I got a pinebook pro for my wife's business for keeping track of clients, then I bought another for myself. Installed manjaro I3 edition on mine and kept manjaro KDE on hers. Both running great. Best part is that it charges with USB-C too!
That is actually a pro, the charging part. As most phones use USB-C chargers now, even though they might be under power to run the machine, they certainly can charge the machine.
This would be awesome, I just hope the hardware plays friendly with other distros. While system76 laptops are expensive I love the idea behind system76 and the newer laptops with coreboot scratches all my itches.
System 76 is great. We use a range of their desktop machines. Flawless, from Meerkat minis to their old Sable all in ones, to Wild Dog and Leopards. Thelios next.
This is an excellent idea. Putting it in the price range to compete with Chromebooks especially is genius, as a lot of students might want to use one of these over a more locked down Chrome OS environment.
Great timing, DT. I just presented Pine64 to some folks that are members of an association to discuss and promote free software, I’m glad to know you liked it
I'll definitely keep you guys updated. But I can't use this "exclusively for a few days". I have to record and edit videos! And I need my production workstation for that. But in a month or two, I'll do an update video on the pinebook.
Love the fact that they offer an actual laptop with ARM. The combination with Manjaro and a shell made from magnesium alloy for just 200 bucks makes it a really sweet temptation.
I've had my pinebook pro for well over 6 months now. It is great fun to play with, great battery life, I'm using Manjaro ARM (obviously as only working distro on arm right now), got some games going etc - i've used it a lot, BUT BUT BUT it is fragile as all hell, don't let the 'metal frame' idea trick you, a lot of it is plastic, plastic that cracks EASILY. I am scared to move it off the table, never mind use it as a day-to-day machine that I carry around. Hope this info helps someone.
This would make a good backup/emergency/travel machine since (I think) you can charge it with USB power banks. The internal battery is 10,000 milliamps and you can find 10,000 milliamp USB power banks for $10. Plus, you could charge the batteries using a portable foldable solar panel.
It's funny, here in Brazil the first decade of the 2000's was the time that personal computers were starting to enter more low income and middle class houses. We had a major push for linux by the government for some time. Almost all PC's from national manufacturers shipped with Linux, school labs had linux on their PC's. But unfortunately most people had no idea what Linux was and thought of it as a nuisance. I was just a teenager but I made some bucks installing Windows XP for people who brought PCs with Linux
@@techzone2009 I think that Android development is possible but running the apps can have all manner of licensing issues. But in general I know what you mean.
Xandros! I have fond memories of that distro. Back in 2003 when companies were trying to sell Linux desktop operating systems like they were windows. I can't remember how but I somehow got a free copy of 1.0 and installed it. That began my Linux journey. I had tried Linux before but this was different. It was a beautiful KDE desktop with custom panel graphics and file manager. It was the first time I felt comfortable installing Linux as the only operating system so I used it on my desktop and kept a windows laptop.
I was surprised that PINE64 say on their web site that they are selling these as a community service, and not making any profit on them. That's kind of a shame. This seems like a really smart laptop, and if they cleaned up the first boot experience (how many random kids who might get one of these for school really knows which groups their account is supposed to be in, or what locale they need?) then I think this really could have legs in the market.
Really nice device, especially for the price. I also have one and I love it! Only big downside is that there's no deep standby - over night in standby it drains 50% of the battery. Would be interesting to see if you'll be able to solve it.
I've been eyeing either one of these or a very old business laptop for a while. It has decent specs for brand new device and it'd be a decent little "disposable" travel computer. I'm tempted to buy pine64 products I don't need just to encourage them to keep making openish hardware. EDIT: *Decent specs for a new device in it's price range*
We want a better review of that pinebook! I would love to know more and see if I can buy one for my little 7 y.o. cousin and start making him learn the gnu/linux journey
Unfortunately, there's a big problem with suspend, which I also personally experienced: the magnet is in the wrong place, and it wakes with the lid fully closed
This seems a little too slow for some more media oriented stuff I'd want it to do. Then again the System 76 options are just way too much. It's weird that there are no mid-range Linux Laptops, performance and price wise.
People seem to think there is some massive Linux Laptop market just waiting to be exploited. Unfortunately there isn't and probably never will be. The System76 machines are aimed at professionals developers or people who have money to burn and tbh they are bit too expensive for the spec. But professional software devs will pay the extra just not to have the hassle of machines that is 100% guaranteed to work. The other end is the hobbyist which is what this laptop is really catering for. In the mid-ranged I suspect most people that wanna run Linux will be like I was before I worked for myself. I simply looked at machines that had good reported compatibility with Linux / OpenBSD and bought those (normally second hand). On top of that I've been on many forums over the years where people have flat out refused to go to manufacturers that offer laptops that work with open source operating systems and will invent every reason in the book not buy from them (I am in and they don't ship to there ... yes they will if you phone them up and pay them) and then tell me that Dell or some other manufacturer should be forced to make them because of fairness. The irony is that if these people did actually make these purchases they would prove to these large manufacturers a market does exist for these machines.
