#PineNote

Long awaited restock
Back in stock - #PinePhone Pro, #PineNote, #Pinecil, #PineTime, #PinePower 64/ Dekstop as well as bundles and accessories:
- Devices: https://pine64eu.com/product-category/devices/
- Accessories: https://pine64eu.com/product-category/device-accessories/
- Bundles: https://pine64eu.com/product-category/bundles/

@ntnsndr
Are you happy with the default Xournal++ settings on the PineNote? I have tweaked them so much, am tempted to refresh, now that I have a sense of how they feel. I haven't found a good user community, for sharing things like config settings. Not sure what I think of the Pine64 forums. The wiki requires git submissions.

#pineNote #pine64 #xournal @pine64

@pocketvj seconded! Options for freedom-respecting software on e-paper powered devices is sorely lacking (though I'm glad projects like #PineNote are there to improve the situation)

@anders @aram

Tempted to buy a #Pine64 #PineNote... if only it had a keyboard case option.
Tempted to buy a Pine64 #PineTab 2... if only it had an EMR pen option.

XD

@aram
did some research since also in need of an #epaper... there is someone who is selling a hacked linux distro to run on the remarkable, but the comunity does not seem very open and its not worth to go this oneway road... all I could find so far is the #pinenote

@aram No it is not really interoperable. You cannot run #Zotero on it, for instance, and they purposefully don’t open up the API to permit it. I am waiting for the Firefox ARM release to instead get a #pinenote that can run Zotero. Thought Remarkable would be open, but it is sadly enough only #opencore.

@farooqkz

I was looking at BOOX for an e-paper-based laptop-like device, but then I learned that they withhold Linux kernel source code modifications in violation of the GPL, which turned me off from their brand.

Thinking about getting a #PineTab or #PineNote as a daily carry device, or possibly a #ClockWorkPi #uConsole as a handheld.

I had canceled all of my hardware purchase plans in light of the stupid #tariffs, but those now appear to be going away, hopefully, at least in the short term.

@killed2 @amin @sirber

Nice. I miss mine, now. I mean, I still have it, but it's in somewhat rough shape.

Tempted to get a pinetab 2. Also tempted to get a #PineNote, but that's more expensive, so the temptation is easier to resist. XD

PineNote Week Two mini-update. I'm just using the device now. It doesn't feel like a shiny new device anymore (post honeymoon) but I'm still enamored (to stretch the metaphor). I have been using it as a reading and writing device for the most part, single function at a time, and I'm quite happy with it.

I'm not really doing any application switching and using it as a full-Linux device (which it is)... BUT, I'm going away on a 5 day trip and considering just taking the PineNote (with a wireless keyboard) instead of a laptop. Maybe I should and report on that experience!? Bottom-line, that thought doesn't make me nervous (I'll get it on my Tailscale network and leave it without a lock-screen maybe? Taking suggestions!)

If you haven't seen the PineNote overview and rough edges videos, they still hold true after two weeks of usage. I don't generally worry about charging it day to day, aside from that still no other thoughts on battery yet.

#Pine64 #PineNote #FOSS #OpenHardware #Tailscale

The #PineNote is so cool... but 610€ is pricey for me... https://pine64.org/devices/pinenote/

@spyro this is an Arch based system that was configured by hrdl for the #PineNote.

Users interested can find instructions on installing it here: https://github.com/hrdl-github/pinenote-arch

I made another PineNote video to address the "rough edges" I mentioned in my previous video: https://makertube.net/w/w3MicEqLiVrpE1FcAvKKae
TL;DW: minor inconveniences, overcome by config and awareness.

Using PineNote as a "laptop" with a Bluetooth keyboard is probably the next thing I cover. Let me know what kinds of questions you might have around that use case.

#Pine64 #PineNote #FOSS #OpenHardware

https://files.hrdl.eu/pn_2025-03-20_sway_hints.mp4
Reposting this video here from community member Hrdl.

This video demos the improved display controller driver for the #pine64 #PineNote, which means goodbye to artifacting and welcome to automatic redrawing on a per pixel basis. As seen in the video, the display runs at a higher (and stable) 84Hz refresh rate than the stock 80Hz thanks to some tuning.

You can find the work Hrdl has been doing here: https://git.sr.ht/~hrdl/linux

I've been trying out running the PineNote at 100% scaling but with 2.25x font size with Noto Sans Bold. I think this might generally be a better experience but some icons in apps (Xournal++) and window control are kinda small. Not sure if I'll stick with it. But good thing is that the settings persist after a restart.

#Pine64 #PineNote

Spring Restock
Back in stock #PinePhone Pro, #PineNote, #Pinecil V2, #PineTime, #PineBuds Pro and more
-Devices: https://pine64eu.com/product-category/devices/
-Bundles: https://pine64eu.com/product-category/bundles/
-Accessories:https://pine64eu.com/product-category/device-accessories/

It came down to the wire but I did manage to finish a Week One PineNote video: https://makertube.net/w/cSDcWZVjFksZsxpPx5yo8j

@PINE64 has created an excellent device and the community around it is awesome, kind, and super helpful. There are rough edges for sure but it is totally usable out of the box and I'll go into application specific configuration in future posts/videos as long as people find this useful. Let me know what you'd like to see!

