laptop News - Page 25 of 33 - CNX Software

February 13, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

CHUWI LapBook 14.1 Windows 10 Firmware, Drivers, and BIOS

In case you’ve installed another operating system like Ubuntu on CHUWI Lapbook 14.1 laptop, and want to re-install Windows 10, CHUWI has released Windows 10 firmware, drivers, and LapBook 14.1 “BIOS” in their forums. So I’ve re-installed Windows 10 on the laptop using the Windows 10 image. You’ll need to download the 8 files CHUWI LapBook 14.1 Windows.part1.rar to CHUWI LapBook 14.1 Windows.part8.rar, and after extracting them you should get a “CHUWI LapBook 14.1 Windows” directory with all necessary files to reinstall Windows. The files take 8GB, so it may not fit on all 8GB flash drives, and you may need to use a 16GB or greater drive. I just copied the files to an 64GB flash drive formatted with NTFS, insert the drive into the USB 2.0 port of the laptop, and I could start the installation process at boot time. However, it quickly failed as it tried to […]

February 8, 2017February 8, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

How to Assign Brightness Keys in Ubuntu 16.04 and Greater

Yesterday, I installed Ubuntu 17.04 in CHUWI LapBook 14.1, and was surprised everything appeared to work properly. However, the laptop does not come with brightness up and down keys. So I looked for ways to assign other keys to adjust brightness on the laptop, and eventually found a solution on AskUbuntu, and tried the options for Ubuntu 16.04. First we need to install xdotool, a utility that simulate keyboard input and mouse activity:

sudo apt install xdotool

1	sudo apt install xdotool

Once it’s done, go to the Dash, start Keyboard settings app, select Shortcuts tab, and click on the + icon on the bottom of the window to bring up the “Custom Shortcut” window. Now fill the Name field with “Brightness Up”, and the Command field with:

xdotool key --clearmodifiers XF86MonBrightnessUp

1	xdotool key --clearmodifiers XF86MonBrightnessUp

Repeat the procedure with for the down key filling the Name field with “Brightness Down”, and the Command:

xdotool key --clearmodifiers XF86MonBrightnessDown

1	xdotool key --clearmodifiers XF86MonBrightnessDown

Now we should have our two brightness keys, and we […]

February 7, 2017January 23, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 58 Comments

Installing Ubuntu 17.04 on CHUWI LapBook 14.1 Apollo Lake Laptop

[Update: The instructions below do not work with the newly manufactured models because CHUWI completely changed the hardware The company also disabled the Linux option in the BIOS (See comments in this post) So you may need to use rEFInd boot manager or isorepin.sh script to install Linux (and some drivers may still not work out of the box) ] Since I’ve completed the review of CHUWI LapBook 14.1 with Windows 10 last week-end, I’ve decided to give it a try with a Linux distribution, and I chose to go with a daily build of Ubuntu 17.04 since we’ve seen Apollo Lake platforms need a recent Linux kernel. While Ubuntu 17.04 will be officially release in April 2017, likely with Linux 4.10, the current (alpha) build comes with Linux 4.9. I had already quickly booted Ubuntu 17.04 on the Laptop from a USB drive flashed using Rufus right after the […]

February 5, 2017September 24, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 22 Comments

CHUWI LapBook 14.1 Apollo Lake Laptop Review – Part 2: Windows 10 Benchmarks, User Experience, and Battery Life

CHUWI LapBook 14.1 is the one of the first Apollo Lake laptop on the market. It features a 14.1″ IPS display, a Celeron N3450 quad core processor, 4GB RAM and 64 GB storage. The company has sent me a sample for review, and I had already check out the hardware in “CHUWI LapBook 14.1 Apollo Lake Laptop Review – Part 1: Unboxing & (Partial) Teardown“, so since then I’ve played with it including checking emails & news, writing a blog post on CNX Software, and watching some YouTube videos, as well as running benchmarks and estimating battery life, so I’ll report about my experience with the laptop in the second part of the review. CHUWI LapBook 14.1 System Information LapBook 14.1 runs an activated version of Windows 10 Home 64-bit on an Intel Celeron 3450 “Apollo Lake” quad core processor @ 1.1 GHz / 2.2 GHz with 4 GB RAM […]