I know this is a tangent but imagine if every heavy program used a Daemon like Emacs does. Your web browser opens in a snap you open a tab and close the window. It's all still there but in one Daemon. I would love that
Great Unboxing! I love the price. And the fact that it comes with Linux installed is a very good thing. Pinebook Pro is almost a Chromebook destroyer... the only reason that it's not is because the specs are not exactly up to par. But I'm definitely interested in the Pinebook Pro!
I've had the PBP for a handful of weeks now. While KDE/Plasma is good for new user experience, it can feel a bit sluggish at times on this hardware. I've setup both DWM and BSPWM on it and /if you're okay with those/ it makes logging in and the rest feel much snappier and gives you back a significant percentage of RAM -- which is important since the PBP ships with 4GB of non-upgradable memory. I also dropped a fast 256GB uSD card in for the long term, not-so-speed critical stuff like videos, docs, etc. Is it as fast as my 3rd Gen i7 Arch Linux laptop?? No. But ... it's fast enough and the battery life is good. Yes, it's fan-less and quiet.
The USB C (with the right adapter) outputs to pretty much any standard from VGA to HDMI, although I can only mirror displays. I am using the default Manjaro with Awesome WM. The reason they are so inexpensive is because there is no profit margin. The idea is to get a bunch of ARM machines out there to encourage development. I really love the screen. Also It's a magnesium body not aluminum. I am watching this on one now with an external display, keyboard, an mouse. As far as stock, when I got mine I had to go with the UK layout even though I am in the US. No biggie.
I love the fact that the ENTIRE Pinebook Pro is available as individual parts on their store for very reasonable prices. Hope l can find a legitimate use for this thing.
I took my Chromebook with an actual x86 processor (and HDMI out) and flashed the bios, installed a larger m2 drive (or whatever they call them) and then installed linux. The thing was a beast and only costed 250 bucks. It has a beautiful ips screen. Probably one of the best out of all matte screen monitors I have, other than my new 4k monitor. It definitely outperforms this thing and you can probably get it for as much as a new Pinebook these days. I'm not trying to be contrarian or negative or anything. I just am still excited about that thing lol. I think it's a more robust choice than this thing. I am pasting this in from Amazon orders... Acer CB5-571 15.6 Inch Chromebook 15 Notebook
@@teamsyncfusion3980 I think I got around 7 to 10 hours... maybe 12? I can't remember. Either way, I'd happily take that along with the added horsepower. It's a super snappy computer.
Unfortunately, most chromebooks with CPUs newer than Braswell require huge hassles to get running. I have an Apollolake cpu and I had to flash firmware, compile kernel, compile chromium audio server, compile libraries to connect ALSA and pulseaudio to CRAS, copy files from the recovery image and set up services to fix the directory structure on every boot, run cras, and run a service to listen for headphone jack events. I also have to restart pulseaudio every time I log out and run the 4.4 kernel which is really old.
@@ArsenGaming Wow. All I did was flash the bios, install my choice of distro and it was ready to rock. Installed virtualbox, windows, and band in a box with realtracks and all was swell. I was wondering if it was as easy as it used to be. Apparently, your rig was pretty hellish
@U X But doesn't it sound selfish? Do you think Linux belongs to only some people? Or it belongs to everyone? Linux is created by someone for everybody. Not only for a few...
@U X Then... maybe you should NOT have been using Linux before you ever found out about it... don't forget... you were once a shipple like everyone else was...
Not gonna lie, that is some sexy laptop. It made me reallly happy that it came with Manjaro which is my favorite beginner friendly linux distribution that I have used mainly before switching to Arch.
Hey DT, hope you didn't get too much damage at your house. I'm just a few miles north of you in Benton and we have a couple of trees down hear, but were lucky it was not as bad as down south. Love the videos.
I bought one a few months back and it's nice. The keyboard is good, it's very stable, it's light and thin and the battery lasts for ages. It has enough power to watch TH-cam videos, surf the Web, read email and edit LibreOffice docs.
Firefox takes like 10 seconds to launch the first time after booting up on my 8th gen i7 and an SSD drive. So seeing it open quite quickly on the Pinebook was very nice
I have been saying this very thing for a while! Imagine if Intel stopped being idiots and actually did something useful with Clear for once and made a little "clear book" with something similar to the $300 Lenovo IdeaPad they sell at Walmart. They already make the NUC which is just a laptop motherboard in a nice little box. Why couldn't they do that?
I loved the video, Derek, and I think you should definitely do more unboxings. However, the setup is not practical. All I can see is black, save for the screen and keyboard stickers. Maybe it's because I'm on my phone.
