I promised you a report at some point, so here you go.
I ordered a Pinebook Pro as soon the regular user version was available.
Pine64 is a very 'open' hardware developer starting with an ARM64 SoC
board rather like a Raspberry Pi but more powerful then creating the
original Pinebook. The Pro is bigger and more more powerful, but very
slim like a Macbook. They are currently developing a PinePhone and
PineTime watch. They also have a cluster board and modules and have just
begun to shift their own server stuff onto their own ARM64 cluster. All
the hardware is released in limited numbers at a prototype stage to keen
developers to hack on. Then there's a community edition when the
hardware is sorted but the free software community get stuck in to tweak
various distros and drivers before finally releasing a polished version
to the masses. Mine arrived just after Christmas. Probably the best
comparison with other devices would be a Chromebook with a full Linux
distro installed. But without the hassle.
At the time they were released with an ARM version of Debian. There were
a couple of firmware bugs in the first few, a keyboard repeat fault that
kkkkkeeeepppptttt repeating letters and a hyper-sensitive touch pad that
sent your typing mad if your wrist touched the keypad ever so gently.
There was a firmware upgrade issued almost straightaway with very
detailed instructions. That omitted one step and sent me into a panic.
Sorted though. Debian was OK but a bit dull. Last month Pine64 announced
that the Manjaro port that various aficionados had been raving about on
the forums was to become the default option on new PinebookPros. And
Manjaro released a simple to install version to upgrade existing machines.
If you are really keen and want to hack it seems possible to port all
manner of OS but I want a laptop to use for all the usual stuff,
writing, email, photos... I'm not a hacker. The early port of Manjaro
had no installer, one had to use DD to copy an image to the internal
EMMC which frankly didn't appeal. The final released version has an
install script that works much like any normal distro installer.
I chose the KDE version of Manjaro, though once again I failed to get on
with Kontact and soon reverted to Thunderbird. When it works Kontact is
the closest thing to Outlook (as I remember it from long ago) but it's
been a pain ever since they based it around the Akonadi database server.
That aside KDE is fine, I've changed the theme a few times and tinkered
with the settings, there seems to be an obsession these days with 'Dark
Mode' and flat icons nut as ever you can customise it to your heart's
content.
Manjaro is based on Arch, so my habit of sudo apt... doesn't work and I
haven't yet learned the Arch equivalents. There's a good software
installer and upgrader though. Software selection is more up to date
than Debian, including Gimp 2.10.
Both Debian and Manjaro have a problem with 'Sleep' so I suspect it's a
firmware thing, there was something on the forum about it a while ago
but it went over my head. By trial and error I've figured out that if I
have T'bird or Firefox in an active window sleep doesn't work. It seems
to, but then wakes up again after a few seconds even if the lid is shut.
If you close, or even just minimise the windows then it sleeps like a log.
Battery life is pretty good, it usually lasts me a couple of days, but I
don't use it much. It was intended to be my connection to the outside
world on this year's great boat trip but that's on hold for obvious reasons.
All in all I'm pleased with it. It'd be better if there was a UK or even
EU supplier, it's $200 US but with delivery and VAT came to £286 here.
Still a bargain for a lightweight 14" laptop though.
--
Phil Thane
www.pthane.co.uk
Tweet @pthane
01767 449759
07582 750607
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