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version of its visionary device “had limitations”.
The cooling fan is too loud. The position of the
speaker grilles gets blocked by your hands when
you hold it. The shoulder buttons aren’t
amazing, quality-wise.
Worst of all, GPD’s chosen price point - the
GPD Win costs less than $500 these days -
means having to use an Intel Atom CPU,
specifically the x7-Z7850.
In a device like the base model Microsoft
Surface 3, the Atom is fantastic, and it sips
power. When it comes to gaming though, the
included Intel HD 405 graphics processor just
can’t handle modern 3D games.
There’s also only 4GB of RAM, which is tough
when the machine has to run a full version of
Windows 10 Home at the same time.
Games with 2D graphics, and of course every
retro-style title or any actual retro game from
the last thirty years, these all run perfectly.
The real party piece is using the GPD as a
home streamer for the PC’s digital distribution
service for games, Steam.
If you have a powerful gaming PC, Steam
makes it do the actual number crunching,
while you play on the GPD Win. Steam
sends graphics over WiFi, and the GPD
Win sends your control input in return. If
you have a decent Wi-Fi setup - 802.11ac
ideally - it’s uncanny to seeing, say, the
Witcher 3 running on a handheld device
with full graphics.
Meanwhile in the Future
So if the GPD Win is too slow to actually run the
kinds of PC games that showcase PC’s
advantage over other gaming platforms, what
are we even talking about here?
The answer: the GPD Win 2 (images this
spread). Regardless of the original’s
shortcomings, GPD is pressing onward with its
vision for a powerful, pocketable gaming PC
Indeed, the GPD Win 2 has just finished an
extraordinarily successful Indiegogo campaign,
raising US$2.6 million and selling over 4000 units.
The GPD Win 2 is a more serious machine by
far. It uses Intel’s new Core M3-7Y30 running at
up to 2.6GHz, which packages HD 615 graphics
onboard. There’s 8GB of RAM now, and a fast
128GB SSD (the GPD Win only had 64GB).
It also has dual batteries - 4900mAh lithiumpolymer cells with fast-charge capability.
GamePad Digital claims a gaming time of six
hours. That might not sound like much, but the
Switch struggles to do four hours. Even mobile
games will chew your phone’s battery like
nothing else. Gaming is very energy intensive.
The Win 2’s display is 6.0 inches, and still has
full 10-point capacitive touch, and since it’s still
under 9-inches, that means Windows 10 Home
is still included for free.
GamePad Digital claims it brought outside
designers in to improve the ergonomics -
especially for the shoulder buttons - and the
whole package will hopefully be able to run most
of the latest games (albeit at lower graphics
settings). And yes, you can browse the web and
watch Netflix and do anything else you want.
The catch? This ain’t a $500 PC anymore.
Indiegogo early birds were able to secure a GPD
Win 2 for US$649, but the retail version will be
US$899. We’ve seen pre-orders priced at about
AUD$1200. That’s proper laptop money.
Still, anyone who buys a genuinely pocket-sized
gaming PC right now is still a pioneer, suffering
the limitations of the present for a taste of the
future. The GPD Win 2 is about potential.
Intel has already hinted it will soon be
building CPUs with integrated third party,
gaming-grade graphics. And its Optane
memory technology is blurring the line between
RAM and storage (see p.14).
For older PC gamers, sitting in front of a
keyboard and monitor for hours isn’t as appealing
as it once was. Relaxing on the couch (or in bed)
with a proper, hardcore PC strategy game or RPG
though? Sounds like gaming heaven.The GPD Win 2 gets
a bigger display,
and more carefully
thought out
ergonomics.Former BlackBerry users remember the
advantages of a proper hardware keyboard