Yeah, that’s what I was thinking when he said that. I won a small Dell laptop that only has USB-C ports and got smallish dongle/dock device for it with HDMI, Ethernet & USB-A ports.
Hi DT, recently viewed your arch install & pinebook pro videos. Although I don't have experience with linux am thinking of a machine for tinkering. Wonder what your advice would be. I have installed mx linux on my current laptop ( got fed up with windows speed/pop-ups/updates at inconvenient times etc). Have before used linux prior to efi boots. I also have an ASUSchromebook and an old 500g external drive. Could I utilise these? Should I purchase a 2nd hand lenovo/dell? Or should i purchase a pinebook pro? Your thoughts please. Love your videos by the way
I've been checking their website for a while to buy a Pinetab for having a small linux tablet to read some pdfs and some web documentation when i'm not at desk but it seems they have very limited stock
Same, looked into it about a month or two too late. Seems they did a limited run that is being shipped out now. hopefully some good news in the near future
What I'd like to see are more "barebone" cheaper laptops similar to the barebone mini computers. We supply our own storage, RAM, and operating system. Many laptop makers don't even offer the option to have no operating system installed, and only offer Windows 10. It would then be a waste of money to erase it, or even to buy different storage to replace it. This Pinebook looks really good. I prefer function over form, and am not a fan of RGB all over a device. I do like illuminated keyboards, though. For a lightweight device like this, I would have preferred if XFCE or Mate were installed on it over Plasma, though. I have an old Alienware laptop that's dying and this would be a good cheap replacement for it. I'll definitely keep it in mind. By the way, you can use USB type c dongles that can produce video out if you want to record in the future.
Love it, if I needed a low end laptop I would definitely go for this. But currently I would be interested in something more in the 600-700 price range specs wise.
I got quite pissed with my Thinkpad recently. I've got E480 and if I pres 'A' or 'O' at the top of the keycap then the bottom undoes itself and pops loose. This started happening after around 2,5 years. -- Yeah, Thinkpad keyboards are the best, right? You could say that this might be due to heavy usage of the keyboard but I didn't even use it that much. I'm doing ~80% of my typing at my desk with dedicated keyboard. Needless to say I'm not buying Lenovo again...
@Scoutman Well, if I wanted prehistoric core iX/core2duo then I wouldn't buy E480 in the first place... Could as well keep my Celeron N2930 laptop which worked just fine.
I had completely forgotten about these and when I came across this video I grabbed one. I wanted a light, simple laptop to chuck in my work bag (which could kill a laptop; so cheapness was a factor), and I wanted it for Linux - but for it's purpose, terminal applications are entirely fine. Even as low a power level as these have, it should be entirely adequate. If I had a laptop running a Raspberry Pi Zero as the basic aspect of it, that would be fine. When I have time to kill I find myself wanting to write something and work on ideas that I have, but my phone isn't ergonomic enough for that and I have Bluetooth keyboards but they're a pain in the ass to deal with. Given the environment I'm working with and in, this is perfect. 😁👍 (I'll likely just use a light window manager with it, mostly so I have battery monitoring and don't lose work.)
I’d love to see you attempt installs of other distributions and see how well they work. I have a cheap HP chrome book that I converted to run Linux (GalliumOS). It sells for the same price, but the Pinebook Pro has better specs.
I also have a hp Chromebook but the thing that bugs me is that I can't install Linux on it because it's an AMD model and noone wants to support AMD because Google messed up the bootloader menu on those
Students now want gaming and coding notebooks. Something like a quad core cpu maybe Amd ryzen 5, 256gb ssd or more, 8gb ram. Type c-usb, 15.6 screen. My specs. Must haves.
Thanks for doing this. I've been curious as to how these perform. I wouldn't mind one for when I go out of town. My laptop is bulky. I would have preferred XFCE, but KDE is ok.
I’m finally rocking my pine phone 3gb with mobain/manjaro/postmarketOS I love it in spite of the small current short comings ❤️❤️❤️ I am 100% Linux based 2 laptops my desktop And now my phone I am I heaven fuck you iphone5
Thank you for the video. I am on Day # 10 running my business off an ACER 23.8" All-in-One Chromebase computer. I love it. Today it updated from Chrome 84 to Chrome 85. I would be curious if anybody out there knew if the All-in-One devices or maybe some other devices use a different Chromium that what the Chromebooks are using. Mahjongg plays great, and Solitaire plays pretty good. Linux terminal seems to work great, but I haven't figured all that out. It is Debian 10 though. My initial thoughts, are that if a Linux person wanted one of these to run Linux like Google is wanting you to,, then I would splurge for the more expensive version, but unfortunately, that is around $ 1,000 or more. The Android apps play fine, but they are vertical and just look kind of odd on the wide monitor. One could spend many hours testing all the apps that are available. I can see this being more popular once the price drops to something reasonable. That all being said, there are so many other options like a Raspberry Pi, or just a cheap mini-ITX dedicated Linux machine. I plan to start building a new Linux computer in October, using a X570 and a Ryzen 3 1200 AF.
