The GPD Win 2 is a $649 handheld gaming laptop

[Polycount]

Until recently, the mobile gaming market had largely been dominated by Nintendo and PlayStation's handheld consoles, the DS and Vita respectively. Though these devices certainly have their place in the industry, they've never been touted as the best way to run the latest games, given their hardware and small size.

However, with the release of the Nvidia Shield and the Nintendo Switch, it's clear that handheld consoles don't necessarily have to be restricted to running only less-demanding, console-exclusive titles. The Switch alone has recently seen ports of both Doom and Skyrim, with a Wolfenstein II port expected to launch sometime this year.

Aside from major industry players, smaller companies are also breaking into the handheld gaming market. China-based GPD is one such example, with the goal of launching a handheld that can pack the power of a gaming laptop into a device roughly the size of a Nintendo DS. The device, dubbed the "GPD Win 2," is currently being crowdfunded via Indiegogo. As of writing, the device has raised $933,437 of its initial, less ambitious $100,000 goal.

As far as specs go, the Win 2 will run on Windows 10 with "6-8 hours of battery life" and a 6" 1280x720p display. It will also have 8GB of RAM, a 128GB "replaceable" SSD and an Intel HD 615 GPU. The campaign page claims that the device will be capable of running GTA V on maximum settings at 38fps, Skyrim with an average of 53fps and Overwatch at 80 FPS. Though these numbers may seem to be aiming a bit high for a portable console, YouTuber "The Phawx" has largely confirmed them by testing out a prototype Win 2 across a number of different games.

If you want to grab a Win 2 for yourself, you can pre-order the device via its Indiegogo campaign page for $649 - an apparent discount from its regular $899 price. GPD hopes to ship out their first Win 2 devices sometime in May 2018.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/72752-gpd-win-2-649-handheld-gaming-laptop.html

 

[liammac002]

It's too bad they couldn't squeeze in something like the Nvidia MX150, that'd really make it a portable gaming PC. But I can definitely understand why that wasn't possible.

 

[cldmstrsn]

This is easily my next phone. Running all those emulators on it making it the ultimate handheld. Yes please.

 

[ranim]

I thought UMPCs died a long a time ago. Anyway, nice specs for a UMPC. Comes with a typical UMPC price too.

So many lies on that Indiegogo page in terms of playable games. Seems like if a game installs, GPD claims the Win 2 can "play" it. Yeah, at super low settings and FPS.

I wonder how many units they need to sell to start making a profit on this. I'm guessing 100,000 units. Too bad the pre-orders slowed down a lot after just 1,000.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

I think the keyboard is the kiss of death here.

I think a handheld makes more sense when designed more like the PS Vita/ Nintendo Switch.

Dual Analog sticks with a D-pad and action buttons.

Drop the keyboard and make typing an onscreen affair like we've done with our tablets for so long.

Mini HDMI - out, Bluetooth/ USB connectivity for keyboards/ Mouse/ Printers, etc.

Windows 10.

You should be able to fold the screen and use it like a PC tower.

256GB should be the minimum SSD for something like this.

 

[amghwk]

IMHO, for that price, a Windows tablet will serve the purpose better... like the Dell Venue Pro series. (But they may not be in production anymore, but new old stock might still be available, in addition to used and refurbished ones.)

But I admit, this will be a great device for playing emulators, including PSOne games via ePSXe.

 

[GeforcerFX]

I like my GPD Win (the first one) it's weird having a full windows computer that small and still being that form factor. I was really interested in the Pandora UMPC back in high school it was just way out of reach for me price wise, I ended up getting a refurbished HP jornada 720, loved that thing, this finally game me back the pocket PC aspect that I had with the Jornada. But it's 100 times better at gaming, it was designed for it. I like the improvements they made on the win 2, just to far out of my price range. I would have preferred they did a simpler processor upgrade to keep the price around $500 when retail like the win 1 is. But they sold 7,000 of the GPD Pocket UMPC for close the same price as the kickstarter price on the win 2.

 

[koblongata]

It's too bad they couldn't squeeze in something like the Nvidia MX150, that'd really make it a portable gaming PC. But I can definitely understand why that wasn't possible.

I was hoping for a successor using Raven Ridge, but then that would be 15W as oppose to 7W of the Core M3... might be a challenge to fit in GPD WIN's dimension and weight...

There are no foreseeable super low wattage CPUs with integrated graphics from both Intel and AMD this year or even the next... Core M3 7Gen seems to be the best choice for the time being...

 

[koblongata]

I think the keyboard is the kiss of death here.

I think a handheld makes more sense when designed more like the PS Vita/ Nintendo Switch.

Dual Analog sticks with a D-pad and action buttons.

Drop the keyboard and make typing an onscreen affair like we've done with our tablets for so long.

Mini HDMI - out, Bluetooth/ USB connectivity for keyboards/ Mouse/ Printers, etc.

Windows 10.

You should be able to fold the screen and use it like a PC tower.

256GB should be the minimum SSD for something like this.

Hmm... interesting, you should launch an indiegogo campaign... to me though the hardware keyboard made all the difference, I can type quite fast and comfortably on it without much typos, being able to glide through keys and feel it under your fingertips is really important for efficient typing... and then the left/right joysticks for mouse movement and scrolling design is really usable too, it's really quite good for a lot of general computer usage.. I use it a lot, more than my desktop sometimes I have to say...