Got one of these a week or so ago and totally agree. Like the "feeling" part you talk about, too. I freaking love opening this thing, it's like the mini laptop I've been dreaming of since I was a teenager, and I'm a few decades older than that now. Totally sci-fi: super small, fast, few compromises. It feels like a luxury buy, and I love it. Terrific review!
@erstelage Thanks man, I appreciate you taking the time to watch. I simply can't get enough of this thing. it's so cool. Just been having a hard time hiding it from my 4 year old. LoL Gotta keep it under lock and key if I plan on keeping it in good condition for a while. Cheers to you and enjoy this awesome machine. :)
I think you have to do another video talking about how it feels gaming on the couch, the spacing of the hands , and the difference between the two gaming, the battery. It was a great review. I’m torn which one to get still the mini or this max. If I get this, I might not use my laptop anymore.
I will add that to the lost. I have so many thoughts on sitting on the couch sining it vs handheld and at a desk. Only so much time for it all in one video.
the weight of it is not insignificant that's for sure. however, the novelty never wears off and you can really get some enjoyment out of the portable experience. i can also say that it is my full time work machine for the last year (2023 model)
Just watched the unboxing and was wondering when the review was coming out and it just pops up lol awesome content! I own the win mini but you might convince me to grab this also!
Yeah the mini has been getting hot for me lately. I just did the ptm mod and it alleviated alot of the heat but the ssd still is very uncomfortable. I'm gonna try the 2280 mod and if that doesn't work gonna have to check this out.
@yeyoye yea, the Max runs so much cooler. Non issue. I want to get the grips to make it a bit more comfortable thougj. I'm planning on doing the ptm on both devices soon. I love the mini, but I feel like even at 15tdp, it's almost still too hot. Seems like it's gotten worse over time, which is why I want to do the ptm.
Yeah ptm definitely helped. When I opened mine up I discovered there was barely any thermal paste at all. Which was shocking. It now gets 8 or 9 degrees cooler on the cpu alone. Now it's just the pesky 2230 that gets hot on the right side.
Thanks, man. I really appreciate it. I'm just trying to make small improvements to each video since I'm fairly new to all this. Good to hear your feedback. Cheers!
Glad you’re enjoying your unit, I received my 2024 model and am one of the individuals with the RAM speed increase issue (mine crashes at 7500MT/s). I LOVE your analogy with the J’s, that was an eloquent and artful way to describe the experience, bravo! Even with the RAM speed issues, it’s still an impressive, performant little beast of a laptop!
Thank you, and I appreciate you taking the time to watch. As you are aware, since you have it, it's definitly a special device. Feels so awesome to use. It's a bummer about yhe ram speed but at the end of the day, I personally don't think it's that big of a deal. I'm glad you love your device as well. It's really an awesome community to be a part of. Only Max2 owners would know what I'm talking about. :)
Thanks for your review very useful seeing it close ! I'm also excited about this device :D Still considering between this or rog ally or a steam deck. It's a bit on the expensive side compared to the deck but I'm also looking for an all in one device so the GPD would also replace my iphone to get away from the globalist surveilance and get my freedom back and also allow me to do some work when needed.
I still have it. I've been using it handheld like in bed or on the go. I use the WM2 mostly docked for gaming, but I throw it in my bag for work during the day. Gets great battery life for work tasks. Ususally gets me theough the day. Seems like for now, I'm getting equal amount of use out of both
I have the 6800U version. Form factor is excellent. Camera and speaker is trash. No software support. Sd card connect/disconnect issue. Mouse ghosting. Goodluck on your device, hoping you will not encounter I had after months of usage.
Thanks for chiming in. Such a valid comment. It seems there is lots of inconsistency with these devices. It can be a crap shoot depending on the model you get. Also agreed about the camera. I failed to mention that it is functional, but the quality even on this year's is rather poor. Thanks for watching, and I appreciate you taking the time to watch.
@YelNatSttocS Oh, thank you. It just really sucks that they are so hard to get for most people. Hopefully, Thunderbolt 5 solves that problem for everyone. We shall see though. Been hearing about thunderbolt 5 for years now. LoL
@@Slyclientthetechdad yes that TB5 is the future, maybe another 2 years or so it will be available and stable. Did you compare the FPS lost having an oculink connection vs connected directly to PC? My research shows it is around 10% lost on 4k monitor.