I can only see myself using it as a travel PC,as it is intended,otherwise I got no use for it...I don't travel a lot nowadays but those days are coming once again so definitely I will consider it.
Awesome review DT! I've been looking for a lightweight laptop just for managing my homelab (proxmox, etc) do you think that the pinebook pro would be a good solution for me?
It even has a headphone jack!
Probably has a cheap DAC/amp though.
@@Yuriyalloween it ain't for audiophiles tho, it's 200$ and even phones cost 1000$ nowadays
It still outperforms Apple by having a headphone jack! 😂🎧
The headphone jack doubles as a serial port.
@U X you forgot mac...
Cheers to the delivery driver for going extra mile and call you. I'm a delivery driver my self and know what it's like.
I got a pinebook pro for my wife's business for keeping track of clients, then I bought another for myself. Installed manjaro I3 edition on mine and kept manjaro KDE on hers. Both running great. Best part is that it charges with USB-C too!
That is actually a pro, the charging part. As most phones use USB-C chargers now, even though they might be under power to run the machine, they certainly can charge the machine.
This would be awesome, I just hope the hardware plays friendly with other distros. While system76 laptops are expensive I love the idea behind system76 and the newer laptops with coreboot scratches all my itches.
As far as I can tell it would. Seems very compatible with the typical free software drivers included in the Linux kernel from what I’ve read.
@@emisunflowers Really debating buying one honestly.
System 76 is great. We use a range of their desktop machines. Flawless, from Meerkat minis to their old Sable all in ones, to Wild Dog and Leopards. Thelios next.
Looks nice! I have no need for such thing, but I want one now.
Same
@@TheBuilder consooooom i-i'm consooooooooomin
I've thought about getting one, though I don't need a laptop.
I really just like the idea of a $200 ARM laptop that you can do work on.
I like that they ship it with manjaro, rather than ubuntu...
@Asa Harley Nobody cares. You're the definition of a script kiddie.
@Jase Caleb pfft
This is an excellent idea. Putting it in the price range to compete with Chromebooks especially is genius, as a lot of students might want to use one of these over a more locked down Chrome OS environment.
I wish you were right but while not difficult, the appearence of it is much more "nerdy" than a Chromebook. Especially the ASCII based setup, etc.
it isn't really made for school or work
Students generally don't have a choice and the school forces chromebooks on them
Great timing, DT. I just presented Pine64 to some folks that are members of an association to discuss and promote free software, I’m glad to know you liked it
Don't forget to remove the protective plastic cover from the touchpad. It will really improve usability and responsiveness.
I have one, haven't really done anything with it as I already have a System76 laptop. But it is built well and is very affordable.
If u dont use it u can send it to bum like me and make bum happy,tired of piano keys
send it to me chef!
@@w0lm7b97 First i begged u can ask next time if he get new raspberry pi model.
@@TarverdiyevRafael begging is for weirdos
please make a follow up video after using it exclusively for a few days, see how it feels
I'll definitely keep you guys updated. But I can't use this "exclusively for a few days". I have to record and edit videos! And I need my production workstation for that. But in a month or two, I'll do an update video on the pinebook.
@U X i wonder what the internals are.
Is it a single board computer slammed in a laptop case, or a real motherboard based on arm chipset.
@@arnorobinwerkman it's their own sbc but with custom made pcb to be built into the chassis
It's essentially a RK3399 sbc with a keyboard, a trackpad and a screen (and an optional M.2!).
@U X you know that most servers already run Linux 24/7/365. Your arguments are not valid.
Love the fact that they offer an actual laptop with ARM. The combination with Manjaro and a shell made from magnesium alloy for just 200 bucks makes it a really sweet temptation.
well, for $200 that looks like a really nice machine.
This is my favourite linux channel... Informational and no BS, keep up the awesome work
I've had my pinebook pro for well over 6 months now.
It is great fun to play with, great battery life, I'm using Manjaro ARM (obviously as only working distro on arm right now), got some games going etc - i've used it a lot, BUT BUT BUT it is fragile as all hell, don't let the 'metal frame' idea trick you, a lot of it is plastic, plastic that cracks EASILY. I am scared to move it off the table, never mind use it as a day-to-day machine that I carry around.
Hope this info helps someone.
Manjaro isn't the only working distro for arm
@@sixdroid I mean, REALLY working, Try the others, then get back to me.
@Deon Denis Great to hear!
This would make a good backup/emergency/travel machine since (I think) you can charge it with USB power banks. The internal battery is 10,000 milliamps and you can find 10,000 milliamp USB power banks for $10. Plus, you could charge the batteries using a portable foldable solar panel.
I used one too. I was impressed by the build quality too. I also like that you can add an NVMe drive to it.
