Entry Level Windows 10 Hybrid Notebook From Warehouse Stationary

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props2u

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#204262 24-Sep-2016 05:07

Does anyone own this Windows 10 Hybrid Notebook on sale for $250 from Warehouse Stationary? Would be very interested to hear your opinion on it.

I had a look in store and the keyboard was not on display but it seems reasonably reponsive from my small play with it.

It has one usb port and first thoughts are it seems like a good budget option for a non android ultra portable Windows 10 platform.

Thanks.

Edit, Link http://www.warehousestationery.co.nz/product/B217758.html#start=1

Dynamic

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#1639669 24-Sep-2016 05:43

I've got an 11.6" similar machine. They are not completely terrible for an ultra portable single-task (one thing at a time - one or 2 browser tabs open) machine.

If you are happy to stay within a browser or a very limited app range, I really like Chromebooks. Bugger all that can go wrong with them. Less OS overhead using the 2Gb of RAM. Very easy to factory reset and start again if something does. Pretty decent battery life.

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nathan

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#1640150 25-Sep-2016 11:11

It's a $200 2n1 convertible laptop. That just about says it all. You get what you pay for.

Personally I have one of these and think it's amazing for the price. Try running Flash, try truely running offline, connecting printers; USB devices to on ChromsOS.

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#1640530 26-Sep-2016 11:07

Its a Atom based tablet : very low spec . Atom based laptops have been around for years : usable is the only way to describe them

What do you want to use it for ?
what do you expect from it ?
The more programs you try & run on it, the more you will see its limits .

What about a used , ex lease laptop instead ?

tchart

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#1640570 26-Sep-2016 11:53

nathan: It's a $200 2n1 convertible laptop. That just about says it all. You get what you pay for.

Personally I have one of these and think it's amazing for the price. Try running Flash, try truely running offline, connecting printers; USB devices to on ChromsOS.

Me too, I have the older Nextbook 10.1 one. Runs fine. I mainly use Edge now that it supports ad block as Chrome struggles (mine only has 1GB RAM). Battery life is great. I use it for streaming/watching movies. I p[probably only charge it once a week with 5-6 hours worth of watching in a week.

Kookoo

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#1649510 11-Oct-2016 22:28

props2u:
Does anyone own this Windows 10 Hybrid Notebook on sale for $250 from Warehouse Stationary? Would be very interested to hear your opinion on it.

I had a look in store and the keyboard was not on display but it seems reasonably reponsive from my small play with it.

It has one usb port and first thoughts are it seems like a good budget option for a non android ultra portable Windows 10 platform.

Thanks.

Edit, Link http://www.warehousestationery.co.nz/product/B217758.html#start=1

A bit later for a response, but here goes anyway.

I have the Acer variant of the same unit. Let's put it this way - the damn thing is bad enough for me to never want to touch an Acer product again.

CPU: Intel Atom z3735f - this thing is probably as bad as they get. Performance for price ratio is quite good actually, but only because the price is so low. The only mainstream CPU that is probably even worse than that is the Celeron N3050, and even that is disputable.

RAM: 2GB is just not enough for a device running Windows 10, especially with such a terrible CPU. Honestly, it's hard to describe how slow this hybrid can get.

Graphics: forget it. There's nothing you can do on this tablet except email/Internet and a bit of word processing.

WiFi: I think all of these devices have Realtek RTL8723BS on-board It's easily the most unreliable, slow and frustrating Wifi/Bluetooth chipset I've ever encountered.

Design: because the smarts are in the tablet (effectively the screen) - it's much heavier than the keyboard. Which means that tilting the screen a little bit back when in laptop configuration, results in it tipping over. Yes, it's bloody frustrating.

Quality of assembly: Not bad, but it's the details that count. After less than a year of use the micro-HDMI port is barely usable.

So, if anyone is thinking of getting one of these - think again.

