Talk me out of a Cube i7 sale $294

[Chris G]

Depends how long you want the device? Do you change each year ? If you want it for the long term and If you can afford to I would still go for the SP4, that screen, support and build are far superior to the cheap i7 book. Of course, it all comes at a cost and the Surface Pro 4 isn’t cheap.

And the i7 Book isn’t perfect if you saw my review, but I have added a 256GB SSD to mine, fixed the thermals and now with anniversary update the palm rejection is perfect. And DXF audio enhancer has improved the speakers a little. I think it’s a great 10.6″ machine. Sold my i9 to keep it until the Xiaomi Notebook Air or the next best Chinese Core M3.

Chris | Admin
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[Sing Along]

Just got my i7 book from a aliexpress seller, received in 7 days.

I owned a surface 3 as well and theses are my thoughts on the 2 of them.

The cube is well built and feel solid. benchmarks are as what chris has mentioned in his review. The cube is noticeablely faster than the surface 3 when it comes to opening programs and renedering webpages. However, even with a 33% battery larger than the surface 3, battery life is terrible  compared to the surface 3 when doing the same task load. For usual office tasks, I get roughly 5 hours for the cube while I get  9 hours for surface 3. These are tasks that both tablet can do very well. For rendering tasks that uses up all available cores, the cube has the same speed / output as the surface 3 but last only 2 -3 hours while the surface lasts 4 – 5 hours. If not for the darn emmc in the surface, I would be using it. (I need ram and pagefile is the only way I can get it)

For the keyboard, it is quite irritating that it can only tilt to 120 degree. I am propping in up underneath with a pack of tissue to get 5 – 10 degree more. In terms of weight, the surface and the cube is okay for commute but not for holding for long as a tablet unless you are cradling it.

In terms of overall package weight ( keyboard + tablet), the cube is way too heavy compared to the surface. If there is a good type cover with a kick stand that is not too heavy, I will switch over in an instant. If you are concerned about weight and is able to sell out 60% more budget, get a asus instead.

Else I am pretty much satisfied with this tablet..

Will look at changing the ssd and put in a thermal pad this weekend. wish me luck hehe.

And special thanks to chris for this great recommendation.

 

 

[quasimodoz]

GPS?

I tried  – unseccessfully- to find specs of the Cube i7 book to find out if GPS is integrated in this device. Can anybody answer this question?

I’m looking for a 2in1 with core i3 or i5 WITH GPS an if  possible with a backlit keyboard. Any hint?

 

 

[Chris G]

Hi, it doesn’t have GPS.

Chris | Admin
Please support us and help keep TechTablets online. Affiliate revenue is used to pay for the server, studio apartment (Techtablets HQ) and buy new tech to review. Without it, this site would be dead.
Next up for review:
Ordered and waiting for my: BMAX S15 & Teclast F6 Plus
Currently testing: LG G8X & Redmi K30

[Sing Along]

Juts tape a small gps receiver to the laptop?

[Paul]

I have got a Bluetooth GPS but amazingly Windows 10 does not have a simple solution to use this GPS with mapping – does anyone know how it can be done please ?

I have managed to poll it and get a single Lat & Long but as to integrating it with W10 no luck at all

 

 

[Arga Firmansyah]

Buy a USB gps, open the case and solder it inside the cube using a USB hub…

[Paul]

Thanks Arga F but that is way past my pay grade with my brand new book. Maybe when it gets a bit older 🙂

For now all I want is to find how to integrate the Bluetooth GPS (which the book can see) with any mapping software or apps. I just cannot understand why this should be so hard as Android devices use GPS in so many ways and yet Windows 10 it appears nowt !

 

[Author]

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