Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

StarBook 14-inch

starlabs.systems

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

201–210 of 381 posts

Re: StarBook 14-inch

#201

Post by Lio »

3np wrote: post #35
CaptainMarvel wrote: post #14

This is like the Framework laptop but it's a UK-based company that has been around for years, and with an explicit focus on Linux compatibility to boot. I'm surprised I haven't come across them before as I've been looking for Linux-compatible laptops for years. They do some things better than Framework such as supporting Ryzen processors, and seem a bit cheaper overall. The battery life seems like it would be better.…

> The biggest disadvantage seems to be that the screen is bog-standard 16:9. Bigger than that IMO is 14" @ 1080p. It's just too little for daily use for me. Framework are so far the only ones in this market segment who have ever marketed >1080p laptop displays AFAIK. I have a hard time understanding why there is such a lack of higher-res panel options across the market, even when seemingly all other relevant specs ar…

I have a Dell XPS13 Developer Edition that was specifically sold with Linux.

Mine has a 4K screen and to be honest it’s a bit of a pain at that size.

It looks great but everything is a bit small with pixel doubling.

If it boots in native res then it’s unreadable. You have to mess with grub and set the font size to something enormous.

I wish I’d opted for HD 1080 when I bought it. Would be readable and the battery life would be longer.

Re: StarBook 14-inch

#202

Post by yardstick »

darrenf wrote: post #170

I got one of these in December 2021 and frankly love it. Got fed up with being pretty much the only person on earth who had a shitty experience with Apple Silicon, so jumped back to Linux after 17 years away. I don’t use it as a portable, or at least haven’t yet - it’s my daily driver for work and permanently plugged in to a monitor (which also is a USB hub). I opted for Manjaro and enjoy using it way more than I did…

What put you off the M1? I’m still on an Intel MBP but fear my eventual switch to an M1 will be frustrating.

Re: StarBook 14-inch

#203

Post by stevage »

stormbrew wrote: post #169
3np wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The biggest disadvantage seems to be that the screen is bog-standard 16:9. Bigger than that IMO is 14" @ 1080p. It's just too little for daily use for me. Framework are so far the only ones in this market segment who have ever marketed >1080p laptop displays AFAIK. I have a hard time understanding why there is such a lack of higher-res panel options across the market, even when seemingly all other relevant specs ar…

> Framework are so far the only ones in this market segment who have ever marketed >1080p laptop displays AFAIK. This is weird to me because I feel like I have the opposite problem. I don't want retina displays I derive no joy from and that eat more power for that lack of joy, never mind cause problems with differential scaling if I plug into a lower res desktop screen. I find I can't get high quality laptops that do…

That's fascinating. One of the things I like about HN is encountering people who have such radically different preferences.

For me, my big pet peeve is the difficulty of finding a high resolution (4K/5K) desktop monitor that is not enormous.

Re: StarBook 14-inch

#204

Post by bzzzt »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #189
bzzzt wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Before you applaud Apple for being too libre and think the company has changed direction, keep in mind this is the same company that ships recently launched monitors without user replaceable power cords and locks out in firmware the possibility to upgrade the SSDs on the very expensive Mac Studio despite teardowns showing that it's phisically possible by end users. I don't get all those accusations that are constan…

>A non-removable power cord has a big advantage: it's hard to lose it. How could you possibly loose a monitor power cord? It's not a portable device that you travel with. But in a home or office setting I can certainly see the cord getting crimped under the weight of the feet of desks or chairs. >so is it really that damning you should go to a repair shop for something like that? Yes, going with your equipment to an…

> How could you possibly loose a monitor power cord? In a 'flex' office environment where people are regularly relocating I expect lots of people missing small stuff like cables.

> I can certainly see the cord getting crimped by furniture and damaged under the weight of the feet of desks or chair legs. And yet I've never seen such a damaged chord.

> it's about the environment and the e-waste that these company's products generate because while they could be more user upgradable and repairable like the old Macs were the people still upgrade and use No one in their right mind would want to be dependent on hardware running toward the end of the bell curve for anything 'mission critical'. Also, why do you think those SSD modules are removable? Probably saves you quite a lot when one dies since you don't have to replace the logic board.

Re: StarBook 14-inch

#205

Post by zozbot234 »

3np wrote: post #69
zozbot234 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

8px font size works fine with good hinting. In general, 1080p would be a near-optimal resolution given pixel-perfect rendering. Higher resolutions are useful when the rendering is too fuzzy, they're simply about hiding that imperfection.

Come back when you have tried that with CJK. There is no font or rendering that can make that comfortable to read. If it works for you, great, I'm just tired of people telling me I don't understand what I want and I shouldn't have to write a blog post justifying myself everytime I claim that higher screen res makes a huge difference for my use-case. It's not like Chinese language is an edge-case.