Hello, Ground!

nathan

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#1649545 12-Oct-2016 01:59

obviously you can buy a more expensive PC with more memory, better CPU, GPU, better weight distribution, better wireless chipset, higher quality etc

It won't be $200-300

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Kookoo

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#1649691 12-Oct-2016 12:01

nathan:
obviously you can buy a more expensive PC with more memory, better CPU, GPU, better weight distribution, better wireless chipset, higher quality etc

It won't be $200-300

That's precisely my point. The idea of a $300 Windows 10 convertible sounds awesome. But the trade-offs in performance and design that get you that price point make the device barely usable. If all the OP wants to do is email and web browsing they may as well get a decent 10'' Android tablet, like Lenovo Tab A or something. A 10.1'' screen isn't big enough for any reasonable word processing anyway - the toolbar in Word takes up 20% of the screen :)

Hello, Ground!

gzt

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#1649718 12-Oct-2016 12:29

Kookoo:
props2u:
Does anyone own this Windows 10 Hybrid Notebook on sale for $250 from Warehouse Stationary? Would be very interested to hear your opinion on it.

I had a look in store and the keyboard was not on display but it seems reasonably reponsive from my small play with it.

It has one usb port and first thoughts are it seems like a good budget option for a non android ultra portable Windows 10 platform.

Thanks.

Edit, Link http://www.warehousestationery.co.nz/product/B217758.html#start=1

A bit later for a response, but here goes anyway.
I have the Acer variant of the same unit. Let's put it this way - the damn thing is bad enough for me to never want to touch an Acer product again.
CPU: Intel Atom z3735f - this thing is probably as bad as they get. Performance for price ratio is quite good actually, but only because the price is so low. The only mainstream CPU that is probably even worse than that is the Celeron N3050, and even that is disputable.
RAM: 2GB is just not enough for a device running Windows 10, especially with such a terrible CPU. Honestly, it's hard to describe how slow this hybrid can get.
Graphics: forget it. There's nothing you can do on this tablet except email/Internet and a bit of word processing.
WiFi: I think all of these devices have Realtek RTL8723BS on-board It's easily the most unreliable, slow and frustrating Wifi/Bluetooth chipset I've ever encountered.
Design: because the smarts are in the tablet (effectively the screen) - it's much heavier than the keyboard. Which means that tilting the screen a little bit back when in laptop configuration, results in it tipping over. Yes, it's bloody frustrating.
Quality of assembly: Not bad, but it's the details that count. After less than a year of use the micro-HDMI port is barely usable.

So, if anyone is thinking of getting one of these - think again.

Is your Acer really a variant of this unit? Or is it really completely different with the same chipset?

To me a variant would be substantially similar and at least be based on a revison or or a closely related motherboard.

Something which is nearly the same chip set on different boards can be a different machine in real world performance. Then externals can be different also.

Hey I'm not saying it will be great but it's probably different.

michaelmurfy

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#1649736 12-Oct-2016 13:20

nathan:
Personally I have one of these and think it's amazing for the price. Try running Flash, try truely running offline, connecting printers; USB devices to on ChromsOS.

Can we please get away from the misconception of not being able to run anything offline on a Chromebook? This is untrue.

1) Google offers "Google Docs Offline" along with "Gmail Offline" - it works no problems on the Chromebook in offline mode. You can still use Google Drive in offline mode too and it'll just sync when the Chromebook is reconnected to the internet.
2) Most USB devices can actually be connected - most printers include WiFi and Google Cloud Print out of the box, I've never had any issues printing to my cheap Brother laser printer.
3) Flash works absolutely no problems. I can launch a Speedtest from my Chromebook and it doesn't make it angry at all - hums along really nicely.

For a web browsing machine they're totally fine - I am using a Chromebook to type this so take it from me, they're much better than people make out. Since they run a Linux based operating system (ChromeOS) things like USB Drives, media playback (offline...) and many other tasks like tethering my phone up via USB work no problems. They're excellent bang for your buck and have excellent battery life.

My Girlfriend used mine and liked it so much that she ended up buying one for herself.

So honestly - +1 for a Chromebook. They're great machines and to be perfectly honest I use my Chromebook FAR MORE than my Windows laptops or iMac. They're just excellent for what they do.

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
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Kookoo

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#1649824 12-Oct-2016 15:36

gzt:

Is your Acer really a variant of this unit? Or is it really completely different with the same chipset?

To me a variant would be substantially similar and at least be based on a revison or or a closely related motherboard.

Something which is nearly the same chip set on different boards can be a different machine in real world performance. Then externals can be different also.

Hey I'm not saying it will be great but it's probably different.

I definitely don't know if it's the same board. But this is pretty much a SOC, so I can't see how it can be significantly different. And even if it is slightly different - I'd expect better components n the Acer than Warehouse home brand or white label.

Hello, Ground!