i7 is on it's way, what are some must have apps? (plus fresh windows install?)

[Wylver]

I ordered mine at gearbest on nov 09 during the start of the gearbest sale and it has been shipped on nov 18.

I also ordered a ton of accessories and intend to mad it a little bit. (Typo, i meant to say mod instead of mad)

Let me know if you are interested in the accessories I’m going to use.

I intend to use mine mainly for university and light gaming/multimedia consumption when away from home.

As soon as it arrives i will be checking if everything is alright and then proceed and do a thermal mod and upgrade the SSD.

My plan for the thermal mod is glueing a 20x20x1mm copper shim to the aluminum heatspreader using thermal adhesive and thus replacing the stock thermal pad located on the DIE. On the other side of the heatspreader where it has this little recessed area I will stick another copper shim (15x15x05mm) to level that area somewhat and then cover the whole heatspreader with a thermal pad to transfer excess heat to the copper spreader on the housing and the housing itself.

In regards to the SSD I’m going to install a Transcend 256GB  (2242 length) and would like to warn everyone who is thinking about buying a cheaper one from Kingspec or any other chinese manufacturer. Just remember that this is going to be a storage device for your data, so if you are going to have anything of value on it you might want to consider buying a “more well known brand” with support. I am aware that any kind of flash storage is volatile and might fail but you can still minimize the risk of it happening by buying quality. For anyone interested, there is a quite positive review on the internet about the Kingspec m.2 SSD but also some bad customer feedback who had the disks fail in very short time. So if the data that is going to be on your SSD is expendable then by all means go and get yourself a chinese one and save some bucks, I would do the same, otherwise think twice before investing.

On that SSD i am going to do a fresh install of Windows 10 and configure it to my likings from there.

 

@Dan: If you want to do a clean install of Windows 10 you need a USB thumbdrive and internet access to create the installation image. You can download the “Media Creation Tool for Windows 10” directly from microsoft. Here are the steps as i recall them:

1. insert USB thumbdrive
2. start the Media Creation Tool
3. choose to create an installable Windows 10 image on the inserted USB stick
4. choose the Windows 10 version you want (the cube i7 book uses Windows 10 Home 64 bit)
5. the tool will do everything else for you automatically by formating the USB drive (deleting everything on the usb drive), downloading the image and then install it on the drive making it bootable device

[Katagiri]

Don’t worry about my important stuff, they are on my desktop and on a spare HDD inside of an external enclosure. The files from my work are also on my laptop, I’m so desperate about backing up that I have multiple copies of my important files. Thanks for the warning, I was thinking about Kingspec because I saw some positive reviews about it, since I don’t put any important stuff on tablets I don’t think it will be a big problem. First I”ll try to clone the SSD to test my adapters.

[mrobi]

Ordered from GearBests 11-11 sale also, it took them week to mail it but its on the way now. Is the Windows 10 key in BIOS or do I need to recover it from original installation?

Bought RavPower USB-C USB-PD charger from Amazon, if Cubes original has the same hazardous us-eu plug adapter that was in i7 stylus.

 

[Katagiri]

I think the keys are in the BIOS but you can use some app to see the key as well, I always do that for safety. Do you know the kind of the original charger plug? EU plug is the one that works here.

Good, the only Android emulator that works with my job stuff is Droid4X, I hope it runs nice on Cube i7.

[Dan]

Really enjoying the chat here about the i7 🙂

Wylver I’d love to hear what accessories you went mad ordering! (and thanks for the details about thermal mod and SSDs was really interesting to hear about).

Also Raoul, really helpful info about read/write speeds. I think I will get a usb 3.0 key as well to use while I build up the courage to open up the tablet for a SSD replacement and thermal mod.

I messaged gearbest after hearing people have been waiting a little while for their tablets to be shipped and they have said that it has been a very popular item and they have been waiting for a large order to arrive from the manufacturer. They are hoping it will arrive 25-28th November so I have my fingers crossed now that I might still get it before Christmas… At least I can enjoy reading posts here in the meantime!

Is there any chance that the manufacturer will have fixed overheating issues for the new batch of i7s they are sending to gearbest? (I know wishful thinking right?!)