Sure, but nobody is using 8pt CJK fonts. Even with a 5k panel, you wouldn't be able to resolve their shape without the equivalent of a magnifying glass (i.e. focusing on a smaller section of the screen). Talk about eye tiring.

Re: StarBook 14-inch

#206

Post by akvadrako »

Lucasoato wrote: post #176
lhl wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm keeping a spreadsheet for a new Linux Laptop (Alder Lake or preferably a Rembrandt) w/ HiDPI(ish) and 32GB+ of RAM and there are some options. Currently announced: * Lenovo X1 Carbon G10 - 14" 16:10 3840x2400 500-nit 100% DCI-P3 60Hz IPS * Lenovo ThinkBook 13X Gen2 - 14" 16:10 2560x1600 400-nit 60Hz IPS * Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 - 13.3" 16:10 2880x1800 400-nit 100% DCI-P3 60Hz IPS * ASUS Zenbook 14X OLED UX5401 - 14"…

My last 2 company laptop were a Lenovo X1 Carbon G8 and a Lenovo X1 Carbon G9. These machines are so reliable and resilient, no matter how much you travel, they are indestructible. I definitely recommend them.

I would not. I've had an X1C7 for three years now. Numerous Linux driver issues (especially audio), issues restoring from sleep, had the screen replaced twice and the trackpad replaced once.

To be fair if you get the on-site repair warranty, that is pretty great.

Re: StarBook 14-inch

#207

Post by Casteil »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #131
yzmtf2008 wrote: post #113

Tangantially related, I remember reading the Asahi Linux wiki [0], and was shocked by this statement about Apple Silicon machines. It's fascinating that Apple has a reputation for being anti-libre, yet the hardware they built is arguably very libre-friendly. > This puts them somewhere between x86 PCs and a libre-first system like the Talos II in terms of freedom to replace firmware and boot components; while a number…

>yet the hardware they built is arguably very libre-friendly Well they're already in legal trouble for abusing their iOS market dominance with the new EU proposed legislation, they know the tides are turning against big tech, so they didn't lock down the MacBooks preemptively to brace themselves for what's coming, not because Apple has somehow now become a FOSS supporter. Before you applaud Apple for being too libre…

> Also, as a curiosity, why is every thread related to a X86 news, need to bring in the Apple M1 fan army and bang their drums?

Honestly? Efficiency & battery life without sacrificing speed/performance.

If you need great battery life (or simply don't want to have to worry about charging your laptop frequently), it's hard to swallow ~4-10h battery life of a typical X86 laptop when MBA/MBP are consistently achieving 10-16+ with real-world use.

...not to mention the other perks MacBooks hold over their competitors, e.g. fit/finish, display quality, speakers, etc.

>They serve completely different markets.

Do they, though? With so many things being web-based these days, it's not very hard for most people (without specific needs) to switch to an M1 as their primary device without experiencing problems.

Re: StarBook 14-inch

#208

Post by lozenge »

mysterypie wrote: post #171

You can choose between American Megatrends and coreboot. They have a FAQ with the pros and cons[1]. But I have a hard time seeing why anyone would choose the proprietary American Megatrends firmware, especially since the laptop is targeted towards Linux users. Are they offering the choice for their older customers who are used to the American Megatrends UI? Or maybe to not anger the supplier (American Megatrends) tha…

They get the AM firmware for free from the chipset manufacturer.

Re: StarBook 14-inch

#209

Post by uuyi »

SahAssar wrote: post #200
uuyi wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Err the monitor has a user replaceable power cord. I have one and removed it fine. It’s different because an IEC lead won’t fit in the design envelope. Even the stand can be replaced. The SSD is also a misnomer. The influencers couldn’t put a normal SSD in a mac and make it boot. But they don’t understand that there is integration with the crypto at hardware level. And there’s no reason to suspect that apple won’t pr…

Apple themselves say "Note: The power cord is not removable from the display." here: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/studio-display/apdf106...

It comes off. And you can get them to replace it in an apple store.

I think this is mixed messaging to be honest.

Re: StarBook 14-inch

#210

Post by uuyi »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #199
uuyi wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes you can. You need to use Configurator to do it. It has been confirmed by iFixit. It’s the same as the Mac Pro was: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210626 . You can’t just swap a disk. You have to actually re-pair it with the crypto and then reprovision it and recovery etc. Again Linus doesn’t know what he’s doing. Another influencer confirming my point. This is not a PC. That’s where the assumption goes wrong.

You're making a confusion between replacing and upgrading. He showed you CAN replace the SSD modules but only with identic size ones, but you CAN'T upgrade to bigger ones as that triggers the firmware lock. Watch the video he posted he tried what you mentioned.

Yet.

Also there’s some holes in the back you can upgrade your storage with…

Post reply on HN