GPD P3 Max Wishlist - A Possible Successor to P2 Max

I am not sure if its too early to discuss this topic. But this could be a space where we can express our wish list in order to perfect the successor to P2 Max, if in case there exists a plan for GPD to come up with the next in line up, at a later point of time. I am starting with my own wish list below and trending items in the thread can be added to this first post.

  • The ultra-book’s size profile in length and width should not change
  • A bigger battery around 45 Watt Hr to be squeezed into the same profile, or slightly thicker profile
  • Thinner screen bezels (like the Dell XPS) making the screen size about just less than 10 inches
  • A non touch screen 10 inch 1080p (Full HD) AMOLED display option, since this would be a battery saver. A 1080p is more than sufficient for a 10 inch display and would be sharp enough for naked eye.
  • Mildly back-lit keyboard. Its enough for a mild back-lighting in order to save battery and avoid heat.
  • Larger numeric keys matching the size of the existing alphabetic keys
  • Camera on the top bezel (like the new Dell XPS)
  • And additional USB Type C port instead of the existing HDMI port
  • Gorilla glass on the display
  • A better functional touch pad as the current one sucks
  • A keyboard layout with Alt Key and Window Key swapped
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A few observations about the keyboard:

· The integration of the function keys to the numbers keys is pretty smart, but I’d rather have had shorter keys overall to maintain a thin row of actual function keys.

· I wish WASD was lined up better. Gaming is hard.

· It really, really should have had a backlit keyboard, especially with how many common pieces of punctuation and math functions are hidden in unusual places.

As for the rest of the device:

· $700+ is too expensive for the level of performance.

· Not including a Micro SD slot was pretty lazy.

· The high resolution makes for a super-sharp display, but with the little screen size, it feels wonky.

· It could be about an inch bigger in each direction, still fit my needs for portability, and allow for a better keyboard layout.

· A bigger fan could move the same amount of air at a lower RPM and be a lot quieter, although the fan noise is largely addresses in the 0.21 BIOS.

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  • I agree that a 1080p screen would be just fine at that size!
  • Yeah, the touch screen is more of a gimic for me, not a must.
  • Personally, I also don’t really need a camera that much.
  • And the finger touch sensor is very nice, but not a must for me, if it saves money…
  • Please a quieter fan :slight_smile: or make it possible to turn it off.
  • The recent keyboard is not very programmer friendly, but maybe that’s just me or too much of a fringe use case.

So far, I liked the keyboard of the first “GPD Pocket” the most, for one reason: the most useless key, and one of the biggest keys on any keyboard, the Caps Lock, was very small on the Pocket! I don’t get why Caps Lock is always the biggest key on most keyboard layouts…

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Are there any more inputs to this thread from other users please. Let’s provide GPD with the top checklist at an earlier stage for them to know the major items.

Most of my wishes have been mentioned. Semi-passive cooling, webcam at the top, back-lit keyboard, extra USB-C output, larger battery even if it means a thicker device.

A bios with more options would be nice. There’s almost nothing to configure in this bios (most notably fan-curves).

And a wider choice in color options :slight_smile:

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I want more keys. Coding or just using a shell with such a limited keyboard is painful. I need at least -, = and ; as unshifted keys. I can get used to awkward placement, but having to shift to get those is a pita.

The vaio P keyboard + rubstick is a reference.

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  1. I love the touch screen, in combination with TouchZoomDesktop (Windows only. Ignore the pricing. That’s for Tablet Pro. Download the TZD tool for free). That utility lets me zoom in on a section of the desktop and scroll around with my finger.

  2. I like the fingerprint sensor. It’s so convenient for logging in. Without it, I would have enabled auto login like I have with my desktop, and that’s a security no-no on a laptop. But repeated entries of a long ass password with hyphens on this keyboard?

  3. I like the form factor, and the weight. It’s got an elegant design that’s an instant eye catcher.

  4. More visible legends for the Fn functions, please, if you don’t want to use backlighting. I have no issues with the primary legends.

