Live data from Hacker News

StarFighter 16 inch: 4K Coreboot/Ryzen Linux laptop

starlabs.systems

151–160 of 388 posts

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

#151
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

I am typing this on their latest StarBook. It's a great machine. As for durability, it has an aluminium body and seems sturdily built. I expect it to last a good few years.

would you be able to share a video or blog review of this thing ?

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

#153
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…

The laws of physics and known documented battery technology prohibit an 18 hr battery life with that screen and any choices of CPUs, and the limit of 99Wh battery capacity (you cannot take any individual battery beyond 100Wh on commercial flights in the USA and Europe).

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

#155

Who is this targeting besides the 100 or so hackernews commenters who will actually go through and buy it. Why would I buy this over a lenovo for instance. Okay so privacy nuts who think that removing their webcam and microphone protects from the perceived spyware that is next to them on their desk in the form of an iPhone. I see nothing good about this. Inexperienced company, inexperienced in manufacturing and hardw…

actually agree. Also considering their "kill switch" marketing. Who needs to turn their internet off on a whim who doesn't already have some sort of keybind to do this? Why buy this over framework / other laptop for 25% more money. Don't really understand

My ThinkPad has a physical switch for airplane mode. There's a big difference between "turning off" the functionality in software and physically cutting the power to anything that can transmit.

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

#156

lol…why would anyone buy this? It is more overpriced than an apple m2 machine.

To support Linux-friendly hardware? For many people extra $1000 here or there doesn’t matter.

Good point and all but shit is still too pricey.

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

#157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- AFAIK, it's usually the toolkits that do the scaling. So, it's indeed possible that very old apps, if they're still using old versions of the toolkits, don't support scaling. They'll appear non-scaled, so "at 100%". - I don't have a 4k display on a laptop so can't comment on battery life. But for "desktop use" (read: non gaming) GPU performance has been fine for a long time. I have an old desktop at work with a 4th…

From experience on Windows, "very old toolkits" includes QT5. It gets very confused if the scaling changes while the screen is closed.

I only have experience with this on Linux, where at least it supports scaling, so that if you use a constant one (my case), then it's OK.

Older ones will simply ignore the scaling settings and draw the interface 1-to-1. One such application that comes to mind is VMWare's remote console (for esx). I haven't used it in a few years, but I remember at the time it was painful to run on a 24" UHD screen.

On the windows side, I think things are somewhat better than on Linux, but there still is confusion, including Windows 11 22h2's start menu. If you start the computer in 100% mode, then plug an external screen scaled at 200%, it works OK for the app list (what it shows on first click) but if you start typing everything becomes a blurry mess.

---

Edit: I actually think QT is one of the better toolkits, at least on Linux, in the case of scaling. IIRC it's able to adapt the scaling based on the screen DPI reported by X, so a full qt desktop should be able to handle situations like a high-DPI laptop connected to a low-dpi monitor.

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

#158
post #36

Honestly as a business customer I can’t justify buying this unless there is an option to unbrand it. (Actually if you had a unbranding option we could sticker it with our own company logo and that could be pretty cool) Can you imagine the backlash if there’s some IT issue and someone realises that it’s not a Dell or Lenovo (why didn’t you just buy from big 2?), or how embarrassing it might be to go to a profile busin…

Is your company so hardwired to Dell and Lenovo that they can't understand competitors exist?

Because normally you buy from Lenovo, HP or Dell for the warranty, support and driverpacks for SCCM etc.

Real companies have IT provision laptops for employees.

If you are consultant remote, sure just Citrix into the envroment. But if your laptop breaks its on you.

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

#159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Can you imagine the backlash if there’s some IT issue and someone realises that it’s not a Dell or Lenovo (why didn’t you just buy from big 2?), or how embarrassing it might be to go to a profile business meeting with an obviously random and non-corporate laptop (oh that looks like some random cheap overseas brand, uhh ok, are you sure you can afford us)? So your proposed solution is to... remove all branding? How…

I think that building custom no-brand desktops is a pretty acceptable cost cutting measure taken by some companies, so you could pitch it something like “we’re working with a company to build custom laptops exactly for what we need”, or if someone asks about it you can explain it ala “yes, we couldn’t get exactly what we needed so we build a completely custom fleet of laptops”. Or ideal scenario, with a brand delete…

Okay and what if you buy 20-50 of these in bulk.

Do they have on-site support like HP,Dell or Lenovo?

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

#160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any suggestions how you’d sell something like this? Brand delete is all I have.

Unbranded laptops are something I'd also prefer, even though the corporate environment you're describing is very employee-hostile when it comes to technology choice. (Sorry about your situation.) I know that Schenker sells some of their laptops with their logo on the laptop lid by default and offers a choice to remove the logo for an additional charge. Example (VIA 15 Pro): https://bestware.com/en/schenker-via-15-pro…

Yea random alixpress brand laptop. Sounds good lmao
Post reply on HN