@YelNatSttocS I haven't yet but I will add that on the list to things to try out. At some point, I need to do a follow-up video, and this is the stuff I need to include in it. Thanks for bringing this topic up
Yes it gets pretty dim. Dim enough for me atleast. I tend to use it with the brightness at 50 percent then much lower at night. It helps my old eyes with fatigue lol. I hadn't though about the brightness to be honest, but since you mentioned it, it definitly gets dim enough for me. Bright enough for me as well.
@@Slyclientthetechdad I got one! It’s fantastic after a little display tweaking. And brightness is fine. Doesn’t get super dim but I rarely go super dim and we all should probably turn screens off at 1030 lol
@@usafballer79 Wohoooo!! Yes, congrats and welcome to the club. It's so cool right? And yes, Im writing back at 10:40pm responding to you on the Max 2. LoL Yeah I'm not sure about that review but I completely disagree. What have you done with it so far? Test any games? Change the Ram speed. Also, what model did you go for? 32gb? Inquiring minds wanna know. :)
One question: if you get an external Monitor with 120/144hz refresh rate can GPD display that 120+ refresh rate on that monitor? Or will it still lock it at 60hz? Yes, i will be able to use an eGPU ( one dock v2 same as you have there) with RTX 3070. Can it be done?
Hi, thanks for watching. Yes I use this device connected to my 360hz display. You are not stuck at the native 60hz. You can use any external Display with it. You will get excellent fps with that card and dock.
Yes, I'm getting roughly 4 fps more on my Max 2 than I do on my Mini. Keep in mind, though, my Mini is the 7840U version which you can only push to 28tdp. While the 8840u Max 2, I'm seeing performance gains up towards 35tdp. In my experience it kinda evens itself out because I can only go up to 60fps on the Max 2 because of its 60hz display while the Mini is 120hz. Docked mode however, attached to an external monitor and gpu the Max 2 is the clear winner. Primarily because of the updated 8840u along with the smartshift function. I speak about that a little bit in the video. If I could only have one, I would get the Mini. If planning on using handheld most of the time, the 120hz is tough to pass on. I hope this helps.
Yes, you could get it to work as advertized using an Oculink Adapter in the M.2 slot on the rear of the device. Works perfectly that way. It's the native port on the back that has the issue. It's an issue because it's the best place for it. Running a cable underneath is just not ideal. You can utilize the native port but you have to cap the clock speed to 3.3 from what I've heard, and disable turbo boost. This can all be done in Auto TDP. So yes. It can be used, but you won't get full bandwidth using it. However, if you come across a good deal on a 7840u, I say go for it. It's still an awesome device and processor.
@@Slyclientthetechdad oh yeah I already bought mine last year. I was just seriously considering the DIY oculink dock option since I'm not fully satisfied w the gaming experience for when I'm at my desk at home, and if I hook it up to an external display
@EzaneeGires Oh, cool, definitely consider it. If you do, just use the secondary m. 2. It really turns it into a whole different device. So much more power. Since it will be docked, you can just prop it up a bit on a stand, and that oculink cable will fit right underneath. There is also an adapter out there that makes it fir snug in the m.2 slot.
@@Slyclientthetechdad so I finally got an eGPU setup going and I'm pretty happy with the WM2 2023 performance with oculink. I had some toothing issues but got my time spy score to within 1k of the global average of a 4070 super, so I'm pretty happy with that
Hi there, it could perform most tasks in 3d blender but I don't think I would recommend this device for this application. You may want a higher end desktop CPU for most of these use cases.
@@Slyclientthetechdad Thanks tech dad for the reply. Saw your video for the oculink gpd win mini, external rtx 4090 gpu dock conected to osmeta. I might try that first to help me render. I need smaller laptop for travel and only game with my ps vita for now.
Sorry you were disappointed, so little time to cover everything. The video was already at 20 min. I had to cut it down at the time of editing. I plan to do some follow-up videos to take a closer look at some of the aspects you mentioned. I appreciate you taking the time to watch. Sorry again
Hello Tech Dad ! How does your win max still work? I want to buy one but I'm afraid to buy it, since I've heard from people who say it broke down after a few months.
