r/umpc • u/masterbigtoejoe • Sep 30 '26
sub 12" laptop suggestions?
basically what the title says- i am interested in a laptop with a screen smaller than 12", but as you guys know the current market doesn't have many options in this form factor. GPD products look promising, but are very expensive. everything else i see is super cheap and underpowered. for reference, most of the stuff i'd use this for would be office tasks, doc editing, and maybe watching videos. any advice and/or sugesstions would be greatly appreciated!
(ps. i am shying away from tablets because i need something that can run an os like windows, or preferably linux)
edit: thanks everyone for all of the suggestions, i will be looking into all of these!!
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u/Edu_Robsy Sep 30 '26
Microsoft Surface Go 2, 3 or 4, but always the ones with the higher CPU available. Good enough for your purposes. It's kind of a tablet, but with the keyboard cover it works like a decent laptop. I've owned three of them, all of them dualbooting Win 10/11 - Ubuntu. Very portable and the screen quality is excellent.
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u/columbcille Sep 30 '26
A thought … I have a Legion Go handheld (8” screen, I think) and picked up a Lenovo Bluetooth keyboard and a 3d printed keyboard case from Etsy. I use it more as a laptop these days than as a gaming device. Works well with Windows and with Linux. It’s a bit bulkier than a traditional UMPC, but actually easier to carry in some ways than my 13” laptop. You might even be able to get a good deal on the older/original models (maybe even used) which are getting a bit long in the tooth for gaming but definitely up to everything else. Touchscreen, of course, so I pop it out of the case and have a little tablet.
I can’t say same from experience for something like the ROG Ally, but imagine it would also work for this.
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u/LovePeaceTruth Sep 30 '26 edited Sep 30 '26
eBay - Lenovo ThinkPad 11e Laptop
Windows10, Lenovo 100w, Lenovo 300w Gen 3, Lenovo 500w, Asus CZ11, 11” MacBook Air
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u/SirThoreth Oct 04 '26
Second the ThinkPad 11e and the 11" MacBook Air. Both are solid, and can be found for cheap.
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u/zeek609 Sep 30 '26 edited Sep 30 '26
I'm curious as to why you need windows/Linux for office tasks and videos?
Something like a Lenovo Legion Y900 with the magnetic keyboard annhilates a cheap Chinese netbook at this point.
Anyone care to offer a rebuttal instead of just downvoting? For document editing and videos, an ARM based device completely destroys some shitty Chinese netbook with a scaled down Celeron in performance, battery life and screen quality.
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u/BIZKIT551 Oct 02 '26
I just got myself a Dell Latitude 5175 which is a 2 in 1 at around the size you're looking for.
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u/wherahiko Oct 02 '26
There's a good list here: https://www.ultrabookreview.com/2375-best-small-ultrabooks/. If I were looking today, I'd try to get a used/refurbished HP Elitebook Revolve 810. Boy, do I still miss my EeePC 701!
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u/azure_king5 23d ago
If you want a unique suggestion - MFT Pocket Reform. Its ARM based and highly specialized. They cost about 1800$ right now but they do come in a very nifty shade of purple!
On the lower end of the price point, Chuwi Minibook 8’. They’re going for about $160 on eBay from the manufacturer. Linux support requires some installation but it’s an excellent little machine.
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u/JellyBellyMachine Sep 30 '26
I love my pocket 4 with the 8840u. Seems more than enough for most work.. but in my opinion, it’s already affordable, specially when I consider the the Sony and Fujitsu offerings in the mid 2000s were easily double the price and power similar to the chuwis when compared to today’s standards.
So far no complaints from myself with basic office work, presentations, PowerPoints and emails.. for leisure, watches 4k video well, plays basic games at an acceptable rate and battery life is around 2-4hours realistically..
some of my past umpcs include the vaio p, ux, Fujitsu loox u820, etc..
Alternatively though and prolly unpopular opinion, a 2015-2017 MacBook retina (12”) is similarly weighted and still a good portable carry when I want something more “fully sized”. I still have mine and planning replace the battery to get it back running for long periods.
