A bit of WoW in the office before the workday starts. Got in early and decided to mess around for an hour or so. Good frame rate even at 10w. Can’t wait to really see how well it runs this weekend at the cabin.
So, headed out of town today to meet up with some friends for a weekend in a cabin with no amenities (well water, propane lights, no electricity) for a weekend of D&D and gaming and just haning out and catching up. We do this 3 to 5 times a year.
I am taking my X1 Pro as well as a battery pack just for it. While I dont plan on gaming much on it, there will be some down time and I will be able to keep caught up with emails and such.
I plan on using this one for charging up or topping off my phone/watch/airpods. While not new, it has served me very well with my Steamdeck and even Surface 11 Pro. I know this one will charge up the X1 Pro, but the capacity is lower than I would trust for a full weekend.
I have a slightly beefier one I plan on trying with my X1 Pro. I have it as a blackout backup for home, but figured this would be a good test. I will follow up after I get home Sunday to see how well it performs with the X1 Pro. While it wont do a full charge, it can keep it running for my purposes for the whole weekend.
I realize both are older, but they are both well known and both very high quality. I have a good number of Anker products, especially their power bricks for travel. I am sure the newer versions have better stats or newer fuctions, but these are great. Again, I havent used the 2nd one a whole lot, but it seems a great companion for a trip like this where we dont have to move around a lot.
What travel gear/battery packs does anyone else use with their OneXPlayer gear?
So, for the last few days since I have received my X1 Pro, I have been messing with it on the couch, but wanted a way to go fully hands free. I have a small table next to the "captain's chair" where I put drinks and other stuff. Nothing huge.
So, I got this ordered the other day and it came in yesterday. I can now be completely lazy on the couch and use the touch screen and controller to mess around
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BW3KB8Y4
Clamps on the table and fits the X1Pro (and will fit smaller devices as well) perfectly and articulates to a perfect position. I am still waiting on the connector for the OneXPlayer controller, so using my VITURE x 8BitDo controller. I can now lounge back in full on lazyiness and veg in complete comfort.
TLDR = So far, it's ticking all the boxes and replacing 3 machines for my travel kit. Needs a better kb/trackpad, though. at least one with BT capability.
So, last week I ordered the X1 Pro and was expecting it in May. 3 days later it showed up at my house (Fri-Mon) and needless to say I was surprised. I ordered through Amazon and received what I ordered, so zero complaints.
Monday I went through, did a clean install of Windows with all updates and used a spare Win 11 Pro SN I had available to upgrade. Smooth as silk. During the time, I had it set to 30W just so everything could come down and install as fast as I could get it.
Last night, I installed all the games I wanted on it from Bliz and Steam as well as getting my gaming mouse set up. Yes, I will use the controler, but had to order the center battery and connector for it, which could take some time from aliexpress... I didnt do a lot of gaming on it, mostly just setup (apps, too) but the resolution in a few of them is fantastic and the fps is more than tolerable, considering I dont have to haul around 10# of gear to game on the go (laptop, power, mouse and cabling.)
That was my goal - find a travel gaming rig that can fit in my sling bag and require minimal room/weight. I have it running off a 100w GaN Anker adapter and a longer power cable than what was included. I would have actually liked to have used the power adapter that came with the X1 Pro, but the prongs dont fold back. It's in use at home by the couch now.
I have a SteamDeck, but found it wonky for a few of the windows games I wanted to play - installing them was a pain, and updating and keeping addins updated was a pain in the arse. And, as good of a screen and hardware it is, the screen is slightly smaller than my aging eyes wants to deal with.
My biggest wow moment was when I plugged in my Viture XR Pro glasses and ran their software - WOW! zero fr loss in games and the screen pinning was fantastic. This, with the controller, will be my new setup whenever I am out.
I needed an upgrade for my ipad for media consumption - it's also aging, but still working. And with needing to be able to process photos and video while traveling, this thing has taken the place of 3 other machines: Surface 11 Pro, iPad, SteamDeck. It does all of what I needed.
Thoughts on use and on what could be changed?
Keyboard/Trackpad... I am spoiled with the detachable Surface BT keyboard/trackpad. It is fantastic. While I am glad one was given with the X1 Pro, it kinda feels like an afterthought. Especially with no wireless capability. Granted, the X1 Pro is more a handheld than laptop, but I would have spent a little more for a wireless option.
Screen - this is what I am amazed by nearly the most. Granted it isnt OLED, but man it is sharp, clear and the colors and black are on point.
Gaming - Still just messing right now, and have run zero benchmarking (and wont, dont need to) but was messing in WoW last night with graphics set to 7 (of 10) and was still getting 80+ fps with dips down to 40 fps at times. More than playable. Tried a few other games and they all ran at great resolutions for playability. I know what to expect - not looking for 120+ at ultra settings. I am also not playing tons of AAA and graphic-intensive games, either.
General PC use - it works great. For every day stuff (email, browsing, et al) it is more than capable. And it is quick to boot and log in. And, dropping the TPU down really helps with battery and for that stuff, dont really notice any slow downs.
Media and Consumption - watching/streaming is as good as my ipad (better, actually). No stuttering or bufering or anything else like that. It just works. Weight isnt too bad after an hour or so. having the stand can help with setting it down on my lap or side table, and even grip.
I was looking at the GPD offerings at first. and their small laptops really caught my eye, but this one came across the screen and it just punched all the points for me. The fact it will work like my Surface, SteamDeck and iPad means I can leave all those at home when I travel and only take one machine and a small power brick.