Hey there, mine still works great. I'm still very happy with it. Took it to a coffee shop this morning and had a delightful start to my day. The only thing that has ever presented an issue for me was that my hdmi port stopped working a few weeks ago. I reinstalled windows and that fixed it so I can't really blame the device. Aside from that, it's been great. If you decide to get one I would highly recommend getting it through Droix. Their customer service has been wonderful for me and they have always been very responsive. They give a warranty with it as well and they inspect the device before shipping it to you. I wouldn't trust indigogo but that's just me. If there is an issue, there is no telling ho long you will have to wait to get your device back if you need to send it to GPD
Hey thanks for watching. I believe I included it in the detail section of my Osmeta EGO1-M video. Let me know if you see it there. If not, I will track it down for you after work today. It's on a website called superbuy.com.
Hey Tech Dad, I currently have the Max 2 7840U 64 GB ram 2 TB. Do you think it is worth upgrading to a 8840U 32 GB ram 2 TB ? It is lesser ram. Thanks in advance!
Hey Juan, thanks for tuning in. I would say no. Primarily because I am not seeing much of an increase in performance. I have the Win Mini 7840u and I'm not seeing much of an increase to my MAX 2 8840u. Maybe a few frames per second. I think your 64gb of ram is much more valuable and beneficial than that small frame rate increase. Plus, I've noticed that my Mini does better at lower tops. Not fps but stability. For example, at 5 watts, I can still run indie games flawlessly. Not all but some. When I drop the Max 2 under 8, I get stutters in many of the games I've been playing. I need to run it at 8tpd to eliminate that. It bugs the heck out of me to be honest. Probably user error on my part. Who knows. But yea, if I were tou I'd wait on the new processors strix point or grab a mini 8840u. With the mini, you would at least have variety in your use case. I hope this help.
@@Slyclientthetechdad AWESOME answer! Thank you so much for such a thoughtful response. I did have the mini for a little bit. I found myself pickup the max more just because of the larger screen. It’s gorgeous even without the specs of the mini screen. I also love the aluminum unibody feel of the max contrasting to the plastic body of the mini. I kinda wish the left the mini in its aluminum unibody design as initially presented. But I get it, thermals. Something about an aluminum body that makes it feel much mor expensive and durable. (:
@adamuser8246 Thanks for pointing that out, and I appreciate you taking the time to watch. I removed the music and my most recent video. Hopefully, you are able to check it out.
Great review bro! Glad to see your hard work on production and editing is paying off. 💪🏽
Appreciate it!!
Got one of these a week or so ago and totally agree. Like the "feeling" part you talk about, too. I freaking love opening this thing, it's like the mini laptop I've been dreaming of since I was a teenager, and I'm a few decades older than that now. Totally sci-fi: super small, fast, few compromises. It feels like a luxury buy, and I love it. Terrific review!
@erstelage Thanks man, I appreciate you taking the time to watch. I simply can't get enough of this thing. it's so cool. Just been having a hard time hiding it from my 4 year old. LoL Gotta keep it under lock and key if I plan on keeping it in good condition for a while. Cheers to you and enjoy this awesome machine. :)
I think you have to do another video talking about how it feels gaming on the couch, the spacing of the hands , and the difference between the two gaming, the battery. It was a great review. I’m torn which one to get still the mini or this max. If I get this, I might not use my laptop anymore.
I will add that to the lost. I have so many thoughts on sitting on the couch sining it vs handheld and at a desk. Only so much time for it all in one video.
the weight of it is not insignificant that's for sure. however, the novelty never wears off and you can really get some enjoyment out of the portable experience. i can also say that it is my full time work machine for the last year (2023 model)
Just watched the unboxing and was wondering when the review was coming out and it just pops up lol awesome content! I own the win mini but you might convince me to grab this also!
Awesome, thanks for watching. It's a completely different device and compliment one another very well. It's definitely worth considering.
Yeah the mini has been getting hot for me lately. I just did the ptm mod and it alleviated alot of the heat but the ssd still is very uncomfortable. I'm gonna try the 2280 mod and if that doesn't work gonna have to check this out.