[Katagiri]

Dan, I don’t believe they are fixing the thermal problem since it’s not that severe… well, it might be here in Rio de Janeiro where you get 45ºC easly.

Well, let’s enjoy this chat full of tips before our tablets arrive. Customs here can be slow… I’ll be happy to have it before New Year. XD

[Wylver]

Good news for anyone who ordered the tablet from gearbest and had it shipped to europe:

Today I got the first package from gearbest that I ordered on the 11.11  which contains some accessories for the tablet. I chose the free shipping method they offered me and during the tracking I saw it was shipped through france. Didn’t have any problems with customs as usual (never had the customs interfere with my orders from china, I live in austria btw), and as usual the package was declared at a much lower cost than the acutal product prices. I’m hoping for a quick delivery of the tablet as well, as far as I can tell it should have already arrived in france.

As for the heat problem of the tablet; I dont think they have made any changes to their manufacturing process.

 

For anyone interested, here is a list of items I got to work in combination with the cube i7 book:

• Tablet+Keyboard (duh!!!) – I chose the original CDK09 for compatibiliy, sturdy stand and the additional USB-ports.
• Cube i7 Stylus tempered glass screen protector – it is the same size and fit as the cube i7 book and arrived well packaged from gearbest (additional structural support from the keyboard that was shipped alongside it)
• Tecknet Raptor Prime wireless (gaming) mouse – I’m not a big touchpad user and prefer a mouse any day of the week, I opted for the wireless model for obvious reasons (ease of use, for the oblivious) rather than its wired counterpart the Tecknet Raptor Pro (which in my opinion has better features, maybe I will switch it up for the wired model later on if I think those features are a must)
• Xiaomi aluminum mousepad small size – I did opt for the small size so it can fit alongside the tablet in the wool felt bag
• Stylus: I haven’t decided yet – either a samsung (hard to find original ones), a wacom or the microsoft surface pen; need to try them for myself to see which one fits me the best
• Carrying bag – I ordered a wool felt bag from aliexpress that is said to be the correct size for the cube i7
• Mouse bag – so the mouse won’t get damaged and doesn’t scratch other stuff inside my backpack
• Transcend MTS400 256Gb M.2 SSD – for upgrading the capcity
• M.2 NGFF to USB 3.0 adapter – this is a little case that can hold a M.2 (NGFF=SATA!!!) SSD and has a USB 3.0 plug; this will house the 64GB SSD that comes preinstalled in the tablet and acts as an ultrafast usb drive-  I found one at gearbest that only accepts 2242 SSD’s and therefor is just a little larger than an old fashioned thumbdrive
• Thermal mod components – copper shims (20x20x1 and 15x15x0,5); thermal pad (100x100x0,5 with 5W/mk heat dissipation); thermal adhesive with 2W/mk; arctic cooling mx-4 thermal paste with 8W/mk
• Anker Powerport+ 5 Charger – for charging the tablet over USB C with power delivery, I’m a little afraid of the chinese plug adapters
• Anker Powerline USB-C to USB-C cable (USB 3.1) – even though more expensive than others, I just want to assure maximum compatibility
• USB-C Hub: not sure yet, a member here recommended a really cheap hub from amazon.co.uk that unfortunately has a much to short cable and would dangle from the docked tablet; I’ll probably go with the Aukey hdmi hub because of the cable length though
• Netac Pro Class 3 micro SD card with 64GB – I plan to use it as storage for ubuntu and remix os so I can make the tablet dual or even triple boot, otherwise it’s just gonna end up as extra storag space
• Xiaomi Bluetooth Speaker (square black) – to replace the lousy built in tablet speakers; for the price quite good but now I’m wondering if the more powerful (and thus more expensive) upgrade to the golden (or blue) model from Xiaomi wouldn’t have been better
• Superlux HD681/HD662 Evo headphones – in my opinion best bang for the buck headphones at this price range; I stand by the opinion that these heaphones outperform any beats crap by a huge deal (that is if you value neutral sound and not that distorted bass-filled bullsh*t); model depends on the circumstances if they need to be noise canceling or not
• Organizing bag for all the electronics I want to carry along with the tablet
• Xiaomi USB Light – so I can iluminate the keyboard in the dark xD
• Decorative car and architectural vinyls – to change the appearence of the tablet and keyboard

• I’m still looking for a powerbank with power delivery, the only one I know of from Anker is not available at the moment

[mrobi]

Katagiri wrote:

Do you know the kind of the original charger plug? EU plug is the one that works here.

