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"The World's Most Powerful Pocket-Sized PC" on Indiegogo

I had pretty much already settled on getting a GPD Pocket, even before the video Linus did on it. When I mentioned the Pocket to a friend, they linked me to this device raising funds on Indiegogo.

 

I did a quick search here and couldn't find any mention of it, so I figured I'd share in case anyone else is interested. I'm inclined to start with a word of warning in that it being a crowd funding campaign the usual caveats of "buyer beware" should probably apply at every level if you're even so much as thinking of throwing your money anywhere near this thing.

 

As an aside, that's how GPD funded their Pocket. I don't want to conflate the two different creators by way of their product, but the Pocket is still a handy device to compare with the Mini PC in terms of specs.

 

The "Mini PC", billed by the creator as "The Worlds's Most Powerful Pocket-Sized PC" is an approximately 5" pocketable hunk of computer with specs not disimilar to the GPD Pocket. Insofar as, it's an Atom x7-Z8750 with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. They say that storage comes by way of an SSD, compared to eMMC on the Pocket - which might matter to some people, especially since they suggest it will be upgradeable storage.

 

Battery weighs in at 6000mAH, less than the 7000mAH in the Pocket, but makes claim to as much as a 6 hour battery life, though presumably only under the right conditions.

 

Aside from HDMI output, 3.5mm headphone jack and the usual WiFi (N) & Bluetooth (4.2), there's more IO on offer with both a USB Type C anda USB 3 port, but also three (!) USB 2.0, as well as Gigabit ethernet and a TF card reader.

 

They claim it will ship with with a foldable bluetooth keyboard for input.

 

The design claims to be fanless, making use of the aluminum casing for passive cooling. I'm really curious about how that will manage cooling under load in higher ambient temperatures, though.

 

The sticking point for me is the screen. 1280 x 720 at five inches has me setting my eyeballs to squint! It's smaller than my LG Stylo 2 and not the sort of place I'd want to work on a desktop environment like the Windows 10 Home edition this thing will ship with. Android 7.1 is available as a $15 upgrade.

 

The temptation (for me) is in the current "Super Early Bird" pricing being only $149 (USD) plus shipping. It includes a 5V wall wart, two carry pockets and a cover/stand plus the aforementioned keyboard. I'm probably going to go ahead and get a Pocket myself, but it will be interesting to see how this shakes out.

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Bluetooth as a primary input device is annoying.  BT interferes with WiFi pretty heavily if you use 2.4ghz.

 

IMHO the GPD Pocket form factor is better by a mile.

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25 minutes ago, KarathKasun said:

Bluetooth as a primary input device is annoying.  BT interferes with WiFi pretty heavily if you use 2.4ghz.

 

IMHO the GPD Pocket form factor is better by a mile.

you can still use a wired keyboard, it has both usb and usb-c

 

 

it actually has a LOT of UI for such a small thing, i'd say its still worth with 8gb of ram and like the best atom processor you could ask for in this thing at this price

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At this point I expect Ryzen "APU's" in those things. Even Intel swallowed their pride and made the right move with their latest NUC.

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3 minutes ago, Pangea2017 said:

I think a Snapdragon 845 5" smartphone is faster then a Q1 2016 Intel Atom (SDP 2W). 

 

Also what is the point of this device?

windows 10 on arm is aviable

5" is to small for anything on windows

android (razer + samsung) have docks for there phones

7" windows tablets are aviable

intel have a hdmi "stick" and computate card

 

Not really on point with that performance analysis.  They tend to be pretty similar in real world situations, except that the Atom can natively use Windows/X86 apps.

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That BT keyboard pictured in their media looks like the type that goes for about $30 (USD) on AliExpress. If it were me - and with three USB 2.0 ports - I would definitely pick up one of those cheap roll-up membrane boards for this and chuck that fold-up board they supply over to my bed for late night shit posting on my phone.

 

8GB of RAM is really nice, I wouldn't choose to run Win 10 with less than that. If the GPD Pocket had only 4GB I wouldn't have been anywhere near as taken with it. That has been a big sticking point for me with things like the Intel Stick PC, I've used laptops with only 4GB and they always tend toward feeling sluggish.

 

The screen feels a little like a built-in accessory. I can see it being really useful if you setup some dedicated apps for it, or configure the stuff you use the most to go full screen / set large text. Maybe using a stylus... I don't know. I suppose you could always stick a USB tuner on it and use it like a pocket TV.

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16 hours ago, Pangea2017 said:

but what can i do with x64/x86 apps on a 5" display? 

With the GPD pocket it was at least arguable 7 inch and a keyboard.

 

To give them credit the project looks like they can deliver what they promote.

You can do plenty with them on 5 inches, granted it looks like the main goal is to have a fully portable PC (just unplug and go when you need to take it somewhere).  The integrated screen is honestly just there because its cheap and why not?

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