#Pine64 #PineNote #OpenHardware #OpenHardware #FOSS

I reflashed the PineNote back to stock with the latest image from January. Even though I had updated via apt update to the latest kernel and software patches, the device feels more delightfully responsive after the re-flash. I would recommend it if/when you get one, AFTER you back it up.

I had to go look look in multiple places for backup and flashing instructions and some of the instructions are for version 1 so they didn't line up exactly. I plan to upstream this into the documentation if they'll have it, but it's published in a 'gist' on Codeberg now, so feel free to check it out. I would love any feedback you have.

https://codeberg.org/shom/gists/src/branch/main/pinenote-backup-flashing.md

#Pine64 #PineNote

Made an outline for the PineNote video. I'm going to put together a "good enough" video so it actually gets done and I can make more videos to cover different aspects later.

I'm surprised by the amount of interest but I'm so excited to see that. I want to do my part of the Community Edition contribution by sharing all the info I can. Software development isn't the only way to contribute to FOSS!

#Pine64 #PineNote #OpenHardware #FOSS

PineNote - Day One, my first 24 hours with the device and my thoughts so far (most of the posts above and a few others items).

Next week: note-taking and portable thin client workloads.

#Pine64 #PineNote

PineNote Fedi Q&A

Thanks for the interest. There were some overlapping questions, I'm reviewing by category. I don't have answers for every question but I'll do my best and some of it will have to come later out of necessity. I'll be adding a link to a full blog post here soon™: (PineNote - Day One).

Linux Experience

This is a first-class Linux device, full on Debian Trixie with a full Gnome desktop with Pine specific packages that are pinned so they're not overridden by generic packages. The on-screen keyboard has been the only source of frustration. The display runs at 200% and the keyboard isn't optimized for that.

Display Rendering Modes

There's a handy widget to change the current display rendering modes based on what you're doing.

Grayscale: 16 levels of gray for best quality, slowest refresh, good for graphics.
DU4: 4 levels of grey, great for reading (text is very crisp).
B&W + Dither: best for fast refresh needs, writing, terminal, etc. still easy to read but display will feel lower res.
B&W and B&W invert: these exist but I haven't found them to be that useful for me yet.

Backlight

Wonderfully configurable from very dim to burn your retina. The white and the warm backlights can be controlled individually from the quick access, so you can create your own perfect color temperature. Genuinely delighted by this!

Applications

Terminal: Gnome Terminal, everything works great, touch typing hampered by on-screen keyboard but entirely good experience as a terminal with B&W + Dither mode.
Browser: Firefox, full install, works with plugins (only tried uBlock Origin).
Reader: KO Reader (more utilitarian) and Foliate (more UX polish) but both work great with epub and mobi, didn't try pdf much but it works. I will test annotation, marking, etc. later. It's a good eBook experience, I'm happy to say but as long you realize that it's not that small but definitely not heavy for its size and build quality.
Note-taking: Xournal++, works fine out of the box but can be improved with some community config. Haven't used the writing much, more on that in the future. Without config, totally usable but not a dream.
App Sources: Anything available in Debian Trixie and Flatpaks cab be enabled. I plan to test and use Flatpaks, will report back.
Sync: Syncthing built-in but I read people are also using NextCloud with it. Will test both in the future, might need a test NextCloud instance (if you want answers sooner).

Battery

Definitely not enough data to say. I've been poking and prodding the device most of the day and it has used about 30% of charge so that is very encouraging. Closing the folio case and opening it up again is almost instant response, which I love (was a big fear).
Speculation: The device must be doing some good battery management it seems since first launch of app after inactivity takes a bit to startup but is responsive after launch.

Peripherals

I have not connected Bluetooth devices yet, I plan to test it with Bluetooth mouse, keyboard, and headphones and report back in the utnext couple days.
Disclaimer based on very quick research: There's no USB-C dock functionality, the chip supports USB 3 PCIe,but the actual circuit out to USB-C connector is USB 2.0. There is no physical way for display mirroring (as in act as a external display) or multi-monitor support (as in extend/duplicate screen). But there are Gnome tools to achieve this, I'll play with them at some point.

Resources

On-device documentation shown on startup.
Great blog post with device overview and links to resources.
@carbonatedcaffeine's YouTube Channel demo and tutorials.
Community developed Debian image that is shipping on device.

Thanks for asking

@MrMozz, @chris, @tdback

@PINE64 I haven't tagged you on every single reply/post but I did want to make you aware in case I misrepresented anything, I'd be happy to correct any factual errors.

#Pine64 #PineNote #OpenHardware #FOSS