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Pinebook Pro Initial Impressions - Printable Version

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RE: Pinebook Pro Initial Impressions - bcnaz - 10-28-2019

COOL !
I was just curious, though I realize using a separate keyboard on a laptop is not a normal thing to do.
There has been a lot of "Keyboard" discussions across the forum.
and there is the issue of the "privacy keys" which can only be accessed by the keyboard with the correct firmware.
But, IF someone who wishes to do the high speed 'touch typing' it CAN be done.
Thank You !


RE: Pinebook Pro Initial Impressions - User 6582 - 10-28-2019

(10-28-2019, 11:49 AM)bcnaz Wrote: COOL  !
I was just curious,  though I realize using a separate keyboard on a laptop is not a normal thing to do.
  There has been a lot of "Keyboard" discussions across the forum.
  and there is the issue of the "privacy keys" which can only be accessed by the keyboard with the correct firmware.
But,  IF someone who wishes to do the high speed 'touch typing'  it CAN be done.
 Thank You  !

You're welcome!

Currently, I'm sitting back from the table and having a wireless keyboard in my lap. It helps me to stop crouching over the computer....And I have really good eye to view the screen with!! :-) And....I'm not normal anyway Big Grin

What I think is important here is an easy way to access the most keys. Rather than gripe about the included keyboard being ISO,

This is a work in progress at a remarkably good price! :-)


RE: Pinebook Pro Initial Impressions - Wizzard - 10-31-2019

So I can finally write about my impressions on PBP. I must say, it is a decent laptop suitable for web browsing and doing simple tasks. Good is, that I can already compare it to another x86 laptops and it is not so big difference.

When I compare it to my Teclast F6 Pro with intel m3-7Y30, it stands quite well, with half price (or 3/4, when I consider all the additional payments).

It is a little bigger, but lighter (1.3 vs 1.36 kg). It has the same storage (128 GB), half sized RAM (4 vs 8 GB), about half of its performance (4000 vs 7000 Geekbench points), smaller battery (37 vs 48 Ah), but it seems it can last even longer. It does not have the touchscreen neither 360° display like Teclast has.

I am a little disappointed that the only good OS I found is auyfan's Ubuntu and also I miss the multiboot ability for now, I believe it will be possible in the near future.

KDE desktop is smooth enough for daily use, although it is not absolutely smooth like it should be, but is definitelly enough for basic usage.

I look forward to Android and ChromiumOS with Play Store, also waiting for some functional emulation software (Batocera, Recalbox, Lakka etc.) because RetroArch does not run well in default Ubuntu. 

I have some problems with charging from my Anker PD USB C charger, so I rather use my old Pinebook charger with barrel connector.

Finally, it is just the machine I expected, still it is not ready for everything, but that is why I also have another laptop and good is that both of my laptops fit into my 14" Case Logic sleeve  so I can take both of them to the trips Smile


RE: Pinebook Pro Initial Impressions - Watercourse - 10-31-2019

This is a really sweet little piece of hardware!
Many thanks to all of the community members for helping put this together (as well as the good people who assembled it).


RE: Pinebook Pro Initial Impressions - Arwen - 10-31-2019

(10-31-2019, 01:45 PM)Watercourse Wrote: This is a really sweet little piece of hardware!
Many thanks to all of the community members for helping put this together (as well as the good people who assembled it).
Mine came in this afternoon. Seems to work fine.
Agreed with the thanks, both to the community members and the people who manufactured it.

It's almost too pretty to use.

My prior 2 laptops had a smaller foot print, (10" screen and a 11.9" screen), but were much thicker. Pinebook Pro looks like it's one of those expensive ones designed to be thin. Now on the road to make it work as I would prefer, (64 bit kernel, ZFS file systems, mirrored OS over a part of the eMMC & NVME).


RE: Pinebook Pro Initial Impressions - neiltholland - 10-31-2019

My PBP arrived 40.5 hours after being picked up in Hong Kong by DHL.  I live in Canada.  That is some seriously impressive logistics.  Seriously.

