Pine phone keyboard ?

[irongarment]

Just ordered mine! I covet one (to go with my PinePhone), but I also want to spend my money as a way to "vote" for this kind of project.

[Lord Windy]

I bought mine as well. I went with the Courier shipping to hopefully get it here ASAP. (Assuming DHS doesn't dump them all in New Zealand again).

Really keen to get it. I haven't really used my phone at all, so I will start setting it up ready for when it gets here towards the end of January.

[bcnaz]

I also went with "Courier" I really hope that means "DHL" !

With DHL, I have received my Pinebook Pro's and Pinephones within 24 hours after DHL picks them up in Hong Kong, ... delivered to my door in Arizona, USA.

It helps that they cross so many time zones, but they are very quick.

[irongarment]

I live in New Zealand.

The only shipping choice available to me was "courier" at US$30. If it's DHL and they are dumping everyone else's here too then I should get mine. I'll put the rest on TradeMe.

[irongarment]

It arrived this morning! It is nice! What is the simplest way to get it working?

[irongarment]

Ok. I updated the OS that was on the phone (KDE edition) and it started working. Hooray. Other stuff stopped working, but them's the breaks I guess.

[Surehand53]

Ok. I updated the OS that was on the phone (KDE edition) and it started working. Hooray. Other stuff stopped working, but them's the breaks I guess.

Could you give a bit of feedback how it feels, handles, what’s working, what is not ?

[bcnaz]

I just got my first text message from DHL in Hong Kong, seems this shipment is not estimated to arrive here at the fantastic speed my previous DHL shipments did,
... it is estimated to be delivered on the 19th of this month.
Considering that this will enter the USA at the Los Angeles airport, While there are thousands of ships anchored offshore that are not being allowed to unload.
Under these conditions, I think 4 days is remarkable.

What Operating systems are you using ?

[Lord Windy]

I just got my first text message from DHL in Hong Kong,  seems this shipment is not estimated to arrive here at the fantastic speed my previous DHL shipments did,
  ...  it is estimated to be delivered on the 19th of this month. 
Considering that this will enter the USA at the Los Angeles airport,  While there are thousands of ships anchored offshore that are not being allowed to unload.
Under these conditions,  I think 4 days is remarkable.

What Operating systems are you using ?

Yeah DHL says the 27th for me but its currently just arrived in Brisbane Australia, so I think I think if there is a bottleneck it will be due to Covid.

I plan on putting Gentoo/Sway on mine once I get it. I can use postmarketOS to run as the boot and compile the kernel via distcc from my PC. The drivers should be in the latest kernel patch and I don't need to bother with a touchscreen as I don't plan on ever using the device as an actual phone.

[irongarment]

Ok. I updated the OS that was on the phone (KDE edition) and it started working. Hooray. Other stuff stopped working, but them's the breaks I guess.

Could you give a bit of feedback how it feels, handles, what’s working, what is not ?

Ok, first impressions (I've had it for less than a day).

I like it. The keyboard looks great, and coupled with the phone looks like a chunky laptop from the late 90's. It might be a bit large for some.

The keys are not that sensitive, and need to be positively pressed. I haven't tried it on a desk though, just in my hand.

The secondary functions, Shift, Fn, combinations take some getting used to.

I haven't figured out how to hide the on-screen keyboard without disabling the real keyboard.

Pressing Alt-Tab crashes the current session.

I can't open the back of the keyboard using a tool in the recess at the bottom corner- it's very tightly clipped together.

In general, the PinePhone itself needs a lot of polish, and the keyboard is functional but not excellent, however, it works, and I am not at all disappointed. I spent my money on this to support the project, to allow it to be made, and to send the message that this sort of device is wanted, so we should keep doing it.