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

StarFighter 16 inch: 4K Coreboot/Ryzen Linux laptop

starlabs.systems

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

111–120 of 388 posts

Re: StarFighter 16 inch: 4K Coreboot/Ryzen Linux laptop

#111

Post by devwastaken »

chx wrote: post #54
hedora wrote: post #2

This Linux laptop looks too good to be true. It's available with an AMD or Intel processor, there aren't any strange ergonomic decisions (other than the stow-able web-cam). In particular, they centered they trackpad + keyboard, and it looks like it has decent thermals. The battery is rated for 18 hours. You can choose between a medium resolution, high frame rate display (UHD @ 165Hz) or a 4K 60Hz display. The screen…

> Am I missing something? Yeah. The company is three people with practically no money at hand. I can't imagine this being real. Check "full accounts made up to 28 February 2022" https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/c... with cash at hand being just 13,887 pounds. How on earth are you making a laptop from that? Framework started with a nine million seed round and had the former head of hardware a…

If real, it wouldn't surprise me.

A laptop isn't special. The most special part is the motherboard, and those are a dime a dozen designs. The bios soft is the other big component, but given the right partnerships I could see a small company just paying to use one out of a dozen various vendors.

The rest of the work is part sourcing.

Re: StarFighter 16 inch: 4K Coreboot/Ryzen Linux laptop

#112

Post by MobiusHorizons »

userbinator wrote: post #51
adgjlsfhk1 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Soldered ram is pretty unfortunate. They're also charging a ton for storage upgrades (e.g. $300 vs market rate of ~$80 for 1TB pcie 4.0 ssd).

They've clearly learned some things from Apple.

Unfortunately low power ddr4 (lpddr4) does not come on SODIMs, soldered ram is the only way to get it. I know everyone likes to shit on apple about this, (and they definitely should about soldered storage) but there are practical engineering reasons for soldered ram. Note that the framework laptop has abysmal battery life relative to the competition.

Re: StarFighter 16 inch: 4K Coreboot/Ryzen Linux laptop

#113

Post by koonsolo »

ahoya wrote: post #56
hedora wrote: post #2

This Linux laptop looks too good to be true. It's available with an AMD or Intel processor, there aren't any strange ergonomic decisions (other than the stow-able web-cam). In particular, they centered they trackpad + keyboard, and it looks like it has decent thermals. The battery is rated for 18 hours. You can choose between a medium resolution, high frame rate display (UHD @ 165Hz) or a 4K 60Hz display. The screen…

I have their latest starbook, just arrived a couple months ago and it is stellar. Covid delayed it almost a whole year, but in that time they upgraded frob adwertised 11th gen intel to 12th gen for free, quadrupling cores. It runs extremeley well with latest coreboot and everything. I considered canceling my pre-order because of the long delay, but Support was extremely quick and receptive and it turns out the trust…

How is the sound quality? Is it comparable to a MacBook?

Re: StarFighter 16 inch: 4K Coreboot/Ryzen Linux laptop

#114

Post by jnsaff2 »

wtallis wrote: post #107
chx wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Am I missing something? Yeah. The company is three people with practically no money at hand. I can't imagine this being real. Check "full accounts made up to 28 February 2022" https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/c... with cash at hand being just 13,887 pounds. How on earth are you making a laptop from that? Framework started with a nine million seed round and had the former head of hardware a…

From https://us.starlabs.systems/pages/about-us > In 2017, we started using Clevo as a supplier. The result was; the Star Lite Mk I, the Star LabTop Mk II and the Star LabTop Pro Mk I. There were a vast array of options to chose from in these laptops, from wireless to memory to pre-installed distribution. You may be familiar with Clevo as they have a lot of resellers across the world. It was a step in the right direc…

> that business model does not involve owning your own factories

Apple does not own their own factories.

Re: StarFighter 16 inch: 4K Coreboot/Ryzen Linux laptop

#115

Post by koonsolo »

azangru wrote: post #10
NovemberWhiskey wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have they actually made one yet? The pictures on the site all look like renders; and I couldn't find any pictures of an actual prototype anywhere.

> Have they actually made one yet? Exactly. No real laptops so far; no videos with honest in-depth reviews; no information on the dirability of these machines. If something is too good to be true, it likely is.

YouTube has review videos

Re: StarFighter 16 inch: 4K Coreboot/Ryzen Linux laptop

#116

Post by commoner »

deusum wrote: post #75
initself wrote: post #69

Needs a little red nub in the center of the keyboard.

Reference is old enough that we're not sure if you're joking.

ThinkPads are still popular, so I don't see this as a joke. A pointing stick (TrackPoint) is excellent for people who want to use both the keyboard and the mouse while moving their hands as little as possible.

Unfortunately, the StarFighter has soldered memory, which is one of the main drawbacks of new ThinkPad models. Star Labs also sells the mid-range StarBook laptop with replaceable memory and the low-end StarLite laptop with soldered memory. On the other hand, Star Labs is Linux-first and pays the developers of the pre-installed Linux distribution configured in the order, which is an advantage over Lenovo for Linux users.

Re: StarFighter 16 inch: 4K Coreboot/Ryzen Linux laptop

#117

Post by chx »

devwastaken wrote: post #111
chx wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Am I missing something? Yeah. The company is three people with practically no money at hand. I can't imagine this being real. Check "full accounts made up to 28 February 2022" https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/c... with cash at hand being just 13,887 pounds. How on earth are you making a laptop from that? Framework started with a nine million seed round and had the former head of hardware a…

If real, it wouldn't surprise me. A laptop isn't special. The most special part is the motherboard, and those are a dime a dozen designs. The bios soft is the other big component, but given the right partnerships I could see a small company just paying to use one out of a dozen various vendors. The rest of the work is part sourcing.

What about the custom plastic parts? Aren't those injection moulded? If so, how much is a mould?

Re: StarFighter 16 inch: 4K Coreboot/Ryzen Linux laptop

#118

Post by teruakohatu »

psudohadex wrote: post #28

I need an LTT review on this.

Linus has been very upfront about investing in Framework, so I am not suggesting he is doing anything untoward, but I still assume there is some unconscious biased in his organisations reviews of competing laptops.

Re: StarFighter 16 inch: 4K Coreboot/Ryzen Linux laptop

#119

Post by chx »

wtallis wrote: post #107
chx wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Am I missing something? Yeah. The company is three people with practically no money at hand. I can't imagine this being real. Check "full accounts made up to 28 February 2022" https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/c... with cash at hand being just 13,887 pounds. How on earth are you making a laptop from that? Framework started with a nine million seed round and had the former head of hardware a…

From https://us.starlabs.systems/pages/about-us > In 2017, we started using Clevo as a supplier. The result was; the Star Lite Mk I, the Star LabTop Mk II and the Star LabTop Pro Mk I. There were a vast array of options to chose from in these laptops, from wireless to memory to pre-installed distribution. You may be familiar with Clevo as they have a lot of resellers across the world. It was a step in the right direc…

Do they? I was under the impression most small brands simply resell such ODMs as Clevo or TongFang perhaps they add RAM/SSD/such -- but they do not design custom motherboards and chassis.
Post reply on HN