GPD Pocket 4

After I got one for my hobby, my girl wanted one of her own, and it really packs a punch! It runs any game she can throw at it.

Great device overall! This little laptop is a utilitarian gamer/dev's dream. The chassis is solid aluminum and makes it way a LOT for its size, but considering how feature-rich and sturdy the whole thing feels it's definitely warranted.

Aside from that, I do have some minor gripes. The chassis, buttons, AND screen are all grease magnets. It's the most ideal size for an in-field carry, but hopefully your adventures take you into AC or else you'll have fingerprints all over the cover in seconds. If you have naturally oily hands, then good luck. After mild keyboard use over a week (I often hook it up to an external setup when gaming), I already have the plastic on my space bar that shiny, worn-in, sheen black, along with other common keys like shift. I think it'd be great to put a case or a wrap on it, if you can manage.

Another annoyance is the screen and body's seal. The smooth and slippery metal makes it really tough to get a good grip to open the lid. There's a minor indent, but it's too small to use unless you're using your nail. Issue is, the border for the screen is incredibly small and as far as I've seen, there's no screen protector other than the temporary plastic to protect it in shipping. I elected to keep it and peel off the white "Remove" tab to protect the screen, but the material doesn't seem like it'll hold up over time.

Final problem, which bugs me the most, is the crashes. I admittedly haven't done much troubleshooting (Only had it for a week), but the laptop will suddenly hang and restart if I do things in an "unpredicted(?)" order, like flipping through a menu while it's actively resizing, or changing too many graphics settings at once, or even just unplugging it while a game is running. I'm sure it's a solvable issue, and I genuinely can't tell if it's something I'd done when first using it or if it was something that's wrong with the hardware.

Other than those gripes, the whole thing is a really good package! I got the lowest spec model and I can run pretty much anything excluding modern AAA games. Plenty of flexibility and good build quality!

Mini computer

Before reviewing my Pocket PC 4, I must give DroiX a shout out for their speedy service. I ordered the PC at about 9pm on a Thursday, and I was unboxing it before mid-day on the Saturday!!!!! And that's with the 3-5 working day free delivery!!!!!!

Fantastic!!!!!

I opted for the 32Gb/2TB AI 9 HX370 variant. My intention was that by going for a specification that is higher than I currently need, it would provide some sort of "future proofing" as the demands made on it by Windows and other software increase over time.

I've seen some negative comments in the reviews about noisy fans. Sure, Windows updates and software installation can set it off, but under my normal usage, and although it seems to be constantly running, it's barely audible.

In fairness to others, I'm not taxing the machine by running resource heavy games or videos etc.

I have installed an Android emulator, running apps for which there are no Windows equivalents, but that doesn't seem to put much of a strain on it.

Other than that, it's usual things like word processing and spreadsheets (Libre Office), Python programming, on-line banking and so on.

It's like I've bought a Formula One race car but I only use it for tootling around town at 30mph!!!!!!! Which again was part of my thought train. Less wear and tear by not straining the components.

I have used the touch screen and it seems to work very well with fingers. I have yet to try it with the stylus I bought at the same time as the PC. Although I have briefly tried it, I have not used the "tablet mode" screen rotation for any length of time. This might well be something I do further down the line.

I usually hate track pads on any PC with a passion, but I actually find this one reasonably useful. I'm not sure if that's because of the unusual placement of the pad and buttons as compared to full size laptops, or despite it!!!!!!

At the moment I am busy installing software and getting data across from my Android tablet, so at the moment I find it easier to use a conventional mouse, but I suspect I will dump that when I get into normal day to day usage.

The keyboard doesn't seem to be giving me any problems, I seem to be able to type at the same speed as a full size keyboard. From time to time I do get caught out with the characters on the very top row, {}[] etc, but that will come in time when I remember that's where they are!!!!!!!!

I get battery life ranging from 7hrs to 5hrs depending on what I've been doing, but I don't monitor it that much. While I'm still installing stuff, I tend to be on mains anyway.

I find the screen very legible and I currently have the brightness at 50%.

The sound is pretty good given the speakers must be quite small.

As a very minor point, I do like the way the disk has been partitions into C: and D: drives. This allows software to be on C: and my files to be on D: which appeals to my tidy mind!

Niggles?
Given the power button is also a finger print sensor, I find it pretty impossible to log in to Windows by finger print with the button. I think it would be better if the button were located on the keyboard; there is plenty of room at the top.

The display has some sort of screen protector on it, but I suspect it was only intended to be used for transit. I have deliberately left it in place and it doesn't seem to be affecting the screen legibility or the touch functionality. The "niggle" is that there is a sticky label on it to assist in it's removal ... right where the closing 'X' is in a full screen window!!!!!! The label says it is to "help remove the mask from the screen guard". I am left wondering if the screen already has some sort of protection (if that is what the "screen guard" is) if I were to remove the "mask"? For now, I think I'll leave the mask in place, but (very) carefully remove the sticky label.

Given the small size of the PC, I am surprised there isn't a Kensington Lock slot for some sort of security.

Although the metal case is really sturdy and attractive, it's a finger print magnet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The keyboard keytops are getting polished by my fingers already. I hope the lettering doesn't wear off as fast.

However, these are exactly what I said, niggles.

I agonised for quite a while as to the best way of replacing my aging Windows 7 laptop and aging Android laptop, and when I saw the GPD products they seemed the perfect solution replacing 2 devices with 1 while retaining the portability of the 8" size (the same as my tablet).

In conclusion I have absolutely no regrets about buying the Pocket 4. It is turning out to be more than perfect for my needs and is a sturdy looking device. I am extremely pleased with it.

I only hope the internal build quality (i.e.: the electronics) is as good as the visible external quality so that my "future proof" plans aren't thwarted by low grade electronic component failure. Only time will tell.

I'm very happy with my new Pocket 4. So much power in such a small device is amazing. And it stays cooler than many large laptops. The build quality is also top notch.