What else can you upgrade on it, like what's meant to be upgraded? Not thinking of getting one, just curious.
Dig Manjaro and ARM so that laptop looks really sweet.
By all means, do update us all regarding your experience with the device.
Take care.
It's funny, here in Brazil the first decade of the 2000's was the time that personal computers were starting to enter more low income and middle class houses. We had a major push for linux by the government for some time. Almost all PC's from national manufacturers shipped with Linux, school labs had linux on their PC's. But unfortunately most people had no idea what Linux was and thought of it as a nuisance. I was just a teenager but I made some bucks installing Windows XP for people who brought PCs with Linux
Thank you, Derek. Yes, instead of a Chromebook this seems a good option. (Remember the Asus Eee with Xandros?)
If they support android apps too then it can solve many problems
@@techzone2009 I think that Android development is possible but running the apps can have all manner of licensing issues. But in general I know what you mean.
Xandros! I have fond memories of that distro. Back in 2003 when companies were trying to sell Linux desktop operating systems like they were windows. I can't remember how but I somehow got a free copy of 1.0 and installed it. That began my Linux journey. I had tried Linux before but this was different. It was a beautiful KDE desktop with custom panel graphics and file manager. It was the first time I felt comfortable installing Linux as the only operating system so I used it on my desktop and kept a windows laptop.
@@joetheman74 I ran Xandros until Ubuntu Warty Warthog came out. Then it was on the Eee. I installed Ubuntu 7.10 with Fluxbox on it.
@@AnzanHoshinRoshi I installed Ubuntu on my Eee PC too.
I was surprised that PINE64 say on their web site that they are selling these as a community service, and not making any profit on them. That's kind of a shame. This seems like a really smart laptop, and if they cleaned up the first boot experience (how many random kids who might get one of these for school really knows which groups their account is supposed to be in, or what locale they need?) then I think this really could have legs in the market.
Really nice device, especially for the price. I also have one and I love it!
Only big downside is that there's no deep standby - over night in standby it drains 50% of the battery.
Would be interesting to see if you'll be able to solve it.
Oh damn. that's a shame
Derecho was crazy here in Iowa.
Glad you're back up and running.
I've been eyeing either one of these or a very old business laptop for a while. It has decent specs for brand new device and it'd be a decent little "disposable" travel computer.
I'm tempted to buy pine64 products I don't need just to encourage them to keep making openish hardware.
EDIT: *Decent specs for a new device in it's price range*
Wow, DT. Thank you for this video. I've been in the fence for one of these for a bit. This sort of makes me lean more towards a Pinebook.
We want a better review of that pinebook! I would love to know more and see if I can buy one for my little 7 y.o. cousin and start making him learn the gnu/linux journey
Good luck man!
Unfortunately, there's a big problem with suspend, which I also personally experienced: the magnet is in the wrong place, and it wakes with the lid fully closed
This seems a little too slow for some more media oriented stuff I'd want it to do. Then again the System 76 options are just way too much. It's weird that there are no mid-range Linux Laptops, performance and price wise.
People seem to think there is some massive Linux Laptop market just waiting to be exploited. Unfortunately there isn't and probably never will be.
The System76 machines are aimed at professionals developers or people who have money to burn and tbh they are bit too expensive for the spec. But professional software devs will pay the extra just not to have the hassle of machines that is 100% guaranteed to work. The other end is the hobbyist which is what this laptop is really catering for.
In the mid-ranged I suspect most people that wanna run Linux will be like I was before I worked for myself. I simply looked at machines that had good reported compatibility with Linux / OpenBSD and bought those (normally second hand).
On top of that I've been on many forums over the years where people have flat out refused to go to manufacturers that offer laptops that work with open source operating systems and will invent every reason in the book not buy from them (I am in and they don't ship to there ... yes they will if you phone them up and pay them) and then tell me that Dell or some other manufacturer should be forced to make them because of fairness. The irony is that if these people did actually make these purchases they would prove to these large manufacturers a market does exist for these machines.
Check out Starlabs laptops
@@ethanl9656 They are all pre-order?
And you were expecting...what?...for $199?
There is, refurb Thinkpads will always save the day 😀
I know this is a tangent but imagine if every heavy program used a Daemon like Emacs does. Your web browser opens in a snap you open a tab and close the window. It's all still there but in one Daemon. I would love that
@@____-gy5mq that's kinda like what Elementary OS does
Enjoy it my friend. Looks very nice!. Also, I'm glad you're ok after the storm!
Great Unboxing!
I love the price. And the fact that it comes with Linux installed is a very good thing. Pinebook Pro is almost a Chromebook destroyer... the only reason that it's not is because the specs are not exactly up to par. But I'm definitely interested in the Pinebook Pro!
I've had the PBP for a handful of weeks now. While KDE/Plasma is good for new user experience, it can feel a bit sluggish at times on this hardware.