No I don’t know what comes with Cube i7 Book, I have Cube i7 Stylus and it had US adapter with bit hazardous schuko adapter.

[Katagiri]

mrobi wrote:

No I don’t know what comes with Cube i7 Book, I have Cube i7 Stylus and it had US adapter with bit hazardous schuko adapter.

Thanks, I hope it comes with the EU plug. If not, I have some pretty adapters here.

And Wylver, thanks for the tips. I was able to find all components of the thermal mod from eBay and the Arctic Cooling from a local store, I wanted to buy the thermal adhesive from a local store as well but I wasn’t able to find, only those weak Chinese ones. When I have money to buy the new SSD I’ll also buy the components and do everything.

EDIT: My brother said his company can do the thermal mod but it’s a little pricey. Let’s see if I pay professionals to do inside a safe place or if I’ll take the risk to open myself at home with 4 cats. I can go to my father’s office as well, he’s a lawyer with his own office with no cats.

[Dan]

Great list Wylver you really have gone all out!

I have now put bluetooth speaker on my christmas list (along with the gaming controller Raoul recommended)

I am also thinking about buying something that would let me wireless stream the tablet to my tv. Does anyone have any recommendations for a device that would do this? So far I have only seen the easy cast ota which is currently being promoted in gearbest’s black friday sale.

Anyone seen anyother good black friday deals?

[Katagiri]

Dan, if your TV has miracast you don’t need any extra device to do that. Or iff you have a TV with DLNA, you just need to install software on your tablet to do a nice streaming. I do that at home with my computer and Android Tablet

[Wylver]

Wireless streaming through wirlesess display or DLNA as Katagiri said.

Otherwise if you want to play your steam games there is the Steam Link (best if you have a gaming pc and a tv in another room), but I dont know if it does anything else outside of steam.

And instead of a cheap Chromecast clone, why not buy the original chromecast or get any of the TV boxes available at gearbest?

 

[Katagiri]

Almost forgot. Anyone with the simple thermal mod can post a picture?

Wylver, I ordered the materials you recommended, I just need to see how to use them, the video Chris made is with a more complex mod.

[Wylver]

I can’t recomment any materials for now since my tablet is still being delivered so I haven’t done any thermal mod yet.

I only listed some parts I want to use for my thermal mod, but my plans changed (again). xD

I’m not sure if the 20x20x1mm shim is to thick, will need to test it. I don’t want to put strain on the display by applying to much pressure. Perhaps i will use a thinner 20×20 shim instead, maybe 0,5 – 0,8mm. I will gladly keep anyone posted on it.

 

I am going to glue the copper shims to the heat spreader using thermal paste and glue instead of thermal adhesive.

I ordered a tube of Noctua NT-H1 thermal paste instead of the AC MX-4 because the Noctua is better and I got it cheaper, also I used the Noctua in my desktop PC and know it is easy to work with.

I will put 4 tiny spots of glue on the corners of the shim and apply thermal paste to the center and glue it to the heatspreader, alternatively you can also mix the thermal paste with glue and use it on the whole surface. I’m doing it this way now, since I’m expecting slightly better heat conductivity, but you can just use the thermal adhesive instead.

The thermal pad though will still be the same, a big blue pad 100x100x0,5mm with specified 5W/mk (even though i don’t believe any of these numbers at all).

 

I can take pictures of the mod when I do it if you are interested.

[Katagiri]

Thanks for your help!

According to Chris, the 20mm x 20mm x 1mm copper shim is OK, he talks about that here http://techtablets.com/2016/07/cube-i7-book-thermal-mod-time/

EDIT: I also changed my mind, I’ll only put the thermal pad on top of everything as suggested on the comments there, it’s less hassle.

[Author]

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