About the SoPine A64 and the Pinebook

[MarkHaysHarris777]

The Sopine A64  is very good design , we can use SOPINE Baseboard “Model A” ( network card , wi-fi  lcd  )  , just change other allwinner chip or buy the A64 card  can work , no need to buy other board !

SoPine is an excellent design ( I am running one for several weeks now ) which includes a faster more compact memory technology. For those who have not noticed, the 2Gb standard PineA64 board has four memory chips to make up the 2G. The SoPine ( sodimm compute module ) has a single (One) memory chip with layered technology wich allows 2G on a single chip; so the sodimm board has three chips, the processor gpu|cpu, the PIMIC, and the RAM. 

In the future the signle RAM chip will have 3G on-board.  ... very nice.

[dkryder]

the pine64 memory is listed @ 672MHz. i have not seen a listing for the sopine. i'm not sure that the layering technology itself makes for a faster memory handling experience. it does significantly reduce space/cost considerations. i have noticed that the sdcard is on the back side of the SODIMM card which might make swapping sdcards a bit of a hassle. it would mostly depend on if it is necessary to remove the SODIMM card from the baseboard. the thing that frustrates me with this newer offering is that it is basically more of the same. they could have gone to 3GB or 4GB in the memory area and/or a different gpu offering that would solve the numerous video issues.

[MarkHaysHarris777]

the pine64 memory is listed @ 672MHz. i have not seen a listing for the sopine. i'm not sure that the layering technology itself makes for a faster memory handling experience. it does significantly reduce space/cost considerations.  i have noticed that the sdcard is on the back side of the SODIMM card which might make swapping sdcards a bit of a hassle. it would mostly depend on if it is necessary to remove the SODIMM card from the baseboard. the thing that frustrates me with this newer offering is that it is basically more of the same. they could have gone to 3GB or 4GB in the memory area and/or a different gpu offering that would solve the numerous video issues.

Right on both points.  To swap the SD card you DO have to remove the sodimm from the board.

... I am fairly certain that a 3G sodimm module is on the way;  perhaps a new gpu|cpu; time will tell.

Personally, I think they should have waited for the 3G RAM before annoucing;  but, they wanted to time the annoucement with the RPi compute module annoucement. 

One additional note;  because of the different RAM other pine images will not run on this board without a couple of changes: 1) the boot needs to be able to see the memory, and the dts|dtb needs to be changed so that the OS can deal with the memory.  ( both are available ; although, I have not run linux on my board yet, but longsleep has run it on his board )

[Nick]

As long as it's a reliable, good-quality laptop that runs Linux well (or Android, especially Remix), I'm definitely interested.

I signed up, too, but I'm a little torn.  For anything that *CAN* run android and has a screen, I'd like to request consideration for a touchscreen option, even if there is not a fancy hinge to let it bend backwards or swivel into a tablet form.

My reasoning is that for something with android capable hardware, it's just a shame to turn down all the software that's been touch optimized.

As an aside, that's why I didn't buy a chromebook this recent black friday/cybermonday.  There were tons of great deals, but the mix just seemed enough off that I'd end up feeling like I got a great bargain on something I don't really want.   Screen quality, screen res, screen size, decent keyboard action, touch screen, 4GB+ RAM, 32GB or 16GB+ memory card slot, decent CPU, decent battery.  Seems like it shouldn't be too hard to hit these at a reasonable price point.

John

I get what you are saying. Then again, there are so many cheap touch devices running droid (you can build a pine64 playbox), I am not sure touch the right fit for the pinebook. I'm no expert but I believe that a touch screen is +15-20% the price of a regular screen (?). There are other drawbacks too, such as increase in battery consumption. Personally, I never understood the appeal of touch on a laptop, but I fully understand that some people find it useful/ appealing. Perhaps it'll be included in the next iteration ?

Also, are you considering the pinebook as a daily driver (guessing from what you wrote about the cybermonday deals)? If yes, then I don't think its intended to replace your Dell or Macbook laptop, in the same way the pine64 isn't meant to replace a dedicated $300 media PC or server.