@yeyoye yea, the Max runs so much cooler. Non issue. I want to get the grips to make it a bit more comfortable thougj. I'm planning on doing the ptm on both devices soon. I love the mini, but I feel like even at 15tdp, it's almost still too hot. Seems like it's gotten worse over time, which is why I want to do the ptm.
The same actually happened to me😅
Yeah ptm definitely helped. When I opened mine up I discovered there was barely any thermal paste at all. Which was shocking. It now gets 8 or 9 degrees cooler on the cpu alone. Now it's just the pesky 2230 that gets hot on the right side.
My favorite channel for tech advice! 👍👍👍
I stil got my 6800u its good bang on i got the 32 gig ram n 4tb no issues with u just have to keep on top of updates
Love the review, great energy. Subbed my dude.
Thanks, man. I really appreciate it. I'm just trying to make small improvements to each video since I'm fairly new to all this. Good to hear your feedback. Cheers!
Great review!!I l love mine.. egpu couch gaming with this thing and an xbox controller on the big screen is so cool too.
Agreed, as you can tell I'm loving mine too. Thanks for watching. I appreciate the support. Cheers!
Great video as always! I have the same device and I am very happy about it too 😊
Awesome, thanks for you for continuing to tune in. Its such a wonderful device. Glad you are enjoying yours too.
Glad you’re enjoying your unit, I received my 2024 model and am one of the individuals with the RAM speed increase issue (mine crashes at 7500MT/s). I LOVE your analogy with the J’s, that was an eloquent and artful way to describe the experience, bravo! Even with the RAM speed issues, it’s still an impressive, performant little beast of a laptop!
Thank you, and I appreciate you taking the time to watch. As you are aware, since you have it, it's definitly a special device. Feels so awesome to use. It's a bummer about yhe ram speed but at the end of the day, I personally don't think it's that big of a deal. I'm glad you love your device as well. It's really an awesome community to be a part of. Only Max2 owners would know what I'm talking about. :)
I feel like this made espetially for me, i travel a lot for work. having a work laptop and my steam deck gets very bulky very fast.
Yea, you'd love it
Thanks for your review very useful seeing it close ! I'm also excited about this device :D Still considering between this or rog ally or a steam deck. It's a bit on the expensive side compared to the deck but I'm also looking for an all in one device so the GPD would also replace my iphone to get away from the globalist surveilance and get my freedom back and also allow me to do some work when needed.
Yes, it is a very exciting time and lots to consider. I'm glad you found the review useful. Will this be your first handheld device?
Appreciate your review!
Thank you and I appreciate you taking the time to watch it.
Cool video hoping for followups
what did you do with the Mini? :)
I still have it. I've been using it handheld like in bed or on the go. I use the WM2 mostly docked for gaming, but I throw it in my bag for work during the day. Gets great battery life for work tasks. Ususally gets me theough the day. Seems like for now, I'm getting equal amount of use out of both
I have the 6800U version. Form factor is excellent. Camera and speaker is trash. No software support. Sd card connect/disconnect issue. Mouse ghosting. Goodluck on your device, hoping you will not encounter I had after months of usage.
Thanks for chiming in. Such a valid comment. It seems there is lots of inconsistency with these devices. It can be a crap shoot depending on the model you get. Also agreed about the camera. I failed to mention that it is functional, but the quality even on this year's is rather poor. Thanks for watching, and I appreciate you taking the time to watch.
@@Slyclientthetechdad BTW i like your egpu. Unfortunately it is not available on my country.
@YelNatSttocS Oh, thank you. It just really sucks that they are so hard to get for most people. Hopefully, Thunderbolt 5 solves that problem for everyone. We shall see though. Been hearing about thunderbolt 5 for years now. LoL
@@Slyclientthetechdad yes that TB5 is the future, maybe another 2 years or so it will be available and stable. Did you compare the FPS lost having an oculink connection vs connected directly to PC? My research shows it is around 10% lost on 4k monitor.