I waited an hour to let it warm up then plugged it in, booted, and so far it's been great.  We'd been warned to expect a few rough edges with the first production batch but nope it's clean and tight. The screen is bright and crisp and there are no dead pixels, the trackpad which I usually loath is very usable, the keyboard is firm with good travel, even the speakers are more than passable, and every thing that I've tried so far has worked without any issues.  Well Done Pine64!!!

Might have spoke too soon.  I can't get the cam and mic to work, am I the only one?  The privacy keys (Pine + F10/F12) are enabled so it not that.


RE: Pinebook Pro Initial Impressions - hmuller - 10-31-2019

Received the PBP today, and it is the birthday gift to myself that I was expecting =)

If there is a sticker on the palm rest when you get yours, take it off carefully or you may mar the finish.

It came fully charged, to turn on press and hold for about a second.

I am an ANSI keyboard person, but am quickly adjusting to the ISO layout. The key to happy typing is to keep palms away from the touchpad, or even to turn the touchpad off. Otherwise you will miss key presses.

The privacy 'switches' are a cool enhancement, to enable wifi after disabling will require reboot.

The display bezel on my unit slightly pinches the display causing screen deformation at the edges where pinching occurs, but this is only noticable when the screen is dark. I will investigate this further later, but it isn't a high priority to me. Otherwise the display is perfect, no dead pixels.

Luke and mrfixit have done a great job with the desktop environment shipped. All I have had a chance to test so far are YouTube in chromium, the video is great and I found sound acceptable through the speakers and great through headphones. There does seem to be an issue currently with the microphone(s) and the webcam, but that too is not high on my list of priorities.

It appears the customization of the desktop environment is localized to the 'rock' account.

For my use case(s), the Pinebook Pro cannot be beat. The design is what I expected, it feels and looks good for the price point. Kudos to the Pine64 team!

Update: 1 NOV 2019, 12:50 PM EST

Tested all ports:
  • USB 3.0 and 2.0, successfully detects and mounts flash drive, speed not tested
  • USB C, successfully charges phone, other functional not tested
  • Power, successfully charges PBP when power source attached
  • Audio, headphones work as expected
  • uSD, accepts card, card is successfully mounted and detected
Blue Fn hotkeys:
  • All work as expected
Additional peripherals:
  • USB eMMC reader AND 32GB eMMC module, module successfully detected and mounted when reader inserted into port
  • 1M USB to barrel, power cord, successfully powers PBP when inserted into USB power source
  • Pinebook serial cable, instructions specific to previous Pinebook, unable to test
  • M.2/NGFF NVMe SSD Interface Adapter, unable to test pending receipt of fix
Summary to date: love it, everything is working well with exceptions noted above. Keyboard and display are great. Did not mention previously, but boots in 10 seconds.

Update: 3 NOV 2019 11:00 PM EST

Tested serial cable today. Works well, but USB connector contacts require fiddling to make solid contact. Will look at that later.

Web cam functions well now. In terminal, ran to test:

$ mplayer tv://

Boots off micro SD card.


RE: Pinebook Pro Initial Impressions - Corkonian - 11-01-2019

Got mine, too.
Initial thought: this is, what the original Pinebook should have been.
The metal case is so much better than the plastic.
The display is good enough and the speakers are actually loud enough.
The keyboard is a keyboard, it feels nicer than the 14" and the 11" Pinebook keyboard.
Performance is sufficient. Noting to write home about, but actually useful.
It's Linux, so it will stay useful.
Battery time will have to be proven, but so far it does look like it's lasting a full day.
USB-C charging and video are to be checked next.
But first impression is a massive thumbs up!


RE: Pinebook Pro Initial Impressions - tophneal - 11-01-2019

(10-31-2019, 03:13 AM)Wizzard Wrote: I look forward to Android and ChromiumOS with Play Store

Oh, the Android build for the PBP doesn't have Play Store? I was going to try it next, after I figure out how to get it to boot from SD again.


RE: Pinebook Pro Initial Impressions - Wizzard - 11-01-2019

(11-01-2019, 06:13 AM)tophneal Wrote: Oh, the Android build for the PBP doesn't have Play Store? I was going to try it next, after I figure out how to get it to boot from SD again.

It does not indeed, there are some guides how to do that on rockpro forums, but I was not successfull yet. Either there is no other Android for PBP except 7.1

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