I've setup both DWM and BSPWM on it and /if you're okay with those/ it makes logging in and the rest feel much snappier and gives you back a significant percentage of RAM -- which is important since the PBP ships with 4GB of non-upgradable memory.
I also dropped a fast 256GB uSD card in for the long term, not-so-speed critical stuff like videos, docs, etc.
Is it as fast as my 3rd Gen i7 Arch Linux laptop?? No. But ... it's fast enough and the battery life is good. Yes, it's fan-less and quiet.
Login in DWM takes under a second on the PBP, and the system uses only 7% of its memory compared to 14% with KDE.
the new cmatrix background for DT
If you want a "cheap" laptop I would always buy a old/used ThinkPad.
agreed I have a thinkpad t440p with i7 4810mq I got it for 240€ and its great. I mean it rivals the 8th gen i7 mobile processors
When IBM was in charge of them, yes. But that is no longer the case.
That arm core is holding it back , if they had given a cheap x86 AMD core or Intel Pentium core this could be a great option
IMO, the arm core is fine. I wish they provided a hdd version, instead of the 64gb emmc storage.
The USB C (with the right adapter) outputs to pretty much any standard from VGA to HDMI, although I can only mirror displays. I am using the default Manjaro with Awesome WM. The reason they are so inexpensive is because there is no profit margin. The idea is to get a bunch of ARM machines out there to encourage development. I really love the screen. Also It's a magnesium body not aluminum. I am watching this on one now with an external display, keyboard, an mouse. As far as stock, when I got mine I had to go with the UK layout even though I am in the US. No biggie.
Not an ordinary unboxing. Great video!
Pinebook Pro's USB-C port supports display output so you can plug in a USB-C dongle with HDMI and connect to the capture card, DT
I really identified with the shaking to establish a sturdiness level😂
I love the fact that the ENTIRE Pinebook Pro is available as individual parts on their store for very reasonable prices. Hope l can find a legitimate use for this thing.
Chromebooks were as close as it got in the past.
I took my Chromebook with an actual x86 processor (and HDMI out) and flashed the bios, installed a larger m2 drive (or whatever they call them) and then installed linux. The thing was a beast and only costed 250 bucks. It has a beautiful ips screen. Probably one of the best out of all matte screen monitors I have, other than my new 4k monitor. It definitely outperforms this thing and you can probably get it for as much as a new Pinebook these days. I'm not trying to be contrarian or negative or anything. I just am still excited about that thing lol. I think it's a more robust choice than this thing. I am pasting this in from Amazon orders... Acer CB5-571 15.6 Inch Chromebook 15 Notebook
This laptop would still give you more battery life though.
@@teamsyncfusion3980 I think I got around 7 to 10 hours... maybe 12? I can't remember. Either way, I'd happily take that along with the added horsepower. It's a super snappy computer.
@Xero Arrrr, it be SeaBIOS time!
Unfortunately, most chromebooks with CPUs newer than Braswell require huge hassles to get running. I have an Apollolake cpu and I had to flash firmware, compile kernel, compile chromium audio server, compile libraries to connect ALSA and pulseaudio to CRAS, copy files from the recovery image and set up services to fix the directory structure on every boot, run cras, and run a service to listen for headphone jack events. I also have to restart pulseaudio every time I log out and run the 4.4 kernel which is really old.
@@ArsenGaming Wow. All I did was flash the bios, install my choice of distro and it was ready to rock. Installed virtualbox, windows, and band in a box with realtracks and all was swell. I was wondering if it was as easy as it used to be. Apparently, your rig was pretty hellish
If people see it at the shelves of Wal-Mart... then, Linux wins...
Linux already won..
@@egcozinon
if Linux gains more users...
@U X
Hmmm...
@U X
But doesn't it sound selfish?
Do you think Linux belongs to only some people?
Or it belongs to everyone?
Linux is created by someone for everybody.
Not only for a few...
@U X
Then... maybe you should NOT have been using Linux before you ever found out about it... don't forget... you were once a shipple like everyone else was...
I don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for this video
Not gonna lie, that is some sexy laptop. It made me reallly happy that it came with Manjaro which is my favorite beginner friendly linux distribution that I have used mainly before switching to Arch.
Welcome to Derek Tech Tips! Today on DTT an unboxing!
10 Mio Transistors crying **NOOO**, wenn you said '...my new cmatrix runner...'
Interesting. I have been wondering about the Pinebook Pro. Thank you very much!
I recently installed Manjaro on a laptop of 2008 release , ram 1.7g, the system is stable and fast))
Ahh "The Cmatrix Machine"
Just got the pinebook pro and a NVMe adapter, can't wait to try it out
Looks enticing. Enjoy it DT!
Hey DT, hope you didn't get too much damage at your house. I'm just a few miles north of you in Benton and we have a couple of trees down hear, but were lucky it was not as bad as down south. Love the videos.
