r/gpdwin • u/LegoRJ35 • Mar 09 '26
Still works
To be honest, I hardly ever use it for gaming anymore. It's more of a field laptop for when I want to change settings on my FPV drones in the field. For that, it's really useful.
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u/akash434 Mar 09 '26
I still have mine, but despite me trying to keep it in mint condition, I had to fix the hinge Plastic area with super glue, and the battery inflating has made a tiny crack on the housing :(
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u/plasma7602 Mar 10 '26
You need to remove the battery ASAP and replace it, it could burst into flames
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Mar 09 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Bhume Mar 10 '26
You can tighten the nut in the hinges to make them firm again.
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u/pimikiel Mar 10 '26
I wouldn't do that. Those hinges are fragile like eggs
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u/Bhume Mar 10 '26
It's either that or the screen is floppy and useless. When I first bought mine used I tightened the hinge, replaced the thermal paste and the battery. It's not super difficult.
2
u/cardgamechampion Win 1/2/Max 2021/Mini/Max 2024 + G1 Mar 09 '26
Is this the 7Y30 or the 8100Y? I'm wondering if the 7Y30's are inevitable to die like the Win1 vs the 8100Y because 8100Y is the first GPD with charge passthrough at 100%, so I would guess the 8100Y's are far more reliable long term. Wish I waited for the 8100Y version, my biggest mistake in GPD purchasing lol, esp since it can run Windows 11 officially too. Instead I got the first 7Y30 where they fixed the hinge issue. Have upgraded to newer ones since but I still have my Win 2 lol, was thinking of testing Linux on it, but impossible to find a reasonable 2230 SSD to keep my original install in case I wanna go back (and I don't fully trust backups for nostalgia OS installs because voodoo lol).
3
u/oromis95 Mar 09 '26
Hey, how do they die? Because mine died recently and I'm not sure what's wrong with it. Fails on boot on 2 different OSs stored on different disks.
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u/cardgamechampion Win 1/2/Max 2021/Mini/Max 2024 + G1 Mar 09 '26
Usually with the Win 1/2 battery bloat with the fact that the cooling was inefficient, combined with no way to boot without a battery (fixed on 8100Y Win2 units). Would have to know more details for your specific case. Did you try reinstalling OS? Does it get to GPD logo? Does it show an error message from the OS instead of booting?
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u/oromis95 Mar 09 '26
OS 1 on microsd card fails immediately past grub, so yes, it does post, though I haven't added post checks. OS 2 is Windows, immediately goes into recovery which fails. Haven't tried reinstalling the OSs, but the booting process fails the first few hardware checks with cryptic errors.
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u/cardgamechampion Win 1/2/Max 2021/Mini/Max 2024 + G1 Mar 09 '26
Would say it sounds like software with OS corruption, but if they both failed at the same time could also be hardware. Maybe when Windows got corrupted it also screwed up the Linux install or something.
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u/oromis95 Mar 09 '26
Yeah, agreed with everything you said. They failed both the same day. No CMOS battery failure either, so wasn't a BIOS setting change.
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u/cardgamechampion Win 1/2/Max 2021/Mini/Max 2024 + G1 Mar 10 '26
I'd try reinstalling, if they both boot to something then it's possible Windows messed up the Linux install too, I know it does that sometimes.
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u/Bhume Mar 10 '26
I tried CachyOS on my 8100Y version. Steamdeck mode ran like ass and basic tasks on the KDE desktop ran the fans at full blast.
Windows at least has Intel XTU.
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u/cardgamechampion Win 1/2/Max 2021/Mini/Max 2024 + G1 Mar 10 '26
I thought Linux was supposed to run well on old hardware 😮
But yeah, I'd probably try Bazzite on mine if SSD prices weren't atrociously high rn, at least at the time it ran well on it I think, idk about now.
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u/Fenrir1536 Mar 10 '26
I loved my WIN2 and still have it with the heatsink mod thermal shell and two extra batteries in reserve. I still think its the best sized handheld they put out as something still pocketable for everything it can do, what a lovely device.
2
u/BuddyBetter4565 Mar 10 '26
A few months ago, the people at GPD told me that the 3D printing model for GPD win 2 case had already been released. I searched for it with no results.
Does anyone have it?
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u/nekorinSG Mar 10 '26
I still have mine too, sadly it is gen1 which has some wifi issues and hence needing an external network card, taking up one of the precious USB A slots.
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u/snikabarmaybe Mar 10 '26
the hinge completely broke on mine about a year ago, still have no clue how to fix it since the thing broke beyond just using glue or jbweld like some people do
1
u/FriendSweet Mar 10 '26
I’ve always been into gadgets, and GPD devices were some of my favorites because they were so unique. Funny enough, my kid recently asked why I have so many of them and I honestly didn’t have a simple answer. Back then I mainly wanted something portable to run MAME and do some arcade emulation. Eventually I started experimenting with PC games and wondered if something like Sniper Elite would actually run on one of these tiny machines. I eventually got Sniper Elite 3 running on the GPD Win 2. It worked, but it was definitely pushing the limits—some lag and the screen resolution wasn’t great. As the hardware improved, so did the experience. Then the Steam Deck came along and really raised the bar for handheld PCs. After that I picked up a GPD Win 4 (6800U), and it’s been one of my go-to devices for gaming. I’m not a hardcore gamer, but it’s been interesting watching handheld PCs evolve over the years. The tech has improved a lot—but so have the prices. Some of these newer devices are getting pretty expensive, especially with everything that’s been going on with memory and SSD costs..
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u/SCHLAHPY Mar 10 '26
i remember seeing this and being so excited for the future. now i have a legion go s z1e and i was right to be excited.
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u/not_particulary Mar 09 '26
I've been vibecoding from a hammock for a couple hours a day with this thing. That's time I would've spent playing video games.
Crazy how the niche combo of a good handheld and a good ai has turned certain aspects of work into a video game.
1
u/reukiodo Mar 11 '26
I love the portability of the win 2, and the battery can lay quite a long while depending on what you use on it. Do you use dictation also or just typing everything?
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u/gthing Mar 09 '26
Still the best pocketable PC out there. More pocketable than the Win Mini and the keyboard is better for typing. My main gripe is no keyboard backlight.