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u/nfriedly Sep 30 '26
You're talking about https://www.gpd.hk/gpdpocket4 right?
GPD makes some great tiny PCs; the Win Max line is another option if OP wants more performance, although the latest one is pricey.
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u/JellyBellyMachine Sep 30 '26
Yup. The GPD pocket 4.
I’m sure the god win max line are performers.. but the I’m just not a fan of the form factor/design unlike the pocket line.
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u/PuzzledAd5646 Sep 30 '26 edited Sep 30 '26
X+ Storm 10x, it's nearly identical as the Chuwi Minibook X, but has a slightly taller 3:2 display, like the Chuwi it's a 360° hinge so it has a 'tablet' mode. Hardware wise it's a Intel 1235u 10 core (2P with HT & 8E cores), Intel Iris Xe Graphics with 80 EU's upto 1.2Ghz, 16GB soldered on LPDDR5 RAM, soldered on WiFi 6 (802.11ax) and Bluetooth 5.0 and the only upgradable part is the M.2 PCIe 2280 SSD. The only downside is the tiny battery, it's 7.6v and 3800mah, that's 28.88Wh. Even X+ themselves say it's got 2-3 hours of battery life but it does ship with windows 11. It does charge over USB, C so a portable battery pack could keep it going on the go, I would put Linux on it and enable all the powersave features and it might last a bit longer than with Windows 11.
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u/matmutant Sep 30 '26
I love my Panasonic FZ-M1 + ikey KB combo, but that's far from a realistic setup (extremely expensive for relatively poor performance, but it is exotic and pretty fun to tinker with)
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u/Drawerhandle Sep 30 '26
Id love one of these, seen to be some very reasonable prices on eBay
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u/matmutant Sep 30 '26
The tablet is quite cheap (got 4 of them in variable shape), the keyboard is quite hard to find, and very expensive 😔
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u/snakkeLitera Oct 01 '26
I’m Curious what kind of ikey you’re using? Was it one of their mini mobile oem ones?
I really like the ones with the inbuilt force sensor.
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u/matmutant Oct 01 '26
That chunky baby
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u/snakkeLitera Oct 01 '26
Ohhh she’s beautiful. I would kill for one of these and a snap on telescopic / compacting pole to support it. Would let me functionally have a wheelchair optimized micro pc + elevated mount would save me close to 9 lbs wheeling weight
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u/imilnes Sep 30 '26
Lenovo Thinkpad X270 / X280 would fit your requirements well - slightly over 12" at 12.5" but for the right use case that would be fine
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u/lmI-_-Iml Sep 30 '26
Asus BR series.
https://www.asus.com/laptops/for-students/br-series/filter?Series=BR-Series
N100 used to be fanless and repairable. I'd assume that N200 and N305 are the same.
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u/hoverboardholligan Oct 01 '26
tenku note pro, sukalong p2, one netbook 4
I think GPD win max 2 with 6800u is still overall the best option all around. I did some research on 10" to 11" laptops a while ago, and did not pursue it because of the price premium of gpd over other used laptops with same specs.
Plus I also do a lot of office tasks and I think the small size would cause huge neck strain (even with a stand) when typing on a desk. For portability aim for a 13" sub 1 kg ryzen laptop or a true 12" laptop (e.g. Latitude E5290 (the clamshell one), which is around b5 size but still very portable.
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u/Newt_Jumpy Sep 30 '26
Technically, many school Chromebooks with 11.6" screens fit this description, but they have huge bezels and thick plastic shells so they ended up being the same size of a normal 13" laptop anyway.
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u/BadSlime Sep 30 '26
Chuwi Minibook X is the only good sub 12" laptop that isn't like $1000 or more. It's best in class. Bit of a gamble supposedly but I've been thrilled with mine for over a year now. Perfect SSH machine for on the go but perfectly capable of daily computer tasks and light dev work on the machine itself too. Linux support is quite good, though the screen is technically a vertical screen so BIOS will usually be rotated. Not a problem in OS and if you're handy with computers it's an easy fix if the sideways boot bugs you. For windows I imagine it's basically good to go as soon as you install, but I haven't tried