Watching this on my Pinebook!
#MeToo
Are there any common Linux programs you can't run on the Arm processor? Can you run LibreOffice, Gimp, Firefox, etc.?
@@johndavidthacker afaik yes! I can run Gimp on my phone using andronix
I am going to try one so I can pitch it to our alternative charter school. They need to get off the Google teet
I bought one a few months back and it's nice. The keyboard is good, it's very stable, it's light and thin and the battery lasts for ages. It has enough power to watch TH-cam videos, surf the Web, read email and edit LibreOffice docs.
Firefox takes like 10 seconds to launch the first time after booting up on my 8th gen i7 and an SSD drive.
So seeing it open quite quickly on the Pinebook was very nice
Please do a follow-up video. And let us know about your experience with the Pinebook Pro.
Glad you are back in the Aftermath of Laura! Hope you and yours are A OK! I enjoy your channel, :-)
I have been saying this very thing for a while! Imagine if Intel stopped being idiots and actually did something useful with Clear for once and made a little "clear book" with something similar to the $300 Lenovo IdeaPad they sell at Walmart. They already make the NUC which is just a laptop motherboard in a nice little box. Why couldn't they do that?
Good luck getting one. Check their website. They are providing no information on when they will resume manufacturing/shipping.
I loved the video, Derek, and I think you should definitely do more unboxings. However, the setup is not practical. All I can see is black, save for the screen and keyboard stickers. Maybe it's because I'm on my phone.
It's definitely not a good setup for reviewing hardware. But it's all I have to work with at the moment until I find a proper studio.
Hey DT if you can get a usb-c to hdmi adapter to plug into your capture card I run all sorts of different phones and laptops this way.
Yeah, that’s what I was thinking when he said that. I won a small Dell laptop that only has USB-C ports and got smallish dongle/dock device for it with HDMI, Ethernet & USB-A ports.
IF the device have support for video over their USB-C ports, that will work great.
Honestly, the only thing preventing me from seriously considering one of these is the lack of trackpoint.
Lenovo kinda guy, eh? What do you rock as a daily driver?
The whole time watching this all I could think was “I can get 2 more X220’s for the price of that pinebook” 😂
Hey DT for the font, go to System Settings -> Fonts -> enable Force Font DPI and increase it, by default font in 1080p is small on Manjaro.
"The recommended way to scale the user interface is using the global screen scaling feature"
@@y09i_ he was saying the font was small not the apps though
Hey DT, Please do a full review video in a few months about this machine. Curious how it will hold up with real use
Hi DT, recently viewed your arch install & pinebook pro videos. Although I don't have experience with linux am thinking of a machine for tinkering. Wonder what your advice would be. I have installed mx linux on my current laptop ( got fed up with windows speed/pop-ups/updates at inconvenient times etc). Have before used linux prior to efi boots. I also have an ASUSchromebook and an old 500g external drive. Could I utilise these? Should I purchase a 2nd hand lenovo/dell? Or should i purchase a pinebook pro? Your thoughts please. Love your videos by the way
I've been checking their website for a while to buy a Pinetab for having a small linux tablet to read some pdfs and some web documentation when i'm not at desk but it seems they have very limited stock
Same, looked into it about a month or two too late. Seems they did a limited run that is being shipped out now. hopefully some good news in the near future
What I'd like to see are more "barebone" cheaper laptops similar to the barebone mini computers. We supply our own storage, RAM, and operating system. Many laptop makers don't even offer the option to have no operating system installed, and only offer Windows 10. It would then be a waste of money to erase it, or even to buy different storage to replace it. This Pinebook looks really good. I prefer function over form, and am not a fan of RGB all over a device. I do like illuminated keyboards, though.
For a lightweight device like this, I would have preferred if XFCE or Mate were installed on it over Plasma, though. I have an old Alienware laptop that's dying and this would be a good cheap replacement for it. I'll definitely keep it in mind.
By the way, you can use USB type c dongles that can produce video out if you want to record in the future.
Love it, if I needed a low end laptop I would definitely go for this. But currently I would be interested in something more in the 600-700 price range specs wise.
USB-c should carry displayport and HDMI over a dongle also you can use simple-screen-recorder
Windows users: "The wheel group!!?? - get me outta here!"
Thinkpads are the ultimate Linux machines
ive got a acer swift , i like it only 1200 grams and super thin with passive cooling. Running Manjaro too.
DELL my boy, but yes ThinkPads are nice too
I got quite pissed with my Thinkpad recently. I've got E480 and if I pres 'A' or 'O' at the top of the keycap then the bottom undoes itself and pops loose. This started happening after around 2,5 years. -- Yeah, Thinkpad keyboards are the best, right? You could say that this might be due to heavy usage of the keyboard but I didn't even use it that much. I'm doing ~80% of my typing at my desk with dedicated keyboard. Needless to say I'm not buying Lenovo again...
