What hardware are you using?

Discussion of hardware related issues
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crosscourt
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Re: What hardware are you using?

Post by crosscourt »

Didnt know much about Dere thats based in ShenZen till you posted and I did some reading. Overall reviews on their products are mixed with many saying the overall quality isnt good but havent read a review on the V14s so Ill reserve judgement.
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tlmiller
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Re: What hardware are you using?

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As far as the build, it's definitely lagging behind Chuwi for cheapy Chinese brands. The LCD is nowhere in the same league as Chuwi, the touchpad isn't as nice, and the keyboard, while it FEELS nice, is odd that it requires kinda a sharp hit to the keys. Just steadily pressing them it wont' always recognize they've been pressed. So yeah, the quality lags Chuwi by quite a ways.

However, many of the parts are just as good if not better. This is an all metal body with very little flex and great fit and finish. The SSD, while only SATA (which, BTW, is also the only drives I've had on Chuwi's) outperforms ANY drive I've ever received in a Chuwi.

Ultimately, it's not bad, and for the price, might even be considered very good depending on what someone's looking for. It's incredibly attractive, light and slender. It's fast enough for most usage. But it does lack ports, and the USB-C isn't full function, but data only. The battery life though is unmatched in this sector (cheap Chinese laptops). Usually they're using tiny batteries that even with ultra-efficient Atom processors barely get to 6 hours. I used this on battery most of last night, and this should be able to hit 8 hours. It' also got a backlit keyboard which is something that's INCREDIBLY rare at this price point.

Really, the only thing I truy DISLIKE about it is that the wifi is only wifi5, not wifi6. Works as well as can be expected of a Realtek chipset on Arch.
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Re: What hardware are you using?

Post by wove »

I went and looked at the Dere laptops. They look alright. I am pretty sure I would want a bigger screen model. I like the color options. I have no experience using Realtek wifi cards on a regular basis. I have a Realtek based wifi dongle, that I have used for many years to get online and get drivers for the onboard wifi cards. Which only leads me to conclude that just about every OS on the planet recognizes Realtek chipsets out of the box.

My ISP locks me into using their router. Up until about 6 months ago it was wireless G, but with my constant harping they finally upgraded me to wireless N. I am sure that my older hardware could make use of any newer network standards anyway.
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tlmiller
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Re: What hardware are you using?

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Depends on the chipset. Realteks driver/firmware package aren't open source (I think the driver is but not the firmware). So they're not always ready when the chipsets are released. Also, the first few versions don't usually work well. So it takes a while to get Realtek chipsets to work. However, once they've been around for a while, yeah, they tend to function without issues, but they're still kinda the worst hardware of all the wireless manufacturers.

For instance, my 8822CE that I got in here, well supported even on ancient OS such as Debian stable. But the 8852AE that's been released this year for Wifi-6E? Arch has an AUR package to build the right driver and get the correct firmware, and there's git repos you can build the driver from for other OS's. But they don't work out of the box on anything (I might be wrong but I think Ubuntu 22.10 also has a DKMS package for this).
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crosscourt
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Re: What hardware are you using?

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My issue would be if you were buying it new and had an issue. Lenovo does a pretty good job with support but these smaller companies arent going to fall over backwards to cover warranties, assuming theyre offering them.
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tlmiller
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Re: What hardware are you using?

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I actually can't really comment, in all the years I've been buying various Chinese laptops, I've only ever had to reach out to a company once. In that one time, it was Chuwi and they were acceptable. It wasn't an actual issue, I just needed them to link me to the correct firmware for my laptop (they had 3 different versions of the same laptop, installing the wrong BIOS update would brick it).
wove
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Re: What hardware are you using?

Post by wove »

My experience with Chinese manufacturers is about the same. The big and most notable aspect of buying from China is the shipping time. I had to reach out once because the product was defective. They sent a replacement without any trouble, but again it takes time to travel. I needed to custom order an LCD panel once. It required very specific part numbers, and it took their service guy and myself way way to many emails to get the information exchanged, because of language/translation stumbling blocks. Three weeks later though I received exactly what I needed.
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Re: What hardware are you using?

Post by crosscourt »

For mainstream users though its a lot easier to use OEMs here in the states, and certainly theres no guarantee you wont have a bad experience but overall its a safer bet. Items also ship shorter distances and you have more control in case something goes wrong.
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Re: What hardware are you using?

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yeah, it's safer, but for the same $$$, you get a LOT lower spec. That's the appeal of these and why people buy them, you're getting a LOT more machine for the same money.

For the money from a US OEM, I would have gotten an Apollo Lake or Gemini Lake quad-core (losing at least ~30% cpu), 4GB RAM (25% of what I got), a 1366x768 panel instead of 1080P, etc. These are designed to appeal to the "mainstream" user who's looking to drop no more than $500, and when they see how much more they get from the Chinese brand vs. the US brand, decided to risk it for significantly better specs. And they are significantly better machines than you can get for the same money from US manaufacturers. Since they're obviously using all the same parts as the US manaufacturers.

I mean, yeah, it's a risk that you'll get an egg and won't be able to get it fixed. But you get so much more for your money, it's a risk that is worth taking for a lot of people once they know about them.

Personally, for me it was more about the fact that I just wanted to try a Jasper Lake and I like the fact that it's pink instead of boring old grey/black/silver.
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crosscourt
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Re: What hardware are you using?

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So many sales and discounts from OEMs here in the states, you would be surprised how good a deal you can get. There are also refurbs that are dirt cheap and get really good warranties.
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