I don't see any reason why the Pinebook can't be used as a daily driver. Unless the build quality and durability is THAT bad, if the Pinebook ships with Remix or some other kind of reliable Linux OS (Ubuntu, etc).. I don't see a reason why the average consumer who wants a cheap Windows 10 alternative laptop couldn't use this everyday. I guess it depends if the Pinebook is marketed as a laptop, or as a Pine64 single board in a laptop chassis. This could be the Chromebook alternative as well.

Most consumers don't need high-powered computers. They just think they do. I had about 25 different operating systems/Linux distros on my old 700mhz netbook (came with a form of Linux). It's still running today. But I also never opened it up, and changed anything from stock.

[joe]

but tllim no reply this post, we can't know they think about what !

[MarkHaysHarris777]

but tllim no reply this post, we can't know they think about what !

haha  right !

... nudging just a bit to try and get some answers.   

[Luke]

As long as it's a reliable, good-quality laptop that runs Linux well (or Android, especially Remix), I'm definitely interested.

I signed up, too, but I'm a little torn.  For anything that *CAN* run android and has a screen, I'd like to request consideration for a touchscreen option, even if there is not a fancy hinge to let it bend backwards or swivel into a tablet form.

My reasoning is that for something with android capable hardware, it's just a shame to turn down all the software that's been touch optimized.

As an aside, that's why I didn't buy a chromebook this recent black friday/cybermonday.  There were tons of great deals, but the mix just seemed enough off that I'd end up feeling like I got a great bargain on something I don't really want.   Screen quality, screen res, screen size, decent keyboard action, touch screen, 4GB+ RAM, 32GB or 16GB+ memory card slot, decent CPU, decent battery.  Seems like it shouldn't be too hard to hit these at a reasonable price point.

John

I get what you are saying. Then again, there are so many cheap touch devices running droid (you can build a pine64 playbox), I am not sure touch the right fit for the pinebook. I'm no expert but I believe that a touch screen is +15-20% the price of a regular screen (?). There are other drawbacks too, such as increase in battery consumption. Personally, I never understood the appeal of touch on a laptop, but I fully understand that some people find it useful/ appealing. Perhaps it'll be included in the next iteration ?

Also, are you considering the pinebook as a daily driver (guessing from what you wrote about the cybermonday deals)? If yes, then I don't think its intended to replace your Dell or Macbook laptop, in the same way the pine64 isn't meant to replace a dedicated $300 media PC or server.

I don't see any reason why the Pinebook can't be used as a daily driver. Unless the build quality and durability is THAT bad, if the Pinebook ships with Remix or some other kind of reliable Linux OS (Ubuntu, etc).. I don't see a reason why the average consumer who wants a cheap Windows 10 alternative laptop couldn't use this everyday. I guess it depends if the Pinebook is marketed as a laptop, or as a Pine64 single board in a laptop chassis. This could be the Chromebook alternative as well.

Most consumers don't need high-powered computers. They just think they do. I had about 25 different operating systems/Linux distros on my old 700mhz netbook (came with a form of Linux). It's still running today. But I also never opened it up, and changed anything from stock.

Sure. In the same sense that you could also use a G5 with debian as a daily driver, or a pine64 as a desktop (Marcus did/does!). I'm not saying you can't. 
I don't see Remix as a replacement for a proper Linux DE. I'd like to but I really don't think it even comes close. So I will be running linux on the pinebook and - as you surely know - there will be hurdles to overcome with video, media playback, 3d acceleration, etc, etc... This is why the 'average consumer who wants a cheap win10 laptop' is precisely the person who would not be happy with the pinebook running Linux at this point in time. Once those things are sorted tho, it will make a great backup laptop running Linux. On a positive note, from what I understand Lenny is making progress again on the drm --- I hope he is one of the first 5 to receive a dev pinebook.

[Nick]

As long as it's a reliable, good-quality laptop that runs Linux well (or Android, especially Remix), I'm definitely interested.

I signed up, too, but I'm a little torn.  For anything that *CAN* run android and has a screen, I'd like to request consideration for a touchscreen option, even if there is not a fancy hinge to let it bend backwards or swivel into a tablet form.