@@martinprochazka3714
E models are not that good to begin with I wouldn't suggest buying one
@Scoutman Well, if I wanted prehistoric core iX/core2duo then I wouldn't buy E480 in the first place... Could as well keep my Celeron N2930 laptop which worked just fine.
I had completely forgotten about these and when I came across this video I grabbed one. I wanted a light, simple laptop to chuck in my work bag (which could kill a laptop; so cheapness was a factor), and I wanted it for Linux - but for it's purpose, terminal applications are entirely fine.
Even as low a power level as these have, it should be entirely adequate. If I had a laptop running a Raspberry Pi Zero as the basic aspect of it, that would be fine. When I have time to kill I find myself wanting to write something and work on ideas that I have, but my phone isn't ergonomic enough for that and I have Bluetooth keyboards but they're a pain in the ass to deal with. Given the environment I'm working with and in, this is perfect. 😁👍 (I'll likely just use a light window manager with it, mostly so I have battery monitoring and don't lose work.)
Finally a chill guy making great content. I'm so tired of these ultra hyped up techies. Earned my sub instantly. Much respect.
Love this! Gonna have to get one soon!
I’d love to see you attempt installs of other distributions and see how well they work. I have a cheap HP chrome book that I converted to run Linux (GalliumOS). It sells for the same price, but the Pinebook Pro has better specs.
I also have a hp Chromebook but the thing that bugs me is that I can't install Linux on it because it's an AMD model and noone wants to support AMD because Google messed up the bootloader menu on those
Hey DT, I am wondering when is the full review video coming?
One of the computers at one of the computer stores in my location actually runs FreeDOS and the system is listed as 'Linux'...
Hi, DT. Please do a review on the company's laptop Framework
Bro it's good laptop for beginners btw I love to see your videos
Glad you’re safe and OK, DT. Hope your area recovers stronger than before. God bless ya.
This would be a cool candidate for a kali install, they have an ARM version I think.
Students now want gaming and coding notebooks. Something like a quad core cpu maybe Amd ryzen 5, 256gb ssd or more, 8gb ram. Type c-usb, 15.6 screen. My specs. Must haves.
Thanks for doing this. I've been curious as to how these perform. I wouldn't mind one for when I go out of town. My laptop is bulky. I would have preferred XFCE, but KDE is ok.
You are my favorite youtuber ❤️
Love from Nepal
I’m finally rocking my pine phone 3gb with mobain/manjaro/postmarketOS I love it in spite of the small current short comings ❤️❤️❤️ I am 100% Linux based 2 laptops my desktop And now my phone I am I heaven fuck you iphone5
Thank you for the video.
I am on Day # 10 running my business off an ACER 23.8" All-in-One Chromebase computer. I love it. Today it updated from Chrome 84 to Chrome 85. I would be curious if anybody out there knew if the All-in-One devices or maybe some other devices use a different Chromium that what the Chromebooks are using. Mahjongg plays great, and Solitaire plays pretty good. Linux terminal seems to work great, but I haven't figured all that out. It is Debian 10 though. My initial thoughts, are that if a Linux person wanted one of these to run Linux like Google is wanting you to,, then I would splurge for the more expensive version, but unfortunately, that is around $ 1,000 or more. The Android apps play fine, but they are vertical and just look kind of odd on the wide monitor. One could spend many hours testing all the apps that are available. I can see this being more popular once the price drops to something reasonable. That all being said, there are so many other options like a Raspberry Pi, or just a cheap mini-ITX dedicated Linux machine.
I plan to start building a new Linux computer in October, using a X570 and a Ryzen 3 1200 AF.
Spaces > Tabs
Can't wait for my pinebook pro to arrive.
wow i just went to the website, it supports charging through the usb-c port, also hd video. You should try that arm laptop with a charging dock DT
All this thing needs is a polished Ubuntu on boot and it could be a very viable alternative to chromebooks. Maybe something like elementary
I can only see myself using it as a travel PC,as it is intended,otherwise I got no use for it...I don't travel a lot nowadays but those days are coming once again so definitely I will consider it.
Looks great! I just hope they are going to ship it with a qwertz keyboard layout.
I'm pretty sure they do
I would really like to see a guide to installing Arch on the Pinebook Pro!
The disadvantage is that it doesnt boot from m.2 or usb, it just boot from emmc.
Isn't there a way to access the boot menu? If I get one of these I'll convert it to the pinebook pro XFCE image
Is this strong enough to run firefox and libreoffice at the same time? Would y'all recommend this for a student?
Awesome review DT! I've been looking for a lightweight laptop just for managing my homelab (proxmox, etc) do you think that the pinebook pro would be a good solution for me?
Looks like a nice laptop, I hope I can download Mint on it.
if it only was in stock and had a 15.6" display, I would buy it