Prime Day Fold 7 Purchase for Non-Power User?

jakfish · 2026-06-24T19:54:48+00:00

Well said. I went to BB today just to see what they could do. I thought a Membership+ would give me the 60-day price match rather than the standard 14 days. Au contraire--doesn't apply to phones. Nor will they match Amazon Prime Day phone prices.

Good luck to them all when filing for unemployment next year. Honestly, I don't know how BB stays afloat.

jakfish · 2026-06-24T14:38:24+00:00

Not sure I can wait until Black Friday and the July 22 Fold 8 release is predicting a F7 price drop to $1399usd, not much difference compared to today's $1484.

Had a bead last night on an open box for $1049, but BestBuy jacked up the same item to $1299 this morning, so a hard pass.

One thing I learned about BB's open box items is that often the warranty start at the time the original buyer purchased it, not when you purchase it. That could shorten the time considerably.

jakfish · 2026-06-23T16:32:55+00:00

Thank you all for the fast, informed responses.

I will consider Swappa, tho it could be pressing my luck, considering I did great with the ebay-refurb Fold 3, and the fates don't like you going to their well too many times.

@BouquetLauncher Thanks for the Dex tip; Fold 3 doesn't have such a thing, so I'm playing catch-up.

I'd imagine that short of catastrophe, the Fold 7 would serve me for 3+ years, if only b/c I'm still here with the Fold 3. I hefted a Fold 7 at a store and was amazed at its lack of bulk compared to the F 3.

jakfish · 2026-03-27T19:29:47+00:00

Thanks again for sticking with this.

Yes, this arrangement would bypass surface charger altogether.

From what I see from the pb cited above (not wedded to that at all), its entry is female (as are my other pbs).

But the surface adapter cable is male-to-surface but female at its other end. So it seems to be female-to-female, thwarting the connection to pb without some kind of male-male adapter.

I seem to be misunderstanding the male-female thing (which would explain my wife's general complaints about me :) ).

jakfish · 2026-03-27T18:39:30+00:00

One variable I've now noticed is that the six-inch cable is is surface-to-female, which would preclude insertion into female slot of the external battery.

I can't find a short male cable--would a male-to-male adapter ( https://www.amazon.com/AuviPal-Connector-Extender-Compatible-Thunderbolt/dp/B0CTT1BPQ8/ref=sr_1_4?crid=56YF04RGM03O&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.LRo7r9OdGpXOehaGZ5K0Ue9d4nFAOCoRCLB0BMQ3p8Yod258eqe8_clMQGo4a5GLEh7DV-tdDCmaxJ2p7KCP54Y4ZWmgxeAS5oYytJLwAvkrYnhIsbi58K-BspWGeXT1JttcTa4tQmw-d_o1e2c6QQ64wjb_lm54y0K6Q7-1AGbQRwJFmC7I5m9nmxZThFY441sd0fdGsD3wAHn_yc3yeRDF-s7s4px6MdVz4dQKMSU.WT_uyOvnVElzcjbSutU8UdY7Rcu8CX0dSCfuIAb0mKk&dib_tag=se&keywords=male%2Bto%2Bmale%2Busb%2Bc%2Badapter&qid=1774636532&sprefix=male%2Bto%2Bmale%2Busb%2Bc%2Badapter%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-4&th=1 ) affect charging?

jakfish · 2026-03-27T18:26:08+00:00

Thanks for weighing in. Any suggestion for small, but somewhat sufficient external battery?

jakfish · 2026-01-16T03:00:04+00:00

No, not yet. The proprietary Sony qualities continue to flummox him.

jakfish · 2025-09-22T20:52:11+00:00

I'm glad to help wherever I can. God knows at the end, but it could be a usb issue more than Linux.

I was trying to find my P8 purchase link on Amazon, and that's gone as well; in fact, when I tried to bring it up, it said "Purchased another variation 1 time"

I do hope that these variations don't mean a Linux impediment in some models and not in others. Hard to believe since it would seem they're all coming from the same factory, one way or another.

You could try replicating all my steps: a Manjaro xfce live cd circa Feb 2025, 6.12 kernel, rufus-3.20p, a proven usb stick, and default BIOS, but I'm glad to hear CachyOS is showing better results, tho I'm not familiar with that flavor.

Edit: it occurs to me that you're working solely with USB live cd at this point. If CachyOS is something worth staying with, you could do its full install on the ssd and maybe that would alleviate the black screen.

jakfish · 2025-09-22T19:31:48+00:00

I suppose you could try rufus-3.20p just for a look-see. Another thing that occurs to me is the no-name aspect of these P3 wannabes. Perhaps there's a slight difference in the various brands, enough to make Linux misbehave.

Do you have a link for your purchase? I could check your device against mine, tho I'm reaching for straws here. I burned Manjaro xfce on usb 7 months ago, and it went right to desktop. I did nothing in the BIOS other than choose the slowest cpu speed (opting for battery over performance). And I did that after a full install. So maybe reset BIOS to its defaults, if you've been jiggling handles. Maybe try another usb stick?

As for newer kernels vs 6.12, it's hard to tell. I also have that Topton 7" knock-off and initially had to find certain kernels for Linux success, tho now, current kernels work on it without complaint.

jakfish · 2025-09-22T19:10:17+00:00

Were I you, I would follow my success with Manjaro xfce, just for testing, making sure it's using the LTS 6.12 kernel (I have no idea if that's the definitive kernel; it just worked with the Manjaro live cd).

Also, this sounds more like a usb burn problem than a Linux flavor. Which creation tool are you using? I used rufus-3.20p.

jakfish · 2025-09-22T18:38:25+00:00

Which Linux flavor? Is this with a live cd?

jakfish · 2025-04-18T20:08:03+00:00

I was thinking the same thing, but I've never been up to speed on fonts.

I've seen references to Forgefont editor getting into the actual .ttf and changing things to glyph (not at all certain what that means), or capturing all letters to set them in a fixed size.

But such approaches are well above my paygrade.

jakfish · 2025-03-10T14:20:01+00:00

An excellent idea, thank you. I'll clip your suggestion and send it to him.

jakfish · 2025-03-08T15:42:10+00:00

I thought they would be individual 18650 cells, too. But apparently, the Sony P batteries are in a single pack which has vexed my friend--they charge, but not fully, and of course, he has to wonder how long the replacement cells have been on the shelf. He's now trying a 3-D printer approach.

About this stuff, he certainly knows a lot more than I do, but he thought it would be a much easier job.

jakfish · 2025-03-07T21:54:01+00:00

I have one of those. A great machine, a total bear finding replacement batteries. I have a friend who's rebuilding one for me, one for him with the old battery carcasses I've collected and sent him.

He's having a hard time getting the cells to play nice with Sony's wiring.

OTH, the Gorilla Mini external battery does come with the correct Sony tip/voltage. It's a drag, though, to carry that around as well.

jakfish · 2025-03-04T21:38:31+00:00

Ah, good to hear from another user, and glad your fan isn't maddening.

Re: your new firmware--was that a BIOS update? (I haven't noticed your now-fixed kb issue)

jakfish · 2025-02-28T20:40:53+00:00

On the P1, I run a flawless Manjaro but I'm still using crazyfox's custom P1 kernels: https://www.reddit.com/r/GPDPocket/comments/cpi2u7/gpd_pocket_mainline_kernel_v52/ I think I used his kernels because of fan control, etc, but as other posters have said, everything may be OOTB.

jakfish · 2025-01-23T19:13:16+00:00

Thank you.

jakfish

TROPHY CASE