  5. Swap Win and Alt. I’ve already done this in Windows and physically swapped the keys, but that has led to a moment of confusion a couple of times already when trying to Ctrl-Alt-Del. I guess my muscle memory hasn’t been trained yet.

  6. WASD is servicable but could be better.

  7. Where’s INS?

  8. I have no need for a webcam, but I can understand that many do. At least include a privacy cover.

  9. Sell different color keycaps. Although I haven’t tried them yet, those stickers don’t look like they’ll last long.

  10. For the amount of times I use a memory card (2x a week, if that… and that’s on my desktops), I’ve got my USB-C hub and numerous high speed card readers.

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All the comments above covers some great ideas. I’ll also add:

I’d like to see a nice AMD CPU GPU combo in the next unit. I love Intel but even I have to admit AMD wins the low end low power CPU GPU combo wars while still being able to play games better than the low end Intel stuff.

Also, for the love of God make sure the USB Type-A ports are right side up next time! The upside down ports on the P2 Max can be a pain with some devices. The fraction of a mm that was probably saved by mounting them upside down is not worth it.

A fully compatible HDR screen would be nice too. The P2 Max screen is only compatible with HDR streaming video, not HDR apps or games for whatever reason.

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This! Using yubikeys is so annoying.

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I personally love the GPD win Max. Somehow, i do love thumb typing on gpd win 2 more.I work in sales, and this device is a life-saver.
I would like, a right shift key and a larger touch pad.Backlit keyboard and a 360 degree hinge. A Thunderbolt 3 usb c port instead of the HDMI port, on the right side.
Thinner bezels and a larger screen is welcome, with a web cam (with privacy shutter) on top.
There is bit of space near both sides of the touchpad, where some buttons can be moved.
I might be the only one with the opinion , that the device is too thin,and the corners dig in to the finger while trying to type like the win 2. I currently, rubber pads (furniture dampener) to bypass this and provide grip.

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My list:

  • keyboard design that does not suck. P2Max is a failure. Hire somebody who has good experience in the field. Crappy keyboard is a major turnoff
  • better energy efficiency - idle (static) power consumption is too high. Pocket2 is much better
  • get rid of the fingerprint gimmick, unneeded cost and power consumption
  • a dedicated or a Fn layer button for turning the fan completely off, like Pocket2
  • make a difference - provide a BIOS that is not crappy for a change. Work with the users to polish the remaining bugs

Optional:

  • place USB A ports the normal way

Very optional:

  • provide a matte screen with less PPI and almost no bezel. 1280x800 would be fine. Now I know this is not going to happen, the market for screens is limited and I guess GPD don’t have much choice here - they just use whatever tablet screen leftovers are there and then build computer around them
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With most of the above comments, it seems like the ideal display resolution wished by most people should be a HD or maximum a Full HD and not more than that, and a better layout of keyboard.

I’m reading a lot of hate about the P2 Max here witch I don’t fully understand. There really isn’t any other 9" ish laptop out there. Not any nearly as good anyway. With that said here is my 2 cents;

What I dislike about the P2 Max I want changed;

  1. The webcam location is garbage. This has been proven many times with laptops from other manufacturers. Put the webcam ABOVE the monitor or don’t have one at all.

  2. Drop the micro HDMI. I have never used this once and prefer to just use a USB C adapter/hub/dock that has HDMI than to use this filmy connector.

  3. As mentioned by many others here the ALT and Windows keys should just be swapped by default. I have run into many games that don’t recognize Right ALT as ALT only Left ALT and in many cases its not rebindable.

  4. The keyboard needs 10 key rollover.

  5. The Wi-Fi range is a bit junk and I’m not sure why that is. My phone can get reception in places where the P2 Max can not.

