriced. But I love love it can run Linux and is more open.

If you used Neo you would see that while it is decent laptop, it is not nearly as small as 12" should be, clacky touch pad and overall a slab of metal that can easily be dented like any macbook.

It is good as Macbook Air just cheap, but it isn't nearly as portable as something Minibook X should represent. Old Apple 12" plastic one if you remember would be more perfect for such use case if it would be recreated.

Re: Chuwi Minibook X

#270

Post by bee_rider »

iainmerrick wrote: post #147
bee_rider wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The complaints about the keyboard sound more significant than the screen.

Yes, I’d be wary of going anywhere near this for that reason alone. You can’t just say “the keyboard is terrible” but then that you still like it overall -- more detail needed!

Yeah, in particular it looks like the complaint was about having to hit the center of the keys exactly, which seems quite bad.

I’ll learn a weird layout for a netbook, some compromise is expected to get the small size (side note: I think “unfamiliar layout” issues are over-represented in reviews because they usually describe the reviewer’s experience when they are first getting used to the device, I get used to a layout in the medium term anyway and then it isn’t really a problem anymore (side side note: we should separate out the concepts of unfamiliar and bad layouts, they are different things, the former is overcome over time, the latter gives you repetitive stain injuries over time)).

Having the nail the keys in the middle, though, is just a sign of poor keyboard design. That probably won’t be overcome, if anything it is a sign of bad build quality and will probably get worse over time.

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