@YelNatSttocS I haven't yet but I will add that on the list to things to try out. At some point, I need to do a follow-up video, and this is the stuff I need to include in it. Thanks for bringing this topic up
Nice review
is the minimum brightness improved over prior years (I.e., I saw a review saying its too bright for a dark room)
Yes it gets pretty dim. Dim enough for me atleast. I tend to use it with the brightness at 50 percent then much lower at night. It helps my old eyes with fatigue lol. I hadn't though about the brightness to be honest, but since you mentioned it, it definitly gets dim enough for me. Bright enough for me as well.
@@Slyclientthetechdad I got one! It’s fantastic after a little display tweaking. And brightness is fine. Doesn’t get super dim but I rarely go super dim and we all should probably turn screens off at 1030 lol
@@usafballer79 Wohoooo!! Yes, congrats and welcome to the club. It's so cool right? And yes, Im writing back at 10:40pm responding to you on the Max 2. LoL Yeah I'm not sure about that review but I completely disagree. What have you done with it so far? Test any games? Change the Ram speed. Also, what model did you go for? 32gb? Inquiring minds wanna know. :)
Another great video! But the 60 hz screen is not my type cause i usually go performance > quality and the smoothness of 120 hz is just my stuff!
Thank you, yea this may not be for everyone but a solid device still.
I can't wait for a vrr 120hz freesync win max
@EzaneeGires oh, when that happens, I'm gonna lose it. Lol . It will truly be the King who rules them all at that point. :)
@@EzaneeGireslook into the onexplayer x1 8840u version it's has 120 vrr
One question: if you get an external Monitor with 120/144hz refresh rate can GPD display that 120+ refresh rate on that monitor? Or will it still lock it at 60hz? Yes, i will be able to use an eGPU ( one dock v2 same as you have there) with RTX 3070. Can it be done?
Hi, thanks for watching. Yes I use this device connected to my 360hz display. You are not stuck at the native 60hz. You can use any external Display with it. You will get excellent fps with that card and dock.
are all the hardware working with linux?
Im not sure, never tried linux.
Is the performance better than the win mini? And do you get frame rates higher than sixty on the wind mini
Yes, I'm getting roughly 4 fps more on my Max 2 than I do on my Mini. Keep in mind, though, my Mini is the 7840U version which you can only push to 28tdp. While the 8840u Max 2, I'm seeing performance gains up towards 35tdp. In my experience it kinda evens itself out because I can only go up to 60fps on the Max 2 because of its 60hz display while the Mini is 120hz. Docked mode however, attached to an external monitor and gpu the Max 2 is the clear winner. Primarily because of the updated 8840u along with the smartshift function. I speak about that a little bit in the video. If I could only have one, I would get the Mini. If planning on using handheld most of the time, the 120hz is tough to pass on. I hope this helps.
Would you still recommend trying oculink on the 2023 7840u wm2?
Yes, you could get it to work as advertized using an Oculink Adapter in the M.2 slot on the rear of the device. Works perfectly that way. It's the native port on the back that has the issue. It's an issue because it's the best place for it. Running a cable underneath is just not ideal. You can utilize the native port but you have to cap the clock speed to 3.3 from what I've heard, and disable turbo boost. This can all be done in Auto TDP. So yes. It can be used, but you won't get full bandwidth using it. However, if you come across a good deal on a 7840u, I say go for it. It's still an awesome device and processor.
@@Slyclientthetechdad oh yeah I already bought mine last year. I was just seriously considering the DIY oculink dock option since I'm not fully satisfied w the gaming experience for when I'm at my desk at home, and if I hook it up to an external display
@EzaneeGires Oh, cool, definitely consider it. If you do, just use the secondary m. 2. It really turns it into a whole different device. So much more power. Since it will be docked, you can just prop it up a bit on a stand, and that oculink cable will fit right underneath. There is also an adapter out there that makes it fir snug in the m.2 slot.
@@Slyclientthetechdad unfortunately that's a non starter for me since I use that slot for storage
@@Slyclientthetechdad so I finally got an eGPU setup going and I'm pretty happy with the WM2 2023 performance with oculink. I had some toothing issues but got my time spy score to within 1k of the global average of a 4070 super, so I'm pretty happy with that
Will the device suffice to render 3d blender?