  6. I don’t know about others but I have had this firmware bug that makes it so I have to force power off the system in order to boot it. Its like the final power cut sent from the OS is not being executed. Does not matter what OS is used.

  7. I have also had a strange problem with Bluetooth. Don’t know if its a hardware problem and if so from wear and tear or just a flaw or if its a driver issue but it likes to think the Bluetooth USB connection gets repeatedly plugged in and unplugged even though its an embedded USB link…

Other than what I have just listed I fell the P2 Max is a perfectly usable system.

With that all said things I would like changed are as follows;

  • A more square body design. Think iPhone 12 like. I don’t care for in the slightest about this tapered edge on the front half of the laptop body. I would prefer it to just be a box with rounded corners and a flat bottom and top. This would also give more internal space.

  • Windows Hello Webcam ABOVE monitor over the thumbprint scanner. I’m a Network Engineer and I use my P2 Max as a field machine quite often and I have gloves on much of the time as well during the winter.

  • As stated above. Drop the Micro HDMI. I would prefer to have a second USB C port. My ideal port selection would be one USB A and C on each side preferably the left USB C also being Thunderbolt. A 3.5mm headphone on the left. and a micro SD card slot on the right.

  • Backlight keyboard with the obvious ability to turn the lights off with a keyboard FN function. It would also be nice to have the WASD more aligned as others have stated but meh.

  • Of course the usual CPU upgrade please, 4 cores 4-8 threads? Intel XE iGPU would also be nice.

  • CAPS LOCK LED

Things I think should not change;

  • The screen. I like the screen of the P2 Max a lot with my only complaint being the gloss finish witch I understand because its a touch screen. With that said I feel the minimum screen resolution if the screen where to change would be 1080p. It would be nice if the screen borders where smaller but there good enough. The screen to body ratio is way above par for sub 13" laptops as is.

  • I actually like the trackpad on the P2 Max. (at least after they updated it to use the MS precision drivers) The only issue I have had with it is very rarely it will pickup both left and right click when clicking.

  • Please don’t make the laptop bigger. Keep it a 9" laptop. If it where to get bigger I would just jump ship to like the Razer Blade stealth 13’ with a GTX 1650. The laptop size IS its main selling point.

As my final remarks I would like to say that I typed this entire thing on my P2 Max. The P2 Max simply has not equivalent at the moment. As in a traditional laptop style without joysticks and the like that is not like 10 years old. I very commonly use my P2 Max to stream heavy games from desktop using an open source NV Gamestream client called Moonlight and it works amazingly well and I can actually take advantage of the 1600p display that way. I do wish the USB A ports would be right side up but it does not bother me that much actually. It would also be nice to have more power budget at least while wired for the USB devices. I have had times when using a USB HDD and USB ODD where I overload the USB power bus and the devices disconnected from system. I LOVE my P2 Max and cant wait for a new unit in the line.

2nd for 11inch format
Loved my HP Elitebook 2540P Same size as a sheet of paper , was not upgradable to Win10 though and the Sata1 performance killed it.

GPD Key board is not bad for feel - Backlight really should have been included for this price. If not a keyboard backlight a pop out LED on the top of the screen bezel to light the keyboard. Sucks that I have to tilt the screen tword me to see the keyboard lables.
Performance is great for me. not a heavy gamer. Resolution is actually way higher than needed.

Maybe try the wider than tall format in the new designs like the Sony VAIO P’s series. That was a sexy laptop. Screamed hacker sleek . The 21:9 movie screen aspect ratio is what’s being used for self built hacker pads.
Unfortunately the VAIO P Series was cripplingly underpowered for it’s time or they would have sold a lot more. The form factor was right but performance was not. They still sell on Ebay because it’s that sexy …

Well, It looks like the upcoming GPD Pocket 3 is almost EXACTLY what I was wanting and more! Though one other things that I forgot to mention in my previous post is that I constantly store the P2 Max in cargo pant packets, fits like a charm witch is nice for wondering around with a computer.