My reasoning is that for something with android capable hardware, it's just a shame to turn down all the software that's been touch optimized.

As an aside, that's why I didn't buy a chromebook this recent black friday/cybermonday.  There were tons of great deals, but the mix just seemed enough off that I'd end up feeling like I got a great bargain on something I don't really want.   Screen quality, screen res, screen size, decent keyboard action, touch screen, 4GB+ RAM, 32GB or 16GB+ memory card slot, decent CPU, decent battery.  Seems like it shouldn't be too hard to hit these at a reasonable price point.

John

I get what you are saying. Then again, there are so many cheap touch devices running droid (you can build a pine64 playbox), I am not sure touch the right fit for the pinebook. I'm no expert but I believe that a touch screen is +15-20% the price of a regular screen (?). There are other drawbacks too, such as increase in battery consumption. Personally, I never understood the appeal of touch on a laptop, but I fully understand that some people find it useful/ appealing. Perhaps it'll be included in the next iteration ?

Also, are you considering the pinebook as a daily driver (guessing from what you wrote about the cybermonday deals)? If yes, then I don't think its intended to replace your Dell or Macbook laptop, in the same way the pine64 isn't meant to replace a dedicated $300 media PC or server.

I don't see any reason why the Pinebook can't be used as a daily driver. Unless the build quality and durability is THAT bad, if the Pinebook ships with Remix or some other kind of reliable Linux OS (Ubuntu, etc).. I don't see a reason why the average consumer who wants a cheap Windows 10 alternative laptop couldn't use this everyday. I guess it depends if the Pinebook is marketed as a laptop, or as a Pine64 single board in a laptop chassis. This could be the Chromebook alternative as well.

Most consumers don't need high-powered computers. They just think they do. I had about 25 different operating systems/Linux distros on my old 700mhz netbook (came with a form of Linux). It's still running today. But I also never opened it up, and changed anything from stock.

Sure. In the same sense that you could also use a G5 with debian as a daily driver, or a pine64 as a desktop (Marcus did/does!). I'm not saying you can't. 
I don't see Remix as a replacement for a proper Linux DE. I'd like to but I really don't think it even comes close. So I will be running linux on the pinebook and - as you surely know - there will be hurdles to overcome with video, media playback, 3d acceleration, etc, etc... This is why the 'average consumer who wants a cheap win10 laptop' is precisely the person who would not be happy with the pinebook running Linux at this point in time. Once those things are sorted tho, it will make a great backup laptop running Linux. On a positive note, from what I understand Lenny is making progress again on the drm --- I hope he is one of the first 5 to receive a dev pinebook.

I think reaching and jumping over those hurdles might be easier with the Pinebook, since out of the box, everyone will be using the same hardware. It's not like with the Pine64, where some users might have certain modules and some don't. It should be more universal, with it's own following of users. I can see great things for this laptop. 

As for Android and Linux, Android will never reach the power that Linux has. Android is the Mac OS X and Chrome OS of the operating system world in my opinion. No matter the distro of Linux, you will get more power, control, and options. But.. for the person who knows crap about Linux, or the person who just wants to write up articles or do their college paper, Remix OS might be a good simple option. Pros and cons.

[MarkHaysHarris777]

Sure. In the same sense that you could also use a G5 with debian as a daily driver, or a pine64 as a desktop (Marcus did/does!). I'm not saying you can't. 

w00t w00t

Yes, I still do !  ubuntu is my headless server, and debian is my primary desktop !  ... both pine boards !

... and the SoPine is my Android PlayDesk ! And soon the pinebook will be my primary on-the-go laptop !

[Luke]

Lets wait and see : I' very exited too, and I am eagerly awaiting my unit to put it though its paces.

---

Sure. In the same sense that you could also use a G5 with debian as a daily driver, or a pine64 as a desktop (Marcus did/does!). I'm not saying you can't. 

w00t w00t

Yes, I still do !  ubuntu is my headless server, and debian is my primary desktop !  ... both pine boards !

... and the SoPine is my Android PlayDesk !  And soon the pinebook will be my primary on-the-go laptop !

Hah! nice : then all that is left to do is get a pine roof for the house