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What the hell do I have?!
- Thread starter rwh63
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You need to see my branded 2in1 "Pioneer W11" PC, has a whopping 2GB Ram, Atom CPU, eMMC drive, it dual boots into Android 4. But it still runs latest W10 like a champ 
Same form factor as an 11" MacBook Air, but weighs way more, like a 14" MBP and has an oddly very ThinkPad like keyboard. It charged by micro–USB B, such weird machine...
Don't use it for much but is always fun to see peoples face when they pick it up as is this thing is heavy, dense like lead LOL.
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Same form factor as an 11" MacBook Air, but weighs way more, like a 14" MBP and has an oddly very ThinkPad like keyboard. It charged by micro–USB B, such weird machine...Don't use it for much but is always fun to see peoples face when they pick it up as is this thing is heavy, dense like lead LOL.
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thank for replying, i think! any idea how i can find out more about it? did it ever see production? can't find much googling.
Similar to my Pioneer, no idea as it seems to be a very limited product. Some prototypes make it to market out the backdoor. Think that this Pioneer was very country specific or again a prototype. I just updated W10 and left it to charge.
I bought it in 2016 in a local shop as needed to transition to Windows 10, was just a cheap option on the day to learn the OS. Despite its low price & spec, it's massively over engineered. It has one of the best, if not the best KB I've used on a portable, it puts ThinkPad's to shame. Its shell is absurdly strong, best guess is Carbon Steel as it so heavy.
I think this Pioneer was a limited release to the general public in a specific region. But was still a prototype, can update the OS, but if you update the drivers, it goes haywire, and you need to roll it back which is a royal PIA as it has numerous disk partitions.
I've worked in the engineering field for decades; this Pioneer PC has prototype stamped all over it. While being functional, it's very far from being user friendly with a touchpad that can drive you to insanity...
I'll post some pics soon.
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It may or may not recover, much depends on the charge state and environment it was stored in. My 11 year old 15" MBP battery is groaning a little, but no swelling so no concerns. When it's done, I'll either replace or rebuild the battery pack.
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i didn't try to open it; i just observed that when i unplugged the power, the screen was still on, so must have an internal battery.
not sure what do do with this pair. was going to resell, but can't find any info to guide me. i don't even know who made them.
not sure what do do with this pair. was going to resell, but can't find any info to guide me. i don't even know who made them.
Likely a prototype. Think my Pioneer is the same as it's stupidly heavy and has something like 20 disk partitions! Don't want to mess with it too much as it works really well for such a low spec PC. But what I do know is not to mess with its drivers as they are very specific.
If I do a fresh install of W10 just kills it, and then I have to do a full disk restore to get it back up and running.
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Pioneer commercialised W11 version
![1148261-dc01c217fa5c5486511e00dc2b8d4c4c.jpg]()
![1148265-a0e5e24b7be13026780bd68425ec99e6.jpg]()
![1148262-0687c226bbfcb583a83cd064e612c3ef.jpg]()
Mine is far heavier and has a very different KB that's to die for, think like ThinkPad but way better...
KB has superb throw and tactility. This PC sleeps for years with seemingly no degradation...
Mine is far heavier and has a very different KB that's to die for, think like ThinkPad but way better...
KB has superb throw and tactility. This PC sleeps for years with seemingly no degradation...
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What time period is it?Commercialised W11 version
![1148261-dc01c217fa5c5486511e00dc2b8d4c4c.jpg]()
![1148265-a0e5e24b7be13026780bd68425ec99e6.jpg]()
![1148262-0687c226bbfcb583a83cd064e612c3ef.jpg]()
Mine is far heavier and has a very different KB to die for, think like ThinkPad but better...
Is that side slot the right size for a credit card?
This seems to use similar design language:
Those images are dated 2007 and marked as Via Web Pad Design 2, so if your date code means November 2006, it fits...
Bought it in 2016, to all intents and purposes as new. As said most amusing to see people's face if they pick it up and it tends to draw attention due to the branding. I should weigh it, but it's heavier than both of my Intel & Apple Silicon 13" MB's. A strange beast indeed, even with W10 Pro it only runs 75-80 processes.
Given its low spec it runs surprisingly well, but I don't mess with it too much as from experience will just break it. That said it doesn't crash, runs basic app's without issue, worse aspect is the touchpad as it has no click, has its own wonky logic to drive it. Has an incredibly annoying flashing charging LED built into the display bezel and unlike most Windows portables it doesn't care if on or off the mains it just runs at full speed.
It's real picky with chargers, most simply don't work with it. Original charger can power, but no longer charges? if that makes any sense, its charger is branded as D-Link which makes even less sense. Dug through the junk draw and found a Samsung tablet charger that works
Touchpad will drive you to insanity, thankfully it has BT & USB A on the KB for a mouse. It was dirt cheap and did what I needed it to do in the day...
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good observation. a card does fit in, and the symbol is similar to the chip symbol. the screen does mention financial something. so, this is some type of payment processor? also has several usb ports and headphone/microphone jacks.
That date code is YYMMDD, i.e. November 6th, 2000. Or maybe YYDDMM, i.e. June 11th, 2000.
It uses an NSC Geode CPU and runs Linux. The CPU would also fit in very well with it being having been made in 2000.
The device in that image runs Windows Me, which was released in September 2000. So the device was likely released in 2000 or 2001. This patent application from 2001 mentions it.
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So, it would have wireless ability and portability to roam a store and takes payments anywhere on the floor, like they do with iPads today?
You said your unit has a dial-up modem. Does it look like something that would be simple (or convenient) to use "anywhere on the floor"?
Wouldn't you need display unit, keyboard, AND the modem? Likely would need to have some kind of cart.
You said it appears to have a battery.
The keyboard seems to have a lot of dedicated keys for a variety of functions, but nothing is obvious to show any relation to wifi. Wouldn't you have to connect the modem to some convenient phone line, each time you would need to use it?
The other information presented in the patent application shows a device designed to be used in a production environment, not as a POS for use in a retail store. Maybe I am misinterpreting that?
Wouldn't you need display unit, keyboard, AND the modem? Likely would need to have some kind of cart.
You said it appears to have a battery.
The keyboard seems to have a lot of dedicated keys for a variety of functions, but nothing is obvious to show any relation to wifi. Wouldn't you have to connect the modem to some convenient phone line, each time you would need to use it?
The other information presented in the patent application shows a device designed to be used in a production environment, not as a POS for use in a retail store. Maybe I am misinterpreting that?
i'll have to get back to you later. the screen does display a keyboard as well, ands each comes with a plastic stylus. the top slot may be for a wifi card?
This device is a "Web Pad" (as it says), i.e. an early tablet computer designed to provide wireless internet access. These devices were tossed around a lot in ≈2000/2001 but didn't really catch on. Other devices that fall into this category are the Pepper Pad or SIMpad.
One of the device's slots is a PCMCIA slot. This slot can be used for a Bluetooth card, WiFi adapter, or basically anything that is available in that form factor (ethernet, modem, flash memory cards, ...).
The device has an on-screen keyboard. And the modem is only required if you don't have wireless internet, which this kind of device was specifically designed to leverage.
The patent application shows one way of using the device. But it's basically a full-blown x86 computer running Linux. It will run Windows if you need it to. So it can be used for pretty much anything. It's like a laptop with a touchscreen but without keyboard and mouse.
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