February 2, 2017May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 21 Comments

Olimex Teres I A64 DIY Open Source Hardware Laptop Kit Design Complete, To Sell for 225 Euros

Olimex has been working on an open source hardware Olimex A64 laptop for a little over a year, and the company has now complete thed hardware design of their TERES I laptop, and are working on finalizing the software design before accepting orders for 225 Euros for TERES-A64-BLACK and TERES-A64-WHITE models. As explained in the instructions manual, Olimex laptop will not be sold assembled, but as a kit to let the users assemble the following parts themselves: TERES-006-Keyboard QWERTY keyboard TERES-023-Touch touchpad with TERES-022-Touch-Cover and TERES-010-Touch-Btns TERES-014-Screw-Set with 42 pieces of different kind of screws. TERES-PCB3-Touch PCB TERES-PCB2-IO PCB with headphone jack, micro SD slot, and a USB port TERES-PCB4-Btn PCB for the power button together with TERES-009-Pwr-Btn plastic and TERES-013-LED-pipe TERES-PCB1-A64 motherboard based on Allwinner A64 processor. TERES-PCB5-KEYBOARD keyboard control board Display parts: TERES-008-LCD-Back, TERES-016-Hinge-Set, TERES-007-LCD-Frame, and TERES-015-LCD 11.6″ LCD panel TERES-019-Camera & TERES-020-Camera-Lens for the webcam Speakers, battery,WiFi […]

January 28, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

Lenovo Yoga Book 2-in-1 Hybrid Laptop Features a Drawing Pad instead of a Keyboard, Ships with Windows, Android or DOS

Lenovo has launched yet another 2-in-1 hybrid laptop, but the Yoga Book has some interesting new feature as it does not come with an actual keyboard, but instead a large “Create Pad” (Wacom digitizer) that allows you to draw sketches, take notes, and yes, it can also be converted into a virtual keyboard too when needed. Lenovo has a $499 version with Android 6.0, and another one with Windows 10 for $549, but I initially found it on GearBest, selling the device for $642.91 shipped with DOS operating system instead to give the user the option to install his/her own choice of operating system. Lenovo Yoga Book specifications: SoC – Up to Intel Atom x5-Z8550 quad core Cherry Trail processor System Memory – Up to 4 GB LPDDR3 Storage – Up to 64 GB internal storage, and micro SD slot supporting up to 128 GB Display – 10.1″ IPS LED […]

January 23, 2017April 27, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

CHUWI LapBook 14.1 Apollo Lake Laptop Review – Part 1: Unboxing & (Partial) Teardown

CHUWI LapBook 14.1 is one the first Intel Apollo Lake laptop launched in the market. It features an Intel Celeron N3450 quad core processor coupled with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage, and comes with a 14.1″ Full HD IPS Display. The company sent me a sample for review, and I’ll start by checking out the hardware today, before running some tests in Windows 10, and trying to install Ubuntu 16.04 later on. CHUWI LapBook 14.1 Unboxing I received the device in what looks like CHUWI standard package for 14″ laptops, but a sticker on the stop made it clear which model I got.The laptop comes with a 12V/2A power supply and power cord, a user manual in English and Chinese, a warranty card, and a product inspection report. The laptop battery is nearly fully charged, so I started it. I could not find any keys to adjust the display brightness, […]

January 18, 2017September 13, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

NexDock is Working on a Hybrid Laptop Dock for Intel Compute Cards

NexDock first launched a 14″ laptop dock for smartphones, tablets, and development boards via a Indiegogo campaign in 2016, where they successfully raised over $350,000, and delivered rewards to backers last September and October. With the recent introduction of the Intel Compute Card, the company has now decided to work on a new NexDock that will take Intel’s cards. We don’t have much details right now, but the company said that beside the Intel Compute Card, it will come support interchangeable USB type-C modules, and will still support Windows 10 smartphones with continuum feature, Raspberry Pi and other devices that can be connected through a USB-C port. The second drawing also suggests the keyboard will be detachable, and you’ll be able to use NexDock as a Windows tablet. It could be nice to have an Intel laptop with Linux or Windows, and an ARM tablet with Android, but this won’t […]