WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.440 This laptop from Ace Magic spent over two years buried in our warehouse. Why 00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:10.560 are we making a video about it today? Well, because I was digging through our 00:00:08.360 --> 00:00:16.440 warehouse looking for interesting stuff and I pulled this out of the sleeve and 00:00:12.120 --> 00:00:19.000 I went Woah! That is so cool. How did we 00:00:16.440 --> 00:00:24.520 never make a video about this? Look at this thing. Double your pleasure, double 00:00:21.280 --> 00:00:26.320 your fun. The craziest part is it's not 00:00:24.520 --> 00:00:31.440 even really thicker than a normal laptop. Here's my daily driver. Okay, in 00:00:28.680 --> 00:00:36.320 fairness, the PX13 is probably about 10 times more powerful, but let's have a 00:00:33.800 --> 00:00:42.040 look at what comes with the Ace Magic. Ah, yes, cardboard, my favorite. Mmm, 00:00:40.040 --> 00:00:47.400 second cardboard. Cardboard with treats. That is one thick 00:00:44.920 --> 00:00:51.360 manual. Decoration. Vent. All right, I'm an expert now. We 00:00:50.040 --> 00:00:56.120 also get a power adapter, which is really important either because it was sitting in our warehouse for two years 00:00:54.680 --> 00:01:00.400 or because it was degraded in the first place, but we're only getting about 50% 00:00:58.560 --> 00:01:04.360 of what Ace Magic said we should get in terms of battery life. Actually, before 00:01:02.280 --> 00:01:09.200 we charge it, now seems like a good time to have a look at the IO. We've got a 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:13.960 type-C port that is just for charging, type-C port that'll do data as well as 00:01:11.600 --> 00:01:19.440 display out, and along this side we've got this incredible looking hinge 00:01:16.720 --> 00:01:22.200 mechanism that probably looks cooler than it ends up being, but we'll get to 00:01:20.880 --> 00:01:27.920 that in a moment. On the right, we get an HDMI port. This will do HDMI 2.0 as 00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:33.080 well as a USB 5 gigabit per second port, another speaker, and that's about all 00:01:30.680 --> 00:01:37.400 you get for IO. As the documentation helpfully pointed out, this is vent and 00:01:35.240 --> 00:01:42.160 you will need that vent because in its shipping configuration this device was 00:01:39.320 --> 00:01:47.160 configured to only draw a maximum of 30 watts and a baseline of about 15 watts 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:53.040 leading to performance that would be best described as pathetic compared to 00:01:49.680 --> 00:01:55.680 anything even remotely modern, and while 00:01:53.040 --> 00:01:59.360 we were able to tune the BIOS to allow the CPU to draw more power, we found 00:01:57.720 --> 00:02:04.000 that this area up here, which contains the buttons to configure the secondary 00:02:01.120 --> 00:02:07.000 display, got so hot that it was painful to the touch. Hey, now that we've got it 00:02:05.720 --> 00:02:11.400 cracked open, we can take a look at this. We've got a fingerprint sensor 00:02:08.759 --> 00:02:17.840 including power button. We've got these buttons right here, which A B glasses 00:02:14.880 --> 00:02:23.959 and multitask do something with the secondary display. We've got decoration. 00:02:21.240 --> 00:02:28.120 Stay hungry, stay foolish. Apparently, Steve Jobs said it. Anyway, we've got a 00:02:26.360 --> 00:02:32.800 little tip sticker here. For faster setup, avoid Wi-Fi or LAN initially. 00:02:30.760 --> 00:02:38.120 Connecting might trigger long updates delaying desktop access. Okay. 00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:41.120 That is actually some solid advice. Not normally, normally I mean, Microsoft 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:45.760 actually requires you to have an internet connection to set up Windows unless you go through a bunch of hoops. 00:02:43.880 --> 00:02:50.280 But on this device, even though it's got a 12th gen Core i7, 00:02:48.200 --> 00:02:54.000 so perfectly cromulent modern processor, we found that in its stock BIOS 00:02:52.200 --> 00:03:00.120 configuration, it throttled down as low as 4 100 MHz. So, yeah, it was 00:02:58.520 --> 00:03:03.640 absolutely painful waiting around for Windows 00:03:02.120 --> 00:03:08.320 updates. Now, you might think, well, surely Linus then that resulted in 00:03:05.560 --> 00:03:11.959 really truly excellent battery life. No, not so much. Even if the battery had 00:03:10.239 --> 00:03:15.440 operated at 100% capacity, we'd have been looking at about 4 to 5 hours of 00:03:13.840 --> 00:03:18.880 battery life in our maximum endurance configuration, which is not amazing. So, 00:03:17.480 --> 00:03:26.400 why am I bothering to make a video about it? Go ahead, give it the zoom. Ah, yes. 00:03:23.840 --> 00:03:30.360 I feel productive already. You know what's really productive? Telling you 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:34.440 about our sponsor. We here at LMG love tax season. It's basically our Christmas 00:03:32.519 --> 00:03:39.560 just with more snow. That's why we want to help you help us with some tax 00:03:37.160 --> 00:03:44.280 write-offs with some great LTT Store deals. Mystery screwdrivers, mystery 00:03:42.040 --> 00:03:47.519 water bottles, mystery shirts, even things like open-box commuter backpacks. 