Hi there, it could perform most tasks in 3d blender but I don't think I would recommend this device for this application. You may want a higher end desktop CPU for most of these use cases.
@@Slyclientthetechdad Thanks tech dad for the reply. Saw your video for the oculink gpd win mini, external rtx 4090 gpu dock conected to osmeta. I might try that first to help me render. I need smaller laptop for travel and only game with my ps vita for now.
Awesome, I'm glad you found my videos. I think if having sinething small that can do 3d is a priority, the Max 2 can certainly do the job.
👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿
no egpu, no touchscreen, no oculink - all aspects, yes sure
Sorry you were disappointed, so little time to cover everything. The video was already at 20 min. I had to cut it down at the time of editing. I plan to do some follow-up videos to take a closer look at some of the aspects you mentioned. I appreciate you taking the time to watch. Sorry again
Hello Tech Dad !
How does your win max still work? I want to buy one but I'm afraid to buy it, since I've heard from people who say it broke down after a few months.
Hey there, mine still works great. I'm still very happy with it. Took it to a coffee shop this morning and had a delightful start to my day. The only thing that has ever presented an issue for me was that my hdmi port stopped working a few weeks ago. I reinstalled windows and that fixed it so I can't really blame the device. Aside from that, it's been great. If you decide to get one I would highly recommend getting it through Droix. Their customer service has been wonderful for me and they have always been very responsive. They give a warranty with it as well and they inspect the device before shipping it to you. I wouldn't trust indigogo but that's just me. If there is an issue, there is no telling ho long you will have to wait to get your device back if you need to send it to GPD
Can you share your EGPU build, where you got the parts, i'm trying to do one now but cannot locate anything.
Hey thanks for watching. I believe I included it in the detail section of my Osmeta EGO1-M video. Let me know if you see it there. If not, I will track it down for you after work today. It's on a website called superbuy.com.
Is doom eternal good? Air dash looks goofy but I guess he is a super soldier lol
Yea its pretty good. I like the one from 2016 better though. Too much platforming in returnal for me
@@Slyclientthetechdad yeah I liked that a lot. Didn't like the combat they forced on you in eternal
Yeaaa br0! AMD HHHYZEN is teh best!
Hey Tech Dad, I currently have the Max 2 7840U 64 GB ram 2 TB. Do you think it is worth upgrading to a 8840U 32 GB ram 2 TB ? It is lesser ram. Thanks in advance!
Hey Juan, thanks for tuning in. I would say no. Primarily because I am not seeing much of an increase in performance. I have the Win Mini 7840u and I'm not seeing much of an increase to my MAX 2 8840u. Maybe a few frames per second. I think your 64gb of ram is much more valuable and beneficial than that small frame rate increase. Plus, I've noticed that my Mini does better at lower tops. Not fps but stability. For example, at 5 watts, I can still run indie games flawlessly. Not all but some. When I drop the Max 2 under 8, I get stutters in many of the games I've been playing. I need to run it at 8tpd to eliminate that. It bugs the heck out of me to be honest. Probably user error on my part. Who knows. But yea, if I were tou I'd wait on the new processors strix point or grab a mini 8840u. With the mini, you would at least have variety in your use case. I hope this help.
@@Slyclientthetechdad AWESOME answer! Thank you so much for such a thoughtful response. I did have the mini for a little bit. I found myself pickup the max more just because of the larger screen. It’s gorgeous even without the specs of the mini screen. I also love the aluminum unibody feel of the max contrasting to the plastic body of the mini. I kinda wish the left the mini in its aluminum unibody design as initially presented. But I get it, thermals. Something about an aluminum body that makes it feel much mor expensive and durable. (:
Just found your channel. Nice job! I like the content. Big fan of GPD. Subbed!
Awesome! Thank you, I appreciate the support.
Fantastic review, one suggestion lower background music,,(of course that's subjective),,
@adamuser8246 Thanks for pointing that out, and I appreciate you taking the time to watch. I removed the music and my most recent video. Hopefully, you are able to check it out.
Where can I buy this?
Been looking forward to this one.
Just a note to say, awesome job. Keep it up, subbed!
Thank you so much. I appreciate the feedback. Cheers!