About the Pinebook - What to expect

[pfeerick]

pfeerick, I'm afraid i haven't tried angrybirds ... but I have tried one of the new racing games Asphalt something something.  Do note that 1) the game is running on max settings and 2) there was something off about this Android build (recoded it a while back) and the CPU wasn't running at max speed. So its possible that with the newer builds it would run better ... don't know  

What I can say is that for more casual games - such as Fallout Shelter (which I recommend) - it runs perfectly smooth.

Angry Birds will do fine if the screen is a genuine touch screen.

Ah... Marcus... this is the pinebook, not the pine64... I don't think it has a touch screen?

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 ... but I have tried one of the new racing games Asphalt something something.  Do note that 1) the game is running on max settings and 2) there was something off about this Android build (recoded it a while back) and the CPU wasn't running at max speed.

Still looked pretty smooth to me... and is a nice demo... except for the nut behind the wheel... what were you thinking? :-P Just another example of how Android is better if you want the best experience graphics/video/gameplay wise 

[dkryder]

pfeerick, I'm afraid i haven't tried angrybirds ... but I have tried one of the new racing games Asphalt something something.  Do note that 1) the game is running on max settings and 2) there was something off about this Android build (recoded it a while back) and the CPU wasn't running at max speed. So its possible that with the newer builds it would run better ... don't know  

What I can say is that for more casual games - such as Fallout Shelter (which I recommend) - it runs perfectly smooth.

Angry Birds will do fine if the screen is a genuine touch screen.

now that you mention it, i do not remember seeing it stated that this was a touchscreen. only that they both had touchpads. and Marks comment is "if" the screen is touchscreen. so, still an unknown as to touch status of screen?

[Luke]

Its NOT a touchscreen.

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pfeerick - didn't have an overlay for the controls, so not exactly the easiest game to play with a touchpad

[Nick]

Awesome job Luke! That was a fantastic bit of info after being discouraged for awhile with little news. It looks fantastic. I still have my concerns over build quality, and the 30-day warranty, but I mean I don't see much that could go wrong with it... mass consumers aren't going to be the target audience. But for anyone who has wanted a Linux/Android laptop for years (ME).. this is a dream.

Any idea how Remix OS would run on this? Or maybe even Elementary OS? I know that's asking alot, I'm just happy to see photos of Android on this. And Android 7! Never expected that. Most devices I've seen have issues with the later versions of Android.

EDIT: I wonder how Minecraft will run on it. I know Linux Minecraft is out of the question, but Minecraft PE with Android.

[Luke]

Hey Nick

Regarding the build quality: the 11" is solid and very lightweight. I am not going to lie, the 14" prototype was not as good -- but this may be one of the reason the design was changed. I guess we will find out soon enough. 

The alignment of and quality of plastics, etc. on the prototypes and presumably the production units is higher than you may think (have you ever held one of the ASUS Chromebooks ? -  feels very similar, but considerably lighter). 

In terms of quality, the keyboard is really the highlight here, with solid feeling keys that have a good travel distance - honestly its very nice, albeit the keystrokes sound a bit hollow (because the case is largely hollow?). The trackpad is serviceable; it does have multi-touch which works well. NB. perhaps I am a bit spoiled when it comes to trackpads as the only laptops I have used in the last decade are high-end macbooks.

Regarding software, as I wrote in my initial post, android 7 beta builds have all been a pleasure to use. The eMMC makes opening and switching between apps super snappy too. Even my BT headphones worked instantly without any issues ... its a smooth experience all around. 

Regarding Remix OS, tllim said publicly that Jide released their SDK to him privately .... connect the dots

So software-wise, the real undertaking here is BSP and Mainline Linux. Mainline is coming along thanks to sunxi and, as I've already written, we already used it on the PB. However, its not something the average user would like to use at this point. So for now its BSP Linux for us, and any-and-all forms of contributions to make this as good of an experience as possible are very welcome.  

I don't know if elementary (similarly to Cinnamon and other Gnome 3-based desktop environments) will run or does it require DRM? I am correct that Elementary is Gnome 3 right ? I'm sure that pfeerick or Xalius can answer this better

edit: Minecraft will run on android without issues I'm pretty sure, given that the racing game ran at approx 30fps  

[dkryder]

Its NOT a touchscreen.

_________________________________________________

pfeerick - didn't have an overlay for the controls, so not exactly the easiest game to play with a touchpad

ok, thanks for the update.

[MarkHaysHarris777]

Well, time will tell if Angry birds are happy on a touchpad !

[Nick]

Hey Nick

Regarding the build quality: the 11" is solid and very lightweight. I am not going to lie, the 14" prototype was not as good -- but this may be one of the reason the design was changed. I guess we will find out soon enough. 

The alignment of and quality of plastics, etc. on the prototypes and presumably the production units is higher than you may think (have you ever held one of the ASUS Chromebooks ? -  feels very similar, but considerably lighter). 

In terms of quality, the keyboard is really the highlight here, with solid feeling keys that have a good travel distance - honestly its very nice, albeit the keystrokes sound a bit hollow (because the case is largely hollow?). The trackpad is serviceable; it does have multi-touch which works well. NB. perhaps I am a bit spoiled when it comes to trackpads as the only laptops I have used in the last decade are high-end macbooks.

Regarding software, as I wrote in my initial post, android 7 beta builds have all been a pleasure to use. The eMMC makes opening and switching between apps super snappy too. Even my BT headphones worked instantly without any issues ... its a smooth experience all around. 

Regarding Remix OS, tllim said publicly that Jide released their SDK to him privately .... connect the dots

So software-wise, the real undertaking here is BSP and Mainline Linux. Mainline is coming along thanks to sunxi and, as I've already written, we already used it on the PB. However, its not something the average user would like to use at this point. So for now its BSP Linux for us, and any-and-all forms of contributions to make this as good of an experience as possible are very welcome.  

I don't know if elementary (similarly to Cinnamon and other Gnome 3-based desktop environments) will run or does it require DRM? I am correct that Elementary is Gnome 3 right ? I'm sure that pfeerick or Xalius can answer this better

edit: Minecraft will run on android without issues I'm pretty sure, given that the racing game ran at approx 30fps  

Luke,

Thanks for all the info and for taking the time to answer all my questions. I'm now more excited than ever. So then the build quality does look to be pretty good, reminiscent of the Chromebooks.

I doubt Elementary will run on the Pine but it's not a deal breaker... I'm leaning more and more towards using this as an android laptop. Plus unlike with remix, there's no app compatibility issues because it's straight up android.

I can easily see this as a lightweight android gaming, word processing, internet browsing device that crushes most of its competition. For geeks like me, this is a dream.

I just hope I signed up early enough that I'm not going to be waiting 10 months. Lol

[tllim]

Raspberry Pi Laptop: http://www.norwichhackspace.org/projects.../pi-laptop

May be we can run the Raspbian on Pinebook for RPi community

[Luke]

Raspberry Pi Laptop: http://www.norwichhackspace.org/projects.../pi-laptop

May be we can run the Raspbian on Pinebook for RPi community

There already is a Raspbian image for the A64 so if someone desperately wants Raspbian its doable...