00:03:46.600 --> 00:03:52.920 There's even going to be some third-party goodies for you folks to snag as well. Really, we're just digging 00:03:51.200 --> 00:03:57.160 into the treasure trove that is the forgotten aisles of the warehouse. So, 00:03:55.320 --> 00:04:00.640 grab yourself a water bottle. Shucks, it's giving season. Grab one for your 00:03:58.640 --> 00:04:04.240 friends, too. Save some money on LTT Store products by helping us write them 00:04:02.720 --> 00:04:09.640 off at the links below or at lttstore.com. Time to experience this 00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:13.560 thing. Let's start with a quick notepad. Can't open this app. Uh, 00:04:11.440 --> 00:04:17.560 that's a new one. Just so you guys know, I don't really detect that flicker with 00:04:15.480 --> 00:04:22.480 my eyes in person. That doesn't mean it's not there. Okay. Advanced options. 00:04:22.880 --> 00:04:26.800 Okay. It launched. 00:04:27.760 --> 00:04:34.360 The keyboard is fine. I love the look of this hinge. It's so cool. I do worry 00:04:32.320 --> 00:04:37.680 that never mind getting a little bit of dust or moisture in there. You could get 00:04:35.880 --> 00:04:42.960 like a whole sandwich lodged in that hinge. But, oh, that's a cool potential 00:04:41.160 --> 00:04:46.760 use case for it. You could have a display on the front and a display on 00:04:44.880 --> 00:04:50.160 the back. So, they make the argument that you might sit in a coffee shop 00:04:48.320 --> 00:04:53.360 sharing a presentation with your boss sitting here across from you, for 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:57.960 instance. Of course, if we want to do that, we're going to have to get that screen turned on. [music] Sorry, I keep 00:04:56.280 --> 00:05:01.720 getting distracted. The keyboard is not amazing. Um, 00:04:59.880 --> 00:05:05.680 perfectly functional, but boy, is that ever a lot of deck flex. Also, this may 00:05:03.560 --> 00:05:08.720 be the worst right shift position that I have ever seen. 00:05:07.198 --> 00:05:13.840 >> [laughter] >> Across the arrow key. No. Keyboards were 00:05:11.760 --> 00:05:17.880 invented by people who are much smarter than you. Don't reinvent them. It's 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:22.520 quiet. I lied, it's not that quiet. As soon as I launched task manager, this 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:25.680 the fan started ramping. Let's play around with the gimmick. 00:05:24.400 --> 00:05:31.480 B. Why the hell would you ever want that? 00:05:29.040 --> 00:05:37.360 Okay, I'll bite. Maybe I'm a gamer and I want to sit just ever so slightly closer 00:05:33.960 --> 00:05:39.880 to my screen. It was a touch screen. 00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:44.240 Um, yeah. Yeah, if it Wait. Oh, for crying out 00:05:41.880 --> 00:05:48.760 loud. You can't just like use it as a tablet. A, because it's not a touch 00:05:46.560 --> 00:05:53.048 screen, and B, because it will just go to sleep even though one of the displays 00:05:50.880 --> 00:05:56.040 is totally open. Hey Adam, have you ever [clears throat] thought that your laptop 00:05:54.800 --> 00:06:00.760 is just you know, 12 in shy of being exciting? 00:05:58.920 --> 00:06:05.120 No, not really. Oh, right. You have this but not stupid. 00:06:03.160 --> 00:06:08.760 I guess you're not that jealous. All right. Well, I guess it's time for us to 00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:11.200 try the other buttons. Boop. 00:06:12.280 --> 00:06:17.840 Okay. If I was sitting like this, I 00:06:15.280 --> 00:06:21.280 wouldn't want this way out flat because if we're being honest, the viewing 00:06:19.320 --> 00:06:24.880 angles on these screens not amazing. So, you can see it's 00:06:23.320 --> 00:06:29.560 reasonably bright from the front. We ended up getting anywhere from mid to 00:06:26.800 --> 00:06:34.000 high 200s to low 300 nits for both of them. They were, in spite of reporting 00:06:31.640 --> 00:06:38.000 as being the same panel, quite different in terms [music] of their performance 00:06:35.800 --> 00:06:41.919 for brightness, which was weird. Same color gamut. 00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:46.960 Horrible. Worst we've seen in years. Like, less than 70% of sRGB. Freaking 00:06:44.960 --> 00:06:50.840 wild. Uh, but they do this weird thing. See, it's quite bright 00:06:48.600 --> 00:06:54.280 and then it goes like really dim and then it kind of goes bright again. 00:06:52.400 --> 00:06:57.640 I've never seen that before. In all my years of doing this. You see that? 00:06:56.480 --> 00:07:03.000 Dim. See, it goes bright again at the very extreme. Anyway, the point is I would 00:07:01.320 --> 00:07:07.080 want it kind of here so that I'm looking straight at it. And the hinge 00:07:05.640 --> 00:07:10.760 if I wiggle wobble it at all, it's going to just kind of flatten out. The good 00:07:08.720 --> 00:07:15.240 news for Ace Magic is that they don't seem to actually be responsible for this 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:19.360 design. As far as we can tell, they just bought something they found on Alibaba 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:22.640 and rebranded it. Okay, that makes them responsible for the product, but it 00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:28.040 raises a lot of questions for me. Who made this? Who bought it? What does this 00:07:25.000 --> 00:07:28.040 last button do? 00:07:30.400 --> 00:07:36.520 Oh, now we're cloning. So, there's your coffee shop use case. All right. Why 00:07:34.880 --> 00:07:40.800 don't we try playing a game? I'm going to optimistically grab my mouse assuming 00:07:38.840 --> 00:07:43.920 that I will ever actually be moving across here. And I'm going to grab it 00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:48.840 from this new colorway of our Commuter Backpack, by the way. 00:07:46.640 --> 00:07:51.120 Stay tuned on lttstore.com. I wanted to lean it down so you guys 00:07:50.120 --> 00:07:56.200 could see it in the top-down, but I don't have to. What a great design. That's a small 00:07:54.520 --> 00:08:00.400 trackpad for modern year. In all seriousness, if it wasn't for the poor 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:04.360 execution, I actually do like the overall idea of having a second screen 00:08:02.440 --> 00:08:08.080 side by side like this. Is it better than the one Adam brought over that had 00:08:05.760 --> 00:08:11.910 the detachable keyboard and that you could kind of put into landscape and 00:08:10.160 --> 00:08:15.600 then spread out that way? >> [sighs] >> Probably not. I daily drove one like 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:21.520 that for a little while and it was pretty awesome. But I do think there's people who would prefer something like 00:08:19.000 --> 00:08:26.120 this, too. This is wild. I'm getting 3 FPS in the menu. I didn't even know that 00:08:23.720 --> 00:08:29.320 CS 2 pre-compiled shaders. Probably cuz it usually happens so fast I don't 00:08:27.640 --> 00:08:33.320 notice it, but here it is. You know what? I'm back to blaming Ace Magic for this. 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:37.680 They should have known better than to put their brand on it. Or they should have at least found out what it was 00:08:36.039 --> 00:08:41.400 before putting their brand on it. On their site, they actually have a guide 00:08:39.159 --> 00:08:45.400 to how to replace the RAM. Well, we cracked it open and it turns out that 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:49.240 you can only replace the NVMe storage drive. The RAM is soldered. So, they 00:08:47.600 --> 00:08:54.560 don't even seem to know exactly what it is that they're selling. Yeah, 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:55.560 about 7 FPS. I'm going to get a kill. 00:08:54.560 --> 00:09:00.960 Oh, whoa, that was a big stutter. 00:08:58.880 --> 00:09:05.280 Whoa, that was another big one. Going to kill Oh, I got one. 00:09:02.440 --> 00:09:09.560 I got one. To be clear, these are bots. Whoa, did you see how long that mag took 00:09:07.400 --> 00:09:14.880 to fall to the ground? That was crazy. The game physics are completely broken. 00:09:11.960 --> 00:09:17.720 Whoa, that was like a 3-second pause. Not much else to say at this point. 00:09:16.400 --> 00:09:21.760 Nobody's going to actually buy this laptop, so I don't think we need to get 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:23.680 too deep into what generation of Wi-Fi it has. Six. 00:09:23.306 --> 00:09:29.240 >> [music] >> Or what Bluetooth it supports. 5.2. If 00:09:26.839 --> 00:09:33.600 it was really cheap, maybe it could be justified if all you really need it for 00:09:31.280 --> 00:09:37.920 is basic office work and you don't mind putting in the work to go modify a BIOS 00:09:36.040 --> 00:09:41.400 or something like that in order to get decent performance out of it. But even 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:46.520 when it was on clearance toward the end, it was over $800, which is more than I'd 00:09:44.240 --> 00:09:53.320 be willing to pay for this experience. Wait, this just in. Last December, it 00:09:48.920 --> 00:09:55.520 apparently went down to just over $400. 00:09:53.320 --> 00:09:58.600 Okay, hold on a second. That promo code is still on the site? 00:09:57.400 --> 00:10:03.440 >> It's sold out. The whole laptop is sold out now. Oh. Oh, it's sold out. Okay, at 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:07.520 that price, yeah, I'd say it might actually be worth it. 400 bucks? Yeah, 00:10:05.680 --> 00:10:10.320 it's still pretty crappy. But you know what's not crappy? 00:10:08.840 --> 00:10:13.800 Subscribing to ShortCircuit. You should definitely do that. Oh god. If you are 00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:17.400 interested in the concept of a very large screen laptop or expanding screen 00:10:15.760 --> 00:10:22.960 laptop, we've got a video coming on the ASUS ZenBook Duo coming up soon. It's a 00:10:20.360 --> 00:10:27.520 lot more expensive, but it's a much, much better experience.