The display is decent. It’s better than low end Chromebooks for sure. There is some backlight leakage around the edges, but it’s only noticeable when the background is entirely black (rare for me - even running an editor with a dark theme, there’s window chrome that hides the leakage). Mine has no dead pixels and no other issues that I’ve noticed. My only complaint is that it’s not as bright as my middle-aged eyes would like, but it’s still quite usable.

The achilles heel of this laptop is really the touchpad. They’ve already released one firmware update to address issues and there will be more. I’m optimistic that they’ll dial it in over time.

TL;DR: A good laptop, especially at this price point, provided you’re willing to tinker with it. Build quality is significantly better than anything else you’d find at this price (and likely even at +$100).

Well I bought it and I am not using it because the touch pad and the screen is not good enough. The backlight shines through the black parts (not homogeneously), the color varies a lot depending on the viewing angle, it is uncomfortable to look at. The refresh rate is bad as well, but I don't care about that. The touchpad has an awful lag, it is almost unusable.

There is a firmware update for it. Have you tried that? The touchpad works fine for me (I flashed the firmware).

See https://github.com/ayufan-rock64/pinebook-pro-keyboard-updat....

AFAIK, they are aware of the issue with the TouchPad and are working on a fix.

He mentions it shortly, in the Build Quality paragraph.

For me, the lack of guarantee about dead pixels is what is holding me back from buying a PineBook Pro.

It’s 2020. Dead pixels shouldn’t be a thing anymore. I would be willing to pay a little bit more and get a unit that is guaranteed to have no dead pixel. Alas, they don’t offer that option.

"Don't RMA for a few dead pixels" is pretty much standard on every legal text ever, and just because it's

     date '+%Y'

doesn't mean that we've magically solved every problem when it comes to manufacturing, especially with displays.

If it means that much to you, get a Chromebook. They'll probably have about as much of a chance of getting a dead pixel, but hey, it's not like you'd know that because Chromebook manufacturers aren't as transparent as PINE64.

Assuming their policies haven't changed since I checked them last, Apple still allows 7-8 stuck/dead pixels on devices the size of the Pinebook Pro. Dell six.

Apple is the richest company in the world.

PINE64 doesn't even count as a startup.

I think the 2020 reference doesn't make sense because dead pixels are an inherent part of the manufacturing process. The only way to reduce the impact of dead pixels is to discard defective panels which drives up the price but this is a low cost product from a relatively unknown manufacturer who might cancel the product if there are too many RMAs.

It is perfectly okay to say "It's 2020, why does my company still force me to use flash when it's unsupported in the latest browsers?". Flash is obsolete and will only become more obsolete over time. Dead pixels will probably keep happening until we switch away from conventional display technology.

Maybe it's because I haven't looked hard enough, or maybe it's because ppi is so high on modern displays, but I haven't noticed a dead or stuck pixel on any Apple product I've owned in...well, years.

That only strengthens the point that the presence of dead pixels is not influenced by the year the screen was made but it is clearly influenced by the amount of money invested into the quality of the final product.

I think PINE's ordering page is very much clear that if that's the sort of thing you'd RMA for, they'd rather not have you as a customer. My understanding is they're making basically no profit on these early run PineBook Pros and PinePhones.

This is like an $800 laptop feel for a $200 laptop price. Minor defects are worth just living with. And eventually, you can always buy yourself a replacement screen too.

You can buy mine for a very good price if you are in Europe. It doesn't have any dead pixels, and I have only used it for 5 hours or so.

I'll take it. How can I contact you? I'm located in Germany.

Please pm me here (same user name, #pinebook channel): https://discordapp.com/invite/DgB7kzr.

For how much and what country?

if their QA discarded every display with a single dead pixel, it wouldn't be $199