Pinebook Pro Initial Impressions

[8-bit]

Now that the Pinebook Pro is available for more than half a year, I would be interested in reading long-term reviews. Any volunteers?

BTW, I'm puzzled by not seeing most initial reviewers active in the forums anymore. Why could that be so?

[Wizzard]

I have my PBP just since november, but I like it, althought it is still not a general productivity device, the most of simple task I do using my PBP.

I still miss the multiboot support very much, I would like to have at least Recalbox on my NVMe or eMMC bootable without SD card, maybe also some ChromeOS, Android etc.

I am disappointed by the build quality and material quality. I have 2 material defects on the display cover, also one problem with the chasis and the screw, the screw just travels in a hole and does not hold the cover already.

[Kochise]

Now that the Pinebook Pro is available for more than half a year, I would be interested in reading long-term reviews. Any volunteers?

BTW, I'm puzzled by not seeing most initial reviewers active in the forums anymore. Why could that be so?

No problem so far, good little machine, the trackpad was an issue and still is a bit annoying after the update.

The worst for me is plugin in an USB disk, everything is read only, you cannot edit files on it. Only $home is writable.

[Eggmonkey]

I've had my Pinebook since November 2019.

Initially I played with it and had huge wifi issues and trackpad issues on the default Debian OS. I did the Trackpad firmware update which fixed the Trackpad issue but wifi would only hold for maximum 5 minutes before cutting out and speeds were extremely slow.

After a few months with it on the shelf I decided to install Manjaro ARM KDE which has been mostly a revelation. This fixed the wifi issue completely (no idea how tbh).
But incredibly the trackpad woes returned. I have tried everything - every setting for the Synaptics drivers and Libinput. I redid the firmware update around 10 times using ssh (tty) and on the device using an external keyboard but no luck. Now, I have removed Synaptics and I'm using the old Libinput driver which performs slightly better for my needs, but is still imprecise so I mostly use a mouse.

I am on Kurzarbeit right now (part-time work due to Corona). So I'm mostly at home doing lots of IT study at my desk with the Pinebook and an external mouse. I'm really loving the device. It is actually really powerful - I can have 20 Chromium tabs and Telegram Desktop open with no issues whatsoever. I'm choosing to use it rather than my work 2019 MacBook Pro i7, so it is definitely a decent machine.

In Chromium it plays 1080p (30 fps) or 720p (50-60fps) youtube videos just fine, but anything over this is very choppy. This is fine for watching sport videos. (FYI actually runs better with the h26ify browser extension turned off.) Screen is great - love the 14in size and 1080p panel.

I have added 5G of SWAP but still can't get hibernate working (I think this is the case for most if not all people here). So now I use SLEEP to put the laptop to sleep overnight (instead of shutting down which I dislike doing). If I do this with 80% battery unplugged it drains down to about 30% by morning. A bit awkward but I'm trying to be nice to the battery to reduce wear.

I want to get a few games working now and will continue using the Pinebook as my daily driver at home.

[IoSer]

Impressions on PBP.
Received in early January.
Obvious defect: the plastic frame around the screen was not firm, considerable burrs prevented the plastic from being held in contact with the cover.
Removed the burrs I had to use glue.
Satisfied with the rest of the hardware. No problem changing the trackpad firmware. Even after the change it is inconvenient to use the trackpad, but also on all other notebooks owned the trackpad has always been difficult to use. I use a mouse and I have disabled the trackpad; I find the keyboard more responsive and no more characters have been lost while typing.
I found the Debian / MrFixit2001 operating system very responsive, very fast on boot. I was not able to use it and I had to replace it because I am a LibreOffice user, his release is too old and not aligned with the current one (6) that I use on other computers, this has already been reported.
I have tried many systems, almost all those proposed. The boot time for almost everyone is tremendous, for some it exceeds two minutes.
I found a satisfactory solution using Daniel Thompson's installer, recompiling the 5.6 Manjaro / tsys kernel, mesa-git, mate-desktop, zram swap with about 60% of the memory.
Boot time is just over a minute.
When I have time I will dedicate myself to building a kernel without initrd and to add an ISO keyboard configuration for the Romance languages, with accented letters and modified characters.
I find the PBP very suitable for my use. I especially like it because it doesn't use the IA64 architecture, which is very inefficient. As an architecture, I would have liked a MIPS more.
For the future PBP I would have some suggestions.

(Sorry for my bad english)

PS kernel without erratum and no maxcpu=4
Errata IA 64 -> x64 (64 bit version of x86 instruction set)

[Wizzard]

I especially like it because it doesn't use the IA64 architecture, which is very inefficient.

You mean x64 architecture? IA64 is an Intel Itanium architecture.

[IoSer]

I especially like it because it doesn't use the IA64 architecture, which is very inefficient.

You mean x64 architecture? IA64 is an Intel Itanium architecture.

64 bit version of x86 instruction set (sorry)

[Lucy]

When I received my Pinebook by mail (keyboard) I updated my keyboard, ad it doesn't work. Contact PineBook a couple of times promising assistance, nada. My mother bought this a a gift and she's miffed if not anger why it sets in the box it was mailed from.. I request to return before my 30 day warranty. Why bother to offer a 30 day warranty, if you aren't going to honor it? That's been my experience.

[bcnaz]

Now that the Pinebook Pro is available for more than half a year, I would be interested in reading long-term reviews. Any volunteers?

BTW, I'm puzzled by not seeing most initial reviewers active in the forums anymore. Why could that be so?

Well,

I have both the original PBP ISO,  and the PBP ANSI models.

I am still running the original OS on both, and I have still not done the firmware updates on ether of them.

 I have not encountered any problems with TP/KB, I would do the keyboard/track pad update in a moment, IF  "I" had a problem.
  I have installed a little software, and all the mrfixit updates.

BUT I have been concentrating more on the new Brave Heart Pine phone.

That has kind of been my center of focus the past few months...

I myself think that both types of the PBP's are better than average build, fairly easy to open - but - not the simplest.

There have been thousands of comments on the accessory addition of the NVMe/SSD.

That subject was a huge problem for some, a minor problem for others, and a challenge for some.

I REALLY RECOMMEND reading the forum as much as possible "before" you decide to install a NVMe ! ! !

One of the original big pluses for me is the long battery life and it seems 'some' of the NVMe drives tend to drain the battery rather Quickly,
I do have the adapters and a SSD sitting here,
  but I have put that Modification on the back burner for now at least.
    At this time,  I would more than likely just upgrade the eMMC from the 64gb to the 128gb.

For now I just 'use' my PBP's as  'Laptops'  they work well for that,   'as is'

Eventually I will probably swap the ISO keyboard to a ANSI keyboard and give that PBP to one of my Nephews or Grand kids.

For Now my Brave Heart phone holds most of my attention.

NOTE :   "My Opinion"  on the keyboard/track pad firmware update.
     Try it first,   If you Do have a problem then definitely do the update !
        BUT as with anything software related  I cannot be responsible for any outcome when using or not using any software.
***
  > You asked why some of us disappeared from the PBP forum, that is my story. 
                                                                        ( I have not left, I am just on another page )

Have FUN  with your new PBP  !

[Arwen]

I still like my Pinebook Pros, (original ISO & later ANSI), though I have not used them recently, (work got in the way).

To review what made my decision to buy a Pinebook Pro verses other ARM laptops, (or even x86/x64 laptops), here are the buying points I used to make the decision:

• Fast enough CPU, (would have preferred a bit faster, but for the price, this was good enough)
  
• Enough RAM, (would have preferred 8GB, but again, for the price, this was good enough)
  
• SD card that is bootable
  
• 2nd internal storage device, (so I can mirror the OS partitions)
  
• 3 USB ports, at least 1 of which was USB 3 @ 5Gbps, (or better)
  
• External digital 1080p display support
  
• Dual band wireless, (2.4Ghz & 5Ghz)
  
• Metal chassis
  
• Open source as much as possible, (for example, so I actually know what's being run on the 2 control processors)
  
• Light weight enough
  
• Price, at this price, I can buy a new one every year or 2 as needed, or to get improved models
  

Writing all that down makes it sound as if I was picky. But, I guess that is a fair description. My old laptop still works, so I did have the option to wait until I really found something I like.

Other laptop options out there, had only 2 USB ports available. Like the original Pinebooks, 11" or 14". Or slower CPUs. Or less RAM, (like 2GBs). Or plastic chassis. Weighed too much. No internal storage options.

My old Intel based laptop has a plastic chassis, non-bootable SD card, slower CPU and only 2GB of memory. It does have replacable WiFi, so I was able to upgrade from single band, (2.4Ghz), to dual band. And replace the SATA 2.5" hard drive with a much larger SATA SSD.

As a bonus with the Pinebook Pro, I get this;

• Replacable internal storage, (eMMC can go from 64GB to 128GB, maybe some day to 256GB)
  
• 2 x USB @ 5Gbps
  
• Privacy switches on camera, microphone & WiFi
  
• Full schematics
  
• Source code to some of the firmware, (and more may be coming)
  
• Switchable serial console
  
• No outdated VGA connector
  
• Un-branded chassis, (except for the pine cone button on the keyboard, but I think it's cute)