Pinebook Pro Initial Impressions

[Syg]

I've had my PBP ANSI for one week.

After firmware update the keyboard mapped to ANSI in the log-in screen but once logged in to Debian Mate it reverted to ISO layout.

Since I really disliked Debian Mate I decided to replace it with Manjaro KDE Plasma ARM first and see if the keyboard mapping problem persisted. It did not, keyboard is fine in Manjaro.

In general I'd say that the Manjaro Plasma experience is much more polished and fully functioning than the OOTB Debian Mate. That is a subjective impression; I don't have details to back up that assertion.

The most troublesome issue I'm having now is that the KDE Plasma setting "Disable trackpad when typing" doesn't work. So if I'm not really concentrating when typing my palm will touch the trackpad and the cursor will jump. If I have a mouse, I use the "Disable trackpad" setting which solves that problem.

I was unable to insert a microSD card with my fingers. I needed a credit card to help it insert far enough to catch. Credit card also needed to eject. No big deal for me.

Wifi works. Bluetooth works. Speakers work. The microSD drive works.

I have always hated trackpads. The PBP trackpad is better than the Lenovo Thinkpad T460 I have at work and it is also better than the 6-year old System 76 Gallago Pro I have at home. I guess that isn't saying much but... I'm most happy when using the PBP in conjunction with a mouse like I would for any other laptop I've ever had. I've had no problem with the 2.4Gh wireless mouse connection.

Thank you Pine64 for the great work!

[inkslinger]

I believe Pine’s communication could have been better.

Agreed. This was a pain point. It was utterly unclear when the thing was going to ship. Information seemed to change several times and I felt completely in the dark until I got my DHL shipping confirmation text. I knew it was a batch order and would take a while, but better communication would have been nice (it wasn't clear when placing my order that ANSI models would be shipping several weeks after the ISO models, but maybe I just missed that on the order page -- I only realized this several weeks later from the forums and/or PINE46@fosstodon.org).

I also agree that the charging cable is ridiculously short. I'll be doing USB-C charging most of the time anyway, but it's absurd that the cord is too small for many people to charge from a desk.

I mean both of the above as constructive criticism, because overall I am incredibly pleased with the PBP.

[Techdragonz]

IMHO they should not include that power brick... Would never use it...
Just a USB C cable would be better...

Can't wait to receive mine

[avill]

My first impression isn't the best. I ran the initial updates, updated trackpad firmware, tinkered with personalization, etc.

The trackpad is still giving me issues, and I'm seeing my wireless disconnect almost routinely. Also some screen tearing, but that's not too big of a deal. It's going to take more time than I initially expected to reach a point of stability.

It's basically unusable for me in its current state just from the trackpad alone. I'll probably check back in a month when things are more polished and I have the time to make things better.

Idk.

[mark-two]

Just got this yesterday. Did the firmware update and that went fine, except the keyboard layout went back to ISO. Not a big deal, though, just updated it back to ANSI.

The trackpad does not really work like expected, unfortunately. It's not very precise and is sometimes difficult to get the mouse to small buttons.

Overall, however, I think the device is decent (for the cost) but I'd like to see a slightly more premium product down the road.

[Eight Bit]

Hi all,

I received my Pinebook last monday and so far I think it's an amazing device and I love it for what it is.

The software update went smooth, after I had executed that, the mrFixit update icon appeared on my desktop which added netflix support.  I checked; netflix works.  So does the spotify web player, youtube and the dutch NPO site (streaming television). Yay already!


Sure, the touchpad movement detection is pretty bad. I can move my finger in zigzag's  up and down or left and right of 0,5 cm and the mousepointer won't move. This makes it feel like the mouse pointer is lagging behind a bit. But with some practice of movement prediction it's surely not unusable.

It looks like either the resolution of the touchpad is not high enough, or the threshold of movement detection in the software is set too broad.

But; as I prefer a mouse anyway I plugged in a wireless Logitech USB dongle. It did not work in the USB3 port but does work in the USB2 one.

The screen is very nice. The brightness can go very low and very high. The resolution is great and the fact that the screen is non-glare matte make it look real classy.


The keyboard is good. it types light with an audible click. So far not so many typo's. The keys are of a nice size.

The battery lifetime is great, I brought it fully charged to work yesterday, unplugged it at 07:30 and it had 23% battery left when I got home at 18:00. Usage had been mediocre but it had been on practically all day.
I ended up plugging it back in around midnight when I went to bed. It had 4% battery left but I had the lid open and closed several times during the evening.

I spent some time customizing the shell to my liking and I'm really happy with how it looks now.



Although surely not the fastest there is, the laptop is spiffy enough for comfortably browsing, typing, enjoying media or do some coding on the couch,

My conclusion: The Pinebook pro is "a diamond in the rough"  which can improve with some (community) effort.

I feel the PBP is a device well worth it's money. Even with the shipment, VAT and import tax added. (Netherlands)



Well done!

[sirkill93]

Hey Pine64 Community! 

I've been lurking on these forums for the past several months, reading everything I possibly could about the PineBook Pro, PineTab, & PineTime. I decided to finally create an account now that I have received my ANSI PineBook Pro, which I ordered shortly after New Years.

The shipping process was incredibly efficient. I received notification of my order processed in Hong Kong on January 18th, then the clearing of customs, and entrance into Los Angeles, the next day, and finally, the laptop was delivered at 11am Monday morning (20th). I've never had such an easy time ordering and receiving a laptop. Kudos to the Pine supply chain!

Now, for the things people are actually wanting to hear about, my actual use of the laptop.

So, I am running the default Debian 9 distro, so far, the settings have been pretty straightforward to alter. I didn't have the same trackpad issue, it's actually more responsive than my Acer's.

Big issue I've run into: I left my laptop at around 88% battery last night, after charging, and I woke up 12 hours later to find half the battery discharged while it was suspended..so I'll have to look into that. I'm used to not shutting down my laptop often, so maybe that's something I'll have to consider going forward.

So far, I've installed the following programs:
-Transmission
-PlayOnLinux
-Thunderbird
-VLC
-Kazam
-GIMP
-KDE Edu pkg
-Audacity
-FocusWriter



I haven't gotten my PineBook connected and working with my bluetooth speaker (UE Megaboom), nor have I installed my Brother printer either.

The following apps are not compatible currently with the PineBook:
-Signal Messenger
-Opera Web Browser
-Minecraft
-Steam

[mamboman777]

Ok...I feel like I've been using my Pinebook Pro-ANSI long enough to give a fair review.  

First impression: I really like the hardware.  For work, I was given a HP Chromebook with a 14" touchscreen display and an all metal chassis.  I like the screen of the pinebook better.  It's much brighter and I like a matte display.  I do wish the display folded back more, but it's not a problem that often.  The keyboard is SUPERIOR to the keyboard in the HP.  I enjoy typing on it.  It has a decent feel and pleasant sound.  (I'm used to using a keyboard with MX Blues).  

Accessing the guts of the system is easy.  I've done it multiple times (you can see my NVME chronicles if you're interested).  I am disappointed with the NVME kit I was supplied with (the cable needed to be folded to work).  That being said, it gets covered up by the bottom cover, so no biggie.  Properly seating the bottom panel was a bit tricky, but I figured it out.  I have to start by getting the sides of the panel in place first using the corner screws before putting the rest of the screws in.  There's pretty good instructions about this on the Wiki.  

I love booting from SD Card!  What a great feature!

I think most of my areas for improvement would be regarding the software and ease of installation.  Here's my wish list: 1. The trackpad still does not disable for me in the Bionic image.  I've done the update and can confirm that it's working in Debian, but can't figure out how to get it going in Bionic.  2.  NVME issues.  I had to return a Samsung NVME (I think it was too power hungry.).  My NVME cable is folded.  The software implementation does not include APST, which could improve battery life.  Also, I am coming from a Thinkpad running Ubuntu Studio.  I'm used to being able to plug in a hard drive and have it work.  I am disappointed to find out how much tinkering is necessary to boot from NVME.  I ended up putting my home on the NVMe and booting from the eMMC (it's fast enough IMO).  3.  I would consider myself average with the terminal and getting around linux.  Setting up my machine has taken me a moderate amount of work.  I loved setting my my Debian SD image.  The instructions on the wiki were very clear and the Mr. Fixit updater was great.  I prefer using the Bionic Mate image because I believe it's more responsive.  Setting up widevine in Bionic took a little more research.  I couldn't find or figure out what needed to be done.  And there is still the trackpad issue from #1.  I also have a Chromium image which was easier to get widevine going once I knew how to do so from Bionic.  I think both Chromium and Bionic are smooth and good to use.  

That being said, I've figured it out now and it is good enough for my daily computing needs. 

There you go!  It doesn't get said enough to the developers: THANK YOU!  

Thanks to pine64 for making such a neat device.   

-Josh

[Luke]

Hey Pine64 Community! 

I've been lurking on these forums for the past several months, reading everything I possibly could about the PineBook Pro, PineTab, & PineTime. I decided to finally create an account now that I have received my ANSI PineBook Pro, which I ordered shortly after New Years.

The shipping process was incredibly efficient. I received notification of my order processed in Hong Kong on January 18th, then the clearing of customs, and entrance into Los Angeles, the next day, and finally, the laptop was delivered at 11am Monday morning (20th). I've never had such an easy time ordering and receiving a laptop. Kudos to the Pine supply chain!

Now, for the things people are actually wanting to hear about, my actual use of the laptop.

So, I am running the default Debian 9 distro, so far, the settings have been pretty straightforward to alter. I didn't have the same trackpad issue, it's actually more responsive than my Acer's.

Big issue I've run into: I left my laptop at around 88% battery last night, after charging, and I woke up 12 hours later to find half the battery discharged while it was suspended..so I'll have to look into that. I'm used to not shutting down my laptop often, so maybe that's something I'll have to consider going forward.

So far, I've installed the following programs:
-Transmission
-PlayOnLinux
-Thunderbird
-VLC
-Kazam
-GIMP
-KDE Edu pkg
-Audacity
-FocusWriter



I haven't gotten my PineBook connected and working with my bluetooth speaker (UE Megaboom), nor have I installed my Brother printer either.

The following apps are not compatible currently with the PineBook:
-Signal Messenger
-Opera Web Browser
-Minecraft
-Steam

Just a small note - on the default build, for VLC use OpenGL acceleration for embedded devices (from memory - can't remember the exact setting name).

[Soul_Hacker]

Thanks for all the replies, as soon as i got my ANSI PBP (sold the ISO one which had this issue) firefox worked right away...
installed it the same way over apt... don't really know what it was. (the buyer knew and probably fixed it by now)

regardless, i still get a broken Pipe Error (Errno. 32) when i want to start Thunderbird, which i believe is not really a PBP issue but a python issue?
Edit:it seems the Thunderbird version was wrong? installed an older one and now it runs fine. Got the "not-working-one" - from the default repo.

i had the ISO variant a month or so and was very happy with it. Now i have the ANSI version since a few days and the keyboard still feels nice and sharp.
The touchpad tweaks really helped a lot too, to get that "premium feel".

I really love this device for it's simplicity and usability. It's everything i want in a Laptop.
Thanks, Pine64 Team and everyone here!