GPD has has been making pocket-sized Windows computers for a few years, starting with the GPD Win line of handheld gaming PCs and then expanding to the GPD Pocket line of tiny Windows laptops.

Now GPD is getting ready to launch a new category of device. The GPD MicroPC is the company’s most affordable Windows PC to date, and also its most niche.

It’s a little clamshell computer with HDMI, USB, and Ethernet ports… and a Serial port and a rugged design. The idea is that it’s a computer that could be used by network engineers, sys admins, and other folks who need those features. But with an expected price tag of $299, I suspect it might also appeal to other mobile PC enthusiasts when it goes up for order in a few months.

GPD plans to run a crowdfunding campaign for the GPD MicroPC starting some time around February 15, 2019. We should have more details closer to that time, but here’s what we know about the GPD MicroPC so far:

  • 6 inch display
  • Intel Celeron N4100 quad-core “Gemini Lake” processor
  • 4GB RAM
  • 128GB M.2 2242 SSD
  • 3 USB 3.0 Type-A ports
  • 1 USB Type-C port (charging and data)
  • HDMI
  • RJ45/Ethernet
  • Serial Port
  • microSD card reader
  • Backlit keyboard
  • 6,200 mAh battery

There’s also a physical switch that lets you turn off the fan when running lightweight applications, or turn it on when you need additional cooling power.

While GPD’s Pocket line of mini computers had small pointing sticks or optical touch sensors, the MicroPC has a larger touchpad. There’s not really room to place it below the keyboard though, so it’s in the upper right corner, with left and right-click buttons on the left. That leads to an unusual design for the number keys, with two rows of numbers to the right of the keyboard.

The GPD MicroPC weighs about 1 pound (440 grams), and it’s said to feature a semi-rugged design so that it can take a bit of a beating when thrown around in a bag with some other gear. There’s also a hole in the case that’s specifically designed to let you install an optional wrist strap.

Unfortunately it’s expected to be available in limited quantities – GPD says it only plans to make 2,000 units for now, because it was only able to obtain  enough processors for that many devices.

The company doesn’t expect to be able to produce and ship additional devices until sometime this summer.

via Deen0X and /r/gpdwin

Support Liliputing

Liliputing's primary sources of revenue are advertising and affiliate links (if you click the "Shop" button at the top of the page and buy something on Amazon, for example, we'll get a small commission).

But there are several ways you can support the site directly even if you're using an ad blocker* and hate online shopping.

Contribute to our Patreon campaign

or...

Contribute via PayPal

* If you are using an ad blocker like uBlock Origin and seeing a pop-up message at the bottom of the screen, we have a guide that may help you disable it.

Subscribe to Liliputing via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 9,542 other subscribers

35 replies on “GPD MicroPC is a tiny $299 laptop aimed at IT Pros, coming in 2019”

  3. If they added m3 CPU and 8GB, I would fund this item right away.
    Probably they think price is more important than performance.

  5. Why they have so awful keyboard layouts? Why they couldn’t copy any keyboard on the market? It seems not so bad as long as you use only English alphabet, but add any other symbols with diacritics… and those keyboards become a nightmare.

  6. Anyone knows the dimensions of the MicroPC? It’s the same size as teh Win 2? Larger? Smaller? Thanks.

  7. Fantastic! I currently use an aging and duct-taped Acer C7 chromebook (converted to natively boot Linux) for network admin and I was wondering what I was going to do when it finally died. Key for me is to have something that runs Linux natively, is cheap enough to leave unattended at a work site, and that is small and light enough to include as part of my standard tool bag. This machine looks perfect, assuming that they don’t do a really goofy keyboard layout.

    +1 to Mike for the “KVM Laptop” suggestion.

    Yes, this is exactly what I had an ordered-from-japan Zaurus 3100 for back in the day. CF Ethernet plus USB serial and OpenBSD in your pocket was an amazing thing in 2006.

    1. GPD typically has good Linux compatibility. Brad Linder usually shows that if he gets to evaluate one for us.

  8. I work for a decent sized company and they would not sanction personal devices for system/network administration work. They’d also likely won’t offer this as a work issued device.

    I’m guessing admins for small/personal companies may allow these to be used.

  10. There’s actually an entry in userbenchmark for a gemini lake LP GPU, it scored a 7% I believe, about a 50% increase from the gpd pocket 2 if the benchmark is to be believed

  13. I do not see the delete key in any of the pictures. It is a pretty important key for windows

    2. I have several applications that require an Insert key. Don’t see one here either.

  14. > 6,200 mAh battery
    At what voltage?

    Assuming the same 3.8V as on Pocket 2, it translates into 23,5Wh.
    As nothing in the hardware suggest significant (like 1-2 watts) lower energy consumption, we’re looking at slightly less than 4 hours of active usage.

    I’m afraid, as much as I love these things, most probably I’ll have to pass.

    1. The device is charged by usb, and the benefit of that is battery life can be greatly extended with just normal power banks.

  15. Man I can say, for a SysAdmin it is indeed very useful for on-the-go needs. It can fit in your pocket and $300 is okay price if the user experience is not laggy.

    I hope to see more UMPCs like this for this price tag.

    1. I’m running a dual core Gemini Lake on an Asus E203MA, a 1 kg netbook, and as long as the software is not wasting CPU cycles with runaway processes (Windows anti-malware, indexing, OneDrive syncing, etc.), it’s a pretty efficient and smooth experience. eMMC is barely used when Firefox caches with LPDDR4 memory. The modern GPU and mature drivers actually offload a lot of day to day processing, with crazy smooth .webm 4K video playback and Handbrake transcoding performance. I just keep it running in my backpack when downloading podcasts and news via Calibre ebook, and the battery barely drains 5% over an hour. Upgrading to the quad core GPD someday will be great, with the 440g weight a real draw. Wondering what the battery capacity is though, the Asus’ weighs in at 38Wh. Its 35Wh power brick is tiny, similar in size to the 12 Watt HP Stream 7 PSU, and curiously is one of the coolest running PSUs ever.

      I’ll put in another good word for the Asus… the speakers are great and it’s one less item to carry. Notebookcheck.com rates 15% of notebooks sound better than the E203MA, and indeed its quality is in Macbook territory. I find it good for podcasts and Youtube on the go. I doubt GPD can beat it here, though I don’t have first hand experience with their devices to know from the track record.

      So yeah, it’s about the whole package, not just pure benchmark scores. Glad the PC has entered an era of smartphone-like refinements, in a time where the iPad is fast but sitting idle with iOS.

  17. I hope for a smaller UMPC, with slide keyboard and 5″ frameless display – USB C and MicroSDXC will be enough connectivity. Just make it thin/pocketable.

    And if possible 4G modem..

    Like a modern OQO/larger Fujitsu F-07C 😉

      1. This GPD device is nothing like an OQO or the Fujitsu – but i really hope that they create something like those, instead of all these other devices.

        1. Agree: I have the u810 and this reminds me a lot of it, just a lot faster better. Although it would be nice if the stole the swiveling screen feature of the u810 as well.

  18. Ruggedized and good battery life for $300? Man, if that thing had a high-quality touch-type keyboard that was comparable to a Gemini/Psion or an old HP Jornada, they’d find more than just one small niche for it.

  19. I think what would make this the perfect product for me is if it had a VGA in and the ability to connect the keyboard and touchpad via usb to a server. That way I can use it as a mobile crash cart and also use it as a PC.

    1. Well this is a very specific need and think that will ever be in a consumer product, since it is useful only for people that work on server maintenance.

      But is possible to build something on your own, since there are usb displays that don’t need extra power source and in addition with a usb hub and a small factor keyboard you can have something like a laptop with no brain (which I believe is what you described).

      1. Though some of the port are not useful for a lot of folks, there is a lot functionality they will find useful at this price. It would make a 2nd or 3rd device for a lot of people

    2. That would be awesome and it doesn’t seem like it would be too hard to implement. Of course you could always combine this with a USB crashcart but they are expensive and the ones I have tried did not work very well.

      1. Man, a combination of a USB crashcart and the device of the article would be the perfect device for connecting to any server for input/output.
        But the price of USB crashcarts is actually sometimes very expensive!

Comments are closed.