Pinebook Pro Initial Impressions